LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
Chap. Copvriott No.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Spiritual Knowing
OR
Bible Sunshine
THE SPIRITUAL GOSPEL OF JESUS THE CHRIST
BY jjV •"
THEODORE F^'^SEWARD
AUTHOR OF
THE SCHOOL OF LIFE," " HEAVEN EVERY DAY,
" DONT WORRY, OR THE SCIENTIFIC LAW
OF HAPPINESS," ETC., ETC.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY NEW YORK AND LONDON
1901
92336
Library of Congtr^nt
Two Copies Recejveo DEC 22 1900
SECOND COPY
Oe(iv««(l to ORDER DIVISION
.-^x
Z^"^
^^k"^
According to your faith be it unto you. All things are possible to him that believeth. "
I pray for nothing less than the spiritualization of the whole human race.
I have turned your attention to this sublimely affecting subject of our vital connection with God, not for the purpose of awakening temporary fervor, but that we may feel the urgent duty of cherishing these convic- tions. If this duty becomes a reality to us, we shall be conscious of having received a new Principle of Life.— Channing.
Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright 1900, by Theodore P. Seward. All rights reserved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Preface v
Introduction ix
Chapter I — God and Man in the Bible 1
Chapter II— What Think Ye of Christ? 11
Chapter III— "Spiritual Knowing." 19
Chapter IV— Spiritual Psychology. The People's Gospel 27
Chapter V— Dominion Through Love 34
Chapter VI— The Process of Resurrection 41
Chapter VII— Now 47
Chapter VIII— Our Divine Partnership 51
Chapter IX— The Power of Thought 59
Chapter X— Importunity 64
Chapter XI— Life and Health in the Bible 09
Chapter XII— The New Factor in Race Development.
Woman 76
Chapter XIII— As a Little Child 79
Chapter XIV— God's World, but Not God's Kind of a
World. Appearance Versus Reality 83
Chapter XV— God's Law versus Human Laws 87
Chapter XVI— Fear Hath Torment 92
Chapter XVII— Our Divine Heredity 95
Chapter XVIII— Did Jesus Teach an Individual Gospel or
a Social Gospel? 98
iv CONTENTS.
Chapter XIX— The Heavenly Language 107
Chapter XX— The Art of Letting Go 110
Chapter XXI— Contagious Greetings 114
Chapter XXII— The New Evangelism 116
Chapter XXIII— Obedience, the Chief of Christian Graces... 119
Chapter XXIV— A Catechism of Spiritual Christianity 129
Appendix— How the Bible Grew 147
POEMS.
Day by Day the Manna Fell 50
Restless Heart, Don't Worry So 26
Our Resurrection 46
The 91st Psalm 144
Benediction of Divine Love 143
PREFACE.
The American people are unconsciously arraying themselves on one or the other side of a sharp dividing line. The standard or ideal of life on the one side is vigor, energy, activity, dominion, conquering circum- stances by the strong right arm. It has recently coined a new phrase to express its ideal. It calls upon the youth of the land to follow " the strenuous hfe," which is an appeal for the strongest possible exercise of the human will. Its standard of success is material pros- perity.
The ideal of the other side is exactly the opposite of this. It sees in the history of mankind a perpetual fail- ure of the human will to give happiness, comfort, peace or even permanent prosperity. It sees that not only the teachings of the world's Saviour, the Man of GaHlee, but the analogies of science show that the secret of happiness lies in surrendering the finite human will to the Supreme Eternal Will, and that true success is not to be gained by a strenuous materialistic life, but by a spiritual life.
An essential element of this movement is its larger and profounder interpretation of the word spiritual. Its fol- lowers believe that the spiritual universe and not the material is the basis of rational thinking; that, in truth, the spiritual or mental is the only real and permanent
vi PREFACE.
entity. They accept the statement of philosophy which is voiced in the words of Professor Borden P. Bowne of Boston University: '' A thought-world is the only knowable world; a thought^world is the only real world."
As materialism has its watchword in the phrase " the strenuous life," so the other movement expresses its fundamental thought in the process described as " spiritual knowing." It is a moderate estimate that there are not less than two million people in America who accept that term as descriptive of their thought and purpose.
The strenuous life is the law of material evolution. It results in " the survival of the fittest." Spiritual knowing is a process of moral and spiritual development. Its effect is to fit the human race to survive. It is a movement of the people and not of the churches. But it belongs in the churches, and will in time be assimilated by them. It is simply the spiritual gospel of Jesus the Christ, which the people are rediscovering and applying.
It should be noted that the new, and what may be called the scientific conception of the spiritual life, does not belong to the old order of pietism or quietism. It is, rather, a strenuous life in a higher sense of that term, the outcome of right thinking. In the recog- nition of his unity with God man gains his true and only potentiality. The life of Abraham Lincoln serves as an illustration. It was a strenuous life, yet beneath its assiduous effort and persistent purpose there was a double source of power — trust in a divine guidance, and an ideal of freedom for ail and not for a favored few.
PREFACE. vii
The choice which every citizen of this free land is called to make is between a materialistic and a spiritual ideal. Shall we obey the human and selfish will, or the Divine Will of Love? We must not only make the choice for ourselves, but we must decide which standard shall be held before the children and youth of America in the homes, the schools, the universities and the churches.
It is not merely a religious choice. It affects educa- tion and politics as truly as it concerns the so-called religious life. In fact, the old division between the sacred and the secular no longer exists. If our educa- tional and political systems are not religious, they must become so, or be dropped like the corn-husks of autumn. They have served their purpose, and must give way to something more vital. It is not piety, but righteousness that exalteth a nation. Righteousness is the only true piety. Love is a universal solvent. No problem of individual or social life can be wrought to a just con- clusion without it.
THEODORE F. SEWARD,
iNew York City. December, 1900.
INTRODUCTION.
The phrase '' spiritual knowing " is the keynote of thought and life in the twentieth century. It indicates the coming of a new era when man is to enjoy
"The freer step, the fuller breath.
The wide horizon's grander view; The sense of life that knows no death, The life that maketh all things new."
Until the present time matter has been regarded as the one substantial reality whose appeal to consciousness was unimpeachable, the one element concerning which knowledge was supposed to be definite, accurate and satisfactory. Spirit was thought of as something unreal, df whose qualities and powers little could be known. Its very existence was doubted by many.
Opinioi^ on this subject is now completely reversed. Spirit is recognized as the real and substantial, and mat- ter as the unknowable. Intuition is acknowledged to be a surer guide than intellect; soul perception or spiritual perception a more accurate source of knowledge than sense-perception. Instead of thinking ourselves as bodies with spirits somewhere inside of us, we now real- ize that our true being is spiritual, and the physical body is an evanescent and vanishing element.
The change of thought from the standpoint of matter
X INTRODUCTION.
to the standpoint of spirit is introducing a new philoso- phy, and a new standard both in the ways of thinking and of living. It reverses the relationship of the natural and the supernatural. Heretofore the material world has been the nearest to men's thoughts, and it has been called natural, while all that belongs to the spiritual realm has been regarded as supernatural. Reversing this process and treating the spiritual as the natural changes confusion of thought to simplicity, and leads to a wonderful discovery, namely, that, this is exactly what Jesus of Nazareth tried to do for the human race nine- teen centuries ago. He taught the truth that the inner or spiritual world is the real world — the realm of causa- tion. "The kingdom of God is within you. Seek first the realities of this inner kingdom, and the things of the external world will be added unto you."
This declaration confirms the statement in Genesis that man is made in the image of God, and that he is given dominion over all the earth. It also supplies a key by which the Bible may be read as a revelation of pure love, and not as a mixture of love and vengeance; in other words, it shows the book to be a fountain of pure sunshine.
Very far from a book of sunshine has the Bible hereto- fore appeared to most of its readers. The picture of Mount Sinai with its " clouds and thick darkness " filled their minds so exclusively for centuries that when the Messiah came to reveal God's light in its fulness, the human race was in no condition to receive it. " The light shineth in darkness, but the darkness compre-
INTRODUCTION, xi
hended it not." Individuals received the message for several centuries, and their lives were blessed and trans- formed by it. But a spirit of formalism and materialism began to displace the simple faith of the early disciples, and once more the world gave more heed to the thunder- ings df Sinai than to the tender voice of love, and the Heavenly Father revealed by Jesus Christ was sup- planted in human thought by the stern Judge of scholastic theology. The two vital errors of man-made theological systems which have robbed the Bible of much of its sunshine are (i) a degraded view of man as a worm of the dust, and (2) postponing the consequences of right and wrong living, to a heaven and hell beyond the grave.
The worm-of-the-dust idea of man belongs tO' the limited condition of human thought when it was sup- posed that God could and did separate Himself from the objects of His creation, as one can build a complicated machine and set it in motion. It was also a time when all the thinking was done from the standpoint of the material.
To apply the law of spiritual knowing to the varied experiences of life, and to the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, is the purpose of the present volume.
CHAPTER I. GOD AND MAN IN THE BIBLE.
Beneath the various forms of scriptural writings, whether olf history, prophecy, poetry, gospel narrative or parable, one purpose is never lost sight of, namely, the purpose of revealing God and man, and showing their mutual relation — of God to man, and man to his fellow man. The names given to the Creator in different parts of the Old Testament are themselves revelations of differ- ent phases of Divinity. The Hebrew names for the Supreme Being have been called '' lenses through which to see the character of God." It is interesting and in- structive to observe the progressive order of the divine titles.
The first name that occurs is " E^ohim,*' meaning " Mighty One," " the All-Powerful." It is in the plural form, which is the Hebrew method of expressing the idea of majesty and power.
The second Hebrew word for God is "Jehovah- Elohim," which is defined in Exodus as " I am that I am," "the Ever-Existing One." This name marks a new departure in revelation. Man, a sinner, finds God- Jehovah his Redeemer. By this name God had not been known (Ex. 6: 3). All later names are unfoldings of this name as the redemptive title of God.
The third name is " El Shaddai," in which God reveals
2 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
himself to Abraham as working above nature. Abraham had passed nature's limit in begetting children, but God shows him that He is not limited to nature.
The fourth name is " Jehovah-Jireh," God as a pro- vider. The revelation of God's care in this name should lift us above all anxiety. Christ Jesus emphasizes this in Luke 1 2th, where he declares that faithfulness in spiritual things will bring material blessings.
The fifth name is '' Jehovah Nissi," " The Lord our banner" — indicating protection. The Pslamist says: " His banner over us is love." His protection is abso- lute if we will but trust it.
The sixth name is " Jehovah Raphai," " The Lord our Healer." It is strange how this Truth has been lost sight of, although Jesus' life was a constant exemplification of it. This subject will be considered in a separate chapter.
The seventh name is "J^^o^ah Tsidkenu," "The Lord our Righteousness " — a name which meets and touches man in his infirmities and sins.
The eighth name is "Jehovah Shammah," "God everywhere to be recognized." How often we have oc- casion to say " God was in this place and I knew it not."
The ninth name is " Jehovah Shalom," " The Lord our Peace." Peace is the consummation and fruition of all human desires.
One other name, " Jehovah-Rohi," " the Lord our Shepherd," gathers up and includes the meaning of all the rest.
What more do we need to give us encouragement and
GOD AND MAN IN THE BIBLE. 5
strength than the character of our God as revealed by the foregoing names?*
But the change of thought from the standpoint of mat- ter to the standpoint of Spirit necessitates a new and larger conception of God than has thus far been generally held. The conception of the Supreme Being has re- sulted from a process somewhat similar to the enlarge- ment of a photograph. Man has been taken as the type or norm, and the attempt has been made to expand the pattern from the finite to the Infinite. This has led to what is called the anthropomorphic or giant-man con- ception of God.
In the vastly extended knowledge of the present day this idea of taking mortal man as a type or pattern of the immortal God, the Supreme and Self-existing Jehovah, is clearly seen to be unphilosophical and inadmissible. The method must be reversed. To gain a true concep- tion we must recognize that God, Love, is an infinite and all-pervading Principle. He is not a God of Love, a Being who can both love and hate. He is Love, and in this Love we. His children, " live and move and have our being." There is no room for darkness in this concep- tion.
But in considering this new standard of thought our first feeling is a fear that we are losing our sense of God as a personal being — the Father whO' loves and pities His children. It is a difficult subject to treat, as it is neces-
* For this suggestion of the progressive order of the divine titles I am indebted to the Rev. W. W. Pratt, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Passaic, N. J.
4 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
sary to employ finite terms for the expression of infinite ideas.
God is Personal Being. Yes, we know this because we are made in his image and likeness. But what do we know concerning the nature and modes of expression of an infinite Personality? Our forefathers were satisfied with a conception of personality which could not, so to speak, be expanded to infinitude. It is impossible to start with man as the initial conception and enlarge it to a true idea of the Infinite. In the attempt to do this, the mind is inevitably held to the idea of corporeality. Even if God is described as being .without body, parts or pas- sions," the corporeal concept still remains to confuse the thought.
The mode of thinking must be changed. God must be thought of as both Infinite PersonaHty and Infinite Principle. Which shall come first, and be to some extent the governing idea? The " personal " thought has pre- vailed entirely in the past, and we see its limitations and disadvantages. It is impossible to dissociate it en- tirely from human weaknesses and defects. Moreover, a personal God — in our limited conception of it — carries with it almost unavoidably the counterpart of a personal devil. Some one has said " Human nature takes some- thing from good and calls it God, and adds something to evil and calls it devil." Probably all the theologians who feel it necessary to defend their notion of the per- sonality of God by rejecting the idea of Infinite Princi- ple, are no less strenuous in defending the personality of Satan.
GOD AND MAN IN THE BIBLE. 5
Against all this the lay mind is beginning to revolt. God is Love. Then where can He be found as far as each individual is concerned except in our own con- sciousness?
'* I searched for God with heart-throbs of despair, 'Neath ocean's bed, above the vaulted sky; Al last I searched myself, my inmost I, And found Him there."
There is little danger that the personality of God will ever be lost sight of, for the heart of man demands it. His whole being cries out for it. In that respect we are all Jacobs in saying, " I will not let thee go except thou bless me." But the practical question is, as already stated, which is the best underlying thought to hold con- cerning the Supreme Being? Swedenborg says: "In heaven, by loving the Lord is not understood to love Him as to His person, but to love the goodness which pro- ceeds from Him." Our present thought of personality is associated with the Giant Being who has been rele- gated to the skies by formulated theology. We have been taught to look up in the sky to find God. The idea of an Infinite Principle as Love turns the expecta- tion within. No one would dream of looking up intO' the sky for Infinite Principle. It also places the mind in a totally different attitude toward the question of evil. The thought of an Infinite Principle as Love and Goodness is comprehensible and uplifting. The thought of an Infin- ite Principle of Hate and Evil is inconceivable. The mind is thus led to an appreciation of the vital, essential .truth that Love is positive, and evil is negative. Love
6 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
is the Creative Force, but evil has no self-derived power; it can only have the influence over us which we permit it to have. '' The evil is null, is naught, is silence imply- ing sound."
Accepting the idea of a Divine Personality and reject- ing that of Infinite Principle is equivalent to accepting the sun and rejecting the sunshine. Taking the sun as a type or figure to represent the Supreme Being helps to makes the subject clear. God as Infinite Principle is representedii by the orb. All our knowledge of the sun is gained by studying the light and heat that it gives forth, and all the benefit we derive from the sun is gained from the use we make of this light and heat. So all our knowledge of God must be dbtained by studying the Love and Truth which emanate from Him, and all the benefit we derive is from the use we make of this Love and Truth. Therefore the introduction of the term Infinite Principle should be welcomed as a means of turning attention from the abstract and unknowable to the concrete and practical.
Emphasizing unduly the personality of God, in con- nection with the anthropomorphic idea, has obscured the truth of His being as including both the masculine and feminine qualities. " God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.'' Scholastic theology lost sight of that truth and assumed the Divine Creator to be a man. Humanity has always longed for the feminine ele- ment in its thought of God, and has tried in many ways to supply it. It is this craving which led the Roman
GOD AND MAN IN THE BIBLE. 7
Catholic Church to the worship of Mary. Now the weary-hearted children of men are beginning to think and speak of " our Father-Mother God," and they are supported in this thought by reason as well as by revela- tion. Edwin Markham has written a poem entitled " A Song to the Divine Mother." Four of its seventeen stanzas are here quoted :
" Come, Mighty Mother, from the bright abode.
Lift the low heavens, and hush the earth again; Come when the moon throws down a road Across the sea — come back to weary men.
* * «
" Come down, O Mother, to the helpless land.
That we may frame our Freedom into Pate,
Come down, and on the throne of nations stand,
That we may build Thy beauty in the State.
* *
" Come shining in upon our daily road,
Uphold the hero heart, and light the mind; Quicken the strong to lift the People's load, And bring back buried justice to mankind.
* * «
" Some day our homeless cries will draw Thee down.
And the old brightness on the ways of men Will send a hush upon the jangling town. And broken hearts will learn to love again."
One of the vital errors of the past has been the beHef that God could not be known and understood. This in the face of Jesus' specific statement that a knowledge of God is an essential element of eternal life. "This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God; and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." That is, know Jesus Christ as the revealer of the only true God.
The error arose from the condition of the race in the
8 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
former centuries when intellect was the standard and " knowing " was supposed to be a process of intellectual analysis. By that process God can not be known. He is Love and can only be comprehended through the logic of the heart.
The. statement has been previously made (in the Intro- duction) that '' the change of thought from the stand- point of matter to the standpoint of spirit is introducing into the world a new philosophy, and a new standard, both in the ways of thinking and of living." In. fact, it must result in an absolute revolution and transformation of human methods in individual and social life. It creates a philosophy which is based upon a rational con- ception of God. All Christians, however they may differ on secondary questions, will accept the following state- ments :
1. God is Infinite.
2. God is Spirit.
3. God is Life, Truth and Love expressed and re- flected in Wisdom, Goodness, Beauty and Harmony.
Now, in the light of the highest reason, what deduc- tions must be drawn from these statements?
1. Since God is infinite, there can be nothing in the universe but God manifested in every variety of expres- sion.
2. Since God is Spirit, there can be nothing in the universe but Spirit. All that appears otherwise is not a reality, but a seeming.
3. Since God is Love, and infinite, there cannot be anything in the universe but Love in its various manifes-
GOD AND MAN IN THE BIBLE. p
tations of Life, Truth, Wisdom, Goodness, Beauty, Harmony.
Therefore the real universe must be a spiritual uni- verse, and this universe must include Man as a spiritual expression of God.
The intellect, which is the interpreter of sense-percep- tion, finds it hard to accept these truths, but the heart accepts them readily and joyfully, and the theology that belongs to the truths is that which Jesus said must be received in the spirit of a little child.
Let no one think that understanding God as Infinite Principle as well as Infinite Personality will put Him away from us and make it harder to realize His nearness and His fatherly care. It has exactly the opposite effect. Every Christian knows how difficult it is to bring the " Supreme Ruler " down out of the sky and sO' under- stand His infinite Love as to rest upon it, with a perfectly calm and peaceful trust. In fact, it is impossible. Even the ministers of the Gospel who preach self-surrender and perfect trust do not enjoy any deeper experience of peace than their unsatisfied congregations. I know of a devoted and consecrated preacher who sO' longed for " the peace which passeth all understanding " that during the course of his life he read the Bible through seven times on his knees, in addition to all his other study of the book. Yet he " died without the sight.'*
In fact, it is the laity rather than the clergy who are working out the problems of faith and life from the spiritual standpoint. This is but natural, inasmuch as their minds are comparatively free from the limitations of formulated theology.
10 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
There is a large and rapidly increasing host of people who believe that they have found the key tO' life, truth, happiness and heaven by accepting the teachings of Jesus Christ naturally rather than theologically or ecclesiasti- cally. They beheve that the " Pearl of Great Price " lies in his Principle of Eternal Life as being a present devel- opment of the " kingdom within," which Principle may be summarized as follows:
There is no reality but Spirit and no life but Love.
Love and not death is the gateway to the Spiritual Uni- verse.
Only through love of the Good can man enjoy his naturaj dominion and gain a mastery of material conditions.
This is a religion of the heart and not of the head, and must be understood through the process of " spiritual knowing."
WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST f'' ii
CHAPTER II. " WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? "
This question of the Master is still the perplexity of Christendom. Ecclesiastic, scholastic and dialectic methods of thought have thrown no light upon it; they have only added to the hopeless confusion of ideas. Yet Jesus said that the truth he taught must be received in the spirit of a little child. Can this profound theme be presented in such a way that a child's mind can com- prehend it?
The confusion of thought has arisen from the error of looking upon Christ as one with the personality of the human Jesus. Therefore in seeking simpHcity the first thing to be done is to separate the two- in our thought.
Whatever view we hold must be consistent with his own affirmation " The Lord our God is one God." To wors'hip Jesus as God is to put ourselves in opposition to his own teaching " The Father is greater than I," and much more to the same effect. Dr. George D. Herron says " At all times Jesus strenuously denied having any special privilege in God. He came to destroy the gods of special privilege. Above all things he sought to keep men from thinking of him apart from the common life — and putting him in some special category of his own. That would annul the meaning and value of his coming, for he came to bring the common life of man to light."
12 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
Yet his individuality was in some way different from ours. He was " Jesus the Christ." We do not read of " John the Christ," or " Paul the Christ." In what did the difference consist?
The only rational solution of the problem is tO' be found in the truth that " the spiritual is the only real" — that man is spiritual and not material.
By belief in a power apart from God the human race has brought itself into a state of illusion — of false con- sciousness. Indulgence in selfishness and sin has shut out the true consciousness of God and the spiritual uni- verse. The world that is discerned by the material senses is an unreal world; all its objects are inversions — counterfeits of the realities of the actual universe, the spiritual universe. To this unreal world belong experi- ences which cannot possibly exist in the spiritual uni- verse— evil, sorrow, hate, disappointment, sickness; the whole catalogue of human miseries ending in death.
How can a race in such a condition as this be re- deemed and brought out its illusions? Clearly it can only be done by one who represents eternal Truth, eternal Life and eternal Love, and who yet is in sym- pathy with the deluded people; one who can be " touched with the feeling of all their infirmities." Such a one was Jesus the Christ. Jesus was born of the human Mary. But the Christ in him was born of God. Hence he could say on one side, " The Father is greater than I," and on the other " Before Abraham was I am." He was the archetypal man. The Christ-thought is the image and likeness of God. Jesus revealed to the world
'WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST f " ij
the nature of Christ or the Christ-spirit, and taught that the Christ-spirit is the true Hfe of man. Jesus the Christ was the mediator between God and man; as St. Paul says, *' There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Jesus could perform this office because he included the two natures. " In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," says the Apostle Paul, and immediately adds, " And ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power." All that he had in his present realization we have potentially. Hence our way is made plain; " As ye have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him." How shall we walk in him? " If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above, where Christ (not Jesus, or Christ Jesus) sitteth on the right hand of God." The " right hand of God " is next in Divine order, as sonship, to God.
How clear all this becomes when we have the key in our thought — namely, that man is a spiritual being who only needs to realize his own true nature. The last quo- tation above shows the mistake of supposing that we can only " depart and be with Christ " by dying. "If ye then be risen with Christ." If ye be risen now; not when you have risen at some future time. If we have risen and are striving to rise above the false material con- sciousness into the true consciousness of Spirit, then as Paul further says, '' ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." And in one short sentence he indicates the rule of the new life. " Set your affection on things above, and not on things on the earth." How com-
14 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
pletely this reflects the teaching of Christ Jesus. " Seek first the inner spiritual kingdom of God."
All this truth with reference to Jesus Christ is an expression of spiritual psychology, and should be read in connection with the chapter on that subject. Mate- rialism is death. Spirituality is life. Adam is a type of error, or all that belongs to the false materiality. Christ is the reality of Truth — of all that belongs to the true spiritual life. Hence we read '' As in Adam (error) all die, so in Christ (Truth) shall all be made alive." Mate- rialism is death to the spirit, and material existence (the false material consciousness) is a dream from which all must sooner or later awake. Hence we read again: " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept!' Elsewhere Paul says : " It is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." This he says in con- nection with his remarkable assertion " Love is the ful- filling of the law." When we understand this vital Truth, our salvation or awakening is much nearer than when we only hold vague beliefs about Truth.
In the light of these interpretations we see the basis of Jesus^ statements concerning man's equality with himself.
" Verily, verily, I say unto' you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he also do, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father." John 14: 12. This promise was not given only to the disciples of Jesus' time, but to the disciples of all time. Why did the Master say that his followers should
'WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?'' i^
do greater works than he did himself? For two rea- sons (i) He knew what the future history was to be. He foresaw the vast expansion of the human or mortal mind as we are witnessing it now, with its marvelous in- ventions, its labor-saving machines, its annihilations of time and space. He saw that greater works would be needed to meet the enlarging comprehension of the race. (2) Jesus also knew that after his withdrawal the dis- ciples would be more influenced by the Christ-spirit and less by his human personality. Yet even since his time the mistake has still been made of looking more to the human Jesus than to the Christ-spirit. This mistake has led to unlimited persecutions, cruelty and bloodshed which would have been avoided if his professed follow- ers had given heed to the Principle he laid down. '' My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." This was the human Jesus testifying to the Christ-thought, and teaching that all who do God's will shall understand that Eternal Truth and the Creative Power tha/t the Christ-thought represents. '' The same was in the be- ginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made thajt was made."
Failing to distinguish between the human Jesus and the eternal Christ has led to the erroneous ideas respect- ing the " second coming." Christ never went away. " Lo, I am with you always, even unjto the end of the world." Jesus, having demonstrated his perfect mas- tery of material conditions and conquered evil in every
i6 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
form of sin, disease and death, rose above the material plane. He entered the spiritual kingdom whose laws he came to reveal, and ever sitteth at the right hand of God. The " right hand " signifies the place of power, as he said '' All power is given unto me in heaven and earth."
As the " ascension " was a disappearance from the human or material consciousness, so is the "second com- ing " a revelation of the eternal Christ to the spiritual consciousness.*
The fact should be clearly recognized that the Christ that is in the consciousness of Christendom to-day is not the real Christ', it is a theological Christ, a creation of contro- versy. The demand of this age is for a restoration of the Christ of the New Testament. Even many Jews are echoing this call. A Jewish layman, Mr. Louis R. Ehrich, speaks thus in a magazine article: " A cry is heard for a restored Christ; for the lovely, sweetly rea- sonable, all loving, faith-inspiring, divine man, in place of the incomprehensible, doubt-compelling human God. Moses was the law-giver; Jesus the love-giver. Here is the difference between the Old and the New Testa-
* One of the many results of the scholastic and mechanical
systems of scriptural interpretation is seen in the popular mis- understand of John 5: 39, which has been read as if it taught that eternal life is to be found in the Bible itself, as if Christ said " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye have eternal life." What is the true rendering? " Ye search the Scriptures be- cause ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me; and ye will not come unto me that ye may have life." ^
'WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST f " i;
ment — ^the heart of Jesus, a heart overflowing with an ocean of love."
The restoration of Christ means the restitution ,to God of the love, homage and intelligent trust which be- long to Him. Christ Jesus came to point men tO' God, the everlasting Father, and to show them their inalien- able kinship with Him. Human theories and traditions have done nearly all that could be done to defeat his pur- pose by leading men to transfer their worship from the Father to the Son.
The question may be asked, " Do you mean to say that a little child can comprehend the ideas that are expressed in this chapter? Yes. Not in their fullness, of course. But the Truth can be perfectly adapted to the child's mind. It can be taught that Jesus was born a babe and grew up a little child like itself, but that he was full of Love, that there was no room in his heart for evil of any kind; that he came to teach Love to all little children and to help them to grow in Love and kindness and goodness till they should become like him; that he came to tell us of the Father in heaven who is all Love, and who will come with the power of Love into all hearts that desire Him. A child brought up strictly under such teaching would confound the exponents of dogmatic theology exactly as Jesus did the doctors at Jerusalem when he was twelve years of age. A remarkable sug- gestion of this truth is given by Marie Corelli in her book, " The Master Christian." A boy of that age is represented as so reflecting the Christ-spirit that church dignitaries are silent when he speaks, and a healing power accompanies him wherever he goes.
i8 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
In families where the law of spiritual knowing is ac- cepted and made the guiding principle of life, the little children receive the teaching readily and apply it in ways that are sometimes almost startling. This higher grace of the children lies in their simplicity of thought and embodiment of trust, and in their freedom from the self- consciousness which obscures the spiritual vision of the adult mind.
The child's way of thinking indicates for each indi- vidual the answer tO' the question, " What think ye of Christ?" Like a little child, we will think first of the human Jesus, who had our nature, who passed through our experiences, and learned the need of every heart. We will think of him as one who " learned obedience through the things which he suffered," exactly as we are compelled to do. That he conquered where we often fail will not lift him above the range of our sympathy and need. It will rather give us boundless comfort. It will give us courage to persevere, because we have within us the same divine Life that he had. As we rise in mastery we will see him ever before us; always the human friend we need and always demonstrating the power and dominion which belong to us.
SPIRITUAL KNOWING. ip
CHAPTER III. SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
Heretofore the word knowledge has been chiefly- associated with the intellect and its methods. The mate- rial senses have been supposed to afford the basis of all certain and unquestionable knowledge. But this is now rapidly changing. It is found that sense-perception misleads and betrays us in a thousand ways, and it never leads to what all mankind are seeking, namely, happiness and peace. Even from what is called the scientific stand- point this truth is beginning to be recognized. The word science is coming to have a higher and deeper meaning than intellectual processes can give it. The meaning of the word science is " to know." Science is " knowing." Then the truest science must be that which leads to the best and most useful knowledge. Who will not admit that the best and most useful knowl- edge is a knowledge of God, the Creator, the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Mind, the Infinite Source of all things? Even from the intellectual standpoint it is now generally conceded to be scientific to beHeve in immor- tality, and unscientific to doubt it. It is scientific to know (and not merely believe) that the universe and man, created by Spirit, must be spiritual and not mate- rial. This higher consciousness is what is meant by " spiritual knowing," and it is by this process that the human race will be regenerated.
20 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
It was to this kind of " knowing" that Jesus invariably appealed. His work and teachings can only be fully understood by realizing that all his words and acts are to be judged from the standpoint of the purely spiritual. He said " To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." Truth is spiritual. The material world is not a realm of Truth. It is a realm of illusion. The physical senses are not to be depended upon. Their testimony is not reliable. Let a dozen different persons witness the same event, and undertake to describe it, and there will be as many different and varying accounts as there are witnesses.
Jesus ignored all the so-called laws of materiality. He walked on the waves. In feeding the multitudes it made no difference whether the original supply was twO' loaves or five. The people had abundance and to spare. Water was changed to wine in response to his silent command. In his presence the diseases which belong to the realm of matter disappeared. And for all this he announced the law in a single brief sentence. The Kingdom of God is within you; that is, within your con- sciousness. This truth, when accepted, releases man from his bondage to materiality, and bestows upon him " the free life of Spirit." " Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."
It was not only on account of the unspiritual condition of the race at the beginning of the Christian era that this Truth was not more fully received. There was no scien- tific knowledge to support and confirm it. Such teach-
SPIRITUAL KNOWING. 21
ing could only be accepted by faith in apparent contra- diction to reason. Man's conception of the universe was chaotic at that time. Nineteen centuries of painful growth have been required to enable mankind to realize that this chaos is a cosmos — an orderly universe gov- erened throughout by orderly laws. The hour has now arrived for understanding that God's cosmos is spiritual and not material, and that man's true home is not in the realm of matter, but in the realm of Spirit.
Spiritual knowing is knowing God, " whom to know aright is life eternal." Is life eternal now, and not merely in a world beyond the grave. And what is It to know God aright? It is to know that He is Spirit, that He is Infinite and that He is Life, Truth, Love, reflected in Wisdom, Goodness, Beauty, Harmony. Part of the pro- cess of knowing God aright is knowing our relation to Him. We must know that, however we may seem to be separated from Him — a seeming which is produced by our own selfishness and wilfulness — ^we are not, and cannot possibly be cut off from Him in the slightest de- gree or for a single instant. " In Him we live and move and have our being." " One God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all," Eph., 4: 6. " For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things." Rom. 11: 36. "All my springs are in Thee." Ps. 87: 7.
One characteristic of this new spiritual dispensation is a new use of words. The keyword of the former dis- pensation was " belief." The keyword of the present is ^' know." " Believing " belongs to the idea of an " ab-
22 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
sentee God." " Knowing " belongs to the truth of an immanent or indwelling God who is omnipotent, omni- present and omni-active Being.
Paul the theologian has much to say about believing. The word is constantly on his pen. John, the seer, the man of intuition, the most spiritual of the disciples always speaks of " knowing " rather than of " believing." " Hereby know we that we are in Him." " We know that we have passed from death untO' life." " Hereby we know that we are of the truth." " Hereby we know that He abideth in us." " We know that we are of God." And so on throughout his epistles.
It should be stated with regard to the word " believe " that when used in the New Testament the original Greek word has a stronger meaning than we have heretofore given to it. It carries with it more of the idea of under- standing. Blind belief belongs to the unscientific condi- tion of thought from which humanity is now emerging. The confidence of knowing is a result of the new and larger comprehension which the revelations of science have given us, showing that there are no laws but spiritual laws, and that Jesus Christ was the most scien- tific man that ever lived because he revealed those laws as spiritual, applied them for the healing of sickness and sin, and showed that they were for the salvation and guidance of our universal humanity.
Spiritual knowing is the key to Bible sunshine. It is realizing that God is Infinite Spirit and Infinite Love, and that we are His image and likeness — individualized expressions and reflections of His being and nature. It
SPIRITUAL KNOWING. 23
is realizing that we are spiritual and not material, as St. Paul says, " If any man be in Christ he is a new crea- ture; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new."
The idea that God cannot be known, and that we can only receive spiritual blessings through blind faith is a paralizing error. All the truth in the Bible is an appeal to our reason. " Come now, and let us reason together," saith the Lord; "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool. If ye he willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." This appeal shows that it is through man's reason that his sins are to be de- stroyed and all blessings received. It is only by the highest reason that we are able to deny the evidence of the senses and look to the unseen universe for our sup- ply. Jesus appealed to reason when he taught that even the blessings of this life are to be secured by seeking first the kingdom of God; that is to say, surrendering our- selves wholly to the laws of the spiritual life. The full meaning of His teaching is this : Knowing God and loving our fellozv-men puts us in the spiritual universe, and gives us the blessings of that universe, and these blessings will also be expressed in forms adapted to our present material consciousness.
This Truth is the " Pearl of Great Price," and in the light of it the Bible becomes a source of sunshine which will fill every life with joy Vv^here the truth is received and lived.
See what an appeal to man's reason is made in the fol- lowing promises from the 37th Psalm.
24- SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
"Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
" Delight theyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
" Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.
" And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
But the reality of our trust must be tested. The bless- ings are not bestowed in an hour, for that would be an in- jury to us. Therefore the promises are followed by the injunction, " Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him : fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked de- vices to pass.
"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thy- self in any wise to do evil; For evildoers shall be cut off; hut those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth:'
It is through waiting upon the Lord and " acquainting ourselves " with Him that we have spiritual blessings and spiritual growth. But the word " wait " must be taken in the right sense. It is the farthest possible from a merely passive state of mind. In fact it is best inter- preted by the New Testament standard " Work out your own salvation." True waiting is the most effective kind of working. The words "Be still and know that I am God " are to be understood in the same active sense. It is true that the phrase " Be still " does not seem to sug- gest activity. But what is the purpose of holding still?
SPIRITUAL KNOWING, 25
That we may know God, and knowing God puts us in connection with the Supreme Energy of the universe. We thus become channels for the influx of the Divine power for our own benefit and for the good of our fellow- men. To know God is to draw upon His infinite re- sources, which become ours in proportion to our reali- zation of the truth that they are ours.
The difference between the experience of spiritual " knowing " and that of " trusting in Divine Provi- dence " grows largely out of the two different concep- tions of God. We cling strongly to our former ideas concerning the Divine Personality. Yet if we have that thought without the accompanying thought of God as Infinite Principle, an all-loving and ever-present Power, we are so impressed with the idea of corporeal limitation and human weakness that it is hard to hold an unwaver- ing faith in times of great darkness and discouragement. At such times we can do little more than cry out " Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.'' But changing our " belief " to " understanding" ; realizing that Love is an infinite and all-pervading Power, then we can say " I know in whom I have believed. There cannot be any- thing in the universe but Love. I cannot escape from it, and however appearances may be to the contrary, I know that Love is guiding me, sustaining me, supplying me."
A poem on the next page expresses the spirit of trust.
26 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
RESTLESS HEART, DON'T WORRY SO.
BY EDITH WILLIS LINN.
1
Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so; God hath a thousand ways His love and help to show; Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.
2. Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile, His lovs^ eas <^very wrong- and sorrow reconcile; Just love, and love, and love, and calmly wait a while.
3.
Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so; He hath a, meaning- kind in chilly winds that blow; Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.
4. Dear restless heart, repose upon His heart an hour; His heart is strength and life, His heart is bloom and flower; Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.
5. Dear restless heart, be still; don't toil and hurry so; God is the silent One, forever calm and slow; Just wait, and wait, and wait, and work with Him below.
6. Dear restless heart, be still; don't strug-g-le to be free; God's life is in your life; to Him you may not flee; Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY. 27
CHAPTER IV.
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY — THE PEOPLE'S
GOSPEL.
Changing the standard from intellectual knowing to spiritual knowing creates a necessity for a new psychol- ogy- Psychology is defined as "The science of the human mind or soul." Study of the subject has heretofore been little more than a process of mental anatomy; dissecting asd analyzing the mind by methods similar to those em- ployed in studying the structure of the body. The study of psychology has had little more effect upon the moral nature of the student than the study of physiology would have.
The deeper meaning that is now being given to the word " science " leads to the development of a new psychology. The true science, or " knowing," is not a cold process of mental analysis; it goes to the inner- most sources of being — to the heart, " out of which are the issues of life." Hence the new psycholog}^ in study- ing man, begins where man begins; it begins with God. In treating this topic, especially in connection with the subject of Bible Sunshine, it is necessary to call attention to the fact that there are twO' distinct and separate ac- counts of creation in Genesis. The first chapter and the first five verses of the second chapter describe a
28 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
spiritual process. It speaks of '' every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew,'' clearly indicating the spiritual origin of all things. Gen. 2: 5.
With the 6th verse, the nature of the description is en- tirely changed. It seems to represent man's material conception or idea. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed intO' his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
In the first account the process is represented as be- ginning with Creative Love and ending with spiritual man. The second begins with a material man and ends with sin and death.
The old psychology is based upon the second account, and upon the false idea of the soul as separated from God. It accepts the proposition that God is Infinite and that He is Good, but its instructions oppose that truth by treating man as a separate soul, and evil as a positive force. That is to say, according to its teachings the universe is full of God, or Good, but it is also occupied by other beings beside God, and by another force op- posed to the Deific force.
The new psychology regards all things from the spiritual viewpoint. God is Spirit, He is Love, He is Infinite. Man is His expression, as rays of light are expressions of the sun. He is also His reflection, as a mirror reflects objects that are before it. His individual- ity belongs to his consciousness and is derived from God. That he is an expression of God no more militates agaiinst his individuality than does the fact that a num-
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY, 29
ber is an expression of the principle of mathematics mili- tate against the individuality of the number. The indi- viduality or character of a number depends upon the fact that it is an expression of the principle of mathematics. So does a man's individuality and character depend upon the fact that he is an expression and reflection of God.
The old psychology is materialistic and purely aca- demic. It has no more tendency to create a movement for moral reformation among the people than a study of quadratic equations.
The new psychology is spiritual. It is vital. It leads thought into the realm of eternal verities. It is a Peo- ple's Gospel. Its system of truth is expressed in the five following propositions :
1. God is the only cause.
2. Spirit is the only substance.
3. Love is the only force.
4. Harmony, the reflection of Love, is the only law.
5. Now is the only time.
These are not abstract ideas. They are practical ex- pressions and applications of the central Revelation of Christianity, " The kingdom of God is within you," and of the fundamental truth: "In Him we live and move and have our being." Let us examine them in the light of the above statements:
1. God is the only cause. This is accepted theoreti- cally by all Christians, and does not need to be dwelt upon.
2. Spirit is the only substance."^ This is opposed to the
* For further consideration of the question of matter see page 35.
30 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
testimony of the material consciousness, (which we call our material senses), but it is a necessary corollary of the standards (given above) by which all our ideas and theories must be tested. The " Kingdom within " is certainly not a material kingdom, nor can we for a moment imagine that our bodies live and move and have their being in God. We must transfer our thought abso- lutely from the material to the spiritual viewpoint. This will, of course, be a gradual process. It will require striving, but it is the noblest effort that a human being can make. By this striving " the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glori- ous liberty of the children of God." (Rom. 8: 21.) It is also the supreme key to a spiritual interpretation and understanding of the Sacred Scriptures; a perpetual source of Bible Sunshine. What a flood of light it throws upon such passages as the following:
" They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace; because the carnal (or mortal) mind is enmity against God ; for it is not sub- ject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
" B'Ut ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because o'f righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY, 31
you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
" Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh (the material) ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 5-15.)
Let the reader keep in mind the second proposition of spiritual psychology as he reads the Bible, and he will see what an illumination it continually throws upon the sacred pages.
3. Love is the only force. This thought is treated in other chapters and does not call for special discussion here. But let it not be forgotten that all the troubles of humanity come from belief in a force and power apart from God.
4. Harmony, the reflection of Love, is the only law. Discord is not a law. Love, of which harmony is an ex- pression or reflection, is the only law. Discord is a vio- lation of law.
5. Now is the only time. Lifting the thought from the plane of the material to the plane of the spiritual takes us into " the timeless region where one day is as a thou- sand years, and a thousand years as one day." All our fears and anxieties are borrowed from the past or the future. We worry over vain regrets for past mistakes or
32 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
suffer from dismal forebodings of future ills. Spiritual psychology shows that this is not only foolish, but actu- ally unscientific. We are one with God, as Jesus taught. Then live with Him, rest upon Him, reahze that "all that the Father hath is mine," and trust Infinite Love to sup- ply all your needs.
The appearance of darkness in some parts of the Bible has been a reflection of the false ideas concerning God. Men could only conceive of a Supreme Being in accord- ance with their own state of mind. Hence the Bible sometimes speaks of God as a Being of wrath and ven- geance. But the wrath and vengeance were in the thoughts of carnal mind and not in the character of* God, for He is Love and only Love.
Unfortunately this false idea of God was not confined to the earlier ages of human history when the race could not be expected to have a higher ideal. Although Jesus Christ revealed the Supreme Creator as a Being of per- fect love, a Heavenly Father, yet the heathenish concep- tion was carried into what is called the Christian Era, and some of the darkest crimes of the later centuries were supposed by their authors and actors to be sanctioned by the Bible, because it was still regarded as describing a God of wrath and vengeance*. After Cromwell had taken the town of Drogheda in Ireland, 'he forbade his soldiers to spare any that were in arms in the town, and they put to the sword over 2,000 men after they had surrendered. Nearly 1,000 were killed in the Church of St. Peter's. Cromwell writes concerning the affair, " We put to the sword the whole number of the defendants. * * * This hath been a marvellous great mercy. I wish that
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY, J3
all honest hearts may give glory of this to God alone, to whom indeed the praise of this mercy^ belongs."
All misconceptions of the Bible have resulted from in- terpreting it in accordance with the letter instead of the spirit, in spite of its own declaration that 'The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." The horrors of the in- quisition were justified by quoting the text "Compel them to come in." How many thousands of innocent people have been tortured and slain by reason of the bar- barous law of an undeveloped people, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Spiritual psychology changes darkness to sunshine in many parts of the Bible by substituting the correct standard of Truth and error for the false standard of good and evil. Truth is right thinking about God and our fellow-men. Error is wrong thinking. Error, wrong thinking, can make evil seem like a terrible reality while Truth, right thinking, can banish it altogether. Error or wrong thinking about God and his fellow-men led Cromwell to commit his cruel acts. Truth or right thinking would have kept him from committing them.
Spiritual psychology suggests and directs the true pro- cess of evolution, of which material evolution is only a shadow or symbol. The real evolution is an unfolding of the spiritual consciousness.
Spiritual Psychology; or the People's Gospel has this divine sign and seal of Truth — it appeals to little children. It is the condemning quality of intellectual pyschology and its accompanying system of scholastic theology that it is not adapted to the nature of childhood. This sub- ject is treated in a separate chapter.
34 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
CHAPTER V. DOMINION THROUGH LOVE.
" And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cat- tle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moveth upon the earth."
Has this saying been realized in t\he history of the race? We are disposed to think so, because man has a certain ascendency over the animal creation. But this ascendency has been very far from dominion in any proper sense of that word. Many men have conquered and killed many animals, but, on the other hand, how many men have themselves been overcome and slain by wild beasts of every sort, by poisonous serpents, yea, even by the stinging of insects. If the history were writ- ten from the side of the animals 'they could make out a pretty fair showing of dominion as an offset to ours.
The truth is that, like so much of the language of Scripture, these words were prophetic of a future ideal, and only partially true of the passing condition. Man- kind did not possess the key of dominion. They sup- posed it was to be secured by force and self assertion. Jesus Christ revealed the truth that it is to be gained through Love and self-surrender.
The statements of Spiritual Psychology supply the
DOMINION THROUGH LOVE, 35
key or clue to dominion. Take the first one: " God is the only cause." Can God be thought of as creating the perishable substance called matter? No, it is unthink- able for three reasons: (i) He is infinite, and could not reduce himself to anything less. (2) He is unchange- able, and could not express himself in that which changes. (3) He is eternal, and could not express Himself in that which is destructible. Therefore, since we believe that He created the universe and man, we are led irresistibly to the conclusion that, as God is Spirit, the real universe, and the real man must be spiritual and not material.
What place, then, has matter in the new psychology?
It is a truly remarkable fact that just as the people are asking this question from the purely practical side, science is reaching the conclusion that matter and not Spirit must be called " the unknowable." The closest search for the final atom fails to reveal it, and scientists now acknowledge that in its place they can only discern a theoretical *' point of force " or " center of force." Matter is called substance, yet even this word bears tes- timony to its unreality. It is substance, that which stands under. It is defined as " That which underlies all outward manifestation; that which is real in distinction from that which is apparent." In other words, the real is not *' the outward manifestation," but " that which underlies it." What can we conclude from all this but that the spiritual is the only real and the supersensible is the only natural? *
* Some of the utterances of the late Professor Max MuUer on
36 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
Dominion through Love and self-surrender is the cor- ner-stone of Christianity. In 'fact, it is the only Christi- anity. But when the truth was announced by Christ Jesus, nineteen centuries ago, the world was not in a condition to receive and apply it. Hence the Master was obliged to say, '* I have other things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now."
In the larger comprehension, which the race has gained through its long period of discipline and growth, we are able to see that the self-denial taught by Jesus is a denial of all that belongs to the sense-life — the material sense of being.
The world was not without witness for spiritual domin- ion in its earlier history. What saved Hagar in the
the subject of matter are so striking that a few brief extracts are here quoted:
" To speak of matter or substance as something- existing by Itself and presented to the senses is mere mythology. * • • Matter is a word and concept of our own making, and it con- tains neither more nor less than we have put into it. * * • From this point of view I call materialism no more than a gn'ammatical blunder. It is the substitution of a nominative for an accusative, or of an active for a passive verb. At first we mean by matter what is perceived, not, indeed, by itself, but by its qualities; but in the end it is made to mean the very opposite, namely, what perceives, and is thus supposed to lay hold of and strangle itself. * * * It is admitted on all sides that there never could be such a thing as an object or as matter except when it has been perceived by a subject or a mind. And yet we are asked by materialists to believe that the perceiving subject, or the mind, is really the result of a long continued development of the object, or of matter. This is a logical somersault which it seems almost impossible to perform, and yet it has been performed again and again in the history of philosophy." (From "Three Introductory Lectures on the Science oif Thought.")
DOMINION THROUGH LOVE, 37
wilderness? " God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water." She was permitted, centuries in advance of most of her fellow-mortals, to enjoy the experience of a spiritual law which Jesus revealed in its fulness. So was the young man with Elisha, " The Lord opened his eyes, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." So was Daniel when the power of the Spirit bound the mouths of the lions. If we live, move and have our being in God, then it must certainly be true that God's power is our power in proportion as we have understanding to receive it. The Apostle Peter had a moment of faith which enabled him to walk on the water. His faith failed and he sank, but the law of spiritual dominion did not fail. It was there for his benefit if he had understood it.
With reference to the general subject of " dominion " it must not be forgotten that even in the ordinary process of development man is daily gaining more and more of his rightful heritage. Through electricity he has already annihilated time and space, and it is beyond question that he will continually rise in his mastery of the so-called " laws of nature," which are the laws of God — His meth- ods of operation. Man is now subject to the law of grav- itation, which often leads to his injury or his destruction. But there is an opposite principle of levitation that he will learn to utilize, and when that is mastered man can rise from the earth and move through the air at will. It is said to have been scientifically demonstrated that the spe- cific gravity of the body is changed by the mind; one who is in a high spiritual state being perceptibly lighter
38 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
while in that condition. This points clearly to the natural order of miracles or the naturalness of the super- natural or supersensible. When the race becomes per- fectly spiritualized, people can walk on the water as Jesus did. His dominion came from His selfless life, and He showed the way which all may follow. The highest scientific authorities now admit that miracles are not vio- lations of law, but are the result of laws not yet under- stood. Huxley says: 'T am unaware of anything that has a right to be called an impossibility. There are im- poss)ibilities logical (for instance, "a round square" or a "present past"), but not natural. Walking on the water, turning water into wine or raising the dead are plainly not impossibilities in the logical sense."
A passage lin the Psalms (the 8th) which proclaims man's dominion has heretofore been usually quoted for exactly the opposite purpose, namely, to support the worm-of-the-dust idea of man. Let us examine it :
" When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast or- dained, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? "
That is to say (as we have usually read it), what a miserable little insignificant creature is man! But what are the words that follow ? How unreasonable it is to read the passage as if it stood alone.
" For Thou hast made him but little lower than God (Revised Version) and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands ; Thou hast put all things under his
DOMINION THROUGH LOVE 39
feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and what- soever passes through the paths of the sea."
The Psalm not only gives an exalted conception of God's glory, but also of man's dignity and power.
But we cannot have dominion unless we claim it. And we cannot claim it if we hold ourselves in material limitations. With our lips we say, " Thine is the king- dom." But God's kingdom is spiritual and not material, and our words are rendered null and void if we make a reality also of the kingdom of matter. With our lips we say, '' Thine is the power." But our words are " as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal " if we recognize evil as a power, or if we look to any source but God for the help we need. Dominion is to be exercised through Love, and we shall have dominion in proportion as we realize that Love is infinite, and therefore there is noth- ing in God's universe, the spiritual universe, our uni- verse, but Love and its infinite forms of expression.
Dominion through Love is one phase of the question of the power of thought. If we are obHged tO' live in fre- quent association with some one who has an unfriendly feeling toward us and does not hesitate to express it, how is such a one to be conquered? Certainly not by antag- onism. We know that. But we are not quite so clear that it cannot be done by words of some kind — words of expostulation, of argument, perhaps even of entreaty. Very rarely does that method succeed, for the act of voicing the error is apt to only increase it. There is a method that cannot fail. " Prophecies will fail ; tongues
40 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
will cease; knowledge will vanish away. But Love never faileth." We must first conquer our own preju- dice, for there is always some wrong on our own part. Say to yourself " I can love him, I will love him, I do love him." Say it frequently, day after day, if need be till your feeling of antagonism is mastered. Then hold the same thought for the other one. " He can love me, he will love me, he does love me." Thoughts are things, and if you persevere in this there is no power in the universe that can keep you from winning his love. And in the struggle to overcome your erring self you are doing a work for your own spiritual growth the value of which cannot be expressed in words. It is a process of resurrection which will be considered in the following chapter.
THE PROCESS OF RESURRECTION. 41
CHAPTER VI. THE PROCESS OF RESURRECTION.
What an amazing truth is this which is now dawning upon human consciousness. There is but one real uni- verse, a spiritual universe, which expresses the Being and essence of God — Life, Truth and Love reflected in Goodness, Beauty, Harmony. Man also is spiritual and only spiritual. He is now living in a false state of con- sciousness which he calls a material world and a material universe. The way to pass from the material world to the spiritual universe is not by dying, but by obeying the laws of the spiritual universe, that is to say, by following the principle of Life, Truth and Love.
This is the key and the only key to the life and teach- ings of Jesus Christ. The law of life He gave, " Deny self," means to deny the whole false consciousness of material existence, and live for the spiritual alone. Only by this key can we understand a statement for which scholastic theology has no interpretation. " If any man keep my saying he shall never see death." When man has attained the complete self-mastery which is his birth- right, he will have passed through the process of resur- rection. Like Enoch, he will walk with God, " The last enemy that shall be destrpyed is death."
This stupendous truth has always been near to the thought of highly spiritualized men and women, and has
42 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
found partial expression in the words of many poets and seers. Milton said:
" What if earth Be but the shadow of heaven, and things therein Each to each other like, more than on earth is thought."
Charles Kingsley said, " The belief is becoming every day stronger with me that all symmetrical objects are types otf some spiritual truth or existence. Everything seems to be full of God's reflex if we could but see it. Oh! to see, if but for a moment, the whole harmony of the great system; to hear once the music that the whole universe makes as it performs His bidding!"
These are foregleams of an experience which must and will go on to perfection as humanity rises to its true estate. The point is now reached where Hfe can be understood as a process of resurrection. The elements of Life, which are also Truth and Love, cannot be assimilated at once, but as they are mastered and wrought into being, we are, to the extent of the mastery lifted above the domination of the material. Every faculty we possess must be born from the lower to the higher, from the domain of the human to the realm of the divine, from self as the object of thought and center of life to God or Good as the object of thought and center of life.
Selfhood belongs as truly to the material plane as mat- ter does. Hence overcoming self in the use of any faculty or power lifts that faculty or power from the plane of the material to the plane of the spiritual. It is a resurrection.
This truth underlies much of the teachings of St. Paul.
THE PROCESS OF RESURRECTION. 43
" I die daily," said the noble apostle. Did Paul have a funeral every day? Far from it. Although he used the word " die," yet it is certain that what he had in mind was the resurrection from the death of one appeal of his carnal nature after another. The law " As he thinketh in his heart so is he " is eternal and absolute, and without limit in its appUcation. As long as we believe in the power of the material, just so long shall we be under its dominion. And, on the other hand, just so far as we believe in the supremacy of the spiritual, and demon- strate this belief by self-mastery, just so far shall we con- trol the forces of the universe. One who had gained this power, meeting a tiger in the jungle, stood facing the animal till it turned away and slunk into the thicket. When asked how he was able to exert such control, he replied, " Because I have conquered the tiger in my own nature."
Jesus said " He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Is not this principle the basis of Schopen- hauer's philosophy, showing that his so-called pessimism involves a profound truth? Shopenhauer has been con- demned for saying that this world is the worst kind of a world, and that the one task man has to accomplish is to overcome what he calls "the will to live"; that is, the will or desire to be in and of this world. But is not this the true meaning of Christ's words, " He that hateth his life shall keep it." He opposes the lower and keeps the higher. He refutes the material and temporal and keeps the spiritual and eternal.
44 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
The law of spiritual regeneration can mean nothing less than this — 'that obeying the rule of Love and self- denial begins an actual process of dematerialization. The material concept decreases and the spiritual in- creases. Selfishness is materialism. It belongs to the realm of the material and not to the realm of the spiritual. Hence in our victories over self and sin we are pass'ing through an actual and final resurrection from a material condition to a spiritual existence. That we are not yet conscious of the stupendous fact does not affect its truth. " What we know not now we shall know hereafter."
Does this idea seem fanciful and unpractical? It is the most intensely practical truth in the universe. It cannot appear otherwise to one who understands it. A victory over an evil habit or tendency is a victory to all eternity. Is there anything unpractical in that? Every wrong propensity mastered and overcome is an actual building of the spiritual body. Is not that a " business " which makes buying and selling and money-getting appear smaller than the most trifling games of child- hood? And the glory of it is that the very buying and selling becomes by this law the creator of divine and eternal realities. Flour and sugar and shoes are not heavenly objects, but to sell them in honesty, justice and love brings heaven down into the marts of trade.
If any readers are puzzled by what seems to them a metaphysical subtlety or useless theory concerning the relation of Spirit and matter, let them not be confused or discouraged. Practically it amounts to just this, that
THE PROCESS OF RESURRECTION. 45
we should make as much as possible of the spiritual and as little as possible of the material. We need to surrender the human standard of life and conduct, and accept the Christ standard instead. What is this standard? "Love God. Love man. Keep the commandments. Live in the unseen universe. Trust it as your source of supply." Carrying out these precepts is a practical denial of self and there is no other kind of self-denial but it. To those who live such a life the words are spoken, " If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."
But there is a condition to fulfil on our part. " What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them." This is not an arbitrary rule. The action of electricity furnishes a very helpful illustration of the rule of trusting and receiving. If we could imagine a trolley wire as not beheving that the electric fluid could pass through it, we can see that this lack of faith would hinder or stop the vibrations. Thought, based upon reason and understanding, is a re- ceptive attitude of the mind which establishes a connec- tion with the source of supply.
Jesus Christ demonstrated the truth that man can live in conscious union with God, and enjoy an actual resur- rection apart from the realm of the material and in the realm of the spiritual, and control the material through the higher laws of the sp-iritual.
The process of resurrection is beautifully expressed by the following verses by an unknown writer:
46 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
OUR RESURRECTION.
Out of the sordid, the base, the untrue. Into the noble, the pure and the new; Out of all darkness, and sadness and sin. Spiritual harmonies to win,
This is our resurrection.
2.
Out of all discord and toil and strife. Into a calm and perfect life. Out of all hatred and jealous fear Into love's cloudless atmosphere. This is our resurrection.
Out of the narrow and cramping creeds Into a service of loving deeds; Out of a separate, limited plan. Into the Brotherhood of Man,
This is our resurrection.
4.
Out of our weakness to conscious power, Wisdom and strength for every hour, Out of our doubt and sore dismay Into the faith for which w:S pray. This is our resurrection.
Out of the bondage of sickness and pain, Out of poverty's galling chain, Into the freedom of perfect health, Into the blessings of fadeless wealth. This is our resurrection.
Out of this fleeting mortal breath, Out of the valley and shadow of death, Into the light of the perfect way, Into the freedom of endless day. This is our resurrection.
7.
Out of the finite sense of -things, Into the joy the Infinite brings. Out of the limits of time and space. Into the boundless life of the race, This is our resurrection.
NOW. 47
CHAPTER VII. NOW.
The keynote of Jesus Christ's message to the world
is in the Httle word now. The brief statement " The
kingdom of God is within you " was a proclamation of
emancipation for the human race. It abolished the
limitations of time, and introduced the freedom of
eternity.
"How far from here to heaven? Not very far my friend; A single hearty step will all thy journey end. Hold there, where runnest thou? Know heaven is in thee, Seekest thou for God elsewhere, His face thoul't never see."
Enslaved people are never ready for freedom when it first comes to them. This was especially true of man- kind when the law of liberty was announced by the Divine Emancipator. Mental and spiritual fetters are not easily put aside. Moreover, the law of eternal life involves principles that the world was not prepared to understand. A Httle child can understand them, yes; but the race had outgrown the simplicity of childhood. It was in the self-satisfied stage of immature youth.
The Divine Teacher did not fail to reveal the liberat- ing principle; "the Truth shall make you free." Yet when Pilate asked the question, '' What is Truth?" he gave no answer. " Jesus the Christ knew the human in- telligence too well to feed it upon dry formula that should take the place of living thought. He would not
48 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
think for his followers. He required that they should think for themselves."* He did not need to define Truth. His whole life was an exposition and demonstra- tion of it. Yet he did explicitly announce the principle of freedom in these words : " This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." This does not mean that we are to know two persons, God and Christ, but to know Christ as a revelation and interpretation of God as Love.
The edict of human emancipation was proclaimed nineteen centuries ago. Why, then, is slavery still so universal? Few are the Christians who are not living in a prison-house of bondage to weakness, to fear, to limi- tations of every kind.
It is because matter has been believed to be as real as Spirit, and evil as potent as good. While those two errors remain in the mind, absolute freedom is impos- sible.
Modern science has prepared the way for breaking the last fetters of man's enslavement, first by admitting the non-substantiality of matter, and, second, by recognizing intuition instead of intellect as the true guide and moni- tor of man. This recognition confirms the teachings of Jesus concerning the inner kingdom of Spirit, and shows the Man of Nazareth as the supreme scientist of the ages.
Here, then, we have the vast significance of the word now. All things are ours in proportion to our faith and understanding. But we must believe and trust. In
* Rev. Algernon S. Crapsey.
NOW. 49
finding God we find everything, but we cannot find Him when we are impatient, anxious or depressed. Hence the numberless injunctions to " trust in the Lord" ; " wait on the Lord"; "rest in the Lord"; "be not anxious"; '' beHeve that ye have and ye shall receive," etc., etc.
Every blessing that is promised as a reward of faith is promised now. We do not have to wait for it for an hour. If" it does not come at once, it is because our doubts still prevail, even when we think we have con- quered them. Many texts in the Bible which seem to refer to the future have a present meaning when rightly understood. A few illustrations may be given:
" We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." i John 3 :2.
The true appearing of Christ is when he is revealed to our consciousness. When we see him in our own hearts and are conscious of being joined to him as the branch is joined to the vine, and when we prove this by '" doing his commandments," then we shall, indeed, be like him. I once heard a minister pray thus: " Help the pure in heart to see God." This Avas a needless prayer. The pure in heart cannot be kept from seeing God, for by their purity they are taken out of the realm of matter into the realm of Spirit where God dwells.
" I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Ps., 17 : 15. Then the thing to do is to wake up now. Dying cannot help us if we have not already acquired somewhat of the likeness to God. It should be a matter of present cultivation and not merely of future hope.
" Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." Phil, i : 23. Whatever Paul meant by this,
50 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
we may and should cultivate a desire to depart from the things of self and sense and dwell now with Christ in the realm of Spirit, which is, indeed, far better than the best that flesh can give.
The truth is that there is not, and cannot be any time but now. Now is God's time. Yesterday and to-mor- row belong entirely to man's limited thought. "Acquaint thyself now with God and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee." I formerly supposed that the word now in this text was superfluous, and often omitted it in quoting the verse. It was a great mistake. The reason why so many human hopes totter and fall to destruction is that they are not built on God's eternal now. " The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live."
1.
Day by day the manna fell; Oh, to learn this lesson well! Still by constant mercy fed, Give me, Lord, my daily bread.
2. " Day by day," the promise reads, " Daily strength for daily needs,
Cast foreboding care away,
Take the manna for to-day."
3. Lord, my times are in thy hand; All my sanguine hopes have planned To thy wisdom I resign, And would mould my will to thine.
4. Thou my daily task shall give; Day by day to Thee I live; So shall added years fulfil Not my own, my Father's will. *
Josiah Conder,
OUR DIVINE PARTNERSHIP. ^i
CHAPTER VIII. OUR DIVINE PARTNERSHIP.
If God is an infinite Being expressing Himself in the universe and in man, it is certain that there can be no business in the universe but God's business. We see this clearly with reference to inanimate things, but not so clearly where we are personally concerned. It is God's business to keep the planets in their orbits, but is it His business to keep our affairs in order? It would he if we would let Him. He is our Divine Partner, and He is the most satisfactory partner we could possibly have, for He is not only wilHng, but anxious to assume entire respon- sibility for the success of the firm. All He asks of us is absolute confidence in the Senior Partner; perfect sur- render to His judgment in conducting the business.
The first stipulation He makes is that we shall keep the rules of the house. They may be found on every page of the Day Book:
Love God.
Love Man.
Deny Self.
Keep the Commandments.
The only stipulation beyond this schedule is that we shall believe and act fully up to the belief that He is man- aging the business for the best interest of all concerned.
The terms of the partnership are expressed by St.
5^ SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
Paul, " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." But under the worm- of-the-dust idea of scholastic theology, the emphasis has mostly been given to the first half of the statement, and the blessed fact of the partnership has been lost sight of. Christians have been so strongly impressed with the idea that they must " work " and " fear " and " tremble " that the strength and consolation of the second clause have been almost wholly lost. To remove this wrong impres- sion, let us reverse the form of the statement and read it thus : " Since it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure, therefore work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
The words '' fear " and " trembling " must have a new interpretation under the conception of God as Love, and man as His child, made in His image and likeness. " Fear " cannot imply any cringing or shrinking sense of inferiority such as one would feel in the presence of a mighty potentate. True fear of God is a feeling of rev- erence. In its practical effect it is also a watchful care lest we fail to trust our Divine Partner perfectly. He says that if we want to succeed in business we must transfer our attention from outward or material things to inner and spiritual things. Only in this way can the outward things be properly secured. In other words, cease worrying about the outward things and give atten- tion wholly to obeying the four business rules, and the material things will be suppHed.
This is a wonderful law. It is not strange that the world has been nineteen centuries in learning the lesson.
OUR DIVINE PARTNERSHIP, 53
Nor is it strange that when the truth is presented it does not find quick acceptance.
Emerson was one of the heralds and prophets of the new order of Hfe. That he was misunderstood in his day and generation goes without saying. His ideas were supposed to be in the clouds, and to have no more relation to the practical side of life than a beautiful sun- set has to the growth of vegetables in a garden. But the world is growing wiser. Emerson was first mis- understood, then admired for his beautiful thoughts, and finally accepted as an interpreter of spiritual truths. But that his most transcendent teaching was the most practical, that in it he gave a firm and fixed foundation for the stern realities of life was not known or suspected till the law of Spiritual knowing was revealed, giving form and meaning to that which before had seemed but the baseless fabric of a vision.
How vague and visionary his language seems to the materiaHst, but how sensible and practical it appears to one who realizes " the allness and everywhereness of God." Listen to his words: "Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Always our being descends into us from we know not where. I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher law for events than the will I call mine. From within or from behind a light shines through us upon all things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. * * * Your isolation must not be mechanical, but practical. At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to im- portune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door, and say, ' Come out unto us,*
54 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
" Do not spill thy soul. Do not descend. Keep thy estate. Stay at home in thine own heaven. Come not for a moment into their facts, into their hubbub of con fiicting appearances, but let in the light of thy law on their confusion."
What does all this mean, practically? It means just what Jesus meant when he said that the real kingdom is spiritual and not material. " It is within you. Live in it and for it and the outer needs will be supplied." "What," says the farmer, the merchant, the housekeeper, "am I to go into that kingdom to plow my field, to sell my goods, to manage my household?" Yes. Your life is in God. You cannot perform the simplest act without the aid of your Divine Partner, and He can only be found in your inner world.
There were many who understood the Divine Partner- ship after the departure of Christ, and they realized the ascendency over the flesh that was originally promised. But when Christianity was made a state religion by Con- stantine, formalism began to take the place of vital faith. God was taken out of man's inner temple, where Christ showed He was to be found, and was transformed into an austere autocrat ruling mankind from a throne in the distant skies. The work of this generation is to restore Him to His proper throne, the heart. There He rules, not as a potentate to make man a slave, but as a Father to make His children free ; to restore the lost heritage of dominion to which he was originally born.
Let it not be forgotten that the keynote of this domin- ion is surrender. Only in being willing to give up all things do we become worthy to have all things. Let us consider the principle in the light of an illustration:
OUR DIVINE PARTNERSHIP. 55
A father says to a young son: " I have deposited a milHon dollars in the bank for your use. But you have not yet had enough experience in life to enable you to draw it out in proper sums or to use it wisely. I will therefore apportion it to you myself from day to day. I do not wish to do this in a stinted way. There are rea- sons why I prefer to have you use it freely, even lavishly. But one thing must not be lost sight of. The money must ever be a means of increasing your love and respect for me, and of drawing us together in closer bonds of sympathy. In fact, the amount you receive from day to day will depend upon the honor you do me by the up- rightness of your life and the degree of loving confidence you manifest, showing the world how much you love me and how truly you believe in me."
This brief outline of the illustration is sufficient. Its application is obvious. Not a million dollars, but a million million blessings, covering every possible need of mankind and every craving of the heart, has God placed at our disposal. And His purpose is that we shall be drawn into an eternal partnership with Him by the mutual process of bestowing and receiving these gifts. I do not say into eternal imion with Him, for that exists already. The partnership is created by our recognition and acceptance of the union. Our part is to accept the fact of the union and thus establish the partnership.
Although our Divine Partner agrees to assume all the responsibility of the business, yet our part is not easy at first. It would be easy if we would accept the fact and rest upon it — 'trust it perfectly. But we are not only partners, we are also children whom God the Father is
5(5 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
training for His eternal companionship and for eternal usefulness in His kingdom. Therefore our faith is put to many and severe tests. The million dollars may be in the bank, but very little of it is in evidence. Our divi- dends seem very small, and we begin to doubt Whether they may not fail entirely to-morrow or next week. Here is where we make our great mistake. We are not content to accept the supply for to-day, and so by our doubts we cut off or diminish the supply for to-morrow. " Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it." But our lack of understanding leads us to say, " O, no, I must be modest. I must not presume upon God's goodness. I will not make too great demands upon His generosity; I will open my mouth a little way." And all the while our Father and partner is saying, " try me now, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
The purpose of this chapter is to encourage all whose desire is to do good. To them the assurance may be made without reservation : Your business is God's busi- ness. He is your Partner, and the divine resources are your capital. All He asks is your unquestioning confi- dence; a trust that accepts His guidance every moment without an anxious thought. If you are in trouble. He asks you to realize that He is your source of help and not any fellow-mortal.
" Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and
OUR DIVINE PARTNERSHIP, 57
shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jere. 17 : 5-7.
Observe the striking statements that they who trust in man " shall not see when good cometh," while those who trust in the Lord shall be Hke a tree that is uncon- scious of the drought and " shall not see when heat cometh." Those who trust the external world will be- come so blind in their judgment that they cannot dis- cern God's blessings when He sends them, and they who trust the unseen will be so secure that they will not be disturbed by the appearance of limitation or misfortune. They will know that God's power cannot fail, and there- fore they will not be " careful, neither shall they cease from yielding fruit."
The experience of George MuUer confirms this truth. When a young man he became impressed by the idea that if he would go directly to God for aid in carrying on his work, the means would be forthcoming in answer to prayer without appealing to his fellow-men for help. He held rigidly to the principle, and received by free contributions during the course of his life, and ex- pended for his orphan as3dums, more than seven million dollars. Many times the larder was entirely empty, with
S8 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
no knowledge as to where the next meal would come from. At such times Mr. Muller instructed his assis- ants to be especially careful not to let their situation become known, and there was never a time when food was not supplied by the time it was needed. His Divine Partner never failed him. I remember well hear- ing Mr. Muller say in a public address during one of his American visits : " I am not tired of the ways of God." No one can ever become tired of the ways of God. But we get very tired of our own ways. Then let us exchange them for God's way. " Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass." Not at the first moment, perhaps. Not when our impatience demands it. When we are impatient we may know to a certainty that it is our way and not God's way that we are seeking. " Intensity is greed." That is to say, when we follow any purpose with intense eagerness, in- stead of a spirit of waiting on the Lord, it shows that we are grasping after some gain for ourselves, however we may imagine that we are working for God and our fellow-men. The following lines are a wholesome anti- dote for intensity:
My hand had grown all feverish.
And cumbered with much care; Trembling- with haste and eagerness,
Nor folded oft in prayer. The Master came and touched my hands
With healing in His own; And calm and still to do His will
They grew, the fever gone. " I must have quiet hands," said he, " Wherewith to work My works through thee." •
Author unknown.
THE POWER OF THOUGHT. 59
CHAPTER IX.
THE POWER OF THOUGHT.
Thought-force is the only force in the universe. We sometimes speak of material laws, but there are no material laws. Gravitation, cohesion, the falling of an apple, the swinging of a planet through space — these and all other so-called natural phenomena are but the manifestation of thought-force.
In the development of life and character the power of thought is absolutely without limit. " As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
"And good may ever conquer ill,
Health walk where pain has trod; As a man thinketh, so is he; Rise, then, and think with God."
Shakespeare expresses the truth in a different form. " There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
The law has no limit. We are not merely strongly influenced by our thoughts, we are actually formed and created by them. If we hold high and noble thoughts, we will inevitably become high and noble. If we hold low and groveling thoughts, our own natures will gravi- tate irresistibly to the low and groveling.
The reason it is hard for us to believe in the absolute power of thoug'ht is that we have not dared to fully com- mit ourselves to it. Appearances are against it, and it
do SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
is hard to resist the impression of appearances. The words of Jesus go vastly deeper than we suppose — " Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Dr. George D. Herron says, " The Godhood of human Hfe is the fact that spiritual evolution is slowly bringing to light. Evolution and history join with Jesus in pointing to the coming of a common divine manhood Which shall be God's real and visible presence. From this inwardly masterful and elemental manhood, emancipated from every outward master and from every form of fear, each man will rise to see and individualize God for and in himself."
That is to say, each will see that he is individualized in God, and will thus find the secret of his power.
But he must understand that there is no real power but Love. This must be true, or God is less than infinite.
Where, then, does evil get its appearance of power, a power so great that it often pushes its victim to destruc- tion, or seems to do so?
It gets its power from our own thought. It has all the power that we concede to it in our thought and no more. Love or goodness is a positive force. Its source is in God and therefore its power is irresistible.
Light is a positive force. It is the medium for creat- ing all the life there is on earth. Darkness is not a posi- tive force; it is only the absence of light. Bring light and darkness disappears. So with evil, the negative, and good, the positive.
We see the tremendous power of thought in that it can admit the idea of evil and thus for the time we be-
THE POWER OF THOUGHT, 6i
come slaves to it. But this is the negative side, and we should now and forever turn away from the negative to the positive. There is the real power, for it is God — " the Eternal Goodness," as Whittier expresses it. It is ignorance of the nature of God that leads us to turn our thought away from Him, and hence we read in Hosea 6:8: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." If we know that God is infinite, omni- potent and omni-present Good, and that we are an ex- pression of His being, then there can be no practical limit to the beneficent outgoings of our lives, nor to the love, joy and peace that will flow into us. " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst."
But we must use this truth rationally and wisely. If any one thinks that watchfulness is made unnecessary by the discovery that evil is not a positive force, but has only the power we concede to it, he makes a prodigious mistake, as he will sooner or later find to his cost. Which is the worst enemy, a Satan in hell after the Mil- tonic pattern, or a subtle devil in our own heart, created by our own lack of understanding of the Eternal Good- ness? Thoughts are things. The Divine Teacher said that harboring a lustful thought virtually changes it to a criminal act. We take pains to guard our pocket- books, but it is infinitely more important to guard our thoughts. We repel tramps from our door, but admit any number of tramp thoughts into the mind. St. Paul has given us the rule: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are
62 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
And let it not be forgotten that thinking of high and noble things is a building process. It is a construction of our own eternal mansion. Not only our mansion in Heaven, but right here in our present life. Then let us turn our thought resolutely from the wrong to the right, from the human to the Divine, and hold it firmly there against every temptation of the lower nature. We must realize that we are children of God, made in His image and likeness, and that we share His dominion. His power is ours, we need not be weak. His life is ours, we need not be sick. His riches are ours, we need not be poor. Let our mental pictures be wholly of life, health, abundance, and those gifts will certainly be ours, for God is Love, and His law of Love is perfect.
But we must remember the Master's words, " Believe that ye have, and ye shall receive." When we pray we must change the thought of need to a thought of posses- sion. If we still keep the thought of need, it shows that we are not " believing that we have." By holding the thoug^ht of possession we become partakers of all that is His, for He is ours; our Father, our God, our Good, and nothing else is present to be ours. Sowing such thoughts we shall reap the reality in our experience, for " as a man soweth, so shall he also reap." If we sow thoughts of omnipotent Good, we shall reap a very har- vest of good things. The sowing of spiritual thought
THE POWER OF THOUGHT. 63
is the prayer; the reaping is the answer. If we sow a fear, we cannot reap a joy. A sense of possession is spiritual ascendency, and spiritual ascendency breaks every bond that hinders progress.
64 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
CHAPTER X. IMPORTUNITY.
For many years the parable related by Jesus to illus- trate and encourage importunity in prayer was a puzzle to me. It seemed inconsistent with the teachings con- cerning the fullness of God's love, and His desire to bless His children. But the law of spiritual knowing makes it clear, as it does all other spiritual problems. God's love is, indeed, perfect, and His gifts are to be had for the asking. " Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will 'hear." But we are so under the dominion of material sense, and so far from a true realization of the spiritual, that we sometimes need to ask long and often before we are in a condition to receive the gift we ask for, or even to perceive that it is within our reach. " Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss." We think our motives are right, and perhaps they are, as a whole, yet they are so alloyed and corrupted by our carnal, material selfhood that we are not in a condition to receive the blessing we desire, or to be truly benefitted by it if we had it.
God is obliged to speak to us as He did to the Children of Israel, to whom He said at the close of their pilgrimage, " Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know
IMPORTUNITY. 65
what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or no."
Take the question of poverty. It is not possible that our Heavenly Father wants us to be poor. It is utterly contrary to His nature. Poverty may, indeed, be a blessing to us because it forces us to turn to Him. But here is the point at which we are likely to stumble. We think we are turning to God when we are only turning away from poverty. We want abundance, but we do not yet want God. If we did, we could have Him, and have abundance also. The promise is sure.
" If thou return unto the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy taber- nacles.
" Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brook.
" Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
" For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almiglity, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
" Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
" Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be estab- lished unto thee, and the light shall shine upon thy ways." Job 22 : 23-28.
Here is surely a mine of golden promises; riches, honor, prosperity, dominion. What is the key to this storehouse of mercies? If thou return unto the Almighty, and put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. It is a fair bargain, and God will never fail to keep His part of it.
66 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
But there are many who earnestly desire and strive to turn to God, and to banish iniquity from their hearts and Hves, who yet come far short of " inheriting the prom- ises.'* Why is this?
It can only come from lack of a true understanding. Jesus, the Divine Teacher and Guide, says that in order to receive the thing we ask for we must believe that we have it. But our false and belittling ideas of God make it almost impossible to do this. It is like learning a dif- ficult lesson. And here is where we need to practice im- portunity, not to make God more willing to bless us, but to prepare ourselves to receive the blessing. A sense of poverty shuts out God's riches as surely as a feeling of hatred shuts out His love. We must cultivate a sense of the abundance we have in God, and then it will begin to flow toward us and enrich us.
And the same rule applies to all our necessities. The truest prayer is not begging God to bestow His gifts. He is willing to do this. He wants to do it. He is more anxious to bestow His mercies than we are to re- ceive them. It is the law of spiritual knowing that we are to claim the gifts of God as rights. When this idea was first suggested to me it seemed presumptuous and wrong. But I soon saw my mistake. We are children of a King. In which way do we most honor our Divine Sovereign, by failing to claim our rig'hts, and even doubting whether they belong to us, or by asserting our privilege as children of the royal family and demanding the rights which belong to our heirship?
Let us rise to our high privilege as children of God.
IMPORTUNITY, 67
We need love. We need patience. We need health. We need money. Let us be bold and importunate in claiming these gifts, and asserting that nothing in the universe can keep them from us.
But we must not forget that the necessity for impor- tunity grows out of our own unfaith and lack of under- standing, and not from any lack on God's part. Claim- ing His gifts is a way of trying to realize that they are already ours.
The case of wrestling Jacob is an encouraging illus- tration of wise importunity. The words " I will not let thee go until thou bless me," seem too presumptuous for a child of earth. It was not the child of earth that spoke. It was not the selfish, carnal Jacob; it was the real child of God beneath the mortal consciousness, claiming his divine birthright. And how richly was his importunity rewarded? The wrestler became such a prevailer that his whole nature was changed, and a new name was given to him. Jacob the herdsman became Israel, a Prince.
It is sometimes said of those whose lives are based on the Christian principle of spiritual knowing that while they deny the existence of a personal devil (which they must do if they believe that a good God is infinite and omnipresent), yet they have created a devil that they call " Evil " or " Error," or " Animal Magnetism," and this new devil seems to be as strong and as hard to man- age as the old one.
It must be remembered that error, or wrong thinking has had possession of the human mind for untold ages.
68 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
It has almost complete control of the consciousness and will-power of the race. Even religion has done much to confirm this condition, because it has so largely pre- sented the idea of an anthromorphic or man-like God. Evil, error, wrong thinking are not the expression of the divine in man, but of the carnal mind, envy, jealousy, hate, ambition, lust, covetousness, of all wrong and selfish propensities. It is the sum-total of ^accumulated falsity which now fills human consciousness, and may well be called a devil, as Jesus himself sometimes did, a liar and a murderer. It miust be treated as an aggres- sive force because it is active in the carnal mind, and is always roused by the presence of Truth. It is an unseen but ever present enemy. St. Paul says (Eph., 6 12, 13), " We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand." His familiar de- scription of the spiritual armor need not be quoted in full. It closes with a strong plea for importunity. *' Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, and supplication for all saintsJ'
LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE BIBLE. 69
CHAPTER XI. LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE BIBLE.
The Bible is often called a '' Book of Life," but the thought of life has been chiefly of the life beyond the grave. " As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." If we think of life only as a gift in a future world, we cannot enjoy the full inflowing here. But no such limitation belongs to the living Word. Right here and now is the privilege to be enjoyed.
Jesus Christ said, " I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." What kind of life did he mean? He meant every form that life can assume for man's growth, development or happiness. He meant the life that expresses itself in art through Raphael, in music through Beethoven, in litera- ture through Shakespeare, in kindly deeds through Florence Nightingale; the life that enables us to visit the sick and the prisoners, to carry a cup of cold water to a thirsty disciple.
The words " more abundantly " have a depth of mean- ing which cannot be grasped by a mere passing thought. The phrase is a door opening out into the realm of the Infinite. It belongs with the other statement of Jesus and with its limitless suggestiveness : " I have other things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now." It is a part of the revelation of our at-one-ment with
70 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
God, and of our privilege of drawing upon His infinite resources.
A growing belief that the word life includes bodily health is creating a new order of Christian teaching at the present day. Dr. Francis E. Clark, the founder of the Christian Endeavor movement, says, " I devoutly believe that too little has always been thought of the hygienic efifect of communion with God. I devoutly be- lieve that a multitude of physical diseases might be arrested and a multitude more healed by the constant, habitual practice of the presence of God." But if a " multitude of diseases," why not all?
A flood of light is thrown upon the subject by observ- ing the fact that the words " health," '' wholeness " and " holiness " are all derived from the same primitive root. Health is wholeness of mind and body. This prin- ciple was the basis of all the healing work of the Great Physician. He observed no other lav/. His appeal was ever to the mind of the patient. His work embraced wholeness in its double sense. It apparently made no difference to him whether he said '* Thy faith hath healed thee " or " Thy sins be forgiven thee." Hudson says in his " Law of Physic Phenomena": " It is a mar- velous fact, and one which constitutes indubitable evi- dence of the truth of Jesus' history, that in no instance have they related a single act performed, or a word spoken by him that does not reveal his perfect knowl- edge of and compliance with the laws of mental thera- peutics as they are revealed in modern times through experiment and the process of inductive reasoning."
LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE BIBLE. Ji
If we live, move and have our being in God, where is the source of our weakness or sickness? Where can it be except in our own lack of realization of the truth that our life is a continual outcome from the Hfe of God? In Eph. 2 : 10 the statement " Ye are God's workmanship " may also be translated '' Ye are God's poem." God's standard for His children is health, harmony, beauty, perfection. The time will no doubt come when it will be regarded as dishonoring God for a Christian to be sick.
By the Jewish law, the sick, the infirm, the maimed and crippled were excluded from the Temple. Hence those who were healed by Jesus or the disciples were always outside of the sacred edifice.
Even in the Old Testament the healing of the body is a more prominent thoug'ht than we realize unless we make a special study of the subject. The fact has already been mentioned in a previous chapter that one of the names of God, " Jehovah Raphai," signifies " The Lord our Healer." And the truth expressed by the name is exempified in many ways. " I am the Lord that healeth thee." Ex. 15 : 26. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases." Ps. 103 : 3. *' I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abund- ance of peace and truth." Jer. 33 : 6. " My son attend to my words ; incline thine ear unto my sayings ; for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." Prov. 4 : 20, 22. " I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds." Jer. 30 : 17.
It is needless to multiply the quotations. No one
'jB SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
doubts the power of God to heal. The question that is just now agitating the churches is with regard to Jesus' teaching on the subject. Did he instruct his followers as to the nature of the healing power for permanent exercise by them? For many centuries the Church has answered this question in the negative. But when we look for any scriptural ground for their adverse decision it cannot be found. The words of the Divine Healer were expHcit, and leave no margin for mental reservation of any kind. " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea- ture. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." The words " them that believe " show clearly that the gifts were not to be limited to the disciples to whom the in- junction was immediately addressed. The extension of the privilege is still more emphatically expressed in John 14 : 12: "Verily, verily, I say unto you that He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto the Father." Dr. Joseph Parker of London, puts the case conclusively, as follows:
" If we believe 'the New Testament, we beheve that men were once * made whole ' without medicine or doc- tor. If this was a fact in New Testament times, why may it not become a fact in the present day. If it is a fact, it is the most beneficent fact in history, and being
LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE BIBLE. /j
such, it ought, if possible, to be recalled and re-estab- lished. To grasp the question wisely and thoroughly, we must go back to Christ's own time and think with him. Did Christ heal men? Yes, he did. Did Christ's Apostles heal men? Yes, they did. Was the healing mechanical, surgical, medicinal? No, it was not. Was the healing spiritual, sympathetic, mental? Yes, it was. Is Christ the same yesterday, to-day and forever? Yes, he is. Does Christ still work and reign? Yes, he does. That settles it. Suffering is the same, Christ is the same. Love is the same. Then what is wanting? Just what vv^as wanting in Christ's own day. Dost thou believe? Believest thou that I am able to do this thing? All things are possible to him that believeth. He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbe- lief. We must simply and heartily adopt the belief — most rational belief — 'that the things which are impos- sible with men are possible with God. That is all. The belief must not be mere assent; it must be the ruling and ever-active principle of the life. The curing of dis- ease is a paltry matter. To cure the disease of distrust of God is the supreme miracle."
Christian pastors who oppose the principle of Mental Therapeutics surely cannot be aware that moral purity is the very foundation and cornerstone of the system. In the various medical systems drugs are often employed to heal the body of the debauchee that he may return to his sensual life again, but the metaphysical or spiritual healer gives no promise of cure except in turning from sin and following the ways of righteousness.
74 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
In an essay entitled " The New Revival," which was read before the Illinois State Congregational Associa- tion by the Rev. Quincy L. Dowd, pastor of the Congre- gational Church of Winnetka, the speaker said:
" A demand rises now that a gospel be given which offers a spiritual hygiene. God's tidings of gladness to- day, as at the first, come to sick, aiHng and harassed peo- ple. Are we not told to restore men and women, bringing them into health of mind? Much of what Christian Science stands for Christian pastors should attend to in the regular course c^f their work. It may come to pass that Seminaries for training ministers will have a professor of pathological and spiritual diagnosis. Healing of the mind is the pastor's forte. His message or advice misses the mark unless it brings some reviving to mortal flesh along with an awakening of the immortal spirit."
A writer says in a religious paper: " When one takes a dose of medicine, he helps or harms only himself. But he who takes into his mind that which makes for the healing of his own soul, by the same potion ministers to all those who are about him. A merry heart gives light to a whole roomful of melancholy saints. Courage dif- fuses courage; hope creates hope; confidence generates confidence; and fidelity to a good cause, bravely main- tained by one human being, sets the pitch of fidelity for many others."
Jehovah Raphai! " The Lord our Healer! " Can it be possible that we may accept this title in its full mean- ing, and that God, the infinite Creator, will heal all our
LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE BIBLE. 75
diseases, will visit the hospitals, the ' shut-ins,' the homes for the incurable, and will ' cure them, and reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth?' Yes, this was the message of His Son to the world. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath appointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the cap- tives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." In God's kingdom there are no " incurables." We are *' shut in " only by the dark cloud of error that has been created by the sick and dying thoughts of humanity for ages. But the hour of emancipation has struck at last. The message of Truth to this generation is in the words of the prophet, " Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee."
Some who read these pages have been under the claim of disease for years. At first thought they can- not believe it possible that the gift of health and full vigorous life may be theirs once more. Let them re- member that this unfaith has been wrought into our natures by human theories, without one word in the Bible to sustain them. Dismiss these theories. Take the promises of the Bible as literally and absolutely true, and to be relied on. If we have a machine for which power is needed, and the electrician says, " You may trust the power-house. It has all the force you require, and a thousand times more," we believe him. So let us believe the words of scripture. Infinite Love is our power-house. " Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
76 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
CHAPTER XII. THE NEW FACT.OR IN RACE DEVELOPMENT.
If Jesus Christ revealed the nature of God and the Prin- ciple of Eternal Truth, then the methods of extending His kingdom must be completely reversed. They have here- tofore been carried on in the masculine way. They must now be pursued in the feminine way. The masculine way is the way of the intellect. The feminine way is the way of the heart. In presenting the Principle of eternal life, the Divine Teacher made no more appeal to the brain than if the organ had no existence. His attention was wholly given to the moral and spiritual nature of man. For nineteen centuries the effort has been made to extend His kingdom by intellectual processes. It is not strange that this generation is confronted by the question "Is Christianity a failure ? " There is but one answer to be given : " It has never been tried."
If Jesus taught a system of truth and life which repre- sents and appeals to the feminine element of our nature, why did he choose men as his disciples, and commission men to carry on his work? Because he knew that the race would have to pass through an intellectual stage be- fore it would be ready for the intuitional and spiritual stage.
Even during his ministry the higher spiritual quality of woman was continually in evidence. His most sympathetic
ri-IE NEW FACTOR, 77
resting-place was in the home of Mary and Martha. Women were last at the cross and first at the tomb. After the resurrection the first commission was given to women : " Go and tell the disciples that he is risen from the dead."
What was the history of society and of religion in the past when men had complete control? Bad men created a hell of selfishness and sensuality in this world, and good men invented a hell of eternal torment in the next world to punish them for it. Neither of these things would women have done even in the lowest stage of racial devel- opment.
Women are the natural teachers of the race. A promi- nent educator says " it is easy enough to find scholars among the men, but for teachers, we must go to the women." The history of the kindergarten is an illustra- tion. The kindergarten was evolved by a man, for man is the natural creator and originator, but it was the women, and only the women who saw its spiritual meaning and recognized its educational value. For nearly a century women have applied the kindergarten principle and demon- strated its efficacy in child-training ,and only within a few years have the masculine educators realized its full value, and accepted it as the basis of all education, supplying prin- ciples that are to be carried through all the stages of growth and development.
The new translation of Psalm 68 : 1 1 is an interesting illustration of the changed ideas concerning woman and her mission. In the Old Version it reads : " The Lord gave the word ; great was the company of those that pub- lished it." In the New Version it is given as follows:
78 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
" The Lord giveth the word ; the women that pubHsh the tidings are a great host." The translators of King James's time could not believe that God intended to put woman forward so prominently, and therefore they calmly omitted the word. But woman's prominence in spiritual things belongs to her nature irrespective of human edicts or human opinions.
Observe that the statement is not that women are to displace men in the spiritual leadership of the world, but that the woman's method must supplant the man's method. Woman's way is a way of loving deeds. Man's way is a way of dogmas and creeds. In the practical work, the two will combine, as God meant them to do. And this combi- nation will not be limited to so-called religious questions. In reality there are no questions but religious questions.* Women are as much needed in the halls of legislature as they are in the churches. The masculine law-maker votes millions of dollars for the care of criminals. The femi- nine law-maker would provide a system of kindergartens, and save the next generation from becoming criminals. To cover this branch of the subject by a single illustration : men build an expensive hospital at the foot of a precipice, amply supplied with surgeons, ambulances, and other equipments. Women would build a fence at the top of the precipice, and neither hospital, surgeon, nor ambulance would be needed.
* I believe the industrial question is a religious question. I believe every- thing that has to do with the welfare of man in politics, in industry, is a religious question ; everything shows our relation to one another, and our relation to the Father of Life. We have committed the Golden Rule to memory ; now let us commit it to life. — Edwin Markham,
"AS A LITTLE CHILD r r9
CHAPTER XIII. " AS A LITTLE CHILD."
The teaching of Jesus concerning childhood has had no place in the various systems of formulated theology. The essential distinction between his message and that of Buddha, Confucius, and all other founders of religions is right at this point. They told the children that they must become like their disciples. Jesus told his disciples that they must become like little children. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." This shows that there is no gateway from the realm of the material to the realm of the spiritual but the gateway of a childlike spirit and disposition.
What are the characteristics of childhood which are es- sential to spiritual life ?
1. The characteristic of unconsciousness, self-forget- fulness and absolute trust. T.he mature Christian is told that he must attain a state of complete surrender, but the little child is in that condition by nature. It is entirely free from the self-imposed limitations of adult thought.
2. An open and unprejudiced mind. A modern writer speaks of the slow development of the race as resulting from " the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of new ideas." But this conservatism does not result so much from a positive resistance as from the
8o SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
fact that the adult mind is already occupied. It is like a citadel whose occupants repel indiscriminately all who ap- proach it, treating all alike as intruders and enemies. But the child's mind is free ; ready to receive impressions and giving an equal welcome to all.
3. A capacity for other-worldliness. Little children live in a world of their own — a world of imagination. To the boy the hobby-horse is a real horse on which he makes real journeys to far-off cities and countries. To the girl the doll is a real child which is petted, scolded, sent to school, introduced into society. To both boy and girl the fairy world is a real world peopled with real beings. It has heretofore been supposed that the faith of childhood in a fairy world belongs only to that period of life, and should disappear in the process of a normal development. But in the light of this new spiritual dispensation, we see the error of this thought. Little children live in an unseen world, peopled with the creatures of their imagination, because man is spiritual and is created to live in an unseen world — the realm of spirit. The fairyland of the child's mind is intended to be replaced by the spiritual home of the adult mind. If we learn aright the lessons taught by our own childhood, we shall know that " the things which are not seen are eternal."
4. The ability to live in the present, or by the moment. God is an Eternal Now, and there is where He wants us to live with Him. The child does this, and lives with God in a timeless region of realities. The adult creates for him- self a nondescript state of unreality which is a mixture of regrets for the past and dread of the future. The present
''AS A LITTLE CHILD/' 8i
moment is therefore to him a brooding nightmare, hatching out an endless series of imaginary evils.
Children are naturally spiritual until we train them into our own materialistic ways of thinking. Hence the parents who are trying to live in the light of spiritual rather than intellectual truth find the little ones of their household beautifully responsive to their suggestions. T.he idea of an unseen guidance is native to their being. That the heavenly Father should answer prayer and fulfill His promises literally is to them a matter of course. The fol- lowing incident illustrates the point :
The oldest son in a certain spiritually minded family had gone to the Spanish war. It was known that an im- portant battle was to occur on a certain date. Notwith- standing the faith of the family in spiritual things, their hearts were on that day filled with natural fears and fore- bodings which they could not refrain from expressing. In the midst of a conversation on the subject, the pet of the household, a boy of about five, slipped out of the room. Presently he returned and said with great confidence, " It's all right. I've been praying for Harry, and I know that he won't be shot."
The event proved that he was correct. When the son returned home they felt some hesitation about speaking to him of the incident, as he was not usually interested in religious ideas. But they decided to do so and to their surprise he said, " Yes, I believe that. The bullets were flying thick around me that day when all at once I felt a consciousness that I was protected. All my fear passed away, and I went through the battle like one with a
82 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
charmed life/* The little boy was then asked what he said when he prayed for Harry. He replied, " Oh, I went by myself and I just keep saying over and over, ' A thou- sand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee,' and by and by something told me that he wouldn't be hit."
The prayer, " Now I lay me," that is so universally taught to the little children has one undesirable feature. It introduces the idea of death at the earliest period of the child's conscious thought, and fixes it in the mind by daily repetition :
Now I lay me down to sleep;
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.
Why may it not be changed from the thought of death to the thought of life, and of God's constant presence and protecting care ? I suggest the following form :
Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray thee. Lord, my soul to keep; Thy love be with me through the night, And bless me with the morning light.
GOD'S WORLD. 83
CHAPTER XIV.
GOD'S WORLD, BUT NOT. GOD'S KIND OF A WORLD. APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY.
It seems at first sight like a contradiction of terms to say that this is God's world but not God's kind of a world. The thought can be made clear by an illustration.
Let us suppose an immense factory built by Edison to be run by a certain method of using electricity. The suc- cess of the establishment depends entirely upon this special method of employing the electric fluid. Let us suppose that the manager of the building is a secret enemy of Edison, who succeeds in reversing the electric currents, and thus throws all the machinery into confusion and pre- vents it from accomplishing the various results for which it is designed. Would it not be entirely correct to say of that establishment that it is Edison's factory, but not Edison's kind of a factory? He built it and he owns it, yet it in no sense represents his ideas.
Just as truly can we say that while this is God's world it is not God's kind of a world. He made the world to be ruled and governed by Love. But an influence which is the exact opposite of Love has in some way gained posses- sion, and the result is unspeakable confusion and incalcu- lable injury. God Himself, the Love principle, is the motive-power in His world, and man has introduced the element of selfhood, which is the opposite of Love.
84 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
Substituting the ways of selfhood for the ways of Love has so bhnded humanity to its own true interest that it has fallen into a state of illusion. The injunction of our Lord : " Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment," has a far deeper meaning than is usually given to it. It has been supposed to refer chiefly to the indulgence of unjust or censorious judgments con- cerning our fellowmen. " Judge not according to the ap- pearance, but wait till you understand the case better, that your judgment may be just." Such has been a common idea of the text. But the meaning is infinitely deeper than this. It was spoken with reference to the healing of the impotent man on the Sabbath, for which the Pharisees con- demned Jesus, and wished Him to be put to death. " It is true that in doing this on the Sabbath I have broken one of your technical laws, but I have obeyed a higher law of God in healing one of His children. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
The principle applies to our whole concept of life, and to all that belongs to our life. Righteous judgment means right judgment, and the only right judgment is that which is based upon the eternal truth, " The kingdom of God is within you." God's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and since He is infinite, there can be no realm of realities but His inner spiritual kingdom.
The appearance is that we are living in a material world which is subject to decay and death, and that we ourselves are material, and subject to decay and death. The reality is that we are spiritual beings, expressions and reflections of God, and that our true home is where Jesus declared it to
GOD'S WORLD, 85
be — in the '^ kingdom within." Our home is not there only prospectively in a world beyond the grave, but now, at this present moment. St. Paul said : " Our citizenship is in heaven." We are in heaven now in proportion as we obey its one law — the Law of Love. Nothing is real that is not an expression of that law, for nothing else is eternal. That which is perishable has not even a temporary reality. It has a temporary seeming — that is all.
Take a ten-dollar gold piece as an illustration. To human sense it seems the very embodiment of reality, for it represents food, clothing — all the essentials of life and comfort in the world. Is it a reality? No. The one who holds it may have a heart full of sadness and bitterness. Merely owning the gold piece will not abate one jot or title of the sadness. It is true that the coin may be imme- diately transmuted into reality. It may be used to pay a debt which the law of Love requires us to pay. It may be spent for the relief of a needy family. It may purchase an article of value for ourselves. In such ways it may become a source of joy to its possessors — Jesus said: " Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness." This is another way of saying transmute the appearances of the external world into the realities of Love and Life. " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the Love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world ; and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." John 2: 15-17.
86 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
In the last declaration : " He that doeth the will of God abideth forever," we have again an occasion for remem- bering the injunction : " Judge not according to the ap- pearance." The external world appears so substantial, so strong, so enduring ; the prosperity of the wicked seems so enviable ; our own experiences are so trying. We can but echo Jacob's despairing cry : " All these things are against me." Right here is where we must hold firmly to the unseen realities, and by holding to them in our thought we will surely receive them. As sure as God is God the day will come when we can say with the prophet :
" He will swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the re- buke of His people will He take away from off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:8, 9.)
" We have waited for Him." This is the keynote of victory. It is judging not according to appearance, but judging righteous judgment.
GOD'S LAW VERSUS HUMAN LAWS. 87
CHAPTER XV. GOD'S LAW VERSUS HUMAN LAWS.
God governs the universe by a single law. Human society seeks to manage its discordant elements through a multiplicity of laws. Fourteen thousand one hundred and fifty-nine new laws were enacted in the United States in the year 1899, in addition to the numberless edicts that were already recorded on the statute books.
But the restrictive enactments of legislation are as noth- ing in comparison with the fetters with which the human mind binds itself. The laws of fashion lead millions of people to sacrifice their comfort, yes, far more than com- fort, their peace of mind, their bodily health, and often life itself is laid upon the altar of this Moloch.
Superstition also has innumerable forms of slavery even in this enlightened age. As this chapter Is being writ- ten the newspapers report the case of a man who was so fearful of seeing the new moon over his left shoulder that he walked backward off the piazza, injuring himself severely. Many of those who are in bondage to supersti- tious ideas deny the existence of the chains, and profess to treat the subject as a jest. Yet they show their subjection in countless ways. They do many things, and leave many other things undone that they would treat very differently if they were free from this bondage.
In the matter of health, what a dismal code man has
88 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
created for his own enslavement : " As fie thinketh in his heart, so is he." He has built a vast hospital, a gloomy prison, to which he condemns himself by a thousand laws. The law that dampness brings rheumatism, that sitting in a draft induces a cold, that eating certain kinds of food will cause dyspepsia, that breathing the air of a certain locality will produce malarial fever, that being in the company of one who has imprisoned himself with smallpox will re- sult in the same penalty — a volume would be needed to record the list of laws that mankind have created for their own affliction in the way of sickness.
Then there is an endless schedule of what may be called personal laws — laws of temperament, laws of environment, laws of heredity (treated elsewhere in a separate chapter) — laws — but why continue the doleful catalogue ? Let us turn away from the dark picture of human slavery and contemplate the supernal glory of " the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."
The simple declaration, " the Truth shall make you free," is an edict of emancipation from every self-created fetter of the human mind, because it opposes to all human laws the one divine law of Love.
Love is the fulfilling of the law. Notice the word full- filling. It fills full. Not partly full, or half full, or nearly full, but full — absolutely full. And what is filled full by Love? All things; everything; the universe, including man. " All's law, but all's love." " The law of gravita- tion is one with justice," says Emerson.
God, Love, is All. Love, God, is Law. There is no other law. " He that loveth another " {" the other," mar-
GOD'S LAW VERSUS HUMAN LAWS. 8p
ginal reading) " hath fulfilled the Law." He has filled it full.
The word law has been used in many ways. St. Paul often employs it in a theological sense. But no one has ever had a clearer view than the great Apostle of the ab- soluteness of the law of Love. His declaration : " Xhe law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death/' is of infinite application. It is cosmic in its comprehensiveness.
The meaning of the word sin is " to miss the mark." The laws of the carnal or mortal mind miss the mark every time. God's one law of Love never fails. We fail con- stantly because we do not utilize the law. Love is life. It was because Jesus revealed the perfect Law of Love, that he said : " I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Love and Life are interchangeable terms. Whoever surrenders himself to the law of Love holds the issues of life, and may speak with authority as Christ Jesus did. " Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Why? Because Love is the law of heaven, and whoever holds the key of Love holds the key of heaven.
This truth indicates the correct interpretation of Jesus's saying: " If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
90 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
But when did two human beings ever agree under the laws of the carnal mind ? The judges in human courts are continually called upon to settle disputes between people who tried to agree and utterly failed to reach a common decision. Human laws are an element of disagreement, and not of agreement. But if we agree with God, if we put ourselves under His law of Love by surrendering our will to His, then, indeed, we may ask for anything, and it shall be given unto us. And if " two or three " are agreed in doing this, God is in the midst of them ;He is one with them.
God's law of Love is the law of man's dominion. In this external realm of material illusions, man is the slave to his own innumerable laws. In the realm of spiritual realities he is master of God's law. Every evil that hu- manity suffers from is a reflection of a vital error in human thought. Lightning kills and destroys. When the horrible killing thought is eliminated from human con- sciousness, that experience will be known no more. Fero- cious beasts and venomous reptiles do not belong in God's universe. They are expressions of man's evil thoughts. The condition in the future when Love is to rule the uni- verse is thus described by the prophet Isaiah (ii 16-9) : " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together ; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. i\nd the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's
GOD'S LAW VERSUS HUMAN LAWS. 91
den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy moun- tain, but the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
Let it not be forgotten that the knowledge of the Lord (or " Jehovah/' as the Revised Version renders it) is a knowledge of Love — nothing more and nothing less — for God is Love, and " everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God." God's one simple Law of Love will eventually supersede all the complex laws of man's inven- tion.
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CHAPTER XVI. " FEAR HATH TORMENT/'
A recent writer says : " Fear is my devil." This is an effective way of stating a universal experience. In the final analysis it will be found that all fear comes from belief in separation from God. Belief in separation from God is the Evil One, or the one evil. But actual separation from God is impossible, because we live, move, and have our being in Him. This shows the groundlessness of fear, and the profound philosophy of the statement : " There is no fear in love, for perfect love casteth out fear." Per- fect love comes from ^n understanding that an omnipotent and omnipresent God, whose being is Love, can not allow the slightest harm to come to His children. " There shall no plague come nigh thy dwelling." This declaration seems to be contradicted by experience, for plagues in- numerable have entered the dwellings of good and devoted Christian people.
But we must remember to whom this promise is ad- dressed. It is to the one " that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High." The most timorous soul can realize that no plague can come nigh that dwelling. Evils come to us because we fear them. " The thing which I greatly feared has come upon me," says Job, and so it will be to the end of time.
Yet, beneath all other causes, the one fundamental cause
"FEAR HATH TORMENT." pj
of fear is selfishness or self-consideration. Selfishness or selfness shuts out the consciouness of God, and thus opens an avenue for every fear. In reality there is no true life but the selfless life. An absolutely selfish fife is a Godless life. It is a state of illusion, of disappointment, of bitter- ness, of haunting fears, of seeking happiness, and never finding it. Joy, to such, is an ignis fatuus, ever floating before the vision, but never attained.
It has become a maxim of society that happiness can not be secured by direct efifort; it only comes in uncon- scious moments when v^e are seeking other ends. Why is this? It is because seeking happiness is an act of self- hood; hence it destroys the very object it is striving to attain.
But is not the desire for self-preservation a divine in- stinct? Yes, but it must seek its end by divine methods. The motto : " Look out for number one," embodies the highest v^isdom if we will but remember that God is Num- ber One in the eternal series to which man belongs. Look- ing out for Number One, in the light of this truth, will draw every blessing that man is fitted to enjoy, and will bring us into normal relations with all the other numbers. Looking out for number two, that is to say, for our own selfish selves, puts us out of joint with the entire universe. God is dismissed, and the devil of fear takes possession. Emerson says : '' One thing fear always teaches, that there is rottenness where he appears. He is a carrion crow, and though you see not well what he hovers for, there is death somewhere."
The " carrion crow " is selfishness, whose fruit is death.
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This Is a problem that all must work out for themselves. But with the golden key of Love, victory is sure. The joy of loving will displace the torment of fearing.
I will not extend the discussion, but close with a few quotations.
" Depression and low spirits, when yielded to, become a species of death." — Mathew Arnold.
" The plague killed five thousand people. Fifty thou- sand died of fear." — Oriental Proverb.
" Fear is a greater pain than pain itself. O, thou of lit- tle faith, what dost thou fear ? Let the world be turned up- side down, let it be in utter darkness, in smoke, in tumult, so long as God is with us." — St. Francis de Sales.
The philosophy can be given in a nutshell :
We are living in God's spiritual universe, where exactly the right thing invariably occurs at exactly the right mo- ment. Fear blinds us to this truth.
OUR DIVINE HEREDITY, p3
CHAPTER XVII. OUR DIVINE HEREDITY.
One of the crudest forms of human slavery is the fear that is caused by the prevalent ideas concerning heredity. One family is in bondage to a supposed heredity of con- sumption, another of insanity, another of what is called the alcoholic habit, and so on through the whole sad catalogue of human infirmities. This fear seems to be justified by the second commandment of the Decalogue, where God is spoken of as " visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and four generation of them that hate Me."
The fact has been lost sight of that this law was after- ward abrogated and annulled, as we read both in Jere- miah and Ezekiel.
*' What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge ? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die." — Ezekiel i8 12-4.
Language could not be more explicit in stating and de- claring tHat heredity is no longer a law ; it is displaced by the understanding that our individuality is derived from God.
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. Personal and individual responsibility is the basic prin- ciple of all biblical instruction. In one form or another it reflects the injunction of St. Paul : " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." The supplementary truth, " for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure," does not lessen the force of the teaching as to individual responsibility; it rather strengthens and confirms it. God worketh in you and not in your father or your grandfather.
The teachings of Jesus not only imply the complete re- sponsibility of the individual and ignore the idea of heredity, but he destroyed its supposed law forever by saying : " Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, which is in heaven." This is a necessary corollary to his teaching that man is spiritual and not ma- terial. *' God, Spirit, is your Father. Your home is in the spiritual kingdom. Your life, health, strength, supply, your all comes from that kingdom. Give your whole thought to it. Expect nothing from earthly sources, not even from the nearest and dearest of earthly relationships."
What a rich store of hope and courage is this truth to those who have supposed themselves to be under a pitiless law of heredity, and that the taint of some disease is in their blood. " God is my Father. He is my Healer. No power in the universe can keep His life from me if I will receive it. In fact, there is no other power in the universe, for He is all in all." This truth, if fully realized, will do more for the health than all the drugs and medications that human ingenuity can devise.
Man's true heredity is clearly shown in John i : 12, 13 :
OUR DIVINE HEREDITY. ^7
" As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that beHeve on His name ; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God/'
The true man, the spiritual man, is not born of flesh and blood — of material substance — nor of human doctrines and theories. He is born of God. The realization of his divine birthright comes through acknowledging Truth as Jesus taught, and obeying the law of self-denial thaf he showed to be the principle of the spiritual life. This denial of the material, or sense-life, restores man to his normal condition as a child of God, and " if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that passeth not away." " When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written : Death is swal- lowed up in victory. ''
One of the greatest evils of a belief in mortal heredity in place of the true immortal heredity is the encouragement it gives to self-deception. Human nature is ever seeking excuses for self- justification, and there are no excuses that appeal more plausibly to the mind than the idea that cer- tain sins and indulgences are the result of inherited ten- dencies,
98 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
CHAPTER XVIII.
DID JESUS TEACH AN INDIVIDUAL GOSPEL OR A SOCIAL GOSPEL?
That the churches are losing their hold upon the masses of the people is evident from many signs. Yet at the same time the Founder of Christianity is gaining a new vogue and popularity among them. " The people turn doubting from church altars to cheer in the streets the name of Jesus." This arises from their belief that he taught a social gospel of universal justice and universal brother- hood.
That he did teach and demonstrate such a gospel is be- yond question. The Golden Rule is the corner-stone of his moral code, the spirit of the Rule permeates all his in- structions, and the all-inclusive word " our," which be- gins the form of prayer given to his disciples, places the law of Human Brotherhood upon eternal foundations by recognizing all men as children of the one Universal Father.
It is usually assumed by those who regard Christianity as the foundation of a social gospel that the idea of an in- dividual gospel is opposed to that of a social gospel. One of the leaders of the socialistic movement who is pastor of a Christian church states his view as follows :
" I regard the attempt to regenerate society by first of all trying to regenerate the individuals composing it as a
DID JESUS TEACH? pp
nightmare, as being opposed to the only sane philosophy I am acquainted with. I believe that this talk about ap- pealing to men's spiritual natures is misleading and vain — that it overlooks facts and principles that are fundamental, and that to any longer follow the method which it implies, is to part company with reason and chase a will-o'-the- wisp. I deny, and I can not too emphatically do it, that a man will find within himself the cause of his woes. It is time that hideous philosophy were abandoned. I believe in men. And I hold that to profess belief in God which does not involve the greatest possible belief in men is a contradiction in terms. I hold that the very deepest foun- dation-stone of anything worthy to be called religion is belief in men."
This writer makes the very grave mistake of supposing the former idea of individualism to be the only standard of individualism. Having been brought up under the shadow of the " soul-saving " notion of salvation, he has concluded that that is the only conception of an individual gospel, and that a social or communistic gospel is the only alternative. He evidently is not aware that many have reacted against the selfishness of soul-saving who have not been led by this reaction to renounce the idea of individual- ism. It has led them to see that a true individualistic life is the only basis for a true socialistic life, and that no re- former has ever shown the principle so clearly as did Jesus, the Carpenter.
The difficulty arises from that old foe to clear religious thinking, the forensic " plan of salvation " based upon the anthropomorphic conception of God. The idea of an In-
LofC,
100 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
finite Being can only be suggested to the finite mind by- analogies.
The relation of individualism to socialism is made very clear by employing the analogue of mathematics, or the department of mathematics which is expressed by num- bers. God, the Supreme Origin of all things, is repre- sented by the infinite principle of mathematics ; humanity is represented by the different numbers. Each number is an individual expression of the principle of mathematics, and, as the expression of this principle, each number has a certain meaning, character, and value. Also, the rela- tion of each number to all the others depends upon, or grows out of, its relation to the universal principle.
Now let us suppose the whole family of numbers as being in a state of insanity. They have lost all conscious- ness of their relation to their Father, the infinite principle of mathematics, and all proper sense of their own abstract value. They suppose that their value depends upon the objects with which they are associated. Five does not realize itself as 5 unless it is associated with some special object. And so with all the others.
This would represent a condition of absolute material- ism. We can carry the illustration still further. We can imagine the numbers as making a great difference among themselves corresponding to the objects with which they are associated. Those connected with insignificant objects are thought meanly of. Those which count or ex- press more important things feel themselves superior to the others, while those that are associated with money or property claim and are accorded a very special importance.
DID JESUS TEACH? loi
and are permitted to rule all the others. Quarrels, wars, bloodshed become universal in the family of numbers.
Now suppose a Saviour is sent from the Mathematical All-Father to heal these divisions and restore the quarrel- ing family to a state of sanity. Would not his first, and in an important sense, his only work, be to lead the numbers to realize their relation to the universal principle from which they derive their being? Could he do any real good by going about among the numbers and endeavoring to lead them to a better mutual understanding, except by showing their relation to the universal principle? Sup- pose, on the other hand, he could succeed in leading every number to an appreciation of its true meaning and value as an expression of the universal principle. Would not his mission be completely fulfilled ? Would not all mutual re- lations be immediately established and adjusted?
Or, if the reform is gradual, and he is compelled to spend much time in working among the deluded children, what would be the nature of his work ? Would he spend his time in trying to heal breaches and patch up quarrels ? Of what avail would this process be while the lack of ad- justment between the numbers and their Mathematical Father still continued? If any of the family came asking him to do that kind of work, would he not say : " Who made me a judge or a divider over you ? Seek ye first the kingdom of your Father and all these things shall be added unto you."
Does not this illustration convey its lesson without need of comment? The Christian Socialists are right. Jesus, the Master Reformer of the ages, did come to adjust
102 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
human rights an^ to establish universal brotherhood ; to in- troduce the ideal condition " when business will be friend- ship, and government will be love ? "
But he understood the eternal law of Life. He was too wise to substitute effects for causes. " Love your fellow- man," he said. " Deny yourself for him. Feed him when hungry. Clothe him when naked. Comfort him when afflicted." But not one word did he ever say to jus- tify the idea that human relations could be set right till divine relations are properly adjusted. As numbers can not add, subtract, multiply our divide correctly till they are properly related to the infinite principle that creates them, no more can man deal justly with his brother ex- cept in so far as he is in proper relations with the Infinite Father. Jesus said : " The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. " He then repeats the statement : " This is the first commandment." And adds, " the second is like, namely this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
It may be claimed that some who do not profess to love God — who do not even believe in His existence — are more righteous in their lives, and more just in their dealings with their fellow-men than others who acknowledge God and profess to love and obey Him.
It is not a question of profession or even of recognition and acknowledgment. Anyone who believes in right- eousness and lives it, behoves in God, whether he knows it
DID JESUS TEACH? 103
or not. T.here can not be any goodness in the universe that does not come from Him. People who love goodness and practice righteousness have not rejected God; they have only rejected the false God of human conception. In pro- portion as they love goodness and righteousness they love God, although they may not realize it. Therefore, instead of being evidence^ against the rule that man must love God first and the fellow-man afterward, they are living wit- nesses in its favor. We may say to them as St. Paul did to the Athenians : " Whom therefore ye ignorantly wor- ship. Him declare we unto you."
The rank injustice of industrial conditions ought to stir every heart with deepest indignation and pity. The fact that millions of our fellow-men have not the privilege of earning their daily bread, and that those who have this privilige are subject to innumerable limitations and dis- advantages by the evils of the existing social order — what right-minded child of the race can withhold his sympathy or fail to do all in his power to alleviate this condition — to right the grievous wrong.
The Literary Digest of September 22, 1900, gives the following description of industrial conditions in Italy, translated from the Frankfurter Zeitung:
" A perusal of the rules for the workingmen, which are posted in the leading factories, shows how unmercifully the workingmen and women are treated. Work in both winter and summer begins at six, and care is taken that no one dare be late even a second. T.ardiness, even to the slightest degree, is fined ten centesimi (two cents), and double this sum if it takes place on a Monday. On every
104 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
repetition of such tardiness the fine is doubled. In the silk factories, during the season, the hours of labor are six- teen, namely, from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., while the average pay is only half a lira (10 cents).
" The least inattention is severely fined. It is utterly im- possible to sit at a weaver's bench for twelve consecutive hours without speaking a word; yet if detected in the act the culprit is fined. No time is given to the women workers for their duties at home, and if one of them re- mains at home a few hours for such a purpose, she is fined two lira (39 cents) — a large sum under the circumstances. Leaving one's chair without the best of reasons brings a fine of 50 centesimi (10 cents). Any break in the ma- chines must be paid for by the workman, although he may be entirely without fault."
If it be alleged that it is unfair to borrow an illustration from the country where the industrial conditions are at the very worst, the answer is that the business creed which leads to those conditions is dominant in America, although not carried to such extreme results. The creed is : " Get all you can and give as little as possible."
But the value of sympathy depends entirely upon the effectiveness of its expression. As a mere sentiment it is worthless. And taking the term " Christian Socialism " as indicating the best effort of men to release their fellow- men from all evil social conditions, who is the best Chris- tian Socialist, one who strikes the evil at its root, and seeks to introduce at the foundation a Principle that will reach the heart and change the nature and motives of both em- ployer and employed (because the Principle of Love ap-
DID JESUS TEACH? 105
plies equally to both), or one who gives his attention to external reforms; pruning and lopping off the diseased branches ? The social reformers are indeed doing a noble work in their efforts to secure justice in the industrial world. But they should remember the words of the Mas- ter Reformer : " these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
Love is a universal solvent. It is the only cure for the ills of humanity. Not human love as a sentiment, but Divine Love as an active force, expressed in righteousness, justice, unfailing consideration for " the other one." And it must be remembered that every spiritual reality has its counterfeit in the unreal realm of human selfishness. Every activity of life is the expression of love, either human or divine. A great city like New York or London, is only what love has made it. Love of home, love of friends, love of action, love of success, love of applause, love of art — man expresses himself through his various forms of love, and if the fruits of love should be elimi- nated, there would be no New York or London left. Now let all that is human in this love be changed to the divine, and heaven would be here. Joy and peace would reign in every heart.
And this is exactly the figure that is employed by St. John in his revelation of the ideal future :
" I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea (no more error or unrest). And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus-
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band. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."
This is a picture of the future New York and Lon- don when they have been emancipated from selfishness and sin, and spiritualized by Love. The heavenly Jerusalem is a type of the earthly city. " Jerusalem, which is above is free, which is the mother of us all."
And since it is a spiritual city we are building, it is an unspeakable comfort and encouragement to know that every act of kindness, justice, and unselfishness on our part is adding to its beauty. Even our loving thoughts are helping to build the New Jerusalem, for thoughts are things, and " the things which are not seen are eternal."
THE HEAVENLY LANGUAGE. 107
CHAPTER XIX. THE HEAVENLY LANGUAGE.
A correspondent, writing with reference to a treatise on a spiritual subject, says : " It is written in the heavenly language in which is written the ' new name,' which * no man can read save he to whom it is given.' "
The idea of a " heavenly language " has lingered in my mind like a strain of sweetest music. T,he " new name " is Love, and the heavenly language is the language of Love.
" The wise men ask what language did Christ speak ?
They cavil, argue, search and little prove ; O sages, leave your Syriac and your Greek — Each heart contains the knowledge that you seek:
Christ spoke the universal language, love." *
Spiritual psychology is introducing a new language into the world, and it is a heavenly language. It is an ex- pression of the spiritual truth which Jesus taught concern- ing the unseen spiritual world as the world of realities. Turning the thought to that world we find there an infinite Heavenly Father whose very substance is Love, and this love is imparted to everyone who obeys its laws. But the material must be sacrificed to the spiritual. '' Ye can not serve God and mammon." All anxiety must be given up, and our lives must be committed to the unseen realm with
* Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
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the trust of a little child. Then " all things shall be added unto you " for the higher or spiritual consciousness con- trols the lower or material consciousness. Harmony within will express itself by harmony without. In proportion as we realize love, joy, and peace in our inner being, the dis- cords of the external life will disappear. God is Spirit and He is Love. Live with Him, rejoice in Him, surrender your will to His will, and Heaven will take possession of your being. But we must trust and rest, and live for the highest things. Only the pure in heart can see God, and only the trusting heart can find peace in Him.
The phrase " heavenly language " is a useful addition to religious terminology. It is needed. People are coming into the new spiritual conception of life in so many ways and from so many different starting-points, that they are often unconscious of the change themselves, and also un- conscious of the new bond of sympathy with others. Now let them observe whether their friends begin to speak the heavenly language. If they express in any form the thought that God is all, that Spirit is all, that Love is all, then we may respond in like terms and find that we and they are in the " unity of the spirit and the bond of peace."
The phrase affords a helpful suggestion to the clergy. Many of them are in large sympathy with the principles of spiritual knowing. But their sermons are not yet clearly expressed in the heavenly language. Or, perhaps, they preach a sermon in the language, and some of their hun- gry people go home delighted. But the next Sunday the sermon will be filled with the old scholastic terms, and the comfort of the sympathetic hearer is lost. The theological
THE HEAVENLY LANGUAGE. lop
seminaries will never be wholly right till they teach the heavenly language, and the gulf between the preachers and the masses will only disappear as that language is learned and employed.
Yet it is not really a new language. Five thousand years ago, while the priests were ministering in the name of polytheism because the masses of the people were not pre- pared for anything higher, many of them secretly held to one God. The following statement was a part of the form for initiating the favored few into " the unutterable mys- teries " : '' God is the One, the All, the Father, the Source of Life, the Sustainer of Life."
The Hebrew Scriptures are full of the heavenly lan- guage, but it has not had its full heavenly interpretation. Jesus of Nazareth makes it a part of his great commis- sion as recorded in Mark i6 : 17 : " In my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues." The early church obeyed the commission literally, healing the sick, and speaking the heavenly language. When the power was lost through worldly ambitions and worldly methods, a few faithful ones still used the language, and it diffused some light even in the darkest ages. Now it is re- appearing in the fullness of its power, and blessed are they who understand and use it.
We sometimes speak of dead languages, but the truly dead language is that which expresses a dead theology. The heavenly language is the dialect of Love ; the vernacu- lar of Eternal Life.
no SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
CHAPTER XX.
THE ART OF LETTING GO.
The art of arts, the hardest for human nature to learn, is the art of letting go. It is not so in the rest of the uni- verse, outside of human kind. Why is it that
"the earth whirled amid the stars,
Wakes not a nested bird or slumbering child ? **
It is because our planet has " let go " absolutely and perfectly, and surrendered itself to the care of God. God says to the circling stars : " Underneath are the everlast- ing arms." They believe His word, and yield themselves to His perfect care, and a harmonious Cosmos is the re- sult. If but a single atom in a single star failed to yield itself in absolute trust to all the laws that govern it, order would be changed to chaos. The universe would become a diverse,
God says to man: " Underneath are the everlasting arms." Man stops to doubt and question, and thus de- stroys his own peace. Here are some wise and helpful words on the question of letting go :
" When we look into faces around us we find traces of anxiety and care in all. Anxious thought has written its mark over most faces.
" What are we anxious about ? Some fear haunts us. We seem afraid of so many things. Afraid of falling
THE ART OF LETTING GO. iii
into something that will hurt us, or somebody else. Sup- pose, now, that we just let ourselves fall. Rest awhile by saying : ' I have no concern about what happens. I am not anxious.' It will be well for us to try falling for a time. We have been on such a strain, trying to hold our- selves up, to keep from falling. Let us now yield, give up the strain, fall. What then? Where is there to fall but into God?
" ' Underneath are the everlasting arms.' We have never rested upon them, because we have been trying to keep ourselves up. When we let go we shall feel these strong arms all about us. All threats of what may happen to us will be proved powerless when we give up resistance. Let come what will, for only God can come.
" We may begin to destroy claims of fear and anxiety by saying often : ' I am not afraid, for there is nothing to be afraid of — ^God hath not given me a spirit of fear. Perfect love casteth out fear.*
How can we carry out the " let go " gospel ? In other words, what shall we let go of ?
I. Since God is Infinite Love, let go of the idea that sin, evil, hate, discord, sickness, etc., are realities in any such sense as their opposites are realities. They are realities only to the extent that we hold them in our thought as realities. Let go of the thought of evil, and hold the thought of goodness; of envy, and hold the thought of Love; of discord, and hold the thought of harmony; of sickness, and hold the thought of health, and so on through the entire catalogue.
* Mrs. Fannie B. James.
112 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
2. Let go of all that is earthly. Then we shall begin at once to rise. Material gravitation is downward, but spirit- ual gravitation is upward. Letting go is like cutting the ropes of the balloon and allowing it to rise into its native element. Remember that " it is the father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom." We do not have to beg and plead for it. Only let go of the things that belong to earth —the lower self — and we shall rise into the upper region of Love, Joy, and Peace.
3. Give up worrying because others insist on traveling toward Heaven a different way from ours. " Some peo- ple collect a bag of prejudices and call it conscience." And they are just the people who judge others by their own little standard. It is well to imitate the Episcopalian brother who was asked whether a floating chapel in which he was interested was " High Church " or '' Low Church." " It depends on the tide," was his reply.
4. Give up the personal will. Ah ! here is the supreme test. Many readers of these lines can conscientiously and truthfully says : '' I have been trying all my life to do this, and I have not succeeded." Do not be discouraged. A new hope is coming into the world through the law of spiritual knowing. Our efforts in the past have been on the platform of blind belief. Now we are seeing that we are called (as Christians have been for nineteen centuries, but few have understood it) to the higher privilege of knowing. But we can not change the habit of thought in a moment. It is like a new lesson to be learned, and it can not be mastered without constant effort. Practice daily the effort of holding the thought : I am a child of
THE ART OF LETTING GO. 113
God, made in His image and likeness. I have no will but His. I am spiritual and I do not live in or for the ma- terial. I do not yield to error. The greatest error is to doubt God. I can and do deny error and selfishness. I can and do rest in the Lord. Not my will, but thine, O Lord, is done.
A layman, a successful man of affairs, has stated the truth clearly and strongly, as follows:
" Christ's prayer, ' Not my will, but thine be done,' ex- cludes all sense of personality or self-gratification. Did you ever think that all the poverty, want, in fact, every form of evil, with its inevitable results, sickness, sorrow, and death comes from that little word mine? Well, it does, every bit of it. And when we learn to substitute the word ' God's ' for ' mine,' all sickness, sorrow, and friction of every kind will gradually drop out of our lives, and Heaven — harmony — will be a veritable reality. Make it a settled fact in your life that your will is to be in com- plete subjection to the divine will in every word, thought, and act. This means m.uch, but it is the ' only true way,' and your reward will well repay the effort. You will be a constant surprise to everyone, and a greater surprise to yourself. Are you weak? You will become strong. Are you sick? You will become well. Are you poor? You will become rich — rich in every sense of the word, for then you will begin to manifest the kingdom of heaven which is ' within you.' Then ' God will dwell in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure/ " '''
* Lincoln G. Backus,
114 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
CHAPTER XXI. CONTAGIOUS GREETINGS.
A vast amount of harm is done by the unfortunate form of greeting which prevails among all English-speaking people. " How do you do ? " we say, with the kindest possible intention. But the question has a most undesir- able and mischievous effect. It brings before the mind the one subject which ought to be kept in the background ■ — ^the ills of the flesh. In accordance with some element of perversity in human nature the question does not call up a vision of health, but rather brings out the latent thoughts of infirmity and disease.
The evil is not a slight one. Now that the governing effect of mental action is beginning to be realized, it be- comes an important duty to change or modify a custom which develops a destructive force whenever two friends chance to meet. Thoughts are things. Our sympathetic greetings are actually contagious. We throw sickly ideas like pestilent pellets at one another's heads.
There is a form of greeting that is natural and un- forced, and that produces an effect which is as favorable in the right direction as the other is in the wrong. " Good- morning ! How is your thought to-day ? " The essential difference between the trend of materialism and the trend of spirituality is well illustrated by the opposite effect of the two questions. " How is your health ? " is an appeal
CONTAGIOUS GREETINGS. 115
to the material side, and brings up thoughts of sickness. Even if we feel well when the question is asked, the ten- dency is to remember that we had a headache yesterday or are dreading the dyspepsia to-morrow. " How is your thought ? " emphasizes the optimistic and not the pessi- mistic side. It arouses an immediate desire to improve the thought, and to press more resolutely in the direction of Truth and Life. Let us banish all contagious greetings.
Ii6 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
CHAPTER XXII. THE NEW EVANGELISM.
Evangelism is defined as " the preaching or promulga- tion of the gospel." Gospel means " good news " or " glad tidings." But what has been called the gospel in the past has been partly good news and partly bad news. The good news was the teaching that God is Love, and that Jesus Christ came to reveal His love, and to lead men to know the Heavenly Father. The bad news (proclaimed by the same " evangelists " who proclaimed the good news) was that God is also a relentless Monarch, who would not forgive His rebellious subjects (as they were called) until His son died as a punishment for their sins, and until they believed this teaching and accepted the death of Jesus Christ as an expiatory sacrifice made in their behalf. The bad news also included the idea of a hell of eternal punishment, where a large share of the human race were destined or (as many taught) pre- destined to go.
Churches and institutions which have been accus- tomed to do evangelistic work are now anxiously consid- ering what form of appeal can be made in the light of the New Dispensation — ^the Dispensation of Love. The ap- peal to fear has lost its power.
Can there be any doubt on this question? Can any power equal the power of Love and Truth? Love is
THE NEW EVANGELISM. 117
infinite. Truth is omnipotent. They are really one, for Truth is Love demonstrated, and the combination is ir- resistible. " Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."
The present revival of New Testament teaching, freed from the human traditions which have gathered around it during the intervening centuries, changes the gospel of good and bad news to a gospel of good news only. How may we know that this is a pure gospel? It is a pure gospel because it is universal. It applies equally to the learned and the unlearned ; to the very poor and the very rich; to the hopeful optimist and the despairing pessi- mist. It appeals to the simplest mind, yet satisfies the wisest philosopher. It holds the terrors of the law equally over those who are drunk with alcohol, and those who are drunk with spiritual pride, announcing the one universal and inexorable law for all : " Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
The New Evangelism announces the message that God is Love, and only Love. Some earnest but conservative Christians are fearful that the presentation of this truth will give the sinner a license in self-indulgence. It can not do so, if the case is properly presented. Sin is in- sanity. Is there anything more awful than insanity — the delusion and darkness of a diseased mind? Show the sinner that he is under the terrible law " to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his slaves ye are to whom ye obey." This is the true rendering of the text. Show him that he must remain a slave till he renounces
Ii8 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
his sin, and that his taskmaster will become more relent- less and more cruel the longer he remains under his power. Then show him that he can break the shackles and escape from the bondage at once if he will accept the law of emancipation : " I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me." " As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgres- sions from us." This separation is simply a reversal of one's course.
Spiritual knowing shows that this declaration applies not only to sin, but also to the consequences of sin, and to the weakness, disease, and misery it entails upon its victims. God not only " forgiveth all our iniquities," but He " healeth all our diseases." Evil habits, appetites, and passions are overcome. The children of wretchedness and despair " come to themselves." They "arise and go to the Father." There they find that He has always been waiting for them, ready at any moment to go out and meet them, to welcome them, to take them into His home and give them an abundance of joy and peace forever- more.
OBEDIENCE, 119
CHAPTER XXIII.
OBEDIENCE, THE CHIEF OF CHRISTIAN GRACES.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect, he became the author of salvation unto all that obey him. Heb. 5 : 8, 9.
Obedience is the chief of Christian graces, because it includes all the others. It includes Love, for the obedience of fear is not obedience in the true sense of the word. It includes humility, for an obedient disposition is the fruit of self-forgetfulness and self-surrender. And so on through the list of Christian qualities.
Like all other religious questions, that of obedience must now be considered or reconsidered in the light of true science or spiritual knowing. The idea of obedience to a person must give place to the idea of obedience to a principle. This is the message of the new dispensation to the children of the old dispensation, and it disturbs us not a little. Human nature, especially in its undeveloped stages, always clings to the concrete rather than the ab- stract. Personality is concrete; it appeals to the primi- tive consciousness. Principle is abstract, it must be sought for and studied ; its unseen laws must be grappled with, and in some degree comprehended.
The higher must be cultivated, and it must eventually
120 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
prevail in all the relations of life. The wise teacher who so trains his pupils that they will maintain the same good order in the schoolroom when he is absent as when he is present, is teaching them the lesson of obedience to prin- ciple instead of obedience to a person. This one illustra- tion is sufficient to suggest the application of the law in the realm of education.
In applying it in the religious field we seem to be checked at the outset by the very text that has been chosen to introduce the discussion. Do we not read " he became the author of salvation unto all them that obey himf How could personality be more strongly em- phasized than it is in this declaration?
Let this question be answered by asking a counter question. How does it happen that the so-called Chris- tian nations that have accepted the Bible as a revelation from God, and Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Saviour of the world — how does it happen that while pro- fessing to follow him and to obey his teachings, they have so largely done the things he told them not to do, and left undone the things he told them to do ? It is because their attention has been occupied with personality rather than principle. He revealed God as an infinite Father whose nature and being is Love, and said " do not trouble your- selves about doctrines ; do the Father's will, obey the law of Love, and you will know the doctrine," and the world has been neglecting the law of Love and fighting over doctrines ever since. The outcome of this devotion to the personality of Jesus rather than to the principle he taught was well expressed by the late Prof. Roswell D.
OBEDIENCE, 121
Hitchcock : " After nineteen centuries of propagandism, Christianity is now compelled to apologize for Christen- dom." Also by Dean Milman : " Christianity has been tried for 1900 years. Perhaps it is now time to try the religion of Jesus."
If we are to reconsider the law of obedience, we must give our thought to its widest range and its deepest sig- nificance. What are we as children of God called to obey? We are called to obey the unseen guidance of a Power which is Love, the infinite and absolute principle. We must surrender ourselves to it with what Emerson describes as " the negligency of trust that carries God with it."
One cause of the difficulty we have in doing this arises from our imperfect concept of the word " infinite." We associate it with the idea of vastness, immensity, forget- ting that it includes the infinitely small as well as the in- finitely great. We see God in the heavenly constella- tions, but do not see Him in the trifles of our daily lives. This is where the thought of principle rather than per- sonality will help us. Is there any object so small that it is not governed by the law of gravitation? Neither is any experience so trifling that it does not come within the range of Infinite Love. Impatience with any ex- perience is disobedience to the unseen Power that is guiding us. We miss a train and are vexed beyond meas- ure by the occurrence. Infinite Love has not deserted us. This is just the time to turn our thought toward the un- seen, and realize that God is All in all. Nothing else is present or has power. Perhaps the trouble came from our
122 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
own carelessness, but vexation only makes it worse. I know a bright and cheerful man who always says " Praise the Lord " whatever happens. Would he say it if he should fall and break his arm? I think he would. But we must remember that if we have the spirit of praise in our hearts every moment we shall be saved from accident. " No evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Many accidents befall good people, but it is only because they have not believed in the law of Love, and surrendered their hearts and lives wholly to it. A God-loving pastor in a German village was repri- manded by a neighbor for not putting bars across the second-story window to keep his little child from falling out. He reminded her of the promise : " He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." One day the child did fall out of the window. The pastor calmly told his daughter to go and pick it up. She did so, and found it unhurt. The next day his neighbor's child fell from a chair to the floor and broke its arm.
To return to the question of personality and principle. It is a distinction which belongs to the law of spiritual knowing. Our thoughts are not yet fully adjusted to it. But is it not true that personality is the cause of most of our sorrow in the world? We have misunderstandings with our dearest friends. Friendship should be one of the greatest privileges of our lives, but is it not really the source of our most painful disappointments? Spiritual knowing changes the character and quality of our friend-
OBEDIENCE. 123
ships. Those who are striving to obey the Infinite Prin- ciple of Love have a bond of sympathy that nothing else can give. No Masonic Brotherhood or other human or- ganization can compare with it. Those who recognize spiritual life as the only life have in their friendship the element of eternity.
Do friends vex us, and circumstances excite and annoy us ? This is an inevitable fruit of disobedience to the In- finite Principle of Love which contains, sustains, and maintains us. Failing to realize the perfection of this loving care, we must live in a state of perpetual unrest. Now change the thought from ignorant doubt to an intel- ligent understanding and reception of the fact that trust is obedience and anxiety is disobedience, and our lives will be transformed within and without.
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee : because he trusteth in thee."
" He that believeth shall not make haste."
Ingratitude is another form of disobedience. We have not thought of our lack of gratitude as a lack of obedience, but spiritual knowing shows it to be one of the worst manifestations of a disobedient spirit, bringing the great- est harm to ourselves. It may almost be said that in- gratitude is the cause of all human troubles. It impairs, and, if persisted in, ultimately destroys our conscious- ness of the Infinite Love that is guiding and supplying us, and, therefore, it shuts out the blessings that this Love seeks to impart. It is one of the evil fruits of self- consideration, and it can only be overcome by turning our thoughts resolutely away from that imperious ruler of
124 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
our carnal mind, that pampered, exacting, merciless auto- crat, King Self, and fixing our attention upon God, the Eternal Goodness, with a desire to be used as a channel for conveying His blessings to our fellow-men.
Realizing the scientific truth that our home is in Mind and not in matter will help us to overcome the grievous fault of ingratitude. In the realm of Mind there is noth- ing but good, for God is that Mind, which we, as indi- vidualized expressions of His Being are reflecting.
The mainspring of obedience is love for the good. The more spontaneous the love, the nearer to absolute obedience we are. Self-consideration in any and every form is disobedience, and disobedience is slavery. " Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his slaves ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness."
Mention should be made of one more fallacy that re- sults from dwelling upon the thought of personality rather than principle. In the oriental imagery which is employed in the first chapter of Genesis to describe the process of creation, God is represented as working six days and resting on the seventh. This description was adapted to the only conception of the Supreme Being that the race was then prepared to understand. To rid our minds of this false idea, we must realize that God, as Infinite Principle, could never cease working, and could never need to rest. Suppose the law of gravitation should take a day's vacation, what would become of the universe? Absurd as the idea is, it is no more so than
OBEDIENCE. 125
that which has hitherto been held concerning the cessa- tion of the Almighty's labors.
This false notion has encouraged Christians in their erroneous thought of eternal rest in Heaven. What a miserable condition this would be if it were possible! What we gain by realizing our at-one-ment with God is not the privilege of taking an eternal vacation, but the privilege of drawing upon the original and inexhaustible Source of power, and thus enjoying the freshness of perennial youth. As Goethe says:
" Rest is not quitting This busy career, Rest is the fitting
Of life to its sphere."
Jesus says : " My father worketh hitherto, and I work." That is, as God works " without haste, without rest," so are we to go through life, ever doing the Father's will, divinely active, yet ever allied to " the cen- tral stillness." It is true that there is an occasional hint of weakness and weariness in the New Testament de- scription of Christ Jesus's earthly career, for he was " touched with the feeling of all our infirmities." But he learned obedience through the things which he suf- fered," and he grew in realization and power as we grow, and left for us the divine injunction, " Follow me." To follow him is to do as he commanded, to obey the law of Love, and to seek first the kingdom of God ;
126 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
that is, to give our time, thought, and affection to spirit- ual things and not to material things.
What is the Heavenly Father's promise to those who have an obedient spirit?
Listen to His words :
" / will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" — Psalm 32:8.
" Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have pre^pared.
" And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee" — Exodus 23 : 20y 25,
A CATECHISM OF SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANITY.
A LAYMAN'S CATECHISM OF SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANITY.
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Hfe."
(Note. — This catechism is derived from the teachings of the Bible interpreted by the logic of the heart. The logic of the intellect has filled the world with hate, bloodshed and misery for nineteen hundred years.)
1. What is Spiritual Christianity?
Spiritual Christianity is loving God and loving man.
2. What is God?
God is Infinite Spirit, Infinite Life, Infinite Love, In- finite Truth, expressed and reflected in all wisdom, good- ness, beauty and harmony.
3. What is Spirit?
Spirit is the substance of all that exists. Spirit is God in universal activity of expression.
4. What is the Universe?
The Universe is God expressed and reflected in the infinite Cosmos, which is represented fully in man, the image and likeness df God.
5. Why is not this definition pantheistic?
Because pantheism teaches that God is in the material universe, and there is no material universe.
6. What is the miscalled material universe?
ISO SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
The material universe is a false material sense or con- cept of the real spiritual universe.
7. Who revealed this truth?
Jesus the Christ revealed and demonstrated it by over- coming sin, sickness and death, and all material condi- tions.
8. What is the proof that this doctrine is true?
The fact that little children receive and understand it. This is the test that was given by Jesus. Little children cannot understand dogmatic theology.
9. What is dogmatic theology?
Dogmatic theology is a set of theories which have been substituted for the teachings of Jesus Christ.
10. Why are so many people leaving the churches, or failing to unite with them?
Because God is more clearly revealed out of the churches than in them.
11. Why is this?
Because the creeds of the churches are expressions of dogmatic theology and not of the living Christ.
12. Why are not people who are dissatisfied with dogmatic theology drawn into the protesting or "liberal" churches which have rejected it?
Because the people care no more for a dogmatism of protest than they do for a dogmatism of dogma. They demand the Realities of Life, Love and Truth as taught and manifested by Jesus the Christ.
13. What is the receiving of those Realities into the individual consciousness and life?
A CATECHISM. 131
It is the Second Coming; the coming of the eternal Christ, the Spiritual Christ.
14. What institutions are doing the most to hinder the coming of the eternal, spiritual Christ?
The Theological Seminaries.
15. Why is this true?
Because they unfit their students for presenting the eternal, spiritual Christ.
16. Why is this the case when they teach so much that is true?
Because the anthropomorphic conception of God is still the foundation of their theological systems.
17. Do they not teach the immanence of God? Some of them do, but their teaching is pantheistic be- cause they beheve the universe to be material.
18. What is the most important thing for a young pastor to do?
To correct the errors he learned at the Theological Seminaries.
19. In what respect must he change his speech?
He must substitute the heavenly language (" the new tongue ") for the language of scholastic thought.
20. What is the heavenly language?
The heavenly language is the language which ex- presses the Truth that God, Love, is omnipotent, omni- present, omniscient and omni-active Being; and that nothing but Love is present in the universe.
21. Are there three Gods or one God?
" Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God."
22. Is there a Trinity in God?
132 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
God is a Tri-unity of Love, Life and Truth, expressed or symbolized as the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
23. What is the Father?
The Father is Infinite Love, which includes Life and Truth.
24. What is the Son?
The Son is Love manifested.
25. What is the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost is Love unfolding.
26. Is God to be thought of as Infinite Personality or Infinite Principle?
God is to be thought of as both Infinite Personality and Infinite Principle.
2y. Why is God to be thought of as Infinite Per- sonality?
Because He is Infinite Love, and is therefore present to all.
28. Why is God to be thought of as Infinite Prin- ciple?
Because in the universe there is an infinity of ideas ex- pressing the presence of a Principle.
29. Which should be the more prominent in our thoughts, the fact that God is Infinite Personality, or that He is Infinite Principle?
The fact that He is Infinite Principle.
30. Why is this, when our natural craving is for a personal Father?
Because finite mind cannot comprehend Infinite Per- sonality as a whole. The effort to do so leads to the error of regarding God as a corporeal Being. Thinking
A CATECHISM, 133
of God as an infinite, all-pervading, ever-active Prin- ciple of Love leads to a constantly enlarging comprehen- sion of His Infinite Personality. Through obedience to the Principle we cannot fail to please God.
31. What is evil?
Evil is the suppositional absence of Good.
32. Can Good be really absent?
It cannot, for it is the omnipresent Principle of Love.
33. What is the devil?
The devil is the sum of all human beliefs about evil; a liar from the beginning, and a murderer, as Jesus said.
34. Has the devil or evil any actual power?
It has only the power that we concede to it or permit it to have. Resist the devil, or belief in evil, and it will flee from you.
35. What is it to be a. Christian?
To deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.
36. Can the carnal mind do this? It cannot.
37. In what respect must the carnal mind be changed?
It must be born again.
38. What is the nature of the new birth?
It is "putting off the old man with his deeds," and "putting on the new man which is renewed in knowl- edge after the image of Him who created him."
39. Can one be a Christian while violating the princi- ples of righteousness and justice?
He can not.
134 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
40. Did Jesus teach an individual gospel or a social gospel?
He taught both. He showed that the regeneration of society is to be accomplished through the regeneration of the individual.
41. What is sin?
Sin is belief in a power apart from God.
42. What are sins?
Sins are the violations of the law of Love.
43. When are sins forgiven?
When they are renounced and discontinued.
44. What is heaven? Heaven is Love.
45. Where is heaven? Heaven is where love prevails.
46. What is hell? Hell is fear.
47. What is fear?
Fear is yielding to belief in a power apart from God.
48. Can fear be banished, and hell thus be conquered? It can.
49. How?
"There is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear."
50. What is the Bible?
The Bible is a revelation of Life, Love and Truth to the human race.
51. How has it been given to the race? Through inspired men in all ages.
A CATECHISM. 135
52. What is the purpose of the Bible?
The purpose of the Bible is to reveal the nature of God, the nature of man, the relation of God to men and of men to one another.
513. If God is Love, why does He sometimes appear in the Bible as a Being of wrath and vengeance?
Because it was written by men, and reflects the imper- fect concepts of men.
54. How can all wrath and vengeance be eliminated from the Bible?
By interpreting it spiritually.
55. What is the key to the spiritual sense of the Scriptures?
The law of Mind.
56. What is the law of Mind?
" Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." " As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
57. Who or what are the enemies against which our wrath may be kindled?
Evil thoughts.
58. If evil is not a positive force, how are we to think of the contrast which we have heretofore called good and evil?
It is the contrast between Truth and error.
59. What is Truth?
Truth is right thinking demonstrated.
60. What is error? Error is wrong thinking.
61. What expresses the sum of human error? Adam, the carnal or mortal mind.
62. What expresses the sum of Truth?
136 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
Christ the spiritual man.
63. How is the human race to be regenerated?
" As in Adam (error) all die, even so in Christ (Truth) shall all be made alive."
64. Who and what was Jesus Christ?
He was Jesus of Nazareth, human as the son of Mary, and divine as the Son of God.
65. In what respect was he the son of man? In that he partook fully of the human nature,
66. In what respect was he the Son of God?
In that he contained and expressed the eternal Christ- idea.
67. What was the nature of his sacrifice?
It was the sacrifice or denial of sense for Spirit, of self, to reconcile man to God.
68. What is meant by the blood of Christ?
By the blood of Christ is meant the life, of which blood is the type.
69. What was the nature of Christ Jesus' atonement? He revealed man's unity or at-one-ment with God.
70. What was His ascension?
It was his disappearance from human consciousness; His ascension from the realm of the material to the realm of the spiritual.
71. In what respect are we to imitate and follow Him?
In all respects.
72. Did He say that we are to heal as He did? He did.
A CATECHISM. 137
73. Did He say that our power could equal His?
He did, and more than this, for He said *'and greater works than these shall ye do.'^
74. What was the condition?
That we should practice love and exercise faith.
75. How should the word faith now be used?
It should include the idea of understanding, or realiz- ing the allness of God or Good.
76. Why is not healing instantaneous by the Christ- method of realizing the allness of God?
It is sometimes instantaneous.
yy. Why is it not always so?
Because human consciousness lacks childlike and re- ceptive thought, and believes in the necessity of sickness and death.
78. What is saving faith in Jesus Christ?
Saving faith in Jesus Christ is so realizing the truth He taught and the spirit He manifested that we are led to keep His commandments.
79. What are His commandments? Deny self, love God, love man.
80. What is it to deny self? The 91st Psalm.
It is to deny the material consciousness, the carnal or mortal mind, which is enmity against God.
81. Did Jesus Christ organize a Church? He did not.
^2. What did he found?
He founded a spiritual kingdom to be ruled by love.
iS8 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
83. What is God's standard for the human race, His children?
His standard is perfection. " Be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
84. Do sickness, suffering, poverty, death belong to God's kingdom?
They do not.
85. Why are they here?
Because of human belief in a power apart from God.
86. How may they be eliminated?
By faith in God based upon the understanding and realization of His infinite Love.
87. What are miracles?
What are called miracles or marvels are the effects or results of laws not yet understood.
88. Are miracles violations of the cosmic order? They are not.
89. Who can work miracles as Jesus did? All who realize God's love and power as he did.
90. How can this realization be attained? By leading a selfless life, as Jesus did.
91. What is selfishness? Selfishness is suicide.
92. Why is it suicide?
Because it shuts out the consciousness of God, and of the spiritual universe which is the realm of Hfe and causa- tion.
93. Who are the sons of God? All men are the sons of God.
A CATECHISM. 139
94. Can any man be lost? No.
95. Why not?
Because man can have no existence apart from God.
96. What can man lose?
He can lose the belief of his sonship.
97. How must he be saved?
By regaining the belieif of his sonship, and living in accordance with that belief.
98. What is psychology?
Psychology is the science of Soul or Mind.
99. What is the error of the current systems of psychology.
In treating of individualsouls as separated from God?
100. Are there not different souls? There cannot be, if God is infinite. loi. What, then, does man possess?
He possesses consciousness and individuality, emanat- ing from the one Soul or Mind. He expresses and re- flects God.
102. In what respect can man grow? He can unfold a higher consciousness.
103. Will this tend to his final absorption in the Supreme Soul or Mind, or to the state which is some- times called Nirvana?
Just the contrary.
104. Why is this?
Because his increasing consciousness of God and his enlarging capacity for understanding Him develop a higher and stronger individuality.
140 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
105. Why will he not then finally be equal with God? Because his consciousness is a reflection of God.
106. What is the basis of the true spiritual psychol- ogy.
Spiritual psychology is based upon the allness of God as expressed in the following propositions:
There is hut one fact in the universe.
That fact is God.
It is a spiritual fact, for God is Spirit.
It is an ethical fact, for God is Love, Truth, Wisdom, Righteousness, the Supreme Source of all Morality.
It is an aesthetic fact, for God is Form, Order, Beauty, Sublimity, Harmony, the Supreme Source of all Art.
It is a scientiiic fact, for God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Life, the Supreme Source of all Being and all Knowing.
The universe is an outflowing from or expression of the Transcendent God — of Life, Truth, Love, Wisdom, Order, Beauty, Harmony. This expression in the universe is spiritual and not material, for Spirit could not create any- thing less than itself or opposite to itself.
Man, made in the image and likeness of God, is also spiritual, and includes the universe. Hence, he is given dominion over all things in the universe.
107. What is the working formula of spiritual psychology?
The working formula of spiritual psychology may be presented in five postulates, as follows: I. God is the only cause.
A CATECHISM. 141
2. Spirit is the only substance.
J. Love is the only force.
4. Harmony, the reflection of Love, is the only law.
5. Now is the only time.
108. What effect does spiritual psychology have upon those who study it?
It increases their intelligence, deepens their spiritual natures, develops their love and forbearance, and reveals their at-one-ment with God.
109. What is the relation of spiritual psychology to the Bible?
It eHminates the darkness, and shows it to be a book of pure sunshine.
no. Which chapter of the Bible do the students of spiritual psychology adopt as being, in some sense, their Divine Charter?
The 91st Psalm. In the light of spiritual psychology every statement of this psalm is seen to be literally and absolutely true.
Note.— In the present struggle between materialism and spirituality, there is a movement which is having a rapidly- growing influence on the side of the latter. It is known as the Christian Science movement, and it grew out of and is repre- sented by a text-book entitled " Science and Health with key to the Scriptures," written by Mary Baker G. Eddy. As is the case with every protest against the prevalent ideas and the existing order of things, both the book and the movement are very much misunderstood.
From the text-book of Christian Science has come the sug- gestion of the title " Spiritual Knowing," and the underlying principle of this science or " knowing " is expressed in the fol- lowing quotation from another volume, " Miscellaneous Writ- ings" by Mary Baker G. Eddy: (page 123.) ,
142 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
" Divine Science has rolled away the stone from the sepulcher of our Lord; and there has arisen to our awakened thought the majestic atonement of Divine Love. The at-one- ment with Christ has appeared — not through vicarious suffer- ing whereby the just obtain a pardon for the unjust,— but through the eternal law of Justice; wherein sinners suffer for their own sins, repent, forsake sin, love God, and keep His commandments, thence to receive the reward of righteous- ness; salvation from sin, not through the death of a man, but through a Divine Life, which is our Redeemer.
The last act of the tragedy on Calvary rent the veil of matter and unveiled Love's great legacy to mortals: Love forgiving its enemies. This grand act crowned and still crowns Christianity: it manumits mortals; it translates love; it gives to suffering, inspiration; to patience, experience; to experience hope; to hope, faith; to faith, understanding; and to under- standing. Love triumphant."
"Christian Science demonstrates that none but the pure in heart can see God, as the Gospel teaches. In proportion to his purity and perfection is man in the proper order of celestial Being, and able to demonstrate Life through Christ, its spiritual idea, even as Jesus did."— Science and Health, page
^43
BENEDICTION OF DIVINE LOVE.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Lo, I am with you always — in all ways — even unto the end of the world.
In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to th»5 only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
144 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
NINETY-FIRST PSALM.
1. He that dwelleth In the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the sh".dow of the Almighty.
2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust.
3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings Shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler
5. Thou Shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee,
8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation
10. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13. Thou Shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
APPENDIX
HOW THE BIBLE GREW
HOW THE BIBLE GREW. 147
HOW THE BIBLE GREW.*
The Bible is a collection of many books. It contains his- tories, sermons, poems, prophecies, allegories, letters, embracing nearly every style and variety of literature. From the time of the first attempt at compilation till it assumed its present form is supposed to have been about a thousand years.
When or how the earliest portions were written is en- tirely unknown. They were derived from very ancient sources which are called " the primitive ballads," " the primitive traditions," and '' the primitive laws."
The first five books of the Bible are called the Penta- teuch, a word which means five. When and by whom they were compiled is unknown. T.hey have been called the books of Moses, but it is certain that he did not write all they contain, as they give an account of his own death. The book of Joshua is now believed to belong with the first five, and the six books are called the Hexateuch.
As the Bible is a collection of many books, so are some of the books themselves now found to be compilations from various sources. The books of the Old Testament were not arranged in the same order at the time of Jesus that they are now. All these questions of external ar- rangement are of absolutely no importance as regards the spiritual value of the teaching. As the critics and scholars are not yet agreed among themselves as to the authorship and arrangement of some of the books, it is useless to puz- zle the reader with their various guesses. The one im-
* This synopsis is partly derived from the volume by Prof. Walter A Adeney, M.A., of London, entitled "The Construction of the Bible," published by Thomas Whittaker, New York.
148 SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
portant question for each one of us is with regard to the spirit in which we read the book. If we read it to find sup- port for a doctrinal system, it will do us but little good. If we read it to find Love, Truth, and Life, it will be a fountain that faileth not. The special method of inspira- tion is also a fruitless question. D. L. Moody said : '* X believe the Bible to be an inspired book because it inspires me.'' The wit and wisdom of the ages could not give a better reason than this.
XHE NEW TESTAMENT.
The first part of the New Testament to be written was the Epistle of St. James. St. James did not believe in his brother's mission till after the resurrection. He was then made president of the Christians at Jerusalem. His let- ter has not been as highly esteemed among the theologians as those of St. Paul, because it contains but little doc- trine. Luther called it *' an epistle of straw." But it is full of echoes and reminiscences of the teachings of Jesus, and contains instruction of the highest value for the de- velopment of Christian character. It is a source of much comfort and help to the spiritually minded.
The next writings in order of appearance were the let- ters of St. Paul. They are grouped into four distinct periods. The first period gives the two Epistles to the T.hessalonians, written about the year 53. The Thessa- lonian church was composed mostly of working people — weavers, fishermen, and dock laborers. Hence, these let- ters do not deal much with doctrines or speculative ques- tions. The people had the idea that Christians were not to die, and when deaths occurred they were perplexed. They also expected Christ's early reappearance, and feared that their friends would miss the joy of the Lord's advent. St. Paul reassures them on that point. Some believers in the reappearing made their faith an excuse for idleness, and ceased working. St. Paul rebukes them for this, and
HOW THE BIBLE GREW. 149
gives much spiritual counsel, which is of value for all time.
An interval of four or five years followed these epistles, during which St. Paul greatly extended his evangelistic work, and also began a controversy with some who tried to introduce Judaizing influences among the Christians. Four epistles belong to this group, all written in the year 57-58. They are First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans, and are called " St. Paul's most vigorous and significant works." They set forth the Gospel that he believed he had received from God — ** the Gospel of free grace for every individual irrespective of nation, race, or privilege." The exposition in these epistles was called forth by the attacks of opponents who taught that the Gentiles must become Jews in order to come into the Christian Church; that they must be circumcised, and keep the law as Jews. This made Christianity only a branch of Judaism, and Christ a Jewish Messiah — not a Saviour of the world, but only a second Moses, a Judge and Ruler of the people. Paul opposed this teaching with the doctrine of salvation on the simple condition of faith. " He had to contend single-handed against a host of bigots, the twelve apostles giving him no material assistance; perhaps not wholly sympathizing with his daring innova- tions." Galatians and Romans are the epistles which set forth St. Paul's teaching on this question most clearly and forcibly. But the two are very different. The Galatians were his old converts in the cities of his first missionary journey — Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra. These had been his most devoted disciples. But they had been much upset — " bewitched " — by the Judaizing teachers. They had taken up some Jewish practices, and were some- what estranged from their spiritual father, Paul — as if converts of an evangelical mission should fall into the hands of Jesuits and be led into Catholicism. The apostle was justly indignant, and wrote warmly.
ifio SPIRITUAL KNOWING.
But the author of the letter to the Romans writes in a more deliberate style, and tries to explain his own views rather than controvert the opinions of others. Yet the doctrine is the same — free grace on God's side, faith on the part of man.
In writing to the Corinthians, while Paul treats some- what of the same doctrines, he also takes up the question of certain evils that have arisen in the church — party divi- sions, immorality, litigations, greediness, and even intoxi- cation at the love feasts among the rich, while the poor are neglected. The Christians were called saints, but the church at Corinth was surrounded by the vices of a most corrupt pagan civilization. The congregation did not ex- pect such a letter. They had written to St. Paul asking advice about certain questions of conscience — the ad- visability of marriage, the eating of food that had been offered to idols, etc. The apostle treats of the more im- portant subjects first, and then turns to their questions, and answers them with great consideration for their weaker consciences and narrower judgments.
The second epistle is written a few months later than the first, and is less pressing. Also, the riot at Ephesus has occurred in the meantime, and St. Paul's work had been broken up. The Corinthians also have suffered. Hence, the second letter is one for troubled souls, touching the deepest things of experience, and pointing to the high- est consolations of Love. The apostle speaks of his own experience, his hardships, his escapes, his joy in suffering for Christ's sake.
T.he third group of St. Paul's epistles dates from the period of his imprisonment in Rome. They were written a little after the year 62, and consist of Philippians, Ephe- sians, Colossians, and Philemon. The apostle's conflict is now over. Peace and joy reign in his heart. Yet he is a prisoner, about to appear before Nero, and doubtful as to the result of the trial.
HOW THE BIBLE GREW. 151
Christ is the center of each of these epistles. The letter to the Philippians reveals the joy and strength of personal union with Christ, that to the Ephesians the blessedness of the Church's connection with Christ, that to the Colossians the supremacy of Christ in all creation. The letter to PVilemon is a request for the pardon of an escaped slave — Onesimus. It is regarded as a model of a Christian letter in the tactful and loving consideration with which the re- quest is made.
The fourth and last group consists of the letters to Timothy and Titus. They are called *' Pastoral Epistles," because they deal with the duties of the Christian minis- try. The authenticity of these three epistles has been questioned more than any other of St. Paul's writings.
It is now regarded as certain that the Epistle to the He- brews was not written by St. Paul. The famous Professor Harnack, of the University of Berlin, has recently shown that there are strong reasons for believing that it was writ- ten by Priscilla, Aquila also having some part in it. Its purpose is to reassure the faith of those Jews who for their allegiance to Christianity had been expelled from the synagogue. The writer shows that the privileges they had lost were but the shadows of better things of which Christians already possess the reality.
The epistles of St. Peter come a little later than St. Paul's. " The first is rich in the very juice and marrow of Christian truth." The authorship of the second has been more doubted than that of any other book of the New Testament. It produces most of the Epistle of Jude.
The three epistles of St. John come last of all. They were written toward the close of the first century, and ex- press the latest and deepest convictions of the aged saint. Love, love, love, is the endless theme — love for God, and love for man as evidence that the love for God is genuine.
The epistles were not put together at first. They were, as the word indicates, merely letters sent to difi^erent
152 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
churches or to private individuals. The writers had no idea that they would ever be regarded as inspired, or be published for the whole world to read. " No doubt the authors would have been amazed if they had foreseen the minute study to which their fugitive writings were des- tined to be subjected by many minds in many ages. But God was using these writers not merely for the sake of the temporary purposes they had in view. Unknown to themselves their inspired words were fitted to serve in later days for the instruction in Christian Truth of na- tions concerning the very existence of which they could have had no conception."
The four gospels were all written later than most of the epistles. But they are rightly placed first, as they record the events that preceded the epistles. Professor Adeney calls them " the four golden spires of the great Temple of Literature." Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called *' The Synoptic Gospels," because they all take a common view or survey of the subject. Mark was written first, and constituted the basis of the other two. Frequently the other two follow Mark word for word. Where they do not do this, they absorb so much that only two or three inci- dents in Mark are not found in one of the others. From Papias and Irenaeus, who lived in the middle and latter half of the second century, we learn that Mark was a disciple of Peter, and wrote down the contents of his master's preaching. Mark's gospel is a little shorter than the others, not by reason of abbreviations so much as omis- sions. He omits the account of the birth and infancy of Jesus. He does not record lengthy discourses. He gives only specimens of parables where others give several, and treats of the life of Jesus rather than His teachings. But his accounts are more in detail, and more richly colored.
It is not known whether Matthew or Luke was written first, but it is thought that both were written about the time of the fall of Jerusalem. They both give much that
HOW THE BIBLE GREW. 153
is not found in Mark. Whence they derived it is not cer- tain. Matthew makes most frequent use of the Old Testa- ment, appeahng to prophecy, and pointing out its fulfill- ment in Jesus Christ. But its supreme value is in the full- ness of the report of his teachings.
Luke says that he was led to write his book by the irre- sponsible treatises that were appearing, and that he wrote *' accurately from the first." His style is superior and at- tractive. As a physician he was probably better educated than the other evangelists. He was a native of Macedonia, and knew the Greek language. His quoting the Hebraistic hymns in the early part of his gospel is an indication of his accuracy.
Luke's treatise is " a gospel of grace for all." It shows Christ Jesus especially as a friend of sinners. He alone gives the story of the outcast woman washing Jesus's feet with her tears, of Zachseus, of the Prodigal Son, and of the Good Samaritan. He also shows great sympathy for the poor. Luke usually gives the sayings of Jesus in con- nection with the occasions out of which they grew, while in Matthew they more often appear as parts of larger dis- courses.
The book of " Acts " is a continuation of Luke's writ- ings— a second volume. It treats of two special subjects, first, a history of the early apostolic church, and, second, an account of Paul's journeys, some of which he shared. The narrative ends with Paul's imprisonment in Rome. It is to be observed that Luke always shows the Roman government and the characters of the centurions in as fa- vorable a light as possible. This was natural, as, until Nero's persecutions began, Rome had always been the protector of the Christians from the rage and jealousy of the Jews.
St. John's gospel was considerably later than the other three — not appearing till toward the end of the first century. As a record of historical facts it differs in its
154 SPIRITUAL KNOWING,
style and treatment from the others. John is peculiarly precise in his accounts of events. He gives time and place, day, hour, and locality more in detail than the others, as when he speaks of '' Bethany beyond Jordan," etc. He does not give the parables as fully as the others, but he quotes the figurative names employed by Jesus, " the door," " the good Shepherd," " the bread of life." He does not report so much of the public teaching of Jesus as of His discussions with those who opposed Him, and the private instruction of individuals, such as Nicodemus, and the woman of Samaria, and the training of the twelve Apostles.
But St. John's message is above all things a spiritual message. '' St. John, the spiritual evangelist, introduces us most intimately to the heart and soul of the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, the book will always be prized as the inner shrine of all Scripture. It is as the Christian's experience deepens that the exceeding preciousness of this book grows upon him, and he learns more and more to draw from it the sustenance of his better thoughts.
" St. John's three epistles go with the gospel. Similar in style, of the same date, breathing the same spirit, they are like a threefold echo back from the heart of the apostle of the teachings of his Lord which he has recorded in his gospel."
The Revelation of St. John has been the least under- stood of all the Bible literature until now, when the highest Christian thought sees in its symbolic phraseology a graphic picture of the great struggle between Truth and error in human consciousness, the final overcoming of error individually and collectively, and the ultimate reali- zation of the Kingdom of Heaven within, as Jesus fore- told.
The first two verses of the last chapter reveal the apostle's clear understanding that there is no death, but
HOW THE BIBLE GREW, 155
only a pure river of Life of which there was no " other side," but the same Life is '* on either side." He saw a perpetual Life or Principle " proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." This was further symbolized by " the tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations."
And there shall he no more curse; hut the throne of God and of the Lamb shall he in it, and his servants shall serve Him:
And they shall see His face, and His name shall he in their foreheads.
And there shall he no night there; and they need no candle, neither the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. — Revelations 22 : j-5, i^.
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