Skip to main content

Full text of "The new religion; a gospel of love"

See other formats 


,S<;' •' 


fHE    tOSF'EL  of 


LIBRARY 

NITEl)  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 


Entry  Catalogue  Number 


Clasi 


GlassMjll 
Bookj3Ll___ 


/ 


■'  <J 


■O 
yy 


// 


2?" 


XHE 


NEW    RELIGION 


R  GOSPEL  OF  LOVE. 


BY     E.    ^^^r.     GI^AY. 


"From  the  nature  of  the  case  all  questions  remain  open,  and  must  so  remain. 
Each  mind  has  its  individual  and  indefensible  rights.  *  *  There  can  be  no 
authority  until  the  authority  has  been  established  in  the  individual  reason.  The 
only  service  one  generation  can  do  to  another  is  to  hand  over  its  best  thoughts  to 
its  successor.  .  Bishop  Foster. 


CHICAGO:! 
The  Thorne  Publishi 

167  Adams  Stro 
1890. 


3-^ 


Copyright  1890. 
By  E.  W.  gray. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


DEDfCATUON. 


The*  following  pages  are  respectfully  dedicated  by  the  author 
to  the  lovers  of  truth  who  have  found  it  difficult  to  accept  Chris- 
tianity as  it  is  usually  delfvered  from  the  pulpit. 


PREFACE. 


The  attentive  reader  will  easily  discern  one  purpose 
running  through  this  book — it  need  not  be  here 
indicated. 

That  human  nature  is  imperfect — at  least  less 
perfect  than  it  is  capable  of  becoming  under  favoring 
conditions,  is  conceded  by  the  philosopher,  and 
assumed  in  all  Law  and  all  Religion. 

Whether  such  imperfection  be  but  the  proof  of 
incomplete  development,  as  the  evolutionist  would 
teach,  or  the  result  of  some  ^^lapse"  from  original 
perfection,  as  others  hold,  it  is  evident  that  the 
reformer  of  whatever  name,  should  do  his  utmost 
to  ascertain  both  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  infirmity 
he  seeks  to  cure,  before  commencing  his  medication. 
There  should  be  diagnosis. 

All  Religions  seek  to  bring  men  to  ideal  perfection 
— seek  to  qualify  them  for  dwelling  with  the  eternal. 
Religion,  therefore,  is  the  reformer  of  highest  preten- 
sions. There  are  Religions,  old  and  new,  but  their 
success  as  reformers  has  not  been  reassuring. 

Religion  is  so  sacred  that  men  hesitate  to  question 
its  competency  and  pretensions.      They  have   hardly 


Viii  PREFACE. 

dared  to  take  off  their  veils  and  look  at  it  as  they 
look  at  other  things.  The  Scientist  proceeds  with 
open  eyes  and  ears  from  what  he  thinks  he  knows,  to 
find  out  what  he  wants  to  know — proceeds  from  the 
known  to  what  reason  can  affirm  as  true.  The  Relig- 
ionist proceeds  from  a  blind  impulse,  and  from  what  he 
finds  in  certain  books,  received  as  of  divine  authority, 
to  find  what  will  satisfy  his  yearning  and  corroborate 
his  beliefs. 

The  method  of  the  Religionist  is  at  fault.  It  will 
never  give  him  certainty.  Religion  should  be  stud- 
ied as  other  subjects  are  studied — studied  in  accord 
with  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  scientific  method. — At 
least,  the  following  pages  have  been  written  under 
this  conviction. 

The  distrust  felt  in  regard  to  all  the  means  and 
institutions  relied  on  for  bettering  the  condition  of 
men  and  conserving  human  happiness  is  deep  and 
wide.  Men  look  to  them  across  a  wild  waste  of 
unchecked  vice  and  suffering — look  and  cry  for  help 
in  vain.  It  is  felt  moie  and  more  that  there  must  be 
revolution — that  a  better  destiny  awaits  humanity 
through  changed  -methods  and  conditions. 

The  institutions  of  the  past  are  called  upon  to 
account  for  their  comparative  failure — to  render  a 
sufficient  reason  to  the  future  for  continued  existence. 
Even  the  church  cannot  be  permitted  longer  to  reign 
by  ^'Divine  Right."  Tyranny  and  injustice  will  not 
longer  be  permitted  to  take  refuge  under  her  altars. 

The  Old  Religions  have  been   weighed   in    the    bal- 


PREFACE.  IX 

ance  and  found  wanting.  The  New  Religion  pro- 
mises better.  But  her  success  in  a  stretch  of  nearly 
2,000  years  has  not  been  all  that  could  be  desired. 
Are  her  latent  potencies  likely  ever  to  prove  equal 
to  the  occasion?  Is  a  genuine  Christian  socialisnij 
and  through  it,  a  greatly  improved  condition  of 
the  race,  possible  among  men?  The  author  has 
hope  in  the  future  of  humanity  under  the  Christian 
regime.  The  discussion  is  very  inadequate.  No 
one  can  be  more  sensible  of  this  than  the  author 
himself. 

Many  important  questions  have  been  raised.  If 
their  discussion  shall  prove  suggestive,  he  will  be 
content. 

E.  W.  Gray. 

Bloomington,  111.,  June  25,  1890. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

Anthropology^       .         .         _         .       Pages,   i  to  117 

PART  II. 

The  Old  Religions,        ~         -         Pages,   118  to  200 

PART  III. 

The  New  Religion,         -         -        Pages,  203  to  End 


INTRODUCTION. 


There  is  a  wonderful  economy  or  saving  in  the 
forces  of  the  universe.  One  thing  so  conditions 
and  supplements  another  that  nothing  is  isolated, 
unrelated  or  lost.  Planets  and  suns  and  systems  are 
held  in  the  wide  embrace  of  one  law  of  gravity;  one 
subtle,  inexplicable  life  force  pervades  and  animates 
the  vegetable  and  the  animal  world.  And  such  is 
this  economy  in  the  use  of  forces  that  there  is  practi- 
cally a  whole  world  for  each  separate  thing;  a  sun  to 
shine  for  each  plant  and  tree,  and  to  give  life  to  each 
insect,  bird,  animal,  child  and  man.  Practically, 
there  is  a  world,  a  universe  for  each  human  being. 
The  laws  of  nature,  of  chemical  and  vital  affinities 
wait  upon  and  minister  to  each  one  just  as  faithfully 
as  if  there  were  no  others;  for  each  the  sun  shines 
and  the  seasons  come  and  go;  for  each  there  are  the 
boundless  realms  of  truth,  of  beauty,  of  love  and 
right;  and  the  fact  that  there  are  millions  of  these 
human  beings  to  share  in  this  vast  wealth  of  things 
does  not  lessen,  but  enlarges  the  possibilities  of  each. 

Man  is  the  face,  the  front,  the  forward-reaching  of 
the    creation.       In    him    the  creation  comes   to   self- 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

consciousness.  In  his  backward  reaching  parts  he  is 
joined  on  to  the  material  forces;  is  held  fast  by  them 
so  that  one  part  of  his  being  is  automatic  or  self-act- 
ing, and  moves  along  without  his  consent,  and  in  sleep 
without  his  knowledge.  And  thus  whilst  he  stands 
erect  and  with  forward-looking  face,  his  feet  rest  upon 
the  ground  and  his  backward-reaching  parts  shade  off 
into  the  earth,  of  which  they  were  once  a  part,  and 
from  which  they  have  come;  whether  by  evolution 
or  special  creation  we  need  not  now  ask. 

But  whenever,  or  however,  man  is  here;  and  he  is 
here  with  face  and  forward  look  and  movement;  and 
he  is  here  with  self  consciousness.  He  not  only  is, 
but  he  knows  that  he  is,  and  he  turns  round  and  talks 
with  himself,  and  ask  of  himself  what  he  is,  and 
whence  he  came,  and  whither  and  to  what  he  jour- 
neys.     Nor  can  he  cease  to  ask. 

Man  is  not  only  the  face  of  creation,  but,  as  a 
rational  self-conscious  being,  he  is  at  once  the  inter- 
preter and  the  interpretation  of  both  himself  and  the 
universe.  He  can  knov/  things  only  as  he  knows 
himself,  and  hence  in  the  terms  of  self-knowledge. 
He  knows  matter  because  he  is  himself  material;  he 
knows  reason  because  he  is  rational;  he  knows  the 
good  because  he  is  .himself  divine.  And  hence  man 
has  always  and  everywhere  been  a  religious  being, 
has  had  a  religion  and  a  worship.  Religion  is  a  part 
of  his  being,  the  outgrowth  of  the  deepest  roots  of 
his  nature.  Religion  was  not  an  invention  but  a 
birth,  and  a  growth;  just  as  mankind   see   and   hear 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

and  feel  because  they  have  eyes  and  ears  and  nerves 
of  sense,  and  just  as  men  reason  because  they  have 
minds  and  are  in  a  w^orld  of  truth.  So  is  man  born 
into  moral  relations  and  duties  and  responsibilities 
and  with  a  sense  of  right. 

And  just  as  the  material  forces  wait  upon  the  body 
of  man,  so  do  the  mental  and  spiritual  minister  to  his 
mind  and  heart.  Each  one  has  his  own  world  of 
truth,  of  reason,  of  sentiment  and  moral  principle, 
and  yet  it  is  the  same  world  for  all,  though  differently 
apprehended.  And  hence  it  is  only  natural  that  where 
many  of  these  separate  beings  have  for  a  long  time 
been  under  the  influence  of  the  same  general  condi- 
tions of  climate,  soil  and  scenery,  and  under  like 
environments  of  social  customs,  laws  and  teaching 
that  they  should  come  to  have  a  common  religion,  as 
that  of  the  Hebrews,  or  Egypt,  India,  Greece  and 
Rome.  And  naturally  enough,  too,  the  growth  of 
ideas,  and  the  intermingling  of  different  races  and 
peoples  would  result  in  modifications  and  changes  of 
beliefs  and  forms  of  worship.  But  at  the  bottom,  all 
religions  are  one;  they  are  the  objectivized  and  insti- 
tutionalized expressions  of  the  rational  and  spiritual 
consciousness  of  the  race;  just  as  all  thought  and 
work  are  one  in  their  common  source  and  end,  though 
upon  lower  or  higher  planes. 

It  must  be  from  some  such  higher  conceptions  and 
larger  generalizations  that  such  great  questions  can 
be  intelligently  studied;  and  such  is  the  general 
standpoint   of   the  author  of   the   New  Religion.      In 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

this  way  he  finds  in  the  nature  and  needs  common  to 
mankind  a  place  and  use  for  all  the  religions  of  the 
world;  and  hence  their  classification  and  the  analysis 
of  their  peculiar  excellencies  and  Qsffects,  are  broad, 
easy,  natural  and  helpful.  He  does  not  seek  to  make 
a  place  for  the  new  by  denying  the  preparatory  edu- 
cational values  of  the  old,  but  gladly  confessing  these, 
and  at  the  same  tima  showing  their  defects  and  limi- 
tations, the  new  appears  as  an  orderly  development 
or  evolution  from  the  lower  to  the  higher;  and  thus 
Christianity  appears  as  the  complement,  the  fulfill- 
ment, the  pleroma  of  all  religions,  and  has  in  it  the 
principles  and  the  life  that  are  yet  to  absorb  and 
assimilate  and  unify  all. 

In  so  far.  Dr.  Gray  is  in  harmony  with  the  genius 
and  catholicity  of  our  time,  and  is  substantially  at 
one  with  the  most  thoughtful  minds;  but  when  he 
comes  to  a  definition  of  what  Christianity  really  is, 
the  agreements  can  hardly  be  so  perfect,  and  espe- 
cially on  the  part  of  the  dogmatic  theologians.  He 
seeks  with  a  studious  care  to  avoid  controversy  or 
giving  offense,  and  yet,  with  a  candor  and  love  of 
truth  that  are  supreme,  he  is  borne  along,  and  one 
point  after  another  in  the  old  orthodox  system  is  left 
by  the  way,  and  at  last  the  New  Religion  is  substan- 
tially the  new  theology. 

He  accepts  the  super  or  higher  natural,  but  cannot 
admit  the  fact  of  law-violating  miracles,  and  con- 
fesses that,  as  the  miraculous  has  been  generally 
defined   by    the    orthodox    world,    Hume's   argument 


INTRODUCTION.  XVll 

against  it  is  unanswerable.  His  views  on  this  sub- 
ject are  clear,  strong  and  helpful. 

On  the  question  of  depravity,  Dr.  Gray  differs  from 
the  orthodox  view  in  making  it  functional  rather  than 
organic.  He  claims  that  the  disorders  that  affect  the 
lower  and  higher  nature  of  man  are  in  the  form  of 
deficiencies  and  excesses;  but  that  these  are  derange- 
ments to  be  corrected;  they  do  not  inhere  in  the 
essence  of  his  being. 

And,  whilst  with  his  almost  extreme  care  not  to 
enter  the  field  of  controversy,  he  does  not  distinctly 
deny  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man,  and  of  original 
sin,  it  is  evident  that  these  old  ideas  have  no  place  in 
his  interpretation  of  Christianity;  and  having  taken 
this  ground,  he  very  naturally  finds  no  place  or 
need  for  the  old  doctrine  of  a  penal  or  substitutional 
atonement  to  ^^reconcile  the  Father,"  or  to  satisfy  the 
claims  of  justice. 

But  Dr.  Gray  has  a  deep  conception  of  the  actual 
sins  and  needs  of  mankind,  and  of  the  manifestation 
of  God  in  Christ  as  the  Father  and  Savior  of  the 
world.  He  emphasizes  repentance  as  the  change  of 
the  whole  attitude  of  man  toward  God,  and  the  moral 
order  of  the  universe,  and  sees  in  justification  not  a 
cold  legal  pardon,  but  the  charactering  of  the  soul 
in  righteousness  and  filling  it  with  the  life  of  God. 
And  in  all  this  he  makes  love  the  source,  the  moving 
power  in  God,  and  the  efficient  agent  in  winning  the 
heart. 

Indeed,  in  the  New  Religion,  as  interpreted  by  Dr. 


XVI 11  INTRODUCTION. 

Gray,  there  is  no  place  for  the  old  doctrines  of  origi- 
nal sin  or  a  penal  or  substitutional  atonement. 

His  method  not  being  controversial,  he  has 
quietly  slipped  away  from  these  old  dogmas,  drooped 
them  out  of  his  system,  and  without  formality  of 
statement  or  declaration  of  the  fact,  has  put  the  moral 
or  paternal  view  in  their  place.  And  in  all  this  he  is 
but  returning  to  the  earlier  Greek  interpretations  of  the 
Christian  religion,  in  which  the  doctrines  of  original  sin 
and  substitutional  atonement  had  no  place.  They 
are  Latin  accretions,  brought  in  by  Augustine,  and 
adopted  by  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  the  Fifth 
Century;  they  are  not  found  in  the  Apostles'  or  the 
Nicene  Creed;  nor  are  the  related  doctrine  of  endless 
punishment — a  subject  not  discussed  by  our  author — 
and  the  uncomfortable  fact  is,  that  upon  these  points 
the  orthodox  Protestant  church  holds  substantially 
the  same  views  as  the  Roman  Catholic.  The  reforma- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  century  did  not  go  deep  enough 
to  touch  the  foundations;  the  reformers  accepted  the 
Latin  theology  and  sought  to  reform  the  abuses  of 
ecclesiasticism  that  had  grown  up  upon  it.  This  age 
is  going  deeper;  it  is  returning  to  the  earlier  spiritual 
conception  of  the  Greek  fathers;  it  is  a  reformation, 
not  of  external  forms  and  abuses,  but  of  the  thought 
of  the  Christian  Vv^orld. 

The  author  of  the  NeAV  Religion  stands  upon  the 
broad  and  safe  middle  ground  between  the  extremes 
of  a  too  destructive  radicalism  on  the  one  side,  and  a 
too  dogmatic  conservatism   on  the  other.      He  takes 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

truth  for  authority  instead  of  authority  for  truth,  and 
as  a  result  comes  out  at  last  into  a  great  and  reason- 
able faith.  The  work  bears  abundant  evidence  of  wide 
and  careful  reading,  and  of  much  honest  and  patient 
thinking,  and  through  all  is  felt  the  spirit  of  reverence 
and  an  earnest  desire  to  do  good.  It  is  a  valuable 
contribution  to  the  great  religious  thought-movement 
of  our  time,  and  in  such  a  period  of  transition  and 
unsettling  will  be  a  help  to  many   minds  and    hearts, 

H.  W.  Thomas. 
Chicago,  June  25,  1890. 


THE  NEW  RELIGION. 


CHAPTER   I. 


"Whatever  crazy  sorrow  saith, 

No  life  that  breathes  with  human  breath 

Hath  ever  truly  longed  for  death. 

'Tis  life  of  which  our  nerves  are  scant, 
O  life!  not  death  for  which  we  pant. 
More  life  and  fuller  that  we  want." 

Optimism  or  Pessimism,  Which? 

Notwithstanding  the  usual  hurry  and  bustle  of  life, 
there  are  few  men  who  do  not,  occasionally,  at  least, 
permit  themselves  to  halt  and  stand  face  to  face  with 
death  and  the  evils  which  beset  and  afflict  mankind. 
That  these  evils  are  many,  and  grave,  no  optimist  will 
deny;  that  little  has  been  done,  or  can  be  done  to 
diminish  them,  or  to  inform  us  how  they  can  be 
escaped  successfully,  the  pessimist  will  claim. 

There  are  evils  which  range  high  above  all  human 
control,  and  challenge  our  faith  in  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  the  Creator.  The  earthquake,  and  storm, 
and  flood;  ^^the  pestilence  that  walketh  by  night,  and 
the    destruction   that    wasteth  at   noonday."      As  to 


2  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

these,  and  other  evils  which  have  hitherto  baffled    all 
human  wisdom    and  power,  and  which  must  do  so  in 
time  to  come,  what  is  the  proper  attitude  of  a  reason- 
able being — what  response   can  be  made  to  the  pessi 
mist? 

Shall  we  turn  stoic  and  attempt  to  ignore  them, 
and  treat  them  as  though  they  were  not?  Is  this 
possible?  If  possible  for  Cato,  for  Epectetus  and 
Zeno,  is  it  possible  for  people  of  different  nerve,  possi- 
ble for  you  and  me  and  all  men?  Let  us  be  candid. 
To  blink  an  evil  is  not  to  destroy  it. 

Of  shall  we  decide  with  Epicurus  to  ^^Eat,  drink 
and  be  merry,  for  to-morrow  we  die?"  But,  can 
pleasure  cope  with  pain  and  death?  Besides,  Epi- 
curus, art  thou  sure  that  thou  canst  quit  the  scene  of 
intermixed  evil  to-morrow,  and  dost  to-morrov/  help 
the  pangs  of  to-day? 

The  subject  is  large — too  large  for  this  time  and 
place.      But  one  may  note: — 

I.  Fear  exaggerates  our  evils;  it  enumerates  and 
dwells  upon  the  chances  against  us;  it  closes  our  eyes 
to  the  chances  in  our  favor. 

In  the  late  war,  when  under  the  cannonading  of  the 
enemy,  all  our  regiment,  excepting  one  man,  were 
crouchmg  and  hiding  behind  trees  and  logs,  now 
and  then  a  shell  would  crash  through  the  distant  tree- 
tops,  or  plough  up  the  earth  in  a  field  more  or  less 
remote.  *'Why,  man!"  cried  a  fellow  soldier,  *'Why 
don't  you  hide?"  With  cool  philosophy,  he  replied: 
**The  danger  is  very  little.      Don't  you  see  there  are, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  3 

in  this  wide  field,  many  places  to  miss  you  and  only 
one  to  hit — the  danger  amounts  to  nothing."  And 
he  proved  to  be  right,  for  not  a  man  was  that 
day  touched.  His  fear  had  neither  magnified  the 
danger,  nor  disturbed  his  repose,  while  the  rest  were 
gloaming  over  disasters  that  were  never  to  happen, 
and  needlessly  suffering  the  ^ ^terrors  of  war." 

2.  Strictly  unavoidable  evil  is  a  very  rare  thing, 
when  compared  with  the  actual  good. 

To  every  one  born  blind  and  deaf,  how  many  thou- 
sands open  glad  eyes  and  ears  to  all  the  beauties  and 
all  the  music  of  earth  and  heaven.  The  adaptations 
of  means  to  ends  everywhere  seem  perfect,  not  a  com- 
plete failure  in  the  whole  domain  of  nature.  Man  is 
not  an  ill-assorted  exotic  m  this  world,  not  an  ana- 
chronism. He  is  fitted  to  his  place,  v/ith  only  the 
least  'seeming  exception.  Take  away  avoidable  evils 
and  there  v/ill  be  left  but  comparatively  few  discords 
to  break  the  harmony  in  the  chorus  of  human  life. 

Of  the  unthinkable  millions  of  bioplasts  that  are 
building  cells  and  organs  and  tissues  and  organisms 
in  animated  nature,  how  many  fail  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  appropriate  functions,  or  through  failure 
jeopardize  your  life  and  mine?  Of  all  the  innumera- 
ble heavenly  host  each  makes  its  swift  and  tireless 
flight  round  and  round  without  touch  or  conflict. 
When  a  comet  was  discovered  apparently  dashing 
out  across  circles  and  spheres  in  wild  and  seeming 
disorder,  men  quailed,  lest  it  might  hurl  itself  upon 
some  unoffending  child  pf  the  sky^  with  instant  di^- 


4  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

aster.  But  a  little  more  knowledge  discovers  that 
even  the  comet  is  not  an  unbound  fiend,  broken  loose 
from  the  order  of  the  upper  deep.  It,  too,  has  its 
purpose  and  mission,  and  goes  obediently  forward  to 
its  eccentric  destiny. 

But,  if  there  be  here  and  there  a  seeming  break, 
striking  down  into  the  prevailing  order,  let  us  note 
that  within  certain  large  limits  the  Divine  Artificer  is 
present,  with  loving  hands  to  work  repair. 

The  foul  ulcer  heals  again.  The  fractured  bone 
knits.  The  deepest  disappointment  drops  more  and 
more  out  of  mind,  and  even  the  violated  conscience 
ceases  to  chide  when  true  sorrow  has  ministered  re- 
tribution for  sins  committed. 

3.  Then,  too,  and  finally,  there  are  compensa- 
tions. 

^^Blind  Tom,"  who  some  years  ago  traveled  in  this 
country,  was  a  marvel  of  success  in  certain  kinds  of 
music.  A  better  development  of  the  other  senses, 
and  especially  the  touch,  largely  compensates  his  loss 
of  sight. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  total  deafness  of 
Beethoven,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  did  not  after  all 
prove  a  blessing,  like  many  others,  in  disguise,  by 
concentrating  his  thought  upon  the  symphonies  that 
have  rendered  him  immortal.  The  mother  goes  down 
into  the  dark  depths  of  a  suffering,  uncertain  fate, 
to  emerge  again,  if  she  survives,  into  the  sunlight 
and  joy  of  a  broader  and  more  significant  life;  and, 
how  often  have  we  seen  the  dire  heart-breaks  of  some 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  5 

smitten  child  of  seeming  misfortune  hasten  to  issue  in 
a  joyous  experience  which  had  had  no  antecedent 
equah  Were  there  no  darkness,  CQuld  we  enjoy  the 
hght?  Evil,  sometimes,  because  of  our  narrow  vision 
and  short  sight,  appears  to  be  only  evil,  but  afterward, 
when  the  sky  has  cleared,  we  can  see  the  good  it  has 
brought  us.  All  things,  according  to  Emerson,  are 
'^double,'  and  a  compensating  good  ^^is  mate  of 
evil."  Israel' s  king  could  say,  ^*It  was  good  for  me 
to  be  afflicted;  '  and  we  are  told  that  somehow  ^^the 
Captain  of  our  salvation  was  made  perfect  through 
suffering.'*  Yes,  there  are  compensations.  Grant 
then,  to  the  pessimist,  that  there  are  evils  which  can- 
not be  escaped,  that  human  life  is  sometimes  darkly 
over-clouded,  that  it  is  short  and  feeble — of  few  days 
and  full  of  trouble,  and  seemingly  inadequate  to  its 
task,  we  may  yet  hope  that  in  the  hereafter  there  will 
be  an  answering  life  and  benediction,  adequate  to 
compensate  and  cancel  all  loss,  and  all  sorrow.  Vice 
is  self-destructive.  It  is  always  cutting  and  wound- 
ing itself^ — sapping  its  own  foundations,  and  its  power 
of  self-destruction  is  cumulative  as  it  advances.  But 
virtue  is  self-preservative.  It  never  hurts  itself.  It 
is  cumulative  in  its  power  of  self-preservation.  It  is 
in  accord  with  nature's  order — with  all  the  eternal 
verities.  Sometime,  therefore,  within  the  cycles  of 
being,  we  may  hope  that  vice  will  die,  that  truth  will 
triumph  over  error,  and  that  virtue  will  win  the  victory 
— will  crown  and  bless  the  life  immortal — Optimism. 
-M     >Y    -^    ^^Somehow  good  will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill.' * 


'The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man." — Pope. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Ideal  Man. 

The  ideal  physical  man,  proportional  in  body  and 
limb  is,  say  six  feet  tall,  and  weighs  175  pounds. 

For  all  purposes  of  strength,  agility  and  endurance, 
this  may  be  accepted  as  a  standard. 

He  is  endowed  with  five  senses,  and  with  appetites, 
propensities  and  passions,  or  rather  with  such 
capacities  as  make  these  sensibilities  possible  and 
real. 

The  real  man  varies  from  the  ideal  in  stature, 
through  a  wide  range  of  imperfection.  We  find  him 
of  every  conceivable  size  and  proportion,  from  the 
giant  to  the  dwarf — from  the  typical  and  finely  devel- 
oped American  to  the  diminutive  and  swarth}^  Bush- 
man of  Africa. 

Where  no  violence  has  been  suffered,  the  power 
of  endurance  and  length  of  life  are,  within  limits,  in 
proportion  to  the  perfection  of  the  physical  organism. 

All  men  have  a  sense  of  something  better  possible — 
some  intuition  of  an  ideal  state  of  perfection  and  hap- 
piness, toward  which  they  aspire  with  something  of 
desire  and  effort;  and  per  contra  a  corresponding 
sense  of  imperfection  and  ill-desert,  from  which  they 
would  fain  escape. 


8  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

'^All  human  law  proceeds  upon  the  assumpton  that 
the  race  is  sinful,  and  history  records  the  fact.  There 
are  no  religions  which  are  not  found  in  the  conviction 
of  human  imperfection."^ 

So  ubiquitous  and  inscrutable  has  evil,  moral  and 
physical,  personal  and  general,  ever  been  that  men 
have  everywhere  apothesized  it.  The  Egyptian  had 
his  Typhon.  The  Brahmin  and  the  Buddhist  their 
Siva,  the  Persian  his  Ahriman,  the  Scandinavian  his 
Loke,  the  Jew  and  the  Christian  their  Satan. 

That  the  organic  union  of  the  spirit  with  matter 
was  the  source  of  all  human  imperfection  and  suffering, 
was  the  doctrine,  not  only  of  Plato,  but  of  the  Indian 
Seer  long  before  him. 

According  to  the  Greek  philosopher,  the  human 
spirit  had  an  ante-mundane  existence,  and  was  per- 
fect, and  perfectly  happy,  ^^following  in  the  wake  of 
the  gods." 

But  owing  to  some  direliction,  he  does  not  tell  us 
what  or  why,  he  was  condemned  to  be  born  a  human 
being — was  imprisoned  in  a  material  body,  retaining 
only  reminiscences  of  the  former  self.  The  senses 
may  not  be  trusted.  The  power  of  sense  must  be 
broken  ere  he  can  escape  life's  torturing  disabilities 
and  resume  his  place  with  the  gods. 

All  philosophers  agree  in  assertmg  the  frailty  and 
imperfections  of  men.  Aristotle,  while  admitting  the 
universal  infirmity,  maintained,  with  singular  insight 

I.     Barnes  Ev.   Chris.  19th  Cent. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  9 

and  perception  of  the  truth, the  necessity  of  living  in 
accord  with  the  order  of  nature,  as  a  condition  of 
happiness. 

According  to  Homer,  two  jars  stand  in  the  Palace 
of  Zeus,  one  filled  with  evil,  one  filled  with  good  gifts 
for  men;  later  there  w^ere  two  filled  with  evil  and 
only  one  with  good.  Later  still,  Simonides  said,  sor- 
row follows  sorrow  so  quickly  that  even  the  air  can- 
not penetrate  between  them.^ 

Seneca  says,  '^Not  only  have  we  transgressed;  we 
shall  continue  to  do  so  to  the  end  of  life."  It  was 
the  complaint  of  our  ancestors,  it  is  ours,  it  will  be 
that  of  posterity,  that  morals  are  subverted,  that  cor- 
ruption reigns.  The  human  mind  is  perverse  by 
nature,  and   strives  and  strives  for  what  is  forbidden. ^ 

That  something  of  this  human  infirmity  is  due  to 
unfavorable  external  influences — to  climate,  to  envi- 
ronment, to  heredity,  is  conceded  by  all  An  ideal 
republic  from  which  the  influences  that  tend  to  debase 
men  are  eliminated,  and  in  which  the  race,  under 
favoring  conditions  would  grow  toward  perfection, 
was  the  dream  of  Plato,  of  Sir  Thomas  More  and 
others. 

Mr.  Buckle  has  elaborated  with  profound  research, 
the  iniSuences  of  climate  and  other  surroundings, 
and  claims  that  vice  and  error  are  subject  to  law,  and 
vary  with,  if    they    do    not    depend    upon,    such    sur- 

1.  Ullman  Coni.  Heathen,  with  Chris,  p.  72. 

2.  Ibid,  p    -^8. 


lO  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

roundings.  H^,  says:  'It  surely  must  be  admitted 
that  the  existence  of  crime  according  to  a  fixed  and 
uniform  scherie,  is  a  fact  most  clearly  attested.  We 
have  cha?r:6  of  evidence,  formed  with  extreme  care, 
under  the  most  different  circumstances,  and  all  point- 
ing in  the  same  direction,  and  all  forcing  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  offences  of  men  are  the  result  of 
the  state  of  society  into  which  the  individual  is 
thrown."^ 

Mr.  Leckey  follows  in  the  same  vein  of  thought 
and  arrives  at  the  same  conclusion. 

Des  Cartes  sa3^s:  ''With  respect  to  seemingly 
natural  impulses  I  have  observed,  when  the  question 
related  to  the  question  of  right  or  wrong  in  action, 
that  they  frequently  led   me  to  take   the  worse  part.^ 

"We  must  regret  that  even  in  the  best  natures  the 
social  affections  are  so  over-borne  by  the  personal  as 
rarely  to  command  conduct  in  a  direct  way,  and  in 
accordance  with  this  statement  Compte  proceeds  to 
speak  of  the  radical  imperfection  of  the  human  char- 
acter."^ 

But  this  recognition  of  human  infirmity  in  history 
and  philosophy  becomes  an  impassioned  wail  in 
religion. 

The  rapt  Isaiah  exclaims  with  poetic  passion,  "the 
whol-e  head  is  sick,  the  whole  heart  famt.      From   the 

1.  Hist.  Civilization,  Vol.  i,  p.  21. 

2.  Hand  Book  Philosophy,  p.  210. 

3.  Positive  Philosophy,  pp.  131-13^. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  II 

sole  of  the  foot,  even  unto  the  head,  there  is  no  sound- 
ness, but  wounds  and  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores.  ^ 
And  the  Psalmist,  who  was  the  best  informed  man 
of  his  age  in  relation  to  the  nature  and  the  needs  of 
humanity,  sa3^s  in  the  same  vein  and  to  the  same 
effect:  ^^They  are  corrupt,  they  have  done  abomina- 
ble works,  there  is  none  that  doeth  good  and  they  are 
all  gone  aside,  they  are  altogether  become  filthy, 
there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no  not  one;"^  while  the 
characterization  of  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans,^ 
is  something  terrible. 

In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all, 

IS  the  brief  postulate  of  the  theologian;  and  the  long 
wail  of  the  church  concerning  '^Original  Sin"  and 
^^Total  Depravity"  is  still  ringing  in  our  ears. 

But  without  further  historical  reference  we  may 
note  that,  while  nearly  all  agree  in  asserting  a  com- 
mon human  infirmity,  wide  differences  of  opinion  pre- 
vail as  to  the  causes  and  the  extent  of   this   infirmity. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  subject  easily  divide 
into  two  classes: 

First,  those  who  hold  that  it  inheres  in  the  material 
organism,  and 

Second,  those  who  hold  that  man  was  created  per- 
fect, but  subsequently  fell  into  sin. 

Some  of  those  of  the  first  class  hold  with  Plato  and 
the  Orientals,  that  the  organic  union  of  the  originally 

I.     Chap.  5.     2.     Psa.  14.     3.     Chap.  i. 


12  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

perfect  spirit  with  matter  has  resulted  in  its  intellec- 
tual and  moral  debasement,  while  thoje  who  hold  with 
Darwin  and  the  Evolutionists,  believe  that  men  have 
not  yet  outgrown  the  essential  baseness  of  their  origi- 
nal being. 

Of  the  second  class  there  are  those  who  hold: 
First,  that  the  lapse  of  man  was  so  complete  and 
fatal  as  to  vitiate  his  whole  nature,  and  render  him 
absolutely  incapable  of  virtue,^  and  second,  that  the 
lapse  was  so  slight  as  only  to  disturb  the  balance  of 
his  mental  and  moral  powers,  and  to  generate  certain 
tendencies  to  immorality,  leaving  him  not  vicious  and 
sinful /<?r  se,  but  weaker  and  more  exposed  to  tempta- 
tion.^ 

Such,  then,  is  the  almost  uniform  agreement  of 
observers  as  to  the  fact  of  human  infirmity;  and  such 

1.  Hagenbach   Hist.  Doctrines,  Vol.  2,  p.  25. 

2.  The  English  church  following  Augustine  and  Anselm  and 
fairly  representing  the  so-called  orthodox  view  of  the  Latin  church 
puts  it  thus:  "When  man  sinned,  that  in-dwelling  spirit,  upon 
which  all  his  righteousness  and  holiness  depended,  was  with- 
drawn, and  that  image  of  God,  which  had  been  imparted,  was 
lost;  and,  along  with  this,  men  lost  all  power  either  of  willing  or 
doing  good  works  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God;  so  that  he  is 
very  far  gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  of  his  own  nature 
is  inclined  to  evil;  having  no  power  of  himself  to  help  himself; 
not  able  to  think  a  good  thought  or  to  work  a  good  deed,  his  very 
nature  being  perverse  and  corrupt,  destitute  of  God's  word  and 
Grace!  In  short,  he  was  no  longer  a  citizen  of  heaven,  but  a  fire- 
brand of  hell  and  a  bound  slave  to  the  devil.  Hist.  Denomina- 
tions in  Eng.  and  America,  p.  240. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 3 

some  of  the  varying  opinions  as  to  the  nature  and 
extent  of  this  infirmity.  The  ideal  man  is  but  an 
ideal.  The  real  man  everywhere  furnishes  the  proof 
of  imperfection — sad,  overwhelming. 

If  the  old  Indian  or  Platonic  view  of  the  essential 
baseness  of  human  nature  be  accepted,  or  still  worse, 
if  the  church  view  of  ^^Total  Depravity"  is  admitted, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  science,  moral  or  ethical, 
can  be  built  up.  Every  manifestation  of  the  spirit 
has  been  touched  and  defiled,  every  moral  phenome- 
non has  been  perverted;  how,  then,  can  it  be  known 
what  the  true  humanity  is,  or  can  be?  Where  is  the 
starting  point  in  the  investigation?  Can  you  ascend 
from  what  is  essentially  imperfect  and  false  to  that 
which  is  essentially  perfect  and  true?  If  man  is 
without  law  and  above  law,  to-day,  in  his  baseness 
and  depravity,  what  will  he  be  to-morrow?  There  is 
nothing  in  his  nature  upon  which  to  erect  even  a  rea- 
sonable conjecture  as  to  what  will  be  his  place  or 
condition  or  character  in  the  future,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  much  greater  difficulty  of  determining  the  L^w 
and  the  destiny  of  his  future  being. 

This  difficulty  was  noticed  long  ago,  by  Dr.  Ward- 
law,  in  his  Christian  Ethics  (4th  edition,  London, 
1844).  He  says,  ^'Man  is  both  the  investigator,  and, 
in  pn.rt  at  least,  the  subject  of  investigation.  In  each 
of  these  views  of  him  there  is  a  source  of  error.  The 
first  arising  from  the  influence  of  his  depravity  on  his 
character  as  an  investigator,  and  the  second  from  the 
disposition  to  make  his  own  nature   (without   advert- 


14  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ing  to  its  fallen  state)  his  standard  of  moral  princi- 
ples, and  his  study  in  endeavoring  to  ascertain  them.  "^ 

If  the  conceded  moral  disorder  be  indeed  so  radical 
and  complete,  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Wardlaw  seems 
entirely  logical.  Dr.  Calderwood,  who  distinctly 
admits  the  reigning  moral  infinity,  very  justly  insists 
that  whatever  the  disorder  m.ay  be,  ^^it  is  not  such  as 
to  destroy  reason  and  render  men  unable  to  make  true 
and  changeless  moral  distinctions. "  ^    It  cannot  be  total. 

It  seems  evident  enough  that  whatever  imperfec- 
tion attaches  to  men,  it  yet  leaves  them  in  natia-e  and 
kind  the  same.  Was  man  originally  endowed  with 
intellect,  sensibility  and  will  power?  He  is  yet  so 
endowed.  Was  he  created  able  to  perceive,  to 
acquire  knovv^ledge,  to  reflect,  to  compare  and  make 
deductions?  He  is  yet  so  able.  Was  he  endowed 
with  moral  sense,  conscience,  emotion,  passion, 
desire,  affection.  He  is  so  yet.  Could  he  make 
choice,  exercise  volition,  recognize  moral  obligations 
and  worship  God.     He  can  still  do  so. 

No  elementary  constituent  has  either  been  added 
or  abstracted  from  the  original  mental  constitution. 
Men  are  not  wanting  in  the  elements  of  their  man- 
hood, but  in  the  propriety  of  their  functional  activi- 
ties— in  the  proper  adjustment  and  co-ordination  of 
their  powers — in  the  balance  and  equilibrium  of  the 
affectional  nature. 

1.  Vide  Calderwood  Hand-book  of  Moral  Philosophy,  p.  215. 

2.  Ibid. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  l5 

He  can  acquire  and  classify  knowledge,  point  out 
moral  distinctions,  discover  law,  and  build  science; 
but,  mark  you,  with  less  success  and  brilliance  of 
result,  in  consequence  of  his  infirmity,  whatever  it  may 
be,  and  however  accounted  for. 

But,  leaving  science  proper  out  of  the  question, 
and  looking  to  practical  results,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
respective  theories  of  human   infirmity  differ  greatly. 

If  it  be  regarded  as  organic — congenital,  then 
manifestly  self-immolation — asceticism  is  the  ethical 
and  religious  requirement.  If  it  be  regarded  as  a 
lapse  from  original  perfection  into  absolute  total 
depravity,  then  the  death  and  destruction  of  the  old 
man,  and  the  regeneration  of  a  new  man  is  the 
desideratum. 

But,  if  the  infirmity  amount  only  to  a  disturbance 
and  disorder  of  the  once  co-ordinated  powers,  then 
such  discipline  and  moral  influence  as  will  tend  to 
restore  the  balance  and  equilibrium  of  the  mental 
and  moral  nature,  is  the  desideratum — the  logical 
requirement. 

If  the  theory  of  evolution  be  the  true  one,  then 
what?  Age  on  age  of  experience  with  the  * 'Survival 
of  the  fittest,"  good  feeding,  sanitation,  a  favoring 
climate,  and  other  meteorological  conditions,  and, 
especially,  the  study  of  the  laws  of  health,  the  possi- 
bilities of  heredity  in  the  reproduction  of  life — all  these, 
will  subserve  and  forward  the  general  improvement. 
But  time,  millions  upon  millions  of  years,  is  the 
desideratum. 


^^Quemcunque  miserum  videris  hominem  sclas."^ 


CHAPTER  III. 

Analysis. 

Two  principles  must  guide  our  inquiries  into  the 
nature  of  man;  and  not  less  when  regarded  as  infirm 
and  depraved  than  when  considered  in  his  normal 
condition  as  the  creature  of  God. 

First.      We  must  proceed  by  psychological  analysis. 

It  is  not  enough  for  the  patient  to  inform  his  physi- 
cian that  he  is  sick  and  suffering,  nor  will  the  intel- 
ligent physician  begin  his  medication  upon  such 
information. 

He  will,  at  leasts  attempt  a  diagnosis — inquire  into 
the  location  of  the  pain,  the  condition  of  the  various 
organs  and  tissues  and  their  respective  functions, 
with  a  view  of  ascertaining,  if  possible,  what  the 
specific  lesion  or  lesions  may  be.  And,  obviously, 
until  this  is  done,  he  is  not  prepared  to  make  intelli- 
gent use  of  remedies. 

^^To  know  ourselves  diseased  is  half  our  cure." 

The  case  before  us  is  one  requiring  diagnosis.  It 
is  not  enough  to  say  that  man  is  a  fallen  being — a 
sinful  and  depraved  being]  not  enough  to  describe 
his  condition  as  one  of  moral  disorder.  It  is  not 
enough  to  3ay  with  Jererrjicih^  ^^the  heart  is  deceitful 


l8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked;" ^  nor  with 
Paul,  in  Adam  all  are  ^^dead  in  sin;"  nor  with  the 
churches,  ^^totally  depraved."  These  and  similar 
descriptions,  of  which  we  have  had  many^  are  general 
— indefinite,  and  do  not  convey  specific  information 
as  to  the  psychological  condition  and  status. 

Writers  on  mental  and  moral  science  have  very 
properly  directed  attention  to  the  elemental  constitu- 
ents of  the  human  constitution,  but  they  have  dealt 
more  with  the  ideal  man,  than  with  the  real  man. 
The  fact  of  imperfection  and  vice,  as  they  appear  in 
human  conduct,  is  so  constant  and  universal  that  it 
must  be  included  as  a  factor  in  the  problem  under 
study. 

Dr.  Calderwood,  while  admitting  the  fact  of  moral 
disorder,  concedes  to  Dr.  Wardlaw  ^^that  moralists 
have  not  given  that  amount  of  consideration  to  it 
which  their  admission  of  the  fact  clearly  requires." 
And  yet,  in  writing  his  excellent  and  discriminating 
^^Hand-book  of  Moral  Philosophy,"  he  himself  dis- 
misses the  subject  in  a  very  brief  chapter  near  the 
close  of  his  work — a  mere  appendix. 

Locke  taught  the  need  of  mapping  out  the  limits  of 
the  human  faculties;^  and  Bacon  attempted  a  classi- 
fication of  error-producing  defects  under  the  designa- 
tion of  ^adols."3 

1.  Jeremiah  17:  9. 

2.  Stated  by  Leckey  Hist.  Ra.  Vol.  i,  p.  400, 

3.  Novum  Organum. 


ANtttROPCLOGY.  tg 

feut  ail  these  attempts  at  classification  are  clearly 
wanting  in  psychological  distinctions.  The  case  is 
one  of  disease  and  must  be  studied  and  treated  as 
such;  a  more  intelligent  diagnosis  must  be  made 
out. 

Second.  The  second  principle  which  is  to  guide 
us,  and  which  we  must  keep  in  view,  is  the  design  or 
purpose  of  the  Creator  as  it  appears  in  nature,  and 
especially  in  the  nature  of  man  himself. 

It  is  not  here  supposed  that  this  design  can  always 
be  discovered  and  apprehended  in  its  length  and 
breadth,  that  there  are  not  instances  in  which  it  is 
impossible  to  discover  it.  But,  there  are,  in  most 
cases,  evident  and  unmistakable  traces  of  the  divine 
purpose  to  which  we  shall  do  well  to  give  earnest 
heed. 

If  we  look  into  external  nature  we  shall  discover 
upon  every  hand  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  in  fur- 
therance of  some  specific  purpose  of  the  Creator — so 
many  of  these  adaptations  and  so  wonderful,  that  we 
cannot  doubt  the  Divine  wisdom  and  goodness. 

It  is  very  clear  that  man  himself  was  not  made 
wholly  for  himself.  Although  complex  and  many 
sided  in  his  being,  he  has  an  appropriate  place,  and  a 
part  to  act  in  the  cosmic  drama.  Endowed  with 
the  prerogatives  of  reason  and  conscience  and 
volition,  we  should  expect  him,  within  the  sphere  of 
his  capacity,  to  also  suit  means  to  ends  and  maintain 
the  order  and  harmony  of  nature.  When,  therefore, 
we  see  him  illy  adjusting  himself  to  the  general  order, 


20  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

or  worse  than  this,  antagonizing  it,  we  may  be  sure 
that  he  himself  has  ceased  to  be  what  he  was  intended 
to  be,  and  should  call  a  halt. 

Following  as  we  may  be  able  the  Divine  purpose, 
as  the  fabled  thread  of  Ariadne  into  the  dark  and 
sinuous  recesses  of  human  nature,  and  with  earnest 
fidelity  seeking  to  comprehend  man  in  his  relations, 
we  may  possibly  discover,  on  the  one  hand,  some  errors 
into  which  the  more  discursive  thinking  of  men  have 
led  them,  and,  on  the  other,  obtain  a  clearer  view  of 
some  truths  as  yet  but  imperfectly  understood. 


I  hold  a  middle  rank  'twixt  heaven  and  earth, 
On  the  last  verge  of  mortal  being  stand, 

Close  to  the  realms  where  angels  have  their  birth, 
Just  on  the  boundaries  of  the  spirit  land. 

— Dierzhavm, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Two  Natures. 

Man  is  a  '' double-faced  somewhat"  of  two  natures 
— a  higher  and  a  lower — a  physio-psychic  and  a 
psychic  nature.  But  these  so  intertwine  and  blend 
as  to  make  it  difficult,  with  our  present  knowledge, 
to  determine  definitely  the  line  upon  which  Lhey 
separate. 

On  opposite  sides  they  appear  distinct  enough — on 
this,  the  limitations  of  matter,  through  which,  by  five 
senses,  the  human  soul  struggles  into  consciousness — 
on  that,  reason  and  the  higher  sensibilities.  Here 
appetite  and  propensity,  with  the  fugitive  gratifica- 
tion which  indulgence  brings — there  thought  and  love 
and  conscience,  which  heed  neither  time  nor  space; 
but,  from  either  side  they  shade  off  together  into 
apparent  organic  oneness. 

The  predominance  of  the  lower  nature  is  conspicu- 
ous in  the  earlier  life,  there  being  scarcely  a  trace  of 
the  higher  life  in  the  infant.  But,  with  advancing 
years,  the  germinal  higher  life  develops,  more  and 
more,  and  becomes  conspicuous  in  the  ardent  aspira- 
tions, the  soaring  thoughts  and  deep-toned  sensibili- 
ties of  ripe  manhood. 

Thus  organized  into  a  complex  unit,  their  respect- 


24  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ive  forces  operate  upon  and  influence  each  other, 
and  unite  in  producing  the  hfe  and  character  of  the 
earth-and-heaven-born  man.  Were  they  but  properly 
co-ordinated  and  directed,  the  whole  life  would  be  a 
benediction,  beautiful  in  the  sight  of  men  and  of  God. 

But  alas!  Quem  te  Dens  esse  jus  sit,  non  es — thou 
art  not,  O  man,  what  God  ordained  thee  to  be.  The 
Divine  purpose  has  been,  to  some  extent,  frustrated; 
there  is  not  perfect  harmony  in  the  hierachy  of  the 
affections;  the  two  natures  have  come  into  something 
of  conflict,  and  human  life  and  human  happiness  are 
at  discount. 

The  power  of  each  over  the  other  is  potent,  both 
for  good  and  evil.  A  defective  co-ordination  and 
predominance  of  the  physical  may  cripple  and  pre- 
vent the  development  of  the  higher  life,  even  to 
insanity  and  idiocy,  while  illy  directed  spirit  forces 
may  work  great  damage  to  the  physical  organism.-^ 

Thus  it  is,  account  for  it  as  we  may,  one  is  born  a 
genius,  another  an  idiot;  one  with  such  perfection  of 
the  physical  and  nioral  make-up  as  to  almost  warrant 


I.  The  merest  embers  and  spark  of  a  headache  may  be  blown 
into  a  roaring  conflagration  by  the  steady  breath  of  hypochondria. 
Fear  so  disturbs  the  balance  of  the  system  that  it  delivers  us 
bound  hand  and  foot  to  many  a  disease  to  which  there  was  not  a 
shadow  of  necessity  for  surrender.  You  can  scarcely  count 
your  pulse  without  increasing  it  beyond  the  safety  line.  Try  to 
make  sixteen  out  of  your  breathing  rate  by  personal  count  and 
find  what  a  disturbing  cause  are  induced  currents  from  the  upper 
brain. — J.  B,  Taylor,  in  Christian  Science  Examined,   p.  27. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  25 

in  advance  the  development  of  a  well  rounded  and 
beautiful  character;  but  another  with  such  a  power- 
ful ^^bent  to  sinning''  as  to  make  it  next  to  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  keep  his  wayward  feet  in  the  pathway 
of  virtue.  Between  these  extremes  of  organic  infirm- 
ity, we  have  every  degree  and  color  of  natural  pro- 
pensity and  tendency. 

These  facts  are  of  the  utmost  ethical  significance. 
It  is  plainly  impossible  to  intelligently  prescribe  a 
rule  of  discipline  and  conduct  for  any  one  unless  we 
know  something  of  his  peculiar  weaknesses  and 
temptations.  It  is  most  evident  that  different  persons 
start  into  life  with  widely  different  aptitudes  and 
tendencies,  a  fact  that  should  be  distinctly  recognized 
by  the  casuist  and  the  teacher,  and  by  jurors  and 
judges  in  courts  of  justice  as  well. 

What,  then,  can  be  done — quid  esse  potest?  Can 
the  most  happily  constituted  be  improved?  Can  the 
less  fortunate  be  helped?  and  how?  These  are  ques- 
tions for  the  philanthropists  and  the  philosophers  of 
all  the  ages. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  work,  in  part,  to  assist,  if 
possible,  in  making  intelligent  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions— to  examine,  very  briefly,  into  the  feasibility 
and  propriety  of  the  reformatory  measures  that  have 
been  proposed  by  the  leaders  of  thought,  in  different 
ages,  and  to  present  the  claims  of  the  Christian 
regime  as  best  suited  to  the  work  in  hand. 


Let  us  consider  the  reason  of  the  case,  for  nothing  is  law  that  k 
not  reason." 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Lower  Nature. 

How  to  improve  the  race  in  physical  manhood  is  a 
question  for  the  biologist,  and  the  physiologist;  and  a 
very  serious  and  important  question  it  is,  too,  since 
confessedly  a  sound  body  has  very  close  relations 
with  a  sound  mind — ''Mens  sanis  in  sane  corpore.'" 

The  fact  that  the  length  of  a  generation,  in  civilized 
countries,  has  steadily  increased  during  the  last  300 
years,  is  principally  due  to  hygienic  causes  and  better 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  health.  As  men  emerge 
from  barbarism,  the  life  term  of  a  generation  is  hardly 
more  than  a  score  of  years.  Three  hundred  years 
ago,  in  Europe,  it  was  less  than  thirty  years.  The 
average  length  of  life,  as  given  by  the  British  C37CI0- 
pedia,  is  in  Europe,  34  years;  in  Prussia,  39.8;  in 
Naples,  31.65. 

In  the  olden  time  it  was  said:  '^The  days  of  our 
years  are  three  score  and  ten,  and,  if  by  reason  of 
strength,  they  be  four  score,  yet  is  their  strength  labor 
and  sorrow,  for  it  is  soon  cut  off,  and  we  fly  away." 
Ps.  90:  10.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  this  limit  of 
life,  observed  by  the  intelligent  seer  3,000  years  ago, 
has  remained  substantially  unchanged  from  that  day 
to  the  present. 


28  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

But,  at  best,  this  is  a  sadly  low  rate  of  longevity. 
Improvident  living,  exposure,  the  abuse  of  over-work 
and  over-excitement,  climatic  and  meteorological 
influences,  avoidable  and  unavoidable  diseases,  whose 
name  is  legion,  all  unite  to  render  the  average  life  of 
man  much  shorter  than  it  was  clearly  intended  to  be. 

We  learn  from  the  Bible  record,  that  Abraham 
lived  175  years,  Jacob  147,  Moses  and  Joshua  120, 
and  we  know  that  such  exceptional  prolongations  of 
life  still  occur.  Peter  Czartan,  a  Hungarian  peasant, 
born  in  1539,  lived  185  years;  and  Thomas  Parr,  an 
Englishman,  152  years,  and  died  of  an  accident. 
From  the  census  taken  during  the  reign  of  Vespasian, 
Pliny  enumerates  740  cases,  taken  from  the  region 
between  the  Apennines  and  the  Po,  whose  average 
age  was  123;  and  Dr.  Farr,  from  the  census  enumera- 


NoTE. — Among  litterateurs,  poets,  and  men  of  renown,  Tasso, 
Virgil,  Shakespeare,  Moliere,  Dante,  Pope,  Ovid,  Racine  and 
Demosthenes,  died  between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age.  Lavalet, 
Bocaccio,  Fenelon,  Aristotle,  Cuvier,  Milton,  Rosseau,  Erasmus 
and  Cervantes,  between  sixty  and  seventy;  Dryden,  Petrarch, 
Linnaeus,  Locke,  Handel,  Gallileo,  Swift,  Robert  Bacon  and 
Charles  Darwin,  between  seventy  and  eighty.  Thomas  Carlyle, 
Young,  Plato,  Buffon,  Goethe,  Franklin,  Sir  W.  Herschel,  New- 
ton, Voltaire,  between  eighty  and  ninety;  and,  between  ninety  and 
one  hundred,  Sophocles,  Michael  Angelo  and  Titian.*  Their 
average  length  of  life  being  well  up  to  the  good  old  standard  of 
"three  score  and  ten."  These  higher  pursuits  and  larger  respon- 
sibilities are  not  inimical  to  health  an^  longevity  as  they  are 
sometimes  supposed  to  be. 

^     Bncj^clop.  grittanica, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  29 

tion  and  registered  deaths  in  England  and  Wales, 
shows  that  out  of  every  million  of  the  population,  223 
attain  the  age  of  100.  Haller  and  Buffon  could  see  no 
reason,  in  the  human  organism,  why  the  rule  should 
not  be  100,  instead  of  ^^three  score  and  ten." 

^ ^Learned  writers,"  says  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  of  Chi- 
cago, ^^have  expressed  widely  different  opinions  con- 
cerning the  natural  duration  of  human  life.  Hufe- 
land  has  claimed  it  to  be  200  years,  and  others  have 
fixed  upon  periods  varying  from  100  to  150  years.  The 
greatest  age  attained  by  any  individual  in  modern  times 
is  169  years;  while  the  youngest  old  man  on  record 
was  Louis  II,  king  of  Hungary,  who  was  crowned 
when  two  years  old,  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  his 
tenth  year,  was  married  in  his  fifteenth  year,  and 
died,  wornout  and  gray,  in  his  twentieth  year." ^ 

But  whatever  the  normal  period  of  life  may  be 
or. was  intended  to  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
men  were  born  to  die.  All  history,  all  the  analogies, 
go  to  prove  it.  There  may  be,  and  doubtless  are, 
erroneous  conceptions  of  death.  The  change  it  effects 
is  probably  less  than  most  imagine,  and  it  may  be 
more  than  others  believe;  but  the  change  we  denomi- 
nate death  is  the  heritage  of  the  race.  Change  is  the 
law  of  all  existence.  Everything  has  its  sphere  and 
cycle  of  being — its  death  and  resurrection.  The  very 
rocks  trodden  only  by  the  foot  of  time,  yield  their 
imprisoned  forceSi  and  start  again  into  organic  being, 

I,    Fifty  Ye^rs  and  gej^ond,  pp.  17,  18, 


30  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

We  know  that  the  earth  is  momentarily  cooHng,  and 
that  the  chill  of  death  is  already  upon  her  North  and 
South  poles.  The  earth  itself  must  die.  The  moon 
is  already  dead — so  the  astronomers  say. 

''Dust  thou  art,  and  to  dust  shalt  thou  return/'  — 
this  is  the  irrevocable  decree. 

But  the  fact  most  to  our  purpose  here,  and  one  to 
which  attention  is  invited,  is  that  the  average  life  of  a 
generation  falls  so  lamentably  short  of  its  possibili- 
ties, as  set  forth  in  the  cases  of  the  greatest  longevity. 

The  life  of  a  generation  in  the  most  enlightened 
countries  is  now  about  forty  years,  but  much  less  in 
less  enlightened  countries.  Why  should  it  not  be, 
instead  of  forty,  a  hundred  years  or  more.  Dr. 
Davis,  whom  we  have  just  quoted  with  pleasure, 
speaking  on  this  subject,  says:  ''The  truth  is,  there 
is  no  natural  period  of  life  common  to  all  indi- 
viduals," and  such  is  the  immense  disparity,  in  the 
life-period  of  human  beings,  we  must  hesitate  to  ques- 
tion his  statement.  But,  confessedly,  there  is  a 
natural  old-age  limit,  beyond  which  none  pass,  and 
this  admitted,  it  implicitly  follows  that  the  period 
which  elapses  between  birth,  its  natural  beginning, 
and  old  age,  its  natural  end,  is  the  natural  period  of 
human  life. 

'  'Order  is  heaven' s  first  law. ' '  Every  sun  and  moon 
and  star  counts  its  revolutions  regularly  and  on  time. 
Vegetable  life  is  annual,  or  biennial  or  triennial,  etc. 
The  life  period  of  insect,  bird  and  beast  is,  for  each, 
something  like  a  constant  quantity.     It  is  so  constant, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  3I 

at  least,  as  to  indicate  the  presence  of  law.  The 
exceptions  can  be  accounted  for  on  the  score  of 
adventitious  and  disturbing  causes.  It  indeed  seems 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  two  or  more  beings  of  like 
capacities,  and  like  destiny,  should  have  equal  periods 
of  life,  in  which  to  complete  the  cycle  of  its  activities 
and  enjoyments.  Why  should  one  sparrow  or  one 
squirrel  live  longer  than  another,  and  for  similar  rea- 
sons why  should  one  man  live  longer  than  another? 
Is  his  physical  life-period  without  law? — all  a  matter 
of  chance  and  fate? 

There  are  proofs  enough  that  certain  causes  play 
havoc  with  the  human  organism  and  cut  short  human 
life.  May  not  all  of  such  causes  account  for  the  dis- 
parity that  exists  in  the  life-period  of  the  several  indi- 
viduals, on  the  theory  that  each  one  is  born  to  a 
natural  period  of  life  common  to  the  race? 

But,  if  this  be  true,  every  child  of  humanity 
has  a  birthright  to  the  full  term  of  man's  appointed 
life,  whether  it  be  loo  or  i,ooo  years.  But,  if  so, 
then  what  immense  damage  has  been  inflicted  upon 
the  unfortunates  who  die  in  infancy  and  childhood — 
upon  all,  indeed,  who  are  taken  off  before  their  time! 

From  this  point  of  view  we  shall  be  able  to  see 
to  what  extent  the  physical  life  of  man  has  degen- 
erated, and  the  distance  he  must  travel  backward  and 
upward  to  reach  the  olympian  heights  to  which  he 
was  appointed  by  the  Creator. 

But  though  all  must  die,  death  never  conquers — 
:2ie^er    annihilates.       The    Phoenix   springs  from   her 


32  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

own  ashes.  The  crawling,  helpless  worm  leaps  from 
its  chrysalis  into  a  more  beautiful  and  wider  life. 
Force  may  be  transformed,  it  cannot  be  destroyed. 
Human  life  is  here  and  now  but  dimly  shadowed 
forth,  its  destiny  but  hinted  at.  It  is  shut  into  con 
ditions  which  more  and  more  it  spurns.  These  con- 
ditions were  suited  to  the  first  stages  of  its  being. 
They  are  utterly  unsuited  to  the  later  stages  and 
must  be  changed.  The  full-fledged  human  soul  de- 
mands a  changed  environment — a  ^^new  heaven  and 
a  new  earth" — better  facilities  and  larger  opportuni- 
ties to  develop  and  display  its  powers,  to  fulfill  the 
Divine  purposes,  and  find  its  goal. 

The  relation  existing  between  a  good  physique  and 
a  good  character  is  notably  intimate  and  constant, 
and  deserves  the  earnest  attention  of  those  who  seek 
to  improve  and  advance  the  race. 

The  Romans,  masters  of  the  world  2,000  years 
ago,  appeared  to  the  Etruscans  as  a  '^nation  of 
kings." 

The  better  classes  of  Americans — those  who  give  to 
the  country  its  institutions,  and  its  character,  and  who 
bid  fair  to  become  the  second  masters  of  the  world, 
surpass  all  others  in  the  uniform  excellence  of  their 
physical  organism.  A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body 
is  an  exhaustless  source  and  the  condition  precedent  of 
great  power,  and  it  is  true  not  only  as  to  power,  but 
to  knowledge,  courage,  virtue. 

But  the  most  important  fact  to  be  noted  in  connec- 
tion^   is    the    indication   the   history  of  this,    and    gf 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  33 

conquering  nations  generally,  furnishes,  as  to  the 
the  means  of  improving  the  race  as  such. 

Rome  grew  up  out  of  an  endless  mixture  of  tribes 
and  races;  and,  through  infinite  crossings  and  recross- 
ings,  climbed  to  her  superiority.  When  a  nation  has 
become  rich,  and  out-grown  the  need  of  active  and 
wide  commerce,  she  soon  settles  into  something  like 
mediocrity.  Grand  and  striking  characters  begin  to 
disappear  from  her  history.  Physical  and  mental 
degeneracy  set  in  and  go  hand  in  hand. 

America,  thus  far,  has  grown  up  under  conditions 
not  widely  different  from  those  of  early  Rome.  In 
her  blood  runs  every  strain  and  type  of  European 
life,  and  with  her,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  evi- 
dent, lies  the  progress  and  destiny  of  civilization. 

Heredity — What  does  heredity  mean?  What  are 
its  potencies  as  a  factorig;;tlxQjiingj;guplift? 

In  his  lower  nature^^roa^SKi^eSj^  and, 

as  we  have  just  sepa,  a  veryi>=p*w^^4id  sicR^Y  one  at 
that,  one-half  the/r^e  dying  in  childhoodJL.  vtle  may 
be  improved  or  d«bg;sed^as  are  other  animaip.  If  he 
is  to  be  much  imprtii^ecj^-he  must  be  bett&'l^orn. 

The  effort  in  our  schools  has  been  to  develop  and 
improve  the  higher  nature,  rather  than  the  lower — to 
cultivate  the  mental  powers  by  imparting  knowledge. 
But,  as  a  means  of  improving  the  race  as  such,  it  has 
not  succeeded,  and  cannot.  The  improvement  thus 
effected  is  not  transmissable  from  parent  to  child. 
The  individual  is  ^ ^educated"  and,  what  of  natural 
ability  he  has^   is  nursed  and  petted^  and  here  and 


34  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

there  one  wins  distinction.  Grant,  that,  by  his  her- 
culean efforts,  he  attains  the  heights  of  knowledge. 
It  is  well,  but  alas!  he  transmits  nothing  of  his  splen- 
did achievements  to  his  posterity.  His  children, 
with  such  inherited  capacities  as  a  blind  fate  has 
bequeathed  them,  must  begin,  where  he  began,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  hill,  and,  possibly  with  less  ability  than 
he  had.  It  is  the  struggle  of  sisyphus.  Generation 
after  generation  follows  suit,  and  no  progress  is  made. 
How  many  families  actually  deteriorate  under  the 
discouraging  process?  What  race  progress  has  been 
made  since  the  days  of  Plato  and  Aristotle?  When 
shall  we  find  another  Athens,  or  another  Alexandria?* 
According  to  what  we  know  of  the  laws  of  repro- 
duction and  transmission  of  life,  and  this,  confessedly, 
is  very  little,  to  our  shame  be  it  said,  extreme  ten- 
dencies  may    be    checked,     abnormalities  corrected, 

*NoTE. — The  assumption  that  the  movement  of  man  has  always 
L3en  one  of  progress,  and  that  the  lowest  forms  of  savage  life  at 
present,  illustrate,  everywhere,  an  advance  upon  man's  primitive 
condition,  seems  irreconcilable  with  the  facts  of  history.  Unfor- 
tunately there  are,  within  the  ranks  of  every  civilized  society, 
large  communities  of  persons  who,  though  surrounded  by  all  the 
appliances  of  education,  morality  and  civilization,  are,  in  their 
modes  of  life,  habits  and  instincts,  savages.  All  know  that  the 
pauper  and  dangerous  classes  are  continually  recruited  from  the 
ranks  of  those  above  them.  All  know  that  ihese  classes  transmit 
their  habits  and  character  to  their  descendants,  and  that,  were  it 
not  for  the  constant  efforts  of  the  better  portions  of  society,  they 
would  threaten  the  very  existence  of  civilization.  M.  B.  Ander- 
son, in  Johnston's  Cyclopedia,  Art.  Man. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  35 

wayward  propensity  and  illicit  passion  modified,  at 
least,  if  they  cannot  indeed  be  bred  out  of  the  life 
entirely,  and  a  better  organic  make-up  secured. 

This  much,  at  least  as  to  the  lower  animals,  is 
admitted.  Intelligent  stockmen  understand  and 
apply  it. 

It  is  due  to  future  generations  that  those  who  are 
directing  the  educational  forces,  should  not  only 
utilize  all  that  is  known  as  to  such  possibilities,  but, 
that  they  should  provide  such  facilities  for  observation 
and  stud}^,  as  the  obvious  importance  of  the  subject 
demands,  in  order  that  research  may  be  pushed  to  the 
farthest  limit. 

Those  who  contemplate  entering  into  the  marriage 
relation,  should  see  to  it  that  life's  forces  are  so 
co-ordinated  that  their  children  shall  not  be  cursed 
with  hereditary  vice  and  imbecility.  They  owe  it 
rather  to  their  children  that  they  should  be  an 
improvement  upon  themselves — endowed  with  a  better 
physique  and  better  powers. 

It  is  hardly  credible  that  intelligent  men,  capable  of 
reason  and  foresight,  should  so  completely  ignore  and 
disregard  the  possibilities  of  exalting  their  progeny, 
on  this  line  of  improvement  as  they  do.  It  does  not 
seem  to  have  occurred  to  those  who  cherish  their 
off-spring  with  infinite  care  and  solicitude,  and  who 
labor  to  provide  for  them  every  advantage  and  com- 
fort, without  regard  to  expense,  and  self-sacrifice, 
that,  possibly,  much  that  is  more  valuable  than  any- 
thing money  can  purchase,   or   parental    affection  can 


36  The  new  religion. 

suggest,  might  have  been  secured  to  them  had  they 
but  exercised  the  sagacity  and  prudence  of  the  com- 
mon stockman. 

What  has  been  achieved  in  the  domain  of  mere 
animal  life,  and  with  comparatively  little  systematic 
study,  should  stimulate  the  most  earnest  effort,  to 
realize  greater  results,  in  the  higher  human  life.  It 
is  one  of  the  sad  facts  of  history  that  so  little  atten- 
tion has  been  given  to  the  subject  in  scientific  circles. 

No  chair  in  any  institution  of  learning,  either  in 
this  country  or  elsewhere,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  been 
endowed  with  adequate  means  for  prosecuting  the 
study  of  heredity.  Most  of  what  is  known  as  to  the 
laws  of  reproduction  and  the  transmission  of  life,  has 
been  contributed  by  naturalists  and  stockmen,  with- 
out any  regard  to  the  possibilities  of  improving  the 
world-life  of  man  himself.  The  effort  has  been  to 
cram  him  with  knowledge,  as  though  knowledge  were 
the  chief  good  to  him,  to  cultivate  the  tree  from  the 
top  downward,  without  regard  to  the  soil  and  sap  upon 
which  its  fruitage  depends.  But  thus,  what  is  gained 
for  the  individual,  is  lost  to  his  progeny,  and  the  toil 
of  sisyphus  goes  on. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Lower  Nature. 

Appetite, 

The  organic  physical  life  is  imparted  under  such 
physiological  conditions  as  to  require  constant  care 
and  supervision— instant  and  continued  alimentation. 
The  air  must  give  its  oxygen,  and  various  kinds  of 
'ood  must  furnish  nutrition. 

They  must  be  regularly  supplied  and  distributed 
throughout  the  system. 

And  not  less  necessary  is  it,  that  the  worn-out 
effete  matter  which  has  served  its  purpose  and  been 
discharged,  shall  be  as  regularly  removed.  The  pro- 
cesses of  the  physical  life  are  many  and  complex.  If 
they  were  all  understood  by  the  individual  he  could 
not  attend  to  and  execute  them.  To  do  so  he  must 
blow  at  the  lungs,  and  grind  at  the  stomach,  and 
pump  at  the  heart,  and  unload  at  the  emunctories,  all 
at  once  and  always,  and  yet  not  the  half  nor  the  hun- 
dredth part  would  be  done. 

But,  he  is  kindly  released  from  all  this.  Another — 
the  all  wise  and  all  good,  stands  unweariedly  by, 
touching  the  keys,  sustaining  and  directing  the  forces, 
and  the  wheels  of  organic  life  continue  to  spin. 


38  THE    NEW    RELIGION 

But  we  soon  discover  that  the  spirit  within — the  man 
himself,  has,  after  all,  a  part  to  play.  He  must  provide 
food  in  quality  and  kind  for  alimentation.  He  must 
provide  against  heat  and  cold  and  storm;  and  this 
requires  labor  and  vigilance.  He  has  a  part  to  play. 
Will  he  do  it?  Will  he  do  it  as  regularly  and  faith- 
fully as  it  needs  to  be  done? 

He  will.  But,  as  if  he  could  not  otherwise  be 
trusted  with  such  grave  responsibilities,  he  is  bound 
by  certain  appetites  and  instincts  to  his  part  of  the 
obligation. 

His  instinctive  love  of  money  will  provide  the  need- 
ful means;  appetite  and  taste,  or  hunger,  will  find 
the  food  and  see  to  it  that  he  takes  it  in  such  kind 
and  quantity  as  the  organism  needs;  love  of  gain, 
appetite,  taste,  satiety,  these  are  his  prompters  and 
his  guides,  and,  thus  equipped,  he  is  started  upon 
his  world-life,  whether  it  be  for  100  or  1,000  years. 
Means  to  ends — we  are  just  hinting  at  them — how 
beautiful  all  these  adaptations,  infinite  in  number  and 
kind!  Behold  how  one  eternal  purpose  runs  through 
all  this  blessed  handiwork  of  God! 

^^And  God  created  man  in  his  own  image.  In  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him,  male  and  female  cre- 
ated he  them,  and  God  saw  everything  that  he  had 
created,  and  behold  it  was  very  good." 

But,  should  one  yield  to  these  propensities — get 
gain,  indulge  appetite,  gratify  taste — this  were  sen- 
suality, Epicureanism.  These  appetencies  are  the 
voice  of  God,  and  may  not  be  disregarded.      In  3^our 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  39 

shallow  and  short-sighted  wisdom  you  sometimes  set 
them  aside,  and  substitute  your  own  wisdom.  It  is 
an  impertinence;  it  is  worse  than  folly;  it  is  a  crimi- 
nal interference  with  nature's  order. 

But  you  say  the  appetite  and  taste  sometimes  call 
for  what  proves  to  be  injurious,  and  therefore  we  must 
take  the  dietary  into  our  own  hands.  This  is  the 
exception  and  not  the  rule. 

Very  often  what  you  prescribe  proves  injurious. 
What  then?  In  the  presence  of  the  Creator's  wisdom 
yours  is  very  small.  Better  follow  appetite  until  you 
prove  it  to  be  morbid  and  untrustworthy.  Appetite 
makes  less  mistakes  than  the  doctor,  and  is  more 
worthy  of  trust. 

That  it  is  possible  for  disease,  or  the  witchery  of 
the  modern  cook,  to  stimulate  appetite  and  taste  to 
the  point  of  causing  them  to  make  abnormal  and  hurt- 
ful demands,  no  one  can  doubt;  and,  it  is  equally 
clear,  that  some,  losing  sight  of  the  grander  possi- 
bilities of  life,  abandon  themselves  to  beastly  indul- 
gence. But  such  facts,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
sickening  consequences  of  such  intemperate  indul- 
gence, only  make  it  more  obvious  and  imperative  that 
the  benevolent  Creator's  order  of  things  should  be 
respected  and  maintained. 

''Since  the  improvement  of  cooking,"  said  Frank- 
lin, 100  years  ago,  ''men  eat  a  fourth  more  than  they 
need."  But  the  trouble  of  overeating  arises  most 
from  too  rapid  eating,  and  want  of  mastication.  If 
the  food  be  bolted,  too  much  is  swallowed  before  the 


40  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

stomach  has  time  to  say  enough.  The  error  is  one 
not  so  much  of  appetite,  or  of  cookery,  as  it  is  one  of 
mistaken  haste  and  want  of  time  in  eating. 

It  is  the  function  of  appetite  and  taste,  with  their 
dehcate  and  delicious  pleasures,  to  subserve  and  sus- 
tain the  health  and  well-being  of  the  physical  organ- 
ism, and  their  delightful  ministries  are  not  to  be 
undervalued. 

But,  to  prostitute  the  nobler  self  to  mere  animal 
gratification  would  but  prove  that  one  is  more  an 
animal  than  a  man. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Lower  Nature. 

Aiuirice, 

"Be  sure  to  turn  a  penny,  lie  and  swear, 

'Tis  wholesome  sin.     But  Jove,  thou  sayest,  will  hear! 

Swear,  feast,  or  starve,  for  the  dilemma's  even. 

A  tradesman  thou?  and  hopest  to  go  to  heaven?" 

Dr.  Calderwood,  in  his  Handbook  of  Moral  Philos- 
ophy, argues,  and  logically,  too,  that  the  right  to 
acquire  property  is  established,  not  by  deduction,  but 
by  intuition.  But  he  does  not  inform  us  as  to  the 
amount  of  property  it  is  right  for  any  one  to  acquire. 
He  claims  that  it  is  right  and  proper  ^^to  use  one's 
powers  for  their  natural  ends  only,''  and  in  this,  too, 
he  is  certainly  right. 

What,  then,  are  the  ^'natural  ends,^^  for  the  attain- 
ment of  which,  in  the  matter  of  acquiring  property, 
it  is  proper  to  use  one's  powers? 

Is  the  mere  acquisition  of  property  the  end?  Moral 
philosophy,  while  it  has  decided  that  it  is  right  to 
acquire  property,  has  not  made  answer.  Men  gener- 
ally devote  most  of  their  time  and  strength  to  money- 
getting.  In  view  of  the  great  and  varied  powers  with 
which  man   is  endowed,    and  especially  in  view  the 


42  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

the  limited  possible  uses  of  money,  it  is  evident 
enough  that  the  acquisition  of  property,  as  such,  is  not 
an  adequate  end  for  human  conduct.  It  can  be  use- 
ful, but  for  a  short  time,  and  at  best  does  not  respond 
to  the  higher  needs  of  men;  and,  the  question  returns, 
what  is  the  proper  end  to  be  had  view  in  the  matter 
of  getting  gain — what  is  the  moral  law  involved? 

This,  moral  philosophy,  and  not  ethics,  must  show. 
But  this,  it  has  failed  to  do.  Somehow,  and  partly, 
no  doubt,  because  of  this  failure,  men  have  very  gen- 
erally come  to  believe,  if  we  may  judge  from  their 
actions,  that  the  acquisition  of  property,  without 
limit  as  to  quantity,  is  right  as  an  end,  provided  it  be 
acquired  by  fair  and  honest  means.  The  practice  of 
the  world  appears  to  accord  with  this  view. 

What,  then,  is  the  law  touching  this  matter. 

We  can  only  arrive  at  the  answer  by  inquiring  into 
the  uses — the  real  and  only  proper  uses — of  property. 

1 .  The  body  must  be  cared  for — it  must  be  nourished 
and  protected.  But  this  requires  houses,  food  and 
clothing,  and  these  again  require  money. 

2.  In  the  order  of  nature,  and  under  the  requisitions 
of  society  from  which  we  cannot  escape,  others 
become  dependent  upon  us  in  such  a  way  that  it 
becomes  our  duty  to  provide  also  for  them  what  they 
need,  and  this  requires  money — property. 

3.  And  then,  too,  no  one  should  content  himself 
with  providing  only  for  the  needs  of  the  lower  nature. 
Money  has  important  relations  with  man's  higher 
nature.      He    needs  knowledge — the    inspiration    and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  43 

gratification  of  art,  music,  painting,  statuary.  He 
needs  something  of  leisure — the  comfort  of  rest,  and 
preparation  for  possible  helplessness,  sickness  and 
old  age,  all  of  which  imply  and  necessitate  the  acqui- 
sition and  use  of  money. 

All  these,  and  possibly  other  nameable  ones,  we 
may  assume,  are  legitimate  uses,  and  combined  con- 
stitute a  natural  end,  toward  which  it  would  be  right 
to  direct  and  exercise  one's  powers. 

How  much  these  icses  would  require,  must  be  left 
for  the  reason  to  determine,  in  view  of  the  conditions 
involved;  but  the  amount  must  not  transcend  these 
legitimate  uses.  If  possible,  the  supply  must  be 
brought  up  to  this  requirement,  it  must  not  transcend 
it,  on  pain  of  misdirecting  and  irreparably  damaging 
the  nobler  self — a  competency,  and  no  more. 

But  alas!  the  old  question.     What  is  a  competency? 

It  plainly  differs  for  each  individual,  and  in  any 
case  it  is  a  confessedly  difficult  question  to  determine. 
It  is  a  question  for  ethical  science,  but  its  discussion 
does  not  lie  within  the  scope  of  this  work. 

Whatever  it  may  be,  however,  it  requires  a  good 
proportion  of  life's  labors  to  provide  it,  especially  if 
one  make  common  cause  with  humanity,  as  enjoined 
by  Christianity,  and  shrink  not  from  the  claims  of 
duty  to  his  fellow  men. 

Two  facts  must  now  be  noted — This  propensity,  like 
others  of  the  human  soul,  is  liable  to  misdirection — to 
abnormal,  and  especially  to  excessive  development. 
Too  often  it  hastens  to  become  a  passion.      It  is  pain- 


44  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

fully  evident  that  men  everywhere  are  too  much 
engrossed  by  it.  Men  do  not  seek  to  acquire  prop- 
erty with  a  view  to  its  proper  uses — its  ''natural 
end,'^  though,  contrary  to  all  reason  and  philosophy, 
they  make  it  the  end.  The  strife  for  gain  is  altogether 
out  of  proportion  with  its  possible  legitimate  uses.  The 
instinctive  love 'of  gain,  beautifully  adapting  the  parent 
and  the  citizen  to  his  own  needs  and  the  needs  of 
others,  has  become  avarice — a  remorseless  passion, 
and  constitutes  the  characteristic  activity  of  mankind. 
It  is  always  crying  more  and  more,  with  insatiate 
vehement  desire.  It  has  caused  the  most  general 
and  the  most  excited  and  prolonged  struggle  that  has 
ever  taken  place  in  this  world.  What  means  this 
running  to  and  fro?  What  means  the  storm  and 
thunder  of  rushing  wheels  and  roaring  furnaces — 
money,  money,  for  purposes  good  or  bad?  Mammon, 
in  the  world's  Pantheon,  is  the  one  God,  which, 
more  than  any  other,  receives  the  homage  of  the 
human  heart. 

And  the  blighting  effects  of  this  idolatry  are  terrible. 
It  saps  and  dwarfs  the  whole  intellectual  and  moral 
nature.  It  beclouds  conscience,  dries  up  sympathy, 
perverts  desire.  It  captures  and  binds  the  will  and 
hurls  its  miserable  victim  into  one  hot  pursuit  of  gold, 
leaving  him  a  wretched  miser,  a  crazy  fool,  an  object 
of  scorn  and  pity. 

Pope  sketches  him: 

"I  give  and  devise,"  old  Euclio  said, 

And  sighed,  "My  lands  and  tenements  to  Ned," 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  45 

"Your  money,  sir?"     "My  money,  sir,  what,  all? 
Why,  if  I  must,"  then  wept,     'I  give  it  Paul." 
"The  manor,  sir?"     "The  manor!  hold!"  he  cried, 
"Not  that!  I  cannot  part  with  that,"  and  died. 

From  him  whose  unerring  reason  and  conscience 
guide  him  steadily  to  the  proper  use  of  money,  and 
restrain  the  exercise  of  his  powers  to  their  "natural 
end,'"  we  have  every  degree  and  shade  of  parsimony 
and  avarice,  down  to  the  hardened  wretch  who,  on  the 
altar  of  his  insane  idolatry, 

"Sacrifices  ease,  peace, 
Love,  faith,  integrity,  benevolence,  and  all 
The  sweet  and  tender  sympathies  of  life." 

The  second  consideration  requiring  notice  in  this 
connection,  is  the  perishable  nature  of  this  affection. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  development  of  the 
passion  for  gold,  and  however  it  may  have  swayed  the 
will  and  engrossed  the  life,  it  will  end,  and  cease  to 
be,  with  the  present  life. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  it  has  been  assumed,  and 
illustrated  somewhat,  that  two  natures  combine  to 
constitute  man  as  he  is  in  the  present  life. 

It  is  now  time  to  note  that  one  of  these  natures, 
the  lower,  has  relations  only  with  this  world  and  can- 
not survive  the  grave.  It  is  of  the  earth,  earthy.  It 
is  adapted  to  the  present  sphere  of  life  and  environ- 
ment, and  to  this  only. 

Appetite  and  taste,  and,  not  less,  the  love  of  gain, 
have  their  uses  and  appropriate  functions,  but  they 
belong  to  the  mundanq  lif^.     ^^Flesh  and  blood  can- 


46  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  We  know  they 
do  not.  They  go  into  the  grave  and  remingle  with 
the  earth.  In  the  process  of  eternity  they  may  again 
start  into  organic  Hfe;  but  never  again  in  connection 
with  the  spirit  that  has  outgrown  them,  and  gone  to 
its  w^ider  destiny. 

How  much,  soever,  or  how  little,  the  lower  instincts 
and  sensibilities  have  added  to  the  sum  total  of  human 
life,  at  death  their  mission  ends,  and  henceforth  they 
can  exist  only  as  a  memory.  Indeed,  it  is  well  known 
that  some  of  them  cease  before  death. 

'^When  I  was  a  child,"  says  Paul,  ^^I  spake  as  a 
child,  but  when  I  became  a  man  I  put  away  childish 
things;"  and  all  men  do  the  same.  A  noticeable 
change  takes  place  in  the  co-ordination  of  life's  forces, 
as  life  advances.  The  spirit  lets  go  more  and  more 
of  earthly  interest  as  it  takes  hold  more  and  more  of 
the  heavenly.  Not  infrequently,  the  old,  on  looking 
back  upon  their  lives,  see  that  they  were  once  the 
sport  of  passions  which  have  now  lost  their  power, 
and  wonder  that  they  ever  could  have  been  so  weak 
and  foolish  as  they  now  appear  to  themselves  to  have 
been. 

And  none  of  these  lower  affections  will  more  cer- 
tainly cease  their  functions,  for  want  of  an  object,  than 
this  love  of  money. 

But  what  then?  He  who  has  done  little  else  in 
this  world  than  to  hunt  gold — what  of  him? 

If  we  grant  th^c  ^ne  has  honestly  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  providing  the  means  needful  to  life's  best  pur- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  47 

poses,  as  he  is  bound  to  do,  he  must  yet  realize  at  the 
end  of  his  world-life,  a  great  change,  not  only  in  the 
circumstances  and  conditions  of  his  life,  but  in  the 
objects  of  it. 

But  he  has  not  broken  with  the  Divine  order.  He 
has  not  violated  his  conscience,  or  committed  sin,  in  thus 
employing  his  powers.  He  has  made  the  trip  over 
the  sea  of  his  initial  life  without  foundering  upon 
breakers,  and  under  the  sunshine  and  the  smiles  of 
the  Eternal,  he  enters  upon  the  higher  life  beyond. 
'^Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast 
been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many.   Enter  thou  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord. '] 

But  suppose  his  love  of  gain  has  become  an  absorb- 
ing passion,  and,  going  beyond  the  legitimate  uses  of 
property,  he  has  devoted  thought  and  care,  and 
anxiety  and  exhausting  labor — all,  to  getting  gold,  as 
an  end,  and  this  is  what  very  many  do,  or,  at  least, 
seem  to  do — then  what?  At  death  he  must  instantly 
realize  that  his  ^ 'first  love"  has  died  within  him.  The 
object  for  which  he  so  habitually  lived  and  struggled, 
is  gone;  and  the  disposition  which  made  him  capable 
of  such  damaging  misdirection  of  his  energies,  now 
disqualifies  him  for  his  new  relationships.  He  has 
foundered  upon  the  sea  of  his  mundane  life,  and  the 
garnered  treasures,  the  fruitage  of  all  his  care  and 
toil,  have  gone  down  forever;  and,  stranded  on  the 
nether  shore,  what  is  he  but  a  hopeless  bankrupt  in 
a  foreign  and  inhospitable  land.  He  has  not  laid  up 
for  himself  treasures  in  heaven. 


48  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

His  acquired  fortune  may  have  been  princely,  and, 
left  behind,  it  may  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse — who 
can  tell?  But  as  to  himself,  he  cannot  bank  upon  it. 
Nothing  of  it  remains  to  him  but  the  memory  of  his 
great  and  damaging  mistake,  and  the  consciousness 
of  a  misdirected  life. 

'^How  hardly  shall  a  rich  man  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven/' 


I  feel  that  I  shall  stand 
Hence  forward  in  thy  shadow.     Nevermore 
Alone  upon  the  threshold  of  my  door 
Of  individual  life  I  shall  command 
The  uses  of  my  soul,  nor  lift  my  hand 
Serenely  in  the  sunshine  as  before, 
Without  the  sense  of  that  which  I  forbore — 
Thy  touch  upon  the  palm.     The  widest  land 
Doom  takes  to  part  us  leaves  thy  heart  in  mine 
With  pulses  that  beat  double. 

— Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Sexual  Love. 

We  have  been  climbing  up  through  the  lower  nature 
of  man.  Let  us  put  foot  upon  the  last  round  and 
mount  to  the  heights  of  his  world  life. 

The  normal  relations  and  character  of  man,  in  his 
present  state  of  being,  cannot  be  regarded  as  com- 
plete, without  the  co-ordination  and  adaptation  of 
male  and  female,  and  the  interplay  of  those  delicate 
and  charming  sensibilities,  which  characterize,  at 
least,  the  reproductive  period  of  human  life. 

The  subject  is  a  delicate  one,  and  for  this  reason, 
perhaps,  has  not  received  the  attention  of  the  writers 
on  moral  philosophy  which  its  ethical  importance 
demands. 

The  legitimate  indulgence  of  the  sexual  passion  is 
sanctioned  by  all  the  powerful  considerations  that 
influence  men  to  cherish  and  cling  to  life  as  a  price- 
less boon. 

If  life  is  worth  living  at  all,  its  inherent  worth  and 
blessing  must  equal  the  sum  of  all  that  is  good  in  life, 
as  the  fountain  includes  the  stream.  And  who  does 
not  realize  it  to  be  such?  Who  would  not  quickly 
give  up  all,  to  save  his  life.  ^'AU  my  possessions  for 
an  inch  of  time,"  said  the  dying  queen. 


52  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

But,  if  to  become  a  conscious  being,  endowed  as  a 
human  soul,  be  such  a  Divine  consummation,  how 
should  we  pause  with  reverence  before  those  who  are 
charged  with  the  duty  and  the  responsibility  of 
reproducing  and  perpetuating  the  race.  They  are 
trusted  with  the  dangerous  power  of  executing  the 
Divine  will,  and  with  what  humble  and  prayerful 
solicitude  such  a  trust  should  be  accepted! — with 
what  conscientious  fidelity  and  singleness  of  purpose 
should  such  high  prerogative  be  exercised! 

The  duty,  in  a  sense  at  least,  is  Voluntary,  and, 
will  not  such  solemn  responsibilities  be  declined? 
No.  The  passion  of  sexual  love  is  instinctive — an 
intuition,  and  maintains  such  power  over  the  will, 
and  so  subordinates  conflicting  motives,  as  to  secure 
and  w^arrant  the  acceptance  of  the  trust,  with  its 
responsibilities. 

Whatever  may  be  our  religion  or  our  philosophy, 
we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  was  made  the  duty  of 
man  to  ^ ^multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,"  in  order 
that  it  may  be  ^^full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as 
the  waters  cover  the  sea."  This  consummation  has 
never  been  achieved,  at  least  so  far  as  we  know. 
The  earth  has  never  been  filled  to  its  capacity  with 
human  beings. 

The  number  of  people  in  Belgium  to  the  square 
mile  in  round  numbers,  is  484,  while  the  average 
population  per  square  mile  in  the  whole  of  Europe, 
Asia,     Africa,     on     the     American     continent,     and 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  53 

Australia,  is  but  sixteen — the  average  of  the  ''Dark 
Continent/^* 

With  the  proper  facilities  for  the  exchange  of  the 
products  of  one  section  of  the  earth  with  those  of 
another — ''free  trade  and  sailors'  rights,"  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  limit  actually  attained  in  Bel- 
gium, and  closely  approximated  in  other  countries, 
could  be  greatly  surpassed,  and  the  fears  entertained 
by  Malthus,  of  a  disastrous  surplus  and  excess  of 
population,  may  well  be  considered  groundless. 

In  accord  with  this  evident  need  of  multiplying 
and  replenishing  the  earth,  the  instinct  of  sexual  love 
is  born  into  the  race,  and  has  its  legitimate  and 
sacred  functions — its  beneficient  and  far-reaching 
purposes,  pure  and  holy  in  the  sight  of  God. 

But  alas!  in  the  face  of  such  proofs  of  these  divine 
and  solemn  appointments,  what  do  we  behold! 

The  race  has  indeed  been  reproduced  and  main- 
tained through  the  long  ages,  and  for  some  hundreds 
of  years  has  been  slowly  augmented,  but  the  fore- 
going figures  go   to  show  how  slow  the  process   of 

*Dr.  Strong,  in  his  valuable  work  entitled  "Our  Coun- 
try,"  gives  the  following:  "According  to  recent  figures  there  is 
in  France  a  population  of  188.88  to  the  square  mile;  in  Germany, 
216.62;  in  England  and  Wales,  428.67;  in  Belgium,  481.71;  in 
the  United  States,  not  including  Alaska,  16.88.  If  our  population 
were  as  dense  as  that  of  France,  we  should  have,  this  side  of 
Alaska,  537,000,000;  if  as  dense  as  that  of  Germany,  643,000,000; 
if  as  dense  as  that  of  England  and  Wales,  1,173,000,000;  if  as 
dense  as  that  of  Belgium,  1,430,000,000" — a  population  equal  in 
numbers  to  that  of  the  whole  earth. 


54  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

filling  up  the  earth  to  its  capacity  has  been.  Man^ 
misdirecting  and  abusing  his  high  prerogative,  has 
miserably  failed  to  work  into  the  larger  purposes  of 
the  Creator.  If  we  may  accept  the  Hebrew  Canon 
as  reliable  history,  the  race,  once  at  least,  closely 
approached  entire  extinction. 

That  nature's  order  and  purpose  have  not  been 
respected  and  maintained,  no  one  can  doubt.  Here, 
as  elsewhere  in  the  affectional  nature,  misdirection 
and  great  disorder  prevail.  The  sexual  passion  has 
run  riot  into  all  conceivable  and  damaging  excesses, 
and  under  conditions  wholly  incompatible  with  the 
proposed  reproduction  and  extension  of  the  race.  In 
its  revolting  history  it  has  furnished  proof  of  the 
deepest  and  foulest  depths  of  human  depravity,  any- 
where to  be  found  among  men.  Its  seething  corrup- 
tion is  to  be  seen  in  all  lands — its  foul  presence  may 
be  traced  through  the  ramifications  of  society  and 
into  almost  every  household.  Alas  for  poor  misguided 
humanity!  ^Ts  there  no  balm  in  Gilead — no  physi- 
cian there?  Why,  then,  is  not  the  hurt  of  the  daugh- 
ter of  my  people  recovered?" 

But,  granting  all  that  can  be  said  of  sexual  love — 
its  divine  appointment  and  sacred  functions,  and, 
bewailing  its  measureless  misdirection  and  abuse,  we 
must  not  fail  to  note  its  destiny.  It  is  of  the  lower 
nature  of  man,  and  belongs  only  to  the  world  life. 
Whether  it  has  sweetened  or  embittered  the  life,  or, 
added  much  or  little  or  nothing  to  the  sum  total  of  its 
realizations,  ^tis  all  the  same — it  cannot  survive  the 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  55 

grave,  except  as  a  memory.  In  the  divine  order  of 
things,  it  has  served  its  purpose.  It  was  appointed 
to  preside  over  the  reproduction  and  extension  of  the 
race.  It  walked  hand  in  hand  with  the  highest  pre- 
rogatives and  most  solemn  responsibilities,  and  shed 
its  fascinating  light  upon  life's  pathway.  How  beau- 
tiful in  its  appointed  ministries!  How  sacred  and 
God-like  its  functions  and  its  fruitage! 

But,  with  the  mundane  life  it  goes.  The  undying 
spirit,  emancipated  from  its  grosser  environment,  is 
also  relieved  henceforth,  from  the  responsibility  of 
reproducing  and  extending  the  race  of  mankind.  It 
has  outgrown  the  limitations  of  its  initial  stage  of 
being,  and  leaps  into  the  larger  life  and  liberty  of 
angelic  being.  Happy,  thrice  happy,  he  whose  world 
life  has  filled  its  mission,  and  to  whom  it  shall  be  said 
in  the  end,  ^^Well  done." 

^^In  heaven  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God." 

All  these  merely  biological  forces  lie  within  the 
sphere  of  the  perishable  life.  They  have  relation  to 
time,  and  space,  and  opportunity.  Their  purposes 
are  served  here  and  now.  But  the  higher  powers — 
reason,  conscience,  the  affectional  nature  (exclusive 
of  merely  instinctive  animal  affection),  and  the  will — 
are  not  limited  by  time  or  space.  None  of  tnem  have 
special  or  enforced  limitations  to  the  present  state  of 
being. 

If  one  then  give  himself  up  to  appetite,  to  sexual 
love,  to  the  passion  for  gold,  to  any  or  all  of  the  mani- 


56  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

fold  but  shortlived  and  fugitive  pleasures  of  the  sen- 
suous nature,  let  him  know  that  he  is  living  the  life  of 
the  beast  that  goeth  downward  to  the  earth.  '^If 
thou  sow  to  the  flesh,  thou  shalt  of  the  flesh  reap 
corruption." 

But,  if  one  will  assert  his  manhood,  covet  the  eter- 
nal verities,  consecrate  himself  to  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  and  truth,  to  obedience  to  the  behests  of 
conscience,  to  the  blessed  ministries  of  pure  and  holy 
love,  then  let  him  know  that  he  is  treading  already 
the  highlands  of  the  life  imperishable — that  he  is  liv- 
ing the  life  of  a  man  whose  spirit  goeth  upward — ^^If 
thou  sow  to  the  spirit  thou  shalt  of  the  spirit  reap 
life  everlasting." 

^^Be  not  deceived.  God  is  not  mocked.  Whatso- 
ever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  reap." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Higher  Nature. 
Intellect, 

For  the  purposes  of  our  inquiry,  we  may  adopt  the 
classification  of  man's  power  usually  made  by  men- 
tal and  moral  philosophers — three  classes:  (i) 
Intellect,  (2)  Sensibilities,  and  (3)  Will. 

By  intellect,  let  us  understand,  his  thought-power. 
To  it  belong  intuition,  perception,  reflection,  compari- 
son, inference  or  deduction;  or,  as  including  all  these, 
reason. 

Let  us  adhere  to  our  method,  and  compare  the 
matter-of-fact  man,  as  we  see  him  in  society,  with 
our  ideal  of  a  perfect  man,  with  a  view  of  defining 
his  imperfections  as  closely  as  may  be.  This  done, 
we  shall,  perhaps,  be  able  to  estimate  the  value  of 
the  remedies  that  have  been  proposed  for  his  bet- 
tering, and  to  determine* which  of  these  seem  best 
adapted  to  his  needs. 

^^Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright, 
for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 

We  shall  soon  discover  that  man  is  defective  in  his 
thinking  power — has  less  ability,  and  knows  less, 
than  he  was  intended  to  have  and  to  know,  on  any 
theory  of  his  complex  and  high-born  nature. 


58  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

At  his  best,  he  can  know  but  comparatively  little  of 
the  knowable.  '  ^Man  is  not  the  measure  of  all  things, ' ' 
nor  was  he  made  capable  of  becoming  omniscient. 
The  mere  fact  that  he  is  ignorant  of  some,  or  of  many 
things  knowable,  must  not  be  charged  to  his 
imperfection.  If,  as  a  thinking  being,  he  fulfills  the 
purpose  of  the  Creator,  we  must  account  him  perfect. 
But  evidently  the  wisest  do  not  know  as  much  as  they 
ought  to  know  for  their  own  good;  and  this  much,  we 
may  assume,  it  was  intended  men  should  know. 

We  know  very  well  that  the  five  senses,  upon  which 
men  must  rely  in  setting  up  the  business  of  life,^  is 
not  always  reliable.  The  sources  of  error  open  up 
with  the  very  first  movement  of  thought,  and  under 
every  form  of  fascinating  illusion,  they  are  found 
along  all  life's  pathways. 

It  were  a  blessed  thing  if  men  could  see  eye  to  eye 
always  and  everywhere, — if  every  effort  made  to  know 
the  truth  were  made  in  the  right  direction — were  to 
accord  with  and  aid  every  other  such  effort  and  prove 
successful.     But  they  are  not  so  made. 

All  classes  of  men  give  sufficient  proof  of  intel- 
lectual anaemia.  Philosophers  studying  the  same- 
phenomena,  arrive  at  the  most  diverse  conclusions. 
In  metaphysics  each  delving  student  appears  to  every 

other  in 

"Wandering  mazes  lost." 

Theologians,  assuming  to  be  taught  from  above,  and 

holding   the   torch   of    divine    light    in    hand,    grope 

I.     Leibig. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  59 

their  way,  it  would  seem,  very  much  as  other  men, 
through  the  dark,  and  differ  from  and  fight  with  each 
other,  to  the  shame  of  humanity. 

The  diversity  of  opinion  and  theory  among  men  is 
bewildering.  Shall  we  decide  with  Darwin  or 
Agassiz,  Hall  or  Tyndal,  McCosh  or  Herbert  Spencer? 
Who  approaches  nearer  the  truth,  the  laughing  or  the 
weeping  philosopher?  Plato  or  Epicurus,  Aristotle  or 
Bacon,  Hobbs  or  Hegel,  Des  Cartes  or  Locke, 
Berkely  or  Condilac?  What  theories  have  come  only 
to  testity  to  the  weakness  of  human  reason,  and  the 
futility  of  speculative  thought?  What  absurd  myths 
and  dogmas  are  yet  enshrined  in  the  canons  of  our 
most  enlightened  faith? 

'^After  2,000  years  of  psychological  pursuit,"  says 
Auguste  Compte,  ^^no  one  proposition  is  established 
to  the  satisfaction  of  its  followers."^ 

The  infirmity  of  the  human  reason  has  profoundly 
impressed  the  thinking  men  of  all  the  ages. 

An  oracle  had  pronounced  Socrates  the  wisest  of 
the  sages,  and  he  humbly  accepted  the  flattering 
imputation,  saying,  ^ ^Possibly  it  may  be  so,  since  I 
have  discovered  that  I  know  nothing." 

Anexagoras  plaintively  exclaims:  '^Nothing  can  be 
known,  nothing  can  be  learned,  nothing  can  be  cer- 
tain. Sense  is  limited.  Intellect  is  weak.  Life  is 
short." 

Xenophon  tells  us  that  *'it  is   impossible   for   us   to 

I.     Quoted  by  Pressense  Origines,  p.  6, 


6o  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

be  certain  even  when  we  utter  the  truth."  Par- 
menides  declares  that  ''the  very  constitution  of  man 
prevents  him  from  ascertaining  the  absolute  truth." 
Empedocles  affirms  that  ^'all  philosophical  and 
religious  systems  must  be  unreliable,  because  we  have 
no  criterion  by  which  to  test  them."  Democritus 
affirms  that  ^^even  things  that  are  true  cannot  impart 
certainty  to  us,"  that  ^^the  final  result  of  human 
inquiry  is  the  discovery  that  man  is  incapable  of 
absolute  knowledge;"  that,  '^if  truth  be  in  his  pos- 
session, he  cannot  be  certain  of  it."  Pyrro  bids  us 
reflect  upon  the  necessity  of  suspending  our  judgment 
of  things,  ^ 'since  we  have  no  criterion  of  truth." 
His  followers  were  in  the  habit  of  saying,  ''We  assert 
nothing — no,  not  even  that  we  assert  nothing." 
Alcibiades  denied  both  intellectual  and  sensuous 
knowledge,  and,  going  beyond  Socrates,  publicly 
averred  that  "he  knew  nothing" — not  "even  his  own 
ignorance."^ 

These  dicta  will  be  recognized  as  somewhat  tropi- 
cal, and,  perhaps,  as  having  a  touch  of  melancholy, 
but  they  fairly  indicate  the  self-distrust  and  humility 
of  all  great  thinkers.  Arrogance  and  self-conceit  in 
the  presence  of  the  conceded  limits  of  human  knowl- 
edge, may  be  accepted  as  good  evidence  of  disgrace- 
ful shallowness. 

That  our  knowledge  has  touched  the  truth  at  some 
points,  or  very  nearly  approached  it,  is  proved   by  at 

I.     Drapers.  C,  p.  202. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  6l 

least  two  facts:  (i)  As  to  the  transmission  of  intelli- 
gence and  certain  forms  of  intercourse  and  com- 
merce it  has  practically  annihilated  time  and 
space,  and  (2)  It  throws  its  light  into  the  future, 
and  enables  us  to  know,  with  something  of  the 
prophets  ken,  what  shall  be  in  the  hereafter. 
But  at  best  our  knowledge  of  the  truth  is  confessedly 
but  fragmentary.  No  candid  scientist  will  claim  for 
it  anything  more  or  better.  The  light  that  throws 
its  rays  into  the  future  is  dim  and  flickering.  It  does 
little  more  than  to  reveal  the  dense  darkness  in  which 
we  grope,  and  gives  little  assurance  that  human  rea- 
son, at  least  in  the  present  state  of  being,  will  ever 
be  able  to  penetrate  the  dark  depths  of  the  unknown 
to  any  great  distance. 

But  error,  manifold,  unblushing,  stalks  forth  into 
the  light  at  every  turn,  and  the  energies  of  one  age 
are  largely  exhausted  in  correcting  the  damaging  mis- 
takes into  which  its  predecessor  had  fallen. 

Man  has  his  place  in  the  order  of  nature,  with  an 
appointed  sphere  of  activity,  and  within  this  sphere 
there  is  scope  for  the  exercise  of  all  his  powers.  The 
range  of  his  five  senses,  by  means  of  which  he  is  put 
in  communication  with  the  external  world,  is  short — 
a  fact  sufficiently  indicative  of  the  narrow  limits  of 
possible  knowledge. 

But  even  within  these  limits,  we  find  him  blunder- 
ing and  blundering.  *^His  being's  end  and  aim"  he 
should  know.  He  should  be  able  to  apprehend  and 
appreciate  the  design  and  purpose  of  the  Creator,    as 


62  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

they  relate  to  himself,  and  affect  his  well  being.  He 
needs  to  know  enough  to  keep  him  from  adopting 
errors,  and  holding  them  for  the  truth — enough  to 
enable  him  to  perceive  and  appreciate  the  truth  when 
presented — enough  to  keep  him  from  falling  into 
damaging  mistakes — enough  to  make  it  clear  to  him 
what  he  ought  to  do.  So  much  knowledge  he  evi- 
dently needs  to  qualify  him  for  the  duties  and  the 
privileges  of  life  in  the  present  state. 

Upon  a  cursory  view  he  seems  very  far  from  pos- 
sessing, or  of  even  being  able  to  acquire,  so  much; 
and  yet  we  must  believe  that  an  all-wise  Creator 
would  endow  his  creature  with  such  capacities  to 
know,  as  would  qualify  him  for  his  appointed  sphere 
of  activity,  and  adapt  him  to  his  environment. 

What  then?  Are  we  to  believe  that  the  ignorance 
of  men — their  errors,  their  mistakes  and  consequent 
sufferings  are  necessitated — that  somehow  the  Cre- 
ator has  failed  to  endow  his  creature  man  with  ade- 
quate ability  to  avoid  mistakes  and  follow  the  right? 
Or  shall  we  believe  that  something  has  interfered  with 
the  normal  development  and  proper  exercise  of  his 
powers — that  some  lapse  has  taken  place? 

The  uniform  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  else- 
where in  nature,  seems  to  prove  that  the  former  of 
•  these  alternatives  must  be  rejected.  This  is  no  world 
of  chance,  nor  are  all  those  who  accept  error  for 
truth  idiots,  though  we  can  hardly  escape  the  convic- 
tion that  the  inherent  intellectual  power  of  the  race 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  63 

is   less,     from    some    cause,    than    it   was    originally 
designed  by  the  Creator  to  be. 

However  this  may  be,  one  great  source  of  error 
and  damaging  mistake  seems  common  to  men. 

It  is  matter  of  easy  observation  that  men  who  make 
mistakes  usually  do  so  under  the  lead  of  some  appe- 
tite or  passion.  It  is  almost  a  proverb,  that  what  one 
does  in  anger  he  does  wrong,  and  anger  is  not  the 
only  passion  that  sways  the  will,  and  leads  him  into 
error  and  wrong. 

It  may  not  be  quite  easy  to  say  just  how  much  rea- 
son is  at  fault,  and  how  much  undue  passion  is  at 
fault,  in  any  given  case.  One  thing  seems  certain. 
Men  of  well  regulated  passions  and  good  poise  make 
comparatively  few  mistakes.  And  this  is  a  fact  of 
the  greatest  significance. 

Suppose  the  appetites  and  passions  were  brought 
into  normal  and  complete  subordination,  and  held  in 
perfect  adjustment  with  the  moral  sense  or  con- 
science, by  one  who  has  done  what  he  could  to  know 
the  truth  and  the  right,  if  such  a  case  is  supposable, 
would  he  be  likely  to  fall  into  serious  and  hurtful 
errors,  and  jeopardize  his  well-being?  Is  it  not 
indeed  evident  that  the  error  often  springs  more  from 
an  undue  influence  of  some  inordinate  desire  or  pas- 
sion than  from  want  of  mental  power?  Men  always 
know  better  than  they  do,  and  the  deficiency — the 
infirmity — seems  not  to  be  in  the  intellect,  but  elr-e 
where. 

The  intellect  is  handcuffed  and  rendered  powerless 


64  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

by  over-heated  passion,  which  sways  the  will  and 
seeks  to  pervert  the  reason.  It  may  be  able  to  point 
out  the  way  to  the  truth  and  the  right,  but  it  cannot 
command  the  passions,  and  it  is  passion — over-mas- 
tering desire — that  drives  the  barque  upon  the  break- 
ers and  extinguishes  the  light  which  the  intellect 
would  otherwise  throw  upon  the  dangerous  sea. 

But  more  than  this.  There  is  much  difference  in 
the  value  of  different  kinds  of  knowledge — a  fact 
not  half  appreciated  by  the  ordinary  seeker  after 
knowledge. 

Some  knowledge,  like  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  is  ^^fair  to  look  upon 
and  good  to  make  one  wise."  Some  knowledge  is 
absolutely  worthless — some  positively  injurious. 

Cramming  the  head  with  ill-assorted  knowledge 
does  not  make  one  wise,  but  hurts  more  than  it  helps. 

And  here,  precisely,  lies  the  immense  importance 
which  attaches  to  plans  and  courses  of  study. 

It  should  be  the  object  of  the  school  to  impart  wis- 
dom rather  than  knowledge.  ** Wisdom  is  the  prin- 
cipal thing."  Knowledge  otherwise  really  useful 
may  be  acquired,  but,  under  the  domination  of  some 
prejudice  or  abnormal  passion,  may  fail  to  be  useful. 
More  frequently,  however,  some  idle  curiosity  or  dis- 
ordered affection  leads  to  an  utter  waste  of  mental 
power. 

Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing.  It  implies  something 
of  knowledge,  it  is  true,  but  more;  something  of 
properly  regulated  sensibility  as  well, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  65 

As  we  shall  see  more  clearly  further  on,  mental 
philosophers,  following  Socrates  and  Plato,  have,  in 
all  the  ages,  exalted  the  intellect  at  the  expense  of 
the  sensibilities,  and  the  damaging  fact  stands  out  in 
all  our  systems  of  education. 

Teachers  have  sought  to  communicate  facts  to  their 
pupils — facts  of  language,  of  geography,  geometry, 
astronomy,  chemistry,  philosophy.  They  have 
sought  to  impart  knowledge,  to  stimulate  inquiry,  to 
inspire  literary  and  scientific  zeal  and  ambition,  as  if 
a  knowledge  of  science  were  the  chief  good.  To 
develop  and  cultivate  the  intellect  is  the  one  great 
purpose  of  the  prolonged  drill  and  discipline  of  the 
schools  generally.  '^Knowledge  is  power,''  and  the 
young,  ardent  student,  touched  by  this  wand  of 
Ithuriel,  begins,  anon,  to  dream  of  distinction.  The 
ignis  fatuus  of  some  ambition  beguiles  him  into  the 
hot  pursuit  of  knowledge  as  the  one  means  of  exalting 
life. 

But,  in  the  meantime,  what  has  been  done  to  develop 
a  pure  and  holy  love,  and  to  bring  the  soul  into  har- 
mony with  God  and  all  that  it  is  good — to  secure  that 
readjustment  and  equipoise  of  the  affections,  upon 
which,  more  than  upon  all  else,  a  good  and  noble 
character  depends?  The  sensibilities,  and  not  the 
intellect,  constitute  the  motive  powers  of  life,  and 
upon  them,  more  than  upon  any  mere  knowledge, 
the  character  depends,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad. 

To  educate  is  to  lead  out;  but  within  the  soul  tnere 
is  more  to  lead  out  than  thought  power — the  moral 


66  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

sense,  and  other  senses.  The  moral  nature  is  to  be 
developed  and  directed. 

Besides,  there  is  within  a  ^'bent  to  sinning,'*  as  all 
history  declares,  which  is  not  to  be  led  out,  but 
rather  to  be  restrained  and  held  in  check.  Educa- 
tion must  not  be  indiscriminate.  If  it  be  indiscrimi- 
nate you  may  develop  a  monster  instead  of  a  more 
perfect  man.  To  curb  this  tendency  to  irregularities 
and  excesses  of  conduct,  to  direct  the  developing 
affections  to  their  proper  objects,  is  infinitely  more 
important  than  to  develop  the  thought  power.  You 
need  not  fear.  The  reasoit  is  always  fore^nost  in  the 
pathway  of  virtue.  Men  always  know  better  than 
they  do. 

If  you  can  restrain  the  nascent  tendencies  to  vice, 
and  direct  sentiment  to  its  proper  objects,  your  edu- 
cation will  be  a  success,  though  it  should  be  less 
sparkling  and  brilliant  in  its  intellectual  features.  It 
is  rectitude  that  students  need  more  than  knowledge 
— a  conscientious  determination  to  do  the  right 
always  and  everywhere,  semper  et  ubicunque.  But 
what  is  it  that  determines  rectitude?  Will  the 
mastery  of  science,  as  set  forth  in  the  college  text 
books,  secure  rectitude?  Some  of  the  highest  forms 
of  intellectual  culture  make  uncomplaining  bed-fel- 
lows with  the  highest  forms  of  vice.  It  was  the  bril- 
liant conception  of  Combe  in  his  '^Constitution  of 
Man,"  that  the  devil  himself — say  what  3'Ou  will  of 
his  Satanic  majesty — is  but  '^a  mighty  intellect  broken 
loose  from  the  restraints  of  morality. " 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  67 

If,  theii;  there  be  any  force  in  these  considerations, 
in  all  our  schemes  of  education,  such  knowledge 
should  be  imparted  to  the  learner,  and  such  influences 
brought  to  bear  upon  him  as  will  be  most  likely  to 
awaken  moral  conviction  and  stimulate  the  moral 
sense,  or  conscience. 

The  limits  of  this  work  will  not  permit  an  attempt 
to  specify  in  detail  what  these  kinds  of  knowledge 
and  influence  are. 

It  will  be  granted  that  some  kinds  of  knowledge 
have  little  to  do  with  sensibility.  They  do  not  stir 
the  soul  or  awaken  feeling.  They  are  ^^dry,"  unin- 
spiring, abtruse,  and,  for  most  students,  difficult  to 
acquire.  Generally  the  recondite  principles  of 
abstract  science  and  the  various  forms  of  speculative 
knowledge  are  of  this  character. 

Such  knowledge  is  suited  and  only  useful  to  those 
who  have  a  penchant  for  abstract  and  speculative 
science.  It  is  neither  suited  to,  nor  useful  to  the 
masses,  and  hence  should  not  be  mcluded  in  any 
course  of  study  and  discipline  mtended  for  the 
masses. 

Obviously  there  are  kinds  of  knowledge  that  relate 
more  immediately  to  the  sensitive  and  moral  nature. 
I  may  mention — 

1.  Such  knowledge  as  brings  to  light  the  benevo- 
lent designs  and  purposes  of  God  in  nature — his  wis- 
dom, his  active  benevolence,  his  beneficence,  his 
love. 

2.  Such    correlative    knowledge   as  discloses   and 


68  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

emphasizes  the  duties  of  men  to  each  other,  in  their 
domestic,  social  and  political  relations  in  life — knowl- 
edge, if  you  please,  that  is  rich  in  the  fruitage  of  sen- 
timent and  fellow-feeling. 

3.  Also  such  knowledge  and  such  teaching, 
whether  by  precept  or  example,  as  tend  to  beget  a 
pure  and  holy  love, — love  of  the  beautiful,  the  sym- 
metrical, the  harmonious,  the  true,  the  good — such 
knowledge,  and  such  teaching  as  would  be  best  suited 
to  bring  out  the  strength  and  power  of  personal  love 
with  its  beautiful  and  overmastering  ministries. 

We  pretend  to  be  Christians,  and,  with  Nico- 
demus,  we  recognize  one  teacher  ''come  from  God." 
We  bow  with  veneration  to  his  superior  wisdom. 

In  the  course  of  study  and  discipline  through 
which  he  put  his  pupils,  there  was  little  attention 
given  to  speculative  thought,  little  effort  put  forth  to 
lead  out  or  educate  the  thought  power,  except  as  it 
related  to  the  further  purpose  of  awakening  the  con- 
science, and  securing  a  proper  adjustment  and  bal- 
ance of  the  affections.  But  to  accomplish  this  fur- 
ther purpose  be  devoted  his  most  earnest  attention 
and  prolonged  effort.  He  sought,  with  unflagging 
zeal,  to  bring  men  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  moral 
condition,  to  awaken  true  sentiment  and  fortify  all  the 
virtues — to  bring  the  whole  man,  mind,  heart  and  will 
into  harmony  with  all  that  is  good,  that  is^  with  God. 
He  saw  what  we  should  see,  that  the  well-being  of 
men,  in  all  the  relations  of  life, ^depends  more  upon 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  69 

the  moral  than  upon  the  intellectual  status,  and  this 
view  determined  the  method  of  his  school. 

Such  a  school  was  a  great  novelty.  Its  like  had 
never  been  known.  It  differed,  toto  coelo,  from  the 
Greek  schools,  then  so  popular.  It  differs  scarcely 
less  from  the  schools  now  in  vogue,  in  which  the 
classics,  the  higher  mathematics  and  sundry  accom- 
plishments make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  course  of 
study.  Our  schools  are  modeled  after  the  fashion  of 
the  Pagan  Greeks,  more  than  after  that  of  the  Divine 
Christ,  and  they  tend  to  produce  the  Greek  character 
more  than  the  Christian  character.  With  the  Greeks, 
we  assume  that  the  intellect  is  the  chief  constituent 
of  human  nature — the  chief  factor  of  human  life  and 
destiny.  But  the  great  teacher  whom  we  nominally 
venerate,  more  philosophical,  more  correct  in  his 
estimate  of  the  character-forming  power  of  the  sensi- 
bilities, and  more  clearly  apprehending  the  disci- 
plinary needs  of  the  soul,  addressed  himself  to  the 
development  and  proper  direction  of  the  affectional 
nature. 

And  in  this  he  succeeded — succeeded  as  no  other 
teacher  ever  did  succeed — not  by  formal  teaching 
so  much  as  by  his  manner  of  life.  He  it  was  that 
more  and  better  than  all  others  let  his  light  shine. 
If  the  range  of  ideas  was  comparatively  narrow,  it 
had  altitude  and  depth.  If  his  words  and  his 
thoughts  were  few,  they  were  ^^words  that  breathed, 
and  thoughts  that  burned.'' 

His  estimate  of  the  worth  and  high  destiny  of  men, 


70  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

even  the  lowest  and  the  meanest,  his  impartial, 
exhaustless  love  for  the  race,  his  heart  of  sympathy 
and  helping  hand,  his  self-abnegation  and  ready  sac- 
rifice of  himself  for  the  good  of  others,  these  all 
appealed  to  the  heart  and  made  him  the  exemplary 
and  master-teacher  of  mankind. 

Can  any  one  doubt  that  were  the  humility,  the 
freedom  from  selfishness,  the  love  and  sympathy,  of 
this  unique  and  wonderful  teacher,  carried  into  our 
schools  by  the  teachers,  can  any  one  doubt  that 
they  would  speedily  work  great  changes  for  the  bet- 
ter? Would  students  then  come  out  of  school  so 
short-sighted,  so  engrossed  with  the  vanities  of  life? 
Would  they  graduate  with  the  self-conceits  and  shal- 
low ambitions  now  too  often  characteristic  of  the  col- 
lege '^graduate?  " 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  It  is  not  urged 
that  there  is  not  enough  ' 'religion"  taught  in  the 
schools — not  that. 

The  religious  sense  is  an  intuition,  an  instinct,  and 
will  develop  parri  passu  with  the  affectional  nature. 
The  religion  that  is  taught  is  mere  superstition,  and 
bears  the  fruits  of  superstition. 

But,  give  us  the  method  and  teaching  of  Jesus  in  our 
schools,  and  we  shall  see  the  fruits,  not  in  temples  and 
pagodas,  not  in  towering  cathedrals,  not  in  the  increase 
of  cloistered  Monks,  not  in  the  multiplication  of  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  much  ado  in  matters  of  religion, 
for  he  favored  none  of  these  things.  But  we  shall  see 
among  the  educated  more  beautiful,  Christ-like  char- 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  7I 

acters — a  diviner  morality  in  private,  and  social  and 
public  life — a  morality  that  will  not  fail  to  flower  up 
into  religion  and  intelligent  worship.  Let  the  aims 
and  purposes  of  this  Gallilean  school  of  thought — so 
different  from  the  Greek — become  the  aim  and  pur- 
pose of  all  the  processes  of  education,  and  we  may 
hope — and  this  is  the  point  I  make — the  time  will 
come  when  knowledge  and  virtue  will  walk  side  by 
by  side,  when  humility  and  love  will  replace  ambition 
and  selfishness,  when  wisdom  more  than  knowledge 
will  characterize  the  graduate,  and  when  the  merely 
sensuous  and  perishable  shall  cease  to  be  the  princi- 
pal object  of  life  and  effort. 

We  shall  then  have  less  occasion  to  charge  disability 
and  infirmity  upon  the  intellect.  The  ^^bent  to  sin- 
ning" so  noticeable  among  the  affections,  affects  the 
thinking  power,  and  precipitates  men  into  mistakes 
and  errors,  which  they  would  avoid  were  the  passions 
properly  adjusted  and  the  whole  man  brought  into 
normal  equipoise.  Ignorance  is  not  the  evil  so  much 
as  mal-adjusted  sensibility,  to  which  we  must  now 
turn. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Higher  Nature. 
Sensibilities, 

And  here  we  enter  a  realm  more  maiarious  and  dis- 
ordered, no  doubt,  than  that  of  the  intellect  proper. 

Plato  represents  the  spiritual  powers  that  consti- 
tute man  as  three  souls — a  thinking  soul,  an  appe- 
titive soul,  and  a  courage  soul — the  intellect,  the 
sensibilities,  the  will. 

Elaborating  this  classification,  he  sets  up  their 
relative  position  and  importance,  in  the  spiritual 
hierarchy,  under  the  figure  of  a  driven  chariot,  the 
thinking  soul  mounted  in  the  seat,  holding  the  reins, 
the  other  two  souls  harnessed  in  as  steeds — a  figure 
which  sufficiently  indicates  the  prominence  which  he 
gave  to  the  intellect.  And  it  is  especially  noticeable 
how  this  fashion  of  exalting  the  intellect  has  prevailed, 
and  yet  prevails,  among  philosophers  and  theologians. 

*  ^Ignorance  the  evil,  knowledge  the  remedy,"  has 
been  a  widely  accepted  dogma  since  the  time  of 
of  Socrates,  and  may  be  found  in  the  Old  Religions 
as  a  dictum  accepted  long  before  his  day. 

Thought,  the  offspring  of  the  intellect,  is,  indeed, 
first    in    the    order    of   precedence,    and    is   instantly 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  73 

necessary  to  consciousness;  and  this  may  account  for 
the  disproportionate  importance  attached  to  the 
thinking  power  by  the  philosophers.  This  same  ten- 
dency to  magnify  the  reason  appears  in  rehgion,  as 
the  age-on-age  struggle  over  creeds  and  heresies  suf- 
ficiently proves.  The  theologian,  while  attaching 
prominence  to  speculative  views,  and  correct  creeds, 
has  sought  rather  to  exalt  the  will.  He  is  wont  to 
say,  destroy  sensibility,  crucify  the  flesh — the  will 
reigns  and  determines  destiny.  The  tendency  to 
asceticism  has  been  strong  in  all  religions,  and  it  is 
the  one  intent  and  purpose  of  asceticism  to  subordi- 
nate sensibility,  and  even  to  destroy  it  from  the 
soul. 

This  mad  purpose  has  had  its  fullest  development 
in  the  orthodox  Buddhist,  who  feels  it  to  be  his  duty 
not  only  to  subordinate  emotion  and  passion,  but  to 
overmaster  and  annihilate  all  desire,  as  the  condition 
of  entering  into  Nirvana. 

Here  and  there  a  philosopher  has  united  with  the 
theologian  in  exalting  the  will. 

M.  Pressense  praises  Main  DeBiron  for  his  '^Theory 
cf  Effort,"  by  which,  he  says,  this  philosopher  has 
introduced  * 'liberty  into  the  initial  act  of  knowl- 
edge."^ According  to  Main  De  Biron,  to  think  is  to 
will,  therefore  the  being  whose  existence  is  revealed 
by  thought  is  not  simply  a  reasoning  being,  as  he  is 
represented    in   the   famous  Cartesian   motto,  cogito, 

I.     Study  of  Origins,  p.  91. 


74  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ergo  sum,  but  is  primarily  a  free-acting  being  in  his 
initial  existence. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overstate,  says  Pressense, 
the  service  which  Main  De  Biron  has  rendered  to 
philosophy  by  his  ^ ^Theory  of  Effort,"  which  he  him- 
self puts  into  this  formula:  ^^I  will,  I  act,  therefore 
I  am."i 

This  conclusion  is  evidently  born  of  an  effort  to  fix 
upon  man  the  entire  responsibility  of  his  conduct. 
But  the  theory  assumes  that  to  will  is  a  simple  psy- 
chological process,  an  assumption  which  cannot  for  a 
moment  be  admitted.  What  imaginable  act  of  the 
will  is  possible  without  an  involved  thought  and 
motive.  The  formula,  I  perceive,  I  feel,  therefore  I 
am,  is  nearer  the  truth,  as  I  suppose,  than  either  that 
of  Des  Cartes  or  of  De  Biron. 

We  are  unconscious  of  many  of  our  mental  pro- 
cesses, as  has  been  so  well  pointed  out  by  Carpenter, 
and  the  first  act  of  cerebration  forcible  enough  to 
spring  a  distinct  feeling,  is  the  one  that  begins  to 
awaken  consciousness.  The  thought  could  not  be 
known  but  for  the  attendant  feeling.  The  thought 
and  feeling  combined  give  rise  to  consciousness,  and 
the  rawakened  consciousness  cognizes  all  acts  and 
states  of  the  ego  which  enlist  sensibility  and  no 
more. 

Sensibility  is  the  condition  precedent  and  neces- 
sary to  conscious  existence,  and  any  theory  either  in 

I.     Ibid.,  p,  94. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  75 

philosophy  or  religion  which  subordinates  sensibility, 
is  seriously  and  fundamentally  at  fault. 

In  the  order  of  sequence  we  have  first,  indeed, 
thought,  then  sense,  then  volition;  and,  if  Plato's 
driver  could  keep  his  seat  and  hold  the  reins,  it 
might  do;  but  we  know  that,  in  actual  life,  passion 
dethrones  reason,  and,  seizing  the  reins,  drives  the 
chariot  whithersoever  he  will,  and  the  will,  making 
the  best  of  the  usurpation,  tugs  away  at  the  traces. 

Who  does  not  know,  if  he  will  but  reflect,  that  you 
cannot  touch  human  experience  at  any  point  without 
touching  some  sensibility;  and  it  is  the  pride  and 
boast  of  true  manhood  that  it  is  capable  of  those  fine 
sympathies  and  lofty  sentiments  and  aspirations 
which  ally  the  soul  to  the  divine,  and  go  to  make  up 
the  best  type  of  life  in  the  weakest  and  in  the  strong- 
est as  well. 

It  is  the  province  of  the  reason  to  perceive  what  is 
good,  and  right,  and  true;  but,  if  upon  such  percep- 
tion there  arise  within  no  appreciation  or  delight — 
no  approving  or  pleasure-giving  sentiment — what 
significance  could  we  attach  to  these  acts? 

^^We  could  easily  imagine,"  says  Mackintosh,  '^a 
percipient  and  thinking  being,  without  a  capacity  for 
receiving  pleasure  or  pain.  Such  a  being  might  per- 
ceive what  we  do;  if  we  could  conceive  him  to  rea- 
son, he  might  reason  justly,  and,  if  he  were  to  judge 
at  all,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  he  should  not 
judge  truly;  but,  what  could  influence  such  a  being 
to  will   or  to  act?     It   seems  evident  that  his  exist- 


76  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ence  could  only  be  a  state  of  passive  contemplation. 
Reason  as  reason  can  never  be  a  motive  to  action. 
It  is  only  when  we  super-add  to  such  a  being  sensi- 
bility, or  the  capacity  of  emotion,  or  sentiment,  or 
desire  or  aversion,  that  we  introduce  him  into  the 
world  of  action."^ 

The  spiritual  movement  is  largely  independent  of 
the  will.  The  sight  of  one  suffering,  especially  if  he 
is  known  to  be  innocent,  and  rudely  imposed  on, 
excites  pity,  nolens  volens,  and  what  is  true  of  this 
form  of  sensibility  is  true  of  others  under  suitable 
conditions.  What  significance  indeed,  or  what  value 
could  life  have,  if  we  except  those  pleasurable  sensa- 
tions that  constitute  happiness. 

What  shall  we  say  then  of  Sakya  Mounie,  of  Plato, 
of  Zeno,  and  the  rest,  who  regard  sense  as  an 
element  of  disturbance,  and  a  curse!  What  shall  we 
say  of  the  thousands  and  the  millions  of  ascetics  who 
have  sought  to  quench  sensibility  as  something 
antagonistic  to  spiritual  perfection,  purity  and 
happiness! 

Giving  to  the  several  senses  then  their  due  promi- 
nence as  factors  of  life,  how  shall  we  classify  them? 

The  philosophers  are  not  agreed  upon  any  classifi- 
cation—a fact  which  goes  to  prove  that  no  mental  or 
moral  science  proper  exists;  for  science  rests  upon 
undisputed  data. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  agreement  as   to   the 

I.     See  Haven's  Mental  Philos.,  p.  532, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  77 

naming  or  nature  or  relative  rank  of  the  various 
forms  of  sensibility. 

And  in  the  second  place  the  various  forms  are 
treated  as  heterogeneous  elements,  and  classified 
without  regard  to  their  cognate  relations. 

The  briefest  review  will  verify  these  statements. 

As  there  is  but  one  source  of  thought,  and  all  kinds 
of  thought,  wise  or  foolish,  great  or  small,  new  or 
old,  the  most  eccentric  and  the  craziest,  spring  from 
the  same  fountain,  the  intellect;  and,  as  the  will  is 
one,  while  exercised  in  every  direction  and  applied  to 
every  conceivable  purpose,  now  driving  the  victims 
of  rage  to  deeds  of  daring  and  death,  and  now  execut- 
ing the  beautiful  ministries  of  love,  so  also  the  affec- 
tional  nature  is  one.      It  is  a  unit  and  not  a  medley. 

The  kaleidoscope,  filled  with  a  mass  of  heterogene- 
ous elemental  forms,  is  ready,  at  every  turn  of  the 
instrument,  to  exhibit  new  and  ever  varying  figures, 
as  a  kind  of  chance  may  determine.  But  the  affec- 
tional  nature  is  not  a  kaleidoscope.  The  affections 
are  of  kin — belong  to  the  same  family,  however  seem- 
ingly different  and  even  antagonistic  they  may  some- 
times appear  to  be.  They  are  homogenous,  and  take 
on  different  forms  and  characters  only  as  they  are 
sprung  by  different  causes  and  appear  under  different 
conditions. 

Under  the  head  of  this  thought  we  shall  find  that 
love  is  the  stock  and  parent  sensibility. 

But  it  has  never  been  recognized  as  such  by 
philosophers, 


78  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

According  to  the  academicians,  the  emotions  are 
included  under  four  principal  ones,  to- wit:  Fear, 
desire,  joy  and  grief,  and  were  regarded  as  generically 
different — no  recognition  of  love. 

Among  the  moderns.  Hartley  divides  the  sensi- 
bilities into  grateful  and  ungrateful. 

Since  gratitude  is  clearly  one  form  of  love,  we  may 
give  Mr.  Hartley  credit  for  approaching,  at  least,  a 
recognition  ot  love  The  English  writers,  says  Mr. 
Haven — from  whom  principally  I  am  condensing  this 
account — the  English  writers  derive  all  emotions 
from  three  principal  ones,  to-wit.  Admiration,  love 
and  hatred.  Here  we  have  love  as  one  of  three 
elemental  constituents,  generically  different. 

Whewell  finds  two — love  and  anger.  He 
approaches  simplicity  and  recognizes  love  as  dividing 
with  anger  the  realm  ot  sense. 

Calderwood  finds  three — desires,  affections, 
judgment. 

Mahan  finds  appetites,  emotions,  affections,  desires. 

Other  classifications  could  be  quoted,  but  these 
may  be  considered  representative,  and  will  suffice. 
They  show  at  least  that  there  is  no  agreement  as  to 
classification.  They  show  that  the  several  forms  of 
sensibility  are  regarded  as  ^^original  and  distinct  ele- 
mentary piinciples.'*  They  are  expressly  so  claimed 
by  Mahan,  and  hence  there  is  no  recognition  of  kin- 
ship in  their  nature.      They  constitute  a  medley. 

They  show  that  there  is  no  agreement  as  to  their 
relative  rank  or  degree  of  prominence  in  the  moral 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  79 

constitution,  and  finally  they  show,  and  this  is  our 
point,  that  the  passion  of  love  has  no  adequate  recog- 
nition as  a  predominant  and  governing  sensibility  in 
human  nature. 

Hartley,  Stewart,  Upham  and  Hav^en  agree  sub- 
stantially, in  finding  malevolence,  ingratitude  and 
hate  in  the  mental  constitution;  while  Mahan  admits, 
without  any  attempt  at  psychological  analysis, 
a  ^ 'moral  depravity,  in  which  affection  is  turned  to 
hate,  by  crime  in  the  subject." 

It  seems  positively  inexplicable  that  the  greatest 
agreement  amoi^g  these  authors  should  be  in  holding 
the  greatest  error;  especially  as  they  are  all  Christian 
authors,  and  familiar  with  the  Christian  religion;  for, 
what  could  be  wider  of  the  truth  than  to  suppose  that 
the  all-wise  and  benevolent  Creator  placed  ^'malevo- 
lence/'  ''ingratitude"  and  "hate"  in  human  nature, 
as  original  and  distinct  elementary  principles? 

Is  man  made  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  a 
medley  of  good  and  bad  elemental  constituents, 
"original  and  distinct,'^  so  distinct  that  "neither  can 
be  resolved  into  another,  nor  can  they  all  be  resolved 
into  a  common  principle?"^  The  theory  is  incom- 
patible with  what  we  know  of  the  benevolent  pur- 
poses of  the  Creator — the  order  and  perfection  of  his 
works. 

It  remained  for  Jesus,  the  divine  "Son  of  Man,'* 
who  has  shed  such  a  flood  of  light  over  every  field  of 

I.     Mahan. 


8o  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

our  moral  nature,  to  disclose  the  true  nature  of  man, 
to  reveal  his  moral  constitution,  which,  certainly, 
was  very  differently  and  very  imperfectly  understood 
by  all  his  predecessors. 

At  his  coming,  he  was  announced  as  the  ^ ^savior" 
of  men,  and  as  such  he  must  comprehend  the  depths 
from  which  they  were  to  be  rescued. 

To  save  men  he  must  understand  and  appreciate 
their  needs,  and  respond  to  them.  He  must  bring  to 
light  such  a  knowledge  of  their  moral  condition,  and 
effect  such  a  readjustment  of  it   as  salvation  implies. 

Accordingly,  first  among  philosophers,  and  first 
among  teachers  of  religion,  he  taught  us  that  the  pre- 
dominant and  characteristic  sensibility  of  the  Father 
in  heaven  is  love,  and  that,  as  love  dominates  the 
Father,  it  should  dominate  his  offspring. 

Christian,  or  Infidel,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the 
passion  of  love  has  ever  played  a  great  role  in  the 
drama  of  human  life. 

The  child  is  born  and  bred  under  its  hallowed  bene- 
dictions. It  crowns  and  blesses  the  hymenial  altar. 
It  presides  over  the  home  and  sweetens  all  domestic 
relations.  It  is  the  messenger  of  sympathy  and  help 
to  the  suffering  and  needy.  It  is  the  inspiration  of 
all  that  is  good  and  noble  and  true  among  men.  It 
sways  all  hearts  and  makes  the  soul  akm  to  God. 
All  this  we  know  and  believe. 

Jesus  exalted  love  as  no  one  ever  did  before  him, 
as  if  he  regarded  it  as  the  prolific  fountain  whence 
flows  every  virtue — every  form  of  sensibility. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  8l 

In  accord  with  this  teaching  it  will  be  found  that  a 
true  psychological  analysis  will  show  that  the  divine 
affection  is  also  the  human  affection,  at  least  when 
the  soul  is  holding  normal  relations  with  the  order  of 
nature. 

It  is  evident  enough  that  joy  and  grief  and  pity  and 
fear,  etc.,  are  derivatives  of  love.  Love  existing,  we 
have  only  to  change  the  conditions  and  circumstances 
of  life  and  we  have  any  one  and  every  one  of  the 
others.  But  without  love  we  could  have  none  of 
them. 

Hate  is  the  very  opposite  of  love,  and  least  likely 
to  be  found  having  any  kinship  with  it  of  any  that 
could  be  named.  And  yet,  if  we  will  but  reflect  a 
little,  we  shall  see  that  hate  is  the  product  of  love  as 
the  shadow  is  the  product  of  light. 

If  you  love  the  true,  the  right,  the  good,  you  must  hate 
the  false,  the  wrong,  the  evil,  and  the  intensity  of  the 
feeling  of  hate  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  realized 
feeling  of  love.  ''Ye  that  love  the  Lord  hate  evil." 
There  is,  according  to  Solomon,  a  time  to  love  and  a 
time  to  hate,  and  the  old  prophet  commands  us  to 
*'hate  the  evil  and  love  the  good.'  To  do  so,  but 
indicates  a  normal  and  proper  state  of  the  affections. 

If  you  are  in  warm  sympathy  with  the  good,  and 
an  object  appeals  to  your  affections  which  appears  to 
be  good,  it  will  excite  your  love;  and  the  closer  you 
come  to  it,  and  the  more  you  are  interested  in  it,  the 
greater  will  be  your  love. 

Bui,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  should  appear  to  you 


82  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

as  mean,  wicked,  false,  corrupt,  devilish,  it  will  excite 
the  same  holy  feeling,  but  now  it  will  not  appear  as 
love,  but  as  hate  and  disgust;  and  the  keener  the 
sense  of  good,  the  keener  will  be  the  sense  of  evil. 
Hate  is  but  the  reverse  side  of  love.  If  we  could 
suppose  that  one  were  completely  indifferent  to  both 
good  and  evil,  it  is  plain  that  then  he  could  feel 
neither  love  nor  hate.  True  hate  is  but  true  love, 
conditioned  by  the  presence  of  evil  and  wrong. 

Dr.  Calderwood,  who  seems  all  at  sea  in  his  classi- 
fication of  the  sensibilities,  is  nevertheless  a  very 
close  and  critical  observer  of  mental  phenomena.  He 
says: 

^  ^Affections  take  the  form  of  love  or  hate,  according 
as  the  objects  of  them  are  esteemed  in  any  sense, 
good  or  bad,  and  the  form  of  reverence  or  pity,  as 
their  objects  are  esteemed  superior  or  inferior  in 
nature  and  experience.-'^  Here  we  have  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  transformation  of  the  sensi- 
bilities, through  external  causes  and  conditions,  is 
possible.  If  the  affection  known  as  love  can  become 
reverence  or  pity,  and  especially  if  it  can  become 
hate — a  form  of  feeling  at  the  farthest  remove  from 
love — then  it  may,  under  suitable  conditions,  take  the 
form  of  any  other  sensibility. 

If  you  pass  a  current  of  electricity  through  nitrogen 
gas,  you  get  a  pinkish,  purple  color^  pass  it  through 
carbonic  acid   gas,  and  you  get  a  green  color;  pass  it 

T.     Handbook  Moral  Philos.,  p.  155. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  83 

through  hydrogen,  and  you  get  a  violet  color;  but 
pass  it  through  oxygen  and  you  get  a  peach-blossom 
tint.  Precisely  the  same  current  produces  all  these 
different  colors,  which  thus  vary  with  the  conditions 
under  which  they  are  exhibited. 

Thus  the  parent  affection  becomes  now  joy, 
delight,  or  now  grief,  anger,  jealousy  or  even  hate,  in 
the  presence  of  conditions  which  give  it  form  and 
color;  and  the  so-called  '^malevolent  passions,'^  con 
sidered  as  '' original  and  distinct  elementary  princi- 
ples^*^ disappear  from  the  human  soul. 

If  one's  love  be  what  it  should  be,  as  enjoined  in 
the  great  commandment,  all  its  derivatives  will  be  what 
they  should  be,  and  we  shall  behold  the  perfect  man 
whose  end  is  peace. 


So  from  the  heights  of  will 

Life's  parting  stream  descends, 
And,  as  a  moment  turns  its  slender  rill, 

Each  widening  torrent  bends. 
From  the  same  cradle's  side, 

From  the  same  mother's  knee, 
One,  to  long  darkness  and  the  frozen  tide, 

The  other  to  the  peaceful  sea. 

—O.  IV.  Holmes 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Higher  Nature. 
The    Will, 

Of  the  intellect  we  have  predicated  something  of 
infirmity;  of  the  sensibilities,  more.  What  now  of 
the  will? 

Considering  man  in  his  normal  relations  as  a  crea- 
ture of  God,  what  are  the  functions  of  the  will?  If 
disease  and  disorder  have  affected  his  volitional 
nature,  how?  What  is  the  proof  of  it,  and  what  is 
the  remedy? 

Definitions  of  the  will  are  numerous  and  various, 
but  they  do  not  help  us  to  a  very  clear  conception  of 
the  functions  of  the  will  proper. 

By  something  like  general  agreement,  the  will  is 
that  faculty  or  capacity  of  the  mind  which  enables  ur 
to  prefer  or  choose  between  two  or  more  object^.. 
This  definition  is,  perhaps,  good  enough  as  far  as  it 
goes,  but  certainly  it  is  far  from  complete  A  full- 
blown act  of  the  will  is  not  merely  subjective.  It 
has  in  it  something  of  objective  activity  It  moves 
muscles — does  something. 

Dr.  Haven  says,  '^the  will  is  but  another  name  for 
the  executive  power  of  the  mind.'' 

To  execute  means  to  carry  into  effect,    but,    as   the 


86  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

mind*s  executive,  what  does  the  will  carry  into  effect? 
The  concept  involves  an  object.      What  is  it? 

Dr.  Calderwood  says:^  ''The  will  is  a  power  of 
control  over  the  other  faculties  and  capacities  of  our 
nature,  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  determine  per- 
sonal activity. " 

But  evidently  the  will  does  not,  and  cannot  control 
the  other  faculties  and  capacities  of  our  nature.  It 
cannot  stop  the  processes  of  thought,  nor  always  hold 
them  to  the  desired  object.  It  cannot  arrest  the  flow 
of  feeling,  nor  determine  its  kind.  It  cannot  com- 
mand the  storm  of  passion  to  cease,  nor  change  sor- 
row into  joy.  Both  the  intellect  and  the  sensibilities, 
under  circumstances,  at  least,  reject  the  control  of 
thej  will.  Its  power  to  determine  personal  activity  is, 
therefore,  at  least  limited. 

In  common  parlance  the  will  is  that  power  which 
moves  muscles  and  brings  things  to  pass. 

Our  consciousness  attests  the  fact  that  some  form 
of  sensibility — a  feeling  which  is  usually  known  as 
desire — precedes  every  act  of  the  will  and  constitutes 
the  motive  to  action.  We  desire  to  have  or  enjoy 
something,  and  this  desire  causes  us  to  put  forth 
efforts  to  obtain  it.  Following  perception  or  thought, 
there  springs  up  emotion,  passion — some  form  of  sen- 
sibility, pleasurable  or  painful — and  this  begets  a 
desire  with  corresponding  action.  Of  this  order  and 
process  we  are  ceitainly  conscious.     We  all  love  the 

I.     Handbook  Moral  Philos.,  p.    165. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  87 

truth.  You  perceive,  we  will  suppose,  a  possibility 
of  discovering  some  truth.  Your  love  for  the  truth 
begets  a  desire  which  prompts  to  action.  Or  again, 
one  acts  from  a  sense  of  duty.  Now,  what  are  the 
facts?  The  intellect  or  reason  perceives  what  is 
right;  this  awakens  in  the  moral  sense — conscience — 
a  feeling  of  obligation  to  go  forward.  The  will 
responds  to  the  feeling,  and  the  duty  is  performed. 

Do  you  say  one  does  not  always  act  from  a  sense 
of  duty?  The  mental  process  is  the  same.  A  per- 
ception of  possible  pleasure — it  may  be  forbidden 
pleasure — awakens  desire  to  enjoy  and  this  becomes 
a  motive  to  action.  The  will  responds  to  the  desire 
and  seeks  to  realize  on  it. 

The  illustrations  are  brief,  the  thought  easy. 

It  is  then,  we  may  now  assume,  the  function  of  the  will 
to  respond  to  the  claims  of  the  several  se7isibiliiies, 
including  the  moral  sense,  or  conscience,  of  course, 
in  the  order  of  sensibilities. 

But  Mr.  Haven  says — and  in  this  he  agrees  with 
other  teachers — ^'We  often  desire  what  we  do  not 
will,  and  7£//// what  we  do  not  desire." 

He  quotes  the  following  from  Reid:  ^'A  man 
athirst  has  a  strong  desire  to  drink,  but,  for  par- 
ticular reasons,  he  determines  not  to  gratify  his  desire. 
A  judge,  from  a  regard  to  justice  and  the  duty  of  his 
office,  dooms  a  criminal  to  die;  from  humanity  and 
particular  affection,  he  desires  that  he  should  live. 
A  man,  for  health,  ma}^  take  a  nauseous  draught  for 
which  he  has  no  desire,  but  a  great  aversion." 


88  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

To  the  same  effect  he  quotes  from  Locke:  ^*A 
man  whom  I  cannot  deny,  may  oblige  me  to  use  per- 
suasion to  another,  which,  at  the  same  time  I  am 
speaking,  I  may  wish  may  not  prevail  on  him.  In 
this  case  it  is  plain  the  will  and  the  desire  run 
counter." 

And  from  Upham  he  quotes  the  case  of  Abraham 
offering  Isaac,  and  the  case  of  Brutus  sacrificing  his 
sons. 

It  seems  very  remarkable  that  these  distinguished 
philosophers  did  not  perceive  that,  in  the  cases  given, 
there  is  one  feeling  or  desire  combating  another. 
Each  one  has  reasons  or  motives  for  doing  what  he 
did,  while,  at  the  same  moment,  he  feels  the  force  of 
reasons  or  motives  for  not  doing  what  he  did.  A  man 
athirst  has  a  strong  desire  to  drink.  It  will  quench 
his  thirst.  It  will  make  him  feel  good — give  him  a 
species  of  pleasure.  These,  perhaps,  are  the  particu- 
lar reasons  that  urge  him  to  drink.  But  he  has  also 
a  desire  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  drinking — a 
desire  to  maintain  his  health  and  respectability — 
these,  and  other  considerations,  possibly,  stand  over 
against  the  appetite  for  drink,  and  he  determines  to 
act  on  the  demand  of  his  better  nature.  It  is  clearly 
a  case  of  thirst  for  drink  against  the  moral  sense — of 
appetite  against  conscience.  It  is  one  kind  of  feeling 
against  another — a  feeling  of  thirst  with  its  desire  on 
one  side,  a  feeling  of  duty  with  its  desire  on  the 
other,  and  the  will,  always  free  to  discuss  the  motives 
presented,  decides  against  drinking. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  89 

The  same  is  clearly  true  in  the  case  of  the  judge, 
in  the  case  quoted  from  Locke,  and  in  the  cases  of 
Abraham  and  Brutus,  from  Upham. 

The  cases  are  one  in  their  teaching.  The  case 
given  by  Locke  is  admirable  for  its  concealed  sophis- 
try. We  have  friendship  on  the  one  hand,  pulling  at 
the  will,  and  a  secret  conviction,  or  sense  of  right,  on 
the  other,  pulling  at  the  will,  in  a  contest  that  lasts 
during  the  effort  to  persuade,  and  friendship  gets  the 
better  in  the  end. 

On  the  very  surface  of  all  these  cases,  there  are  two 
kinds  of  feeling — one  in  favor  of  drinking,  one  opposed, 
one  in  favor  of  acquitting,  one  opposed,  one  in  favor  of 
taking  life,  one  opposed,  and,  in  all  the  cases  given, 
excepting  that  from  Locke,  the  desire  to  do  the 
right  prevails.  ''Voluntas  est  quce  quod  cum  ratione 
desiderat, ' ' 

It  is  the  more  remarkable  that  Mr.  Haven  should 
be  betrayed  into  this  oversight,  since  he  had  already 
said:  ''Were  there  no  feeling  awakened  by  the  intel- 
lectual process^  would  there  be  any  volition  with  regard 
to  the  object perceived?''^'^ 

But,  if  ^^preponderance  of  desire"  settles  the  ques- 
tion, what  becomes  of  the  freedom  of  the  will?  The 
old  question  again  to  the  front,  '^Liberty**  or  ^^Neces- 
sity," which?  Well,  both.  As  to  liberty,  a  Httle. 
As  to  necessity,  much. 

Brought  into  the  world-life  without  his    consent, 

I.     Moral  Philos.,  p.  532. 


go  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

endowed  with  forces  and  tendencies  which  he  cannot 
restrain,  and  appointed  to  a  sphere  of  activity  from 
which  he  cannot  escape,  man  finds  himself  the  sub- 
ject of  hopes  and  fears  which  he  cannot  suppress. 

Whether  he  takes  his  being  under  the  scorching 
heat  of  the  tropics,  in  the  genial  warmth  of  the  tem- 
perate zone,  or  amid  the  eternal  snow  and  ice  of  the 
arctics,  is  not  a  matter  of  choice,  but  of  fate. 
Whether  in  Christian,  heathen,  or  barbarous  lands, 
is  not  choice,  but  fate.  Whether  as  a  giant  or  a 
dwarf,  white  or  colored,  whether  an  angel  or  an  idiot, 
it  is  necessity. 

Hunger  and  thirst  come  unbidden.  Propensity  and 
passion  cry  for  indulgence  and  gratification,  on  pain 
of  infinite  suffering.  Thought  spins  on,  the  fires  of 
feeling  burn  on.  Life's  stream  surges  onward,  and 
death  awaits  the  helpless  victim — It  is  yet  necessity. 
But  you  say  to  this  puny  victim  of  necessity,  do 
something — anything — help  a  man,  or  hurt  a  man, 
take  this  course  or  that  course,  and  he  will  say  to 
you,  yes,  I  will  think  of  it.  You  must.  No,  if,  upon 
examination,  I  shall  please,  I  will.  But  I  will  com- 
pel you.  No  sir,  you  invade  my  liberty — you  cannot, 
I  defy  you — liberty. 

Projected  into  being  you  find  yourself  in  a  world 
abounding  with  objects,,  which  stir  your  sensibilities, 
and  promise  possible  gratification.  There  are  many 
of  these  objects — hundreds,  thousands  of  them.  You 
are  a  stranger  and  know  little  of  your  position  or  pos- 
sibilities.    You  know  not  what  will  gratify  you  most. 


ANTMROPOLOGV.  9 1 

As  yet,  knowledge  has  developed  no  ''preponderant 
desire,"  and  you  are  in  doubt.  But  you  are  able  to 
examine.  You  go  through  the  field,  turn  things  over, 
measure  and  weigh  them.  You  come  to  believe  that 
any  one  of  a  hundred  things  would  give  you  pleasure. 
But  one,  or  a  few  excite  you  most,  and  you  choose, 
and  act  on  your  choice.  The  will,  true  to  the  law  of 
its  manifestation,  responds  to  the  preponderant 
desire.  If  you  have  been  wise  and  chosen  well,  you 
have  entered  upon  a  course  of  life  that  will  carry  you 
out  into  all  the  beatitudes,  and  the  very  winds  and 
waves  will  sweep  you  onward  to  a  glorious  destiny. 

But  if  you  have  been  unwise  or  perverse^  and  have 
taken  the  wrong  drift,  you  have  entered  a  course 
which  will  plunge  you  over  cataracts,  and  into  whirl- 
pools, and  your  very  liberty  has  become  necessity  as 
relentless  as  fate. 

In  the  early  dawn  of  experience — and  every  day  he 
is  in  the  early  dawn  of  some  experience — man  knows 
little.  A  thousand  things  await  his  attention,  his 
study,  his  choice. 

Alas!  He  does  not  always  come  to  the  examina- 
tion unbiased.  Through  hereditary  bias  or  other  causes 
he  does  not  see  things  in  their  true  light,  sees  things 
as  too  large  or  too  small,  estimates  things  out  of  pro- 
portion to  their  value  as  factors  of  life.  He  is  almost 
sure  to  fall  into  damaging  mistakes  and  errors.  Aye! 
under  conditions,  it  is  morally  certain  that  he  will 
choose  the  worse  for  the  better  course,  but  he  makes 
his  choice,  and  is  conscious  of  a  degree  of  freedom  in 


92  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

doing  SO.  What  awaits  him  of  good  or  evil  will 
depend  largely  Upon  the  degree  in  which  he  has 
placed  himself  in  harmony^  or  out  of  harmony  with 
the  moral  order  of  the  universe. 

In  the  early  morn  of  your  experience  and  in  any 
stage  of  life,  you  need  to  go  slow,  walk  circum- 
spectly; possibly  you  will  need  help,  and  a  great  deal  of 
help  which  only  the  Heavenly  Father  himself  can  give, 
in  making  up  your  choices;  and  this  you  are  free  to  seek. 

If  appetite  or  passion  have  bound  you,  and  you  find 
it  impossible  to  resist  them,  then  there  is  but  one 
hope  left. 

A  true  contrition  may  break  the  power  of  sin,  and  so 
fortify  your  better  nature,  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  your  moral  sense — your  conscience — 
may  yet  assert  and  maintain  authority  over  incompat- 
ible desires,  and  so  give  you  back  to  love  and  to  God. 
But  nothings  it  is  believed,  but  the  ministry  of  suffer- 
ing and  of  love  can  save  you. 

If  there  were  no  moral  disorder  there  would  be  no 
conflict  of  discordant  passions,  no  choices  of  the  worse 
for  the  better  part,  conscience  would  be  supreme  and  the 
right  prevail.  But,  as  we  have  had  occasion  more  than 
once  to  note,  moral  disorder  prevails.  The  passions 
have  become  discordant.  They  sometimes  antago- 
nize conscience.  Singly,  or  combined  in  their  influ- 
ence, they  sway  the  will,  and  hold  the  fort  against 
conscience;  but  the  vice  of  the  proceeding  lies  in  the 
sensibilities — in  the  affectional  nature — and  not  in  the 
will  so  called. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  93 

The  theologian  seems  disposed  to  lay  all  that  is 
wrong  in  human  conduct  at  the  door  of  the  will. 
But,  if  the  will  is  so  supreme,  how  shall  we  account 
for  the  facts  of  history? 

Every  consideration  that  reason  can  suggest  is  in 
favor  of  doing  the  right  thing — conscience,  honor, 
happiness,  the  assurance  that  the  way  of  the  trans- 
gressor is  hard;  and  on  the  other  hand  everything 
warns  against  the  wrong — disgrace,  shame,  suffering 
and  general  wretchedness;  the  will  is  supreme,  and 
of  course  the  right  will  be  chosen  and  the  wrong 
eschewed. 

But  it  is  not.  Some  quenchless  thirst  or  passion 
flames  up,  and  for  the  moment  so  intensifies  desire  for 
gratification  as  to  sweep  the  field  of  other  motives, 
and  carries  the  will  against  all  the  protests  of 
conscience. 

The  appetites  and  passions  do  not  depend  upon  the 
will  for  their  peculiar  force,  and  are  not  subject  to 
its  control.  The  stoics  were  in  error.  You  cannot 
quench  thirst  and  passion  by  a  mere  act  of  the  will. 
The  voice  of  conscience  calling  the  soul  to  duty  is 
hushed  in  the  clamor  of  discordant  passions,  and  life 
drifts  away  to  sin  and  death. 

Theologians  and  legislators  have  assumed  that 
because  the  will  is  supreme  men  can  be  good,  and,  if 
they  be  not  good,  they  should  be  punished  and  made 
good.  They  tell  us  that  sin  merits  punishment,  that 
justice  requires  it  shall  be  inflicted,  that  men  are  cor- 
rupt, that  some  are  so  corrupt  if  they  be  not  deterred 


94  Jlil^    NEW    RELIGION. 

and  restrained  by  fear  of  punishment,  they  will 
become  intolerable. 

This  were  more  a  gospel  of  hate  than  of  goodness; 
and  there  are  never  wanting  those  who  are  ready  with 
knout  and  bludgeon  to  inflict  the  punishment  thought 
to  be  due  to  justice. 

Do  you  suppose  that  the  criminal  deliberately 
chooses  vice,  with  its  penalty,  against  virtue,  with  its 
award? 

For  the  moment,  under  the  blinding  storm  of  pas- 
sion, and  half  oblivious  of  the  danger,  and  hoping, 
perhaps,  he  will  in  some  way  escape,  he  indulges  his 
passion  and  realizes  a  temporary  gratification.  But 
he  has  not  chosen  vice  on  its  merits.  He  has  not 
chosen  crime  for  the  purpose  of  being  a  criminal. 

The  hope  of  some  keen  gratification  just  in  sight 
leads  him  on.  Conscience,  and  all  the  powerful  con- 
siderations that  could  easily  be  adduced  in  favor  of 
the  right,  fall  into  the  background.  The  coveted 
pleasure,  exaggerated  out  of  all  proportion,  stalks  to 
the  front,  and  he  grasps  it.  And  then,  when,  alas, 
too  late,  dire  consequences. 

The  theologian  and  the  legislator  say  he  is  a 
rational  being,  and  must  be  held  amenable  for  what 
he  does.  Justice  demands  it,  and,  according  to  law, 
both  in  church  and  state,  he  is  punished. 

But  this  one  act,  or  any  dozen  of  them,  does  not 
exhaust  the  category  of  his  qualities — does  not  reveal 
the  man  to  the  depths  of  his  nature,  and  below  there 
is  something  good.      Under  the  given  conditions  he  is 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  95 

morally  certain  to  make  foolish  choices  over  and  over. 
The  degree  of  his  guilt,  for  current  action,  is  meas- 
ured by  the  part  he  has  taken  in  establishing  these  con- 
ditions; but  be  this  great  or  small,  he  is  not  to  be 
punished  by  any  human  tribunal  for  it. 

The  assumed  right  to  punish  is  a  usurpation. 

It  is  very  true,  indeed,  that  men  are  capable  of 
becoming  ^^desperately  wicked."  There  seems  to 
be,  in  certain  cases,  hardly  any  limit  to  the  subsi- 
dence of  the  moral  sense — hardly  any  to  the  suprem- 
acy of  devilish  passion.  We  know  too  well  that  men 
become  outrageous — intolerable;  but,  for  several 
reasons,  you  cannot  punish  them. 

How  much,  would  you  say,  should  a  given  crime 
be  punished?  Say  overreaching  in  business,  or  theft, 
or  adultery,  or  murder? 

No  moral  philosopher  or  casuist  has  attempted  to 
say,  because  he  knows  not,  and  cannot  know.  You 
know  neither  how  to  proceed,  nor  how  far  to  proceed 
with  your  punishment.  No  individual,  and  no  state, 
for  the  state  is  but  the  aggregate  of  individual  life, 
is  competent  to  punish  crime  in  the  criminal.  ^^Ven- 
geance is  mine,  and  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord.*' 

Such  means  as  may  be  found  needful  to  protect 
society,  will  no  doubt  take  the  color  of  punishment, 
and  may  subserve  the  purposes  of  justice,  but  they 
are  not  to  originate  in  a  spirit  of  offended  justice, 
and  intent  of  retribution,  but  rather  in  the  need  and 
intent  of  self  protection;  and   should   always  be  tern- 


96  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

pered  with  pity  that  any  poor  fellow-mortal  could 
have   been    so    misguided    and    unfortunate. 

It  has  been  observed  that  some  wills  seem  *'weak/' 
and  some  '^strong.'*  The  great  Napoleon,  and  others, 
for  that  matter,  have  been  credited  with  having  ^^iron 
wills.'*  I  know  of  no  attempt  to  explain  these  phe- 
nomena on  psychological  principles.  That  they  are 
significant,  and  demand  the  attention  of  the  moral 
philosopher,  will  be  admitted. 

The  views  set  forth  in  these  pages  furnish  at  least 
something  of  an  explanation. 

Amid  the  disorder  and  misdirection  that  prevail  in 
the  appetitive  and  affectional  phases  of  human  nature, 
the  will  yet  performs  its  work  as  the  exponent  of  life's 
combined  and  complex  forces.  Because  the  appe- 
tites and  passions  are  not  properly  co-ordinated,  the 
functions  of  the  will  are  often  embarrassed. 

If  the  discordant  sensibilities  could  be  brought 
into  habitual  subordination  to  conscience,  as  they 
were  clearly  intended  to  be,  there  would  be  no  failure, 
on  the  part  of  the  will,  to  act  promptly,  and  there 
could  be  no  such  thing  as  a  ^'weak  will.'*  A  strong 
will  means  such  a  co-ordination  and  concord  of  the 
sensibilities  as  will  give  a  united  and  steady  support 
to  the  ruling  desire;  while  a  weak  will  means  such  a 
mutual  conflict  and  antagonism  of  the  diverse  emotions 
and  desires,  as  to  result  in  an  unstable  condition  of  the 
volitional  status — a  condition  in  which  the  least 
added  motive  will  throw  the  balance  of  power  to  the 
clainis    of    appetite  or  those  passions^   or  haply  to 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  97 

the  claims  of  the  moral  sense,  making  them,  for  the 
time,  available.  Clear  conceptions  and  accordant 
sensibilities  make  the  strong  will,  but  discordant  sen- 
sibilities make  the  weak  will.  The  will,  however, 
remains  the  same  responsive  executive  power,  only 
less  embarrassed  in  its  volitions  in  the  one  case,  and 
more  embarrassed  in  the  other. 

We  fail  to  find,  therefore,  that  the  Will,  considered 
as  one  of  the  powers  of  man's  higher  nature,  is  so 
seriously  at  fault  as  current  theories  make  it.  It  is 
no  fault  of  the  will  that  it  cannot  control  the  affec- 
tions and  make  life  perfect.  Emotions  and  desires, 
which  constitute  the  motives  to  action,  spring  from 
antecedent  thoughts — from  ideals  presented  by  the 
imagination  independently  of  the  will,  but  they  never 
fail  to  make  their  claims  upon  it  as  the  one  power 
which  alone  can  secure  them  gratification. 

Let  us,  in  conclusion,  grant,  however,  that  the 
damage  and  danger  of  sin  might  have  been  kept  more 
in  sight,  that  the  attention  might  have  been  held  more 
steadily  and  strongly  to  the  incentives  to  right  living, 
and  that  the  obligations  to  duty  might  have  been 
more  warmly  cherished  and  faithfully  discharged; 
and,  because  these  things  were  not  done,  when  they 
could  have  been  done,  men  often  become  helpless  in 
the  toils  of  sin,  and  are  doomed  to  measureless  suf- 
fering and  woe. 

Let  us  not  exculpate  the  will-power  from  all  par- 
ticipation in  the  infirmity  of  human  nature.  But,  let 
reason  do  her  part,  and  let  the  appetites  and  affections 


gS  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

be  subdued  to  the  rule  of  conscience,  and  we  may 
not  despair  of  the  will.  The  remedies,  if  such  are  to 
be  found,  which  will  sufficiently  inform  the  reason, 
and  properly  readjust  and  regulate  the  affections,  will 
leave  little  to  be  done  to  make  man  perfect. 

To  fortify  the  moral  sense,  to  strengthen  the  con- 
victions of  duty,  to  intensify  the  feelings  of  obliga- 
tion, to  so  enshrine  the  ideal  right,  and  good,  and 
true,  as  to  make  the  power  and  pull  of  conscience 
upon  the  will  good  against  the  pull  and  power  of 
incompatible  desires, — this  is  the  desideratum. 

It  remains  to  be  considered  in  future  pages  whether 
such  a  consummation  is  possible,  and  if  possible,  by 
what  agencies  and  instrumentalities  it  is  to  be 
achieved.  Can  the  fibre  of  resolution  be  nerved  to 
such  a  mastery  of  tendency  and  temptation  as  to 
enable  one,  v\^ith  possible  divine  help,  to  live  life 
through,  ever  obedient  to  the  purposes  of  the  lovicg 
Ail-Father?     We  shall  see. 


It  must  be  so,  Plato — thou  reasonest  well, 

Else  whence  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire, 

This  longing  after  immortality? 

Or,  whence  this  secret  dread  and  inward  horror 

Of  falHng  into  naught?     Why  shrinks  the  soul 

Back  on  herself,  and  startles  at  destruction? 


CHAPTER  XIL 

The  Life  Immortal. 

If,  in  the  foregoing  discussion,  any  doubt  has  been 
raised  as  to  the  essential  immortahty  of  the  Higher 
Life,  let  us  hasten  to  dispel  it. 

Every  one  knows,  or  at  least  believes,  that  he  him- 
self is  something  different  and  distinct  from  his  own 
physical  organism.  One  limb  after  another  could  be 
cut  away  without  consciously  affecting  the  ego. 

We  cannot  predicate  of  the  physical  organism  the 
attributes  of  the  spirit. 

Thought  and  feeling  do  not  spring  from  mere  mat- 
ter, however  highly  organized.  This  is  frankly  con- 
ceded by  all  scientists.  Though  the  mind  seems  to 
grow  with  the  bodily  structure,  and  sometimes  to 
decline  with  it,  exhibiting  its  greatest  powers  at  the 
period  of  its  greatest  maturity,  it  may  be  demon- 
strated that  this  arises  from  the  more  perfect  and 
better  adaptability  of  the  instrument  to  its  purpose. 
The  best  artist  cannot  display  his  skill  through  an 
imperfect  instrument,  and  it  does  not  follow  that 
when  the  instrument  becomes  useless  the  artist  has 
ceased  to  exist. 

A  Kashmirian  girl,  it  is  said,  will  detect  300  shades 
of   color,    where    the    Lyonaise   notices   but  one — so 


I02  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

much  depends  upon  the  degree  of  perfection  of  the 
instrument  employed. 

^'Whatever  analogy/'  says  Dr.  Alexander  Wilder, 
^^may  be  maintained  between  the  development  of  the 
psychic  faculties,  and  the  growth  of  the  body,  it  does 
not,  by  any  means,  follow  from  such  correspondence, 
that  the  soul  did  not  exist  prior  to  the  bodily  life,  or 
that  it  ceases  to  exist  upon  the  extinction  of  that  life. 
Those  who  affect  to  doubt,  or  to  deny,  or  to  be 
unable  to  know,  the  existence  of  an  immortal  princi- 
ple in  man,  miserably  fail  to  account  for  the  higher 
experiences  of  human  life,  and  sadly  limit  human 
hope.  In  the  issue  they  have  made  between  philoso- 
phy and  nihilism,  we  have  the  chance  offered  us  to 
look  upward  to  God  as  our  Father,  or  to  wander  from 
nowhere  to  nowhither — from  the  primordial  chaos  to 
the  eternal  abyss,  loosing  ourselves  among  molecules 
of  material  substances,  with  nothing  whatever  to 
appease  any  longing  of  the  spirit. '^ 

Huxley  candidly  admits  that  ''when  we  appropriate 
all  knowji  chemical  forces,  we  are  yet  at  an  enormous 
distance  from  that  which  constitutes  life;"  and  Tyn- 
dall  says,  ''if  a  right-hand  spiral  spring  movement  of 
the  particles  of  the  brain  could  be  shown  to  occur  in 
love,  and  a  left-hand  movement  in  hate,  we  should  be 
as  far  off  as  ever  from  understanding  the  connection 
of  this  physical  matter,  with  this  spiritual  manifesta- 
tion."     (Frag.  Science,  p.  120.) 

The  ablest  scientists  agree  in  admitting  that,  if  you 
make  up  your  compounds  from  all   the  ascertainable 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  I03 

molecular  activities,  you  involve  nothing  that  will 
account  for  the  weaving  of  the  complex  tissues  of  the 
living  organism;  and  how  infinitely  will  you  fall 
short,  then,  of  accounting  for  will  power,  for  thought, 
for  love  and  conscience,  without  predicating  an 
indwelling  spirit — super-material  existence. 

Bain  has  suggested  that  matter  '^is  a  double-faced 
somewhat,"  having  a  spiritual  and  a  physical  side, 
and  he  has  had,  in  this  at  least,  a  respectable  follow- 
ing. But  this  forlorn  effort  to  set  up  a  man  without 
a  soul,  breaks  down  on  the  threshold — can  the  same 
molecule  be  active  and  non-active,  extensible  and 
non-extensible,  ponderable  and  non-ponderable?  The 
involved  implication  is  unthinkable. 

Huxley,  and  all  the  great  authorities  in  biological 
science  for  that  matter,  admit  that  life  is  the  cause  of 
organization,  and  not  organization  the  cause  of  life. 
Just  what  they  mean  by  life,  does  not  plainly  appear; 
but  whatever  it  may  be,  if  it  exist  before  organization 
as  a  cause,  it  may  exist  after  it  as  a  cause-produc- 
ing energy.  It  is  certainly  plain  enough  that  organi- 
zation does  not  begin  all,  since  there  must  have  been 
that  which  began  the  organization,  and,  if  it  do  not 
begin   all,  how  can  it  end  all? 

To  account  for  human  experience,  we  must  postu- 
late an  indwelling  ego  endowed  with  attributes  that 
cannot  be  predicated  of  any  form  of  organized  matter. 

And  this  ego  is  so  imminent,  pervasive  and  out- 
going that  the  human  organism  hardly  limits  it. 
Every  one   is   sensitive  to    the    contiguity    of    bodies 


104  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

when  groping  in  the  dark.  If  we  close  our  eyes  and 
withdraw  ourselves  as  much  as  possible  from  external 
disturbing  influences,  we  easily  see  and  feel,  or  rather 
realize  what  no  sense  gives  us.  It  is  said  that  Miss 
Fancher,  of  Brooklyn,  when  in  her  room,  blind  and 
paralyzed,  would  tell  who  was  at  the  door  of  the 
house,  and  the  routes  which  individuals  were  taking 
in  the  streets. 

Swedenborg,  we  are  told,  had  periods  of  trance,  or 
apparent  dying,  in  which  his  interior  self  was  thought 
to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  in  company  with 
spiritual  beings;  and  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
was  once  rapt  into  the  third  heavens,  and  declared  he 
did  not  know  whether  he  was  in  or  out  of  the  body. 

If,  then,  the  lower  sensuous  self  fills  up  the  meas- 
ure of  its  life,  and  dies,  the  higher  self,  distinct  and 
independent  of  its  physical  organism,  may  not  be 
involved  with  it  in  the   disaster  of  dissolving   nature. 

The  psychic  man,  with  his  power  to  perceive,  to 
conceive,  to  reflect,  to  compare,  infer,  and  to  retain 
in  memory,  with  his  power  to  appreciate  the  beauti- 
ful, the  true,  the  good,  is  capable  of  exploring  all 
lands,  and  sailing  all  seas,  and  tasting  all  joys.  His 
endowments  qualify  him  for  spirit  relationship,  and 
ally  him  to  spirit  existence,  and  make  him  an  aggres- 
sive actor  in  the  realm  of  spirit-life. 

A  man,  even  in  this  time-and-space-world,  is  not  at 
his  best  when  gratifying  his  sensuous  nature.  When 
thought  is  ranging  over  wide  fields,  when  sentimen, 
is  quaffing  her  nectar  at  all  fountains,  and  the  will  is 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  IO5 

gathering  her  fruits  in  all  climes — then  man  is   at    his 
best. 

The  psychic  life  is  unlike  the  mundane  life,  in  that 
the  latter  fulfills  its  purposes  and  completes  the  cycle 
of  its  being  in  the  present  state,  while  the  former  has 
but  entered  upon  a  sphere  of  activity  and  cycle  of 
being  which  is  not  and  cannot  be  rounded  up  and 
closed  in  the  present  state. 

'Tis  not  all  of  life  to  live, 
Nor  all  of  death  to  die. 

1.  The  attributes  or  powers  which  characterize  the 
spiritual  ego,  if  we  except  the  will,  are  not  dependent 
upon  or  limited  by  the  physical  organism  for  their 
activity  and  manifestation — they  are  purely  spiritual 
— subjective. 

The  will  is  usually  defined  as  the  power  of  choosing 
or  making  a  choice;  and  in  this  sense  it,  too,  is  purely 
subjective  and  unlimited  by  time  and  space  relations. 
If  the  real  ego  is  thus  so  above  and  independent  of 
material  conditions,  and  in  all  her  activities  and  out- 
goings, we  need  not  fear  that  any  changes  that  take 
place  in  the  realm  of  the  physical  will  prove  disas- 
trous to  the  spirit-life. 

2.  We  have  said  that  the  sphere  of  man's  activi- 
ties is  not  rounded  up  and  completed  in  the  present 
state  of  being.      This  is  apparent  on  every  hand. 

(a)  He  has  capacities  for  knowledge  which  spurn  the 
limitations  of  time.  When  death  comes  to  the  oldest, 
he  has  not  half  exhausted  his  powers  to  acquire  and 
to  know  more.      He  is  always  cut  down  before  he  has 


Io6  1HE    NEW    RELIGION. 

worked  out  and  finished  his  problem.  He  loves 
knowledge,  and  drinks  with  glad  joy  at  its  fountains, 
but  drinking  does  not  lessen  his  thirst.  It  rather 
increases  it  and  inspires  him  with  greater  zeal  in  its 
pursuit,  and  leads  him  to  hope  for  larger  gratifica- 
tion. Give  him  loo  years,  and  he  has  but  fairly 
begun  to  explore  the  enchanting  fields  that  stretch 
away  into  the  illimitable  future,  and  with  what 
quenchless  yearning  does  he  desire  to  go  forward. 

(b)  What  is  true  of  his  thought  life  is  true  of  his 
affectional  life.  Here  he  gets,  now  and  then,  a 
glimpse  of  the  truly  beautiful,  and  he  instantly  feels 
that  ^'a.  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever. '^ 

But  he  is  never  sated,  never  has  enough.  As  his 
knowledge  extends  and  enlarges  his  vision,  he  sees 
more  and  enjoys  more.  Give  him  loo  years  and  he 
still  yearns  for  deeper  draughts  of  this  ^^joy  forever," 
of  which  he  knows  he  has  had,  in  the  present  state, 
but  a  taste. 

(c)  Take  love  and  friendship.  What  a  heaven 
they  open  up  in  the  soul.  How  they  bless  the  home 
and  society  and  the  world.  How  they  sweeten  all 
life's  pleasures.  One  hundred  3^ears  of  life  fly  away 
— have  love  and  friendship  grown  old  and  wan?  Have 
they  lost  their  power  to  charm  and  to  bless?  Do 
they  sate  you?  Can  you  believe  that  at  the  end  of 
of  your  loo  3^ears,  you  will  have  done  with  them?  that 
they  will  no  longer  be  gracious  and  inspiring?  A 
dear  and  cherished  friend  is  taken  away.  Do  you 
follow  him  to   the   grave   and   then   willingly  let  him 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  IO7 

vanish  into  nothing?  Have  your  friendship  an^^  your 
love  also  died?  Or,  rather,  have  they  not  already 
overleaped  the  barriers  of  time  and  gone  to  the 
immortal  blessed? 

(d)  Take  sympathy — fellow-feeling — which  is 
indeed  but  another  form  of  love.  How  sweet  and 
beautiful  and  inspiring!  Will  it  be  less  at  the  end  of 
100  years?  Does  it  seem  adapted  only  to  a  world 
where  it  is  so  checked  and  hindered  by  mistake  and 
ingratitude?  Could  love,  in  all  its  forms,  think  you, 
find  blessed  ministries  and  fruition  in  the  sun-bright 
clime 

"Where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling, 
And  the  weary  are  at  rest?" 

(e)  We  talk  of  the  ^ -feast  of  reason"  and  ^^flow  of 
soul."  The  simile  is  a  bad  one.  A  feast  is  followed 
by  satiety,  and  even  nausea  and  disgust,  if  pushed 
too  far.  But  the  so-called  feast  of  reason  never  palls 
upon  the  palate.  You  bless  the  glad  moment  when 
it  begins.  You  could  wish  it  might  never  end.  Is  it 
possible,  think  3^ou,  only  in  this  world,  where  com- 
plete congeniality  is  a  rare  exotic,  where  greed  and 
selfishness  are  always  engendering  bitterness  and 
hate,  and  spoiling  all  such  feasts? 

As  you  drop  out  of  your  experience,  more  and 
more,  the  things  that  are  of  the  ^^earth-earthy,"  and 
as  you  rise,  more  and  more,  into  the  things  that  are 
of  the  spirit-spiritual,  how  about  the  blessedness  of 
these  feasts  of  reason,  say  in  the  poet's  ^^Land  of 
Beulah?" 


I08  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Are  they  suited  more  to  the  real  earth  or  the  real 
heaven? 

Buddhism  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  a  state 
of  conscious-sentiment-throbbing-activity,  is  infi- 
nitety  preferable  to  a  state  of  unconscious  rest.  The 
difference  is  the  difference  between  being  and  non- 
being. 

We  have  had  occasion  to  criticise  the  accepted 
definition  of  will,  as  a  mere  faculty  or  power  of 
choice,  in  that,  a  preference  or  choice  is  but  a  condi- 
tion precedent  to  volition  proper.  A  mere  prefer- 
ence ends  with  itself,  and  does  not  bring  things  to 
pass,  whereas  a  full-fledged  volition  employs  means 
and  moves  things.  In  the  present  state,  this  moving 
things — bringing  things  to  pass — is  a  difficult,  much 
embarrassed  labor;  and  to  the  extent  that  volition 
involves  this  labor,  it  is  weighed  down  and  hindered 
by  the  physical. 

But,  emancipated  from  this  weighing  and  hinder- 
ance,  it  would  execute  and  bring  things  to  pass  with 
the  facility  and  rapidity  of  thought  itself. 

It  would  seem  quite  clear,  then,  that  the  sphere  of 
the  will's  best  activity  lies  more  appropriately  in  the 
future  and  unembarrassed  spiritual  realm,  than  in  the 
present  physical  realm. 

3.  But  in  connection  with  these  beginnings  of  the 
Higher  Life,  and  as  demanding  their  continuous  devel- 
opment, let  us  note  that: 

The  Creator  works  by  wholes,  and  not  by  halves  or 
fractions, 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 09 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  divine  purpose  and  wis- 
dom to  complete  things.  The  seasons  come  and  go, 
each  in  its  appointed  time — spring,  summer,  autumn, 
winter.  Each  fulfills  its  mission  and  passes.  In  the 
minute  germ  of  the  acorn  we  have  the  potency  of  the 
oak  complete.  The  tree  does  not  produce  its  fruit  in 
halves. 

Insect  and  animal  life  repeats  itself,  more  or  less 
quickly,  but  with  substantial  fidelity,  through  all 
their  millions  and  myriads.  The  dove  that  flew  from 
the  ark  of  Noah,  is  the  dove  that  sits  and  coos  at 
your  window.  Each  had  its  sphere  of  activity — its 
rounded  life. 

The  world-life  of  man  himself  fulfills  its  functions 
and  ends.  Could  he  be  reborn,  all  his  appetites  and 
propensities  would  repeat  themselves  to  the  hun- 
dredth generation.  The  animal  organism  is  a  won- 
drous microcosm.  Within  it  are  hundreds  of  appoint- 
ments, bones,  muscles,  nerves,  organs,  appetites, 
tastes,  emotions,  passions,  each  havmg  its  part  to 
play,  and  each  playing  it  part  through  to  the  end. 
There  is  nothing  essentially  wanting,  nothing  in  essen- 
tial excess  in  all  this  co.nplex  of  wholes. 

In  the  disorder  and  infirmity  that  prevail,  affecting 
both  the  lower  and  the  higher  nature,  we  do  indeed 
observe  some  deficiencies,  some  excesses;  but  these 
are  clearly  not  in  essence.  They  are  not  included  in 
the  ideal  being.  They  are  to  be  corrected.  They  do 
not  inhere  in  the  essence  and  nature  of  the  human 
constitution, 


no  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

In  the  wide  domain  of  nature  there  is  nothing  for- 
tuitous, nothing  left  to  chance.  There  are  no  breaks 
nor  disjoints.  Everything  is  rounded  up  to  comple- 
tion— has  its  mission  and  its  goal. 

But  we  have  just  seen  that,  as  to  man's  higher  life, 
the  sphere  of  his  possible  activities  is  in  no  sense  com- 
pleted in  the  present  state.  His  knowledge  is  not 
complete.  His  affections  have  just  awakened  to  con- 
scious activity.  His  will  struggles  in  its  fetters,  and 
only  waits  for  death  to  strike  them  off.  On  this  high 
plane  of  being  everything  needs  wider  range  and 
larger  opportunity.  Everything  stretches  away  into  the 
illimitable  future  for  such  range  and  such  opportunity. 

But,  if  death  indeed  end  all,  then  what  mean  these 
inevitable,  ghastly  fractions  of  spiritual  life?  If 
death  end  all,  why  was  the  soul  endowed  with  such 
powers  of  conscious  adaptation  to  an  endless  future? 
If  death  end  all,  the  power  or  capacity  to  acquire 
knowledge,  to  love  the  good  and  true,  are  cut  down 
in  their  very  spring-time — the  joy  of  knowledge,  the 
joy  of  love  and  sympathy  are  blasted  in  the  bud. 

It  cannot  be.  All  the  analogies  are  against  it. 
The  divine  wisdom  and  benevolence  displayed  else- 
where in  nature,  are  against  it.  God  works  by  wholes. 
He  rounds  up  and  finishes  things,  and  the  sphere  of 
the  higher  life  must  be  a  whole;  it  ca^inot  be  a  fraction. 
But  a  fraction  it  would  be,  and  a  very  infinitismal 
cne,  too,  if  death  end  all. 

•'Know,  all  know,  know  infidels,  unapt  to  know, 
Tis  immortality  your  nature  solves." 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  Ill 

3.  But  there  is  another  consideration  of  interest 
touching  this  subject. 

The  all-bountiful,  benevolent  Creator  responds  to 
all  hungering  and  thirsting,  to  all  legitimate  desire 
and  yearning. 

And  why  not?  Would  it  be  a  reasonable  and  right 
thing  to  do  to  implant  appetites  and  passions,  to 
beget  hungerings  and  thirstings  which  could  not  be 
appeased?  The  eternal  God  is  good,  he  would  not  do 
this.  He  is  said  to  be  love  itself — that  is,  love  is  his 
dominant  characteristic,  his  governing  motive.  But 
love  could  not  sanction  such  an  exercise  of  creative 
power. 

Hunger  is  a  keen  sense  of  want  and  yearning  for 
food.  Is  not  food  provided  in  kind,  and  supplied  in 
abundance? 

The  beneficient  Creator,  who  gave  hunger,  also 
gave  food. 

Thirst — how  it  cries  for  water!  He  who  gave  thirst 
also  gave  water  to  quench  it. 

Did  not  he  who  gave  the  eye  give  it  light? 

The  blood  coursing  through  every  vein,  and  throb- 
bing in  every  artery,  needs  instant  and  continuous 
purification.  It  must  have  oxygen,  on  pain  of  speedy 
strangulation  and  death.  Behold  an  ocean  of  atmos- 
pheric air  yielding  the  needed  momentary  supply, 
through  highly  wrought  and  delicate  instrumentali- 
ties, and  sustained  for  100  years,  without  the  anxiety 
of  a  moment  or  the  trouble  of  a  thought  on  the  part 
the  creature. 


112  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

So  constant  is  the  response  to  urgent  need  and 
yearning,  in  all  nature,  that  the  evolutionist  has  found 
in  the  need  itself,  the  provision  for  supply.  The 
mole,  born  to  live  in  the  dark,  needs  no  eyes,  and  has 
none.  The  eye  speedily  adjusts  itself  to  more  light, 
and  to  less,  according  to  its  needs.  The  stalwart 
elephant,  built  solidly  up  from  the  ground,  needed  a 
flexible  proboscis  with  which  he  could  collect  his  food 
from  below  and  above,  and  in  the  process  of  evolu- 
tion a  proboscis  appears.  The  kingfisher  needs  a 
peculiar  bill  and  neck  and  other  adjustments  to 
enable  him  to  procure  his  food  from  beneath  the 
water's  surface,  and  nature  responds  with  the  needed 
outfit;  and  so  on,  throughout  all  realms  of  life,  physi- 
cal and  spiritual.  The  yearning  spirit  presides  over 
and  directs  the  building  bioplast,  determines  the 
make-up  and  completes  the  adaptation  to  the  envi- 
ronment and  prepares  for  the  exigencies  of  life. 

Without  being  able  to  follow  the  evolutionist  to  his 
conclusion,  we  must  grant  that  supply  responds  to 
need  with  so  much  regularity  and  certainty  that  it 
may  be  relied  on  as  a  law  of  nature,  or  a  law  of  God, 
as  you  may  please  to  put  it. 

This  law  is  so  well  established  in  every  domain  of 
nature  that,  if  you  should  realize  an  abiding  legiti- 
mate want  and  desire  for  anything,  you  may  feel  sure 
that  somehow,  somewhere,  the  thing  so  desired  will 
be  forthcoming — that,  whether  you  know  it  or  not, 
the  provision  for  appeasing  such  desire  and  want  has 
already  been  made  by  the  all-bountiful  Creator. 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  I  1 3 

All  men  yearn  for  continued  life.  And  this  yearn- 
ing is  persistent  and  intense. 

The  love  of  life  is  the  strongest  passion  of  the 
human  soul.  Whether  life  is  ^ 'worth  living"  or  not, 
as  some  have  questioned,  it  is  clung  to  with  instinct- 
ive, uncontrollable  desire.  To  avoid  death  any  sane 
man  would  quickly  give  up  every  other  conceivable 
good.  Every  possible  good  is  less  to  him  than  life, 
without  which  there  could  be  no  personal  good.  If 
death,  then,  is  to  end  all,  why  this  quenchless  yearn- 
ing for  continued  life? 

''The  day-old  infant  goes  straight  to  the  breast 
where  its  nourishment  lies.  The  panting  roe  hunts 
the  water-brook.  Even  the  sunflower  turns  to  the 
sun.  Are  they  deceived?  A  deeper  impulse  draws 
us.  Shall  we,  of  all  things  living,  follow  to  find  but 
a  phantom — a  fountain  without  water,  a  breast  with- 
out nourishment,  a  sun  without  beams,  a  mirage  of 
of  illusive  promise?"^ 

There  is  not  a  sentiment  of  man's  nobler  nature, 
whether  it  be  the  joy  of  being,  the  love  of  knowledge, 
the  love  of  the  good,  the  pleasure  of  friendship  and 
the  high  pleasures  of  love  itself,  as  manifested  in  the 
thankfulness  and  gratitude — not  a  capacity  or  power 
which,  in  its  aspirations,  does  not  overleap  the  limits 
of  the  world-life.  A  wider  range  and  larger  oppor- 
tunity, more  light,  and  a  less  embarrassing  environ- 
ment— how  imperatively  needed,  if  anything  worthy  of 

J.     Bishop  R,  L.  Foster. 


114  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

his  great  powers  is  to  be  achieved.  The  wider  realms 
of  spirit-life  stretch  away  into  the  illimitable,  and  every 
thinking  soul  yearns  with  inesxpressible  desire  to  go 
forward  to  the  higher  passibifities  wJiich  await  and  wel- 
come his  coming.  Shall  fruition  be  denied  him? 
Have  we  found  an  exception  to  the  law  that  reigns  in 
all  realms?  Is  this,  the  most  impassioned  cry  of 
want,  not  to  be  heard?  Is  man,  the  noblest  concep- 
tion of  the  All-Father,  to  come  but  to  the  birth  and 
die? 

It  cannot  be.  The  eternal  law  of  God  and  nature 
is  against  it.  Give  us  the  life  immortal  and  all  's 
perfect,  all  harmony — all  means  are  suited  to  all  ends. 
Human  life  is  a  benediction  and  a  heaven  possible. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  men  have  assumed  the 
immortality  of  man.  Without  it,  half  his  instincts 
and  aspirations  would  be  an  inexplicable  riddle.  It 
is  in  all  the  philosophies,  in  all  the  religions,  Egyp- 
tian, Brahmin,  Buddhist,  Roman,  Greek,  Judaic  and 
Christian.  There  can  be  nowhere  found  a  philo- 
sophical tenet  or  religious  doctrine  so  generally 
accepted.  And  its  disproof,  were  it  possible,  would 
fall  as  a  pall  of  despair  upon  the  race. 

The  conviction  that  the  soul  cannot  die,  though  for 
the  most  part  untaught,  is  so  general  that  it  must  be 
regarded  as  an  instinct — an  intuition,  as  if  the  benevo- 
lent Creator  had  fixed  this  assurance  in  his  children, 
to  encourage  and  sustain  them  amid  the  breaks 
and  disappointments  of  the  present  state,  and  enable 
them  to  trust  in  a  better  state  of  being,   to  which  all 


ANTHROPOLOGY.  1 1 5 

questions  of  right  and  justice  may  be  referred  for 
final  adjustment. 

In  view  of  such  considerations,  nothing,  perhaps, 
could  add  to  the  strength  of  our  convictions  on  this 
subject,  except  possibly  an  actual  and  properly 
authenticated  resurrection  from  the  dead.  In  the 
face  of  dissolving  nature,  and  the  ubiquitous  reign  of 
death,  under  which  men  live,  it  seems  yet  possi'Ble 
for  men  to  doubt  and  shrink  back.  In  the  world*  s 
history  there  have  been  few,  probably,  who  could  not 
have  been  helped  by  ocular  demonstration  of  the 
fact  of  a  resurrection. 

If  the  claims  of  Christianity  be  granted — if  tlie 
Evangelists  have  told  us  a  true  story,  this  demonstra- 
tion has  been  made.  Jesus,  the  Christ,  we  are 
assured,  actually  raised  Lazarus  and  others  from  the 
dead.  He  himself,  ^^a  son  of  man,"  was  crucified, 
dead,  and  buried.  His  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
so  well  attested  in  the  face  of  doubt  and  determined 
opposition,  demonstrated  to  visual  sense  and  per- 
sonal consciousness,  the  fact  that  death  does  not  end 
all,  that  it  did  not,  at  least,  in  his  case.  The  Roman 
soldier  was  pitted  against  the  angel,  but  was  no 
match  for  him.  The  son  of  man  ''led  captivity 
captive." 

*'He  burst  the  bars  of  death, 
And  triumphant  rose." 

I  go,  he  said,  in  the  tropical  phrase  of  the  East,  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.     I  am  brother  to  you  all.     I 


Jl6  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ascend,  as  you  shall  hereafter  understand  jnore  per- 
fectly, to  my  Father  and  to  your  Father,  to  my  God 
and  to  your  God. 

Death  does  not  end  all.     Man  cannot  be  holden  of 
death. 

"The  dewdrop  slips  into  the  shining  sea." 

— Light  of  Asia. 


PART  II. 


THE  OLD  RELIGIONS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Historical  Justice, 

It  IS  a  great  error  to  suppose  there  is  nothing  good 
to  be  found  in  the  Old  Religions — that  the  ^ ^heathen/' 
whose  degradation  we  so  commiserate,  are  utterly 
vicious  and  corrupt. 

They  have  been  believed  to  be  '^judicially  damned/ ^^ 
and  the  theory  that  they  cannot  be  saved  from  the 
horrors  of  an  endless  hell,  without  a  knowledge  of 
Christ,  and  faith  in  his  atoning  blood,  has  been  the 
inspiration  of  the  self-sacrificing  missionary  since  the 
Council  of  Nice  in  the  fourth  century.  Are  not  men 
saved  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  ''how  can  they  believe 
on  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?'* 

The  fact  that  under  the  moral  and  religious  cultus 
ot  the  Egyptians,  the  Indians,  and  especially  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  men  made  great  progress  in  the 

I.     Watson's  Theological  Institutes. 


Il8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

arts  and  sciences,  and  civilization,  before  the  dawn- 
ing of  the  Christian  dispensation,  is  almost  wholly 
ignored  by  very  many  of  the  votaries  of  the  New 
Religion;  and  the  truly  pitiable  condition  of  the 
lower  and  more  ignorant  classes  of  heathens,  is  taken 
as  the  exponent  of  all  so-called  heathenism  and 
paganism. 

A  strange  fatuity,  it  would  seem,  must  affect  men 
who  can  shut  their  eyes  against  the  evidences  of  their 
high  culture  in  philosophy,  in  government,  in  lan- 
guage, in  art  and  science. 

Their  philosophical  theories,  their  codes  of  morals, 
and  their  religions,  respectively,  give  ample  proof 
that  the  old  masters  of  thought  were  profoundly  sen- 
sible, as  we  yet  are,* of  the  manifold  imperfections  of 
men,  and  they  diligently  sought  how  they  might  best 
be  helped  and  saved. 

That  profound  scholar  and  philosopher.  Max 
Mueller  says: 

^'No  judge,  if  he  had  before  him  the  worst  of  crimi- 
nals, would  treat  him  as  most  historians  and  theolo- 
gians have  treated  the  (old)  religions  of  the  world. 
Every  act  in  the  lives  of  their  founders,  which 
shows  they  were  but  men,  is  eagerly  seized  and 
judged  without  mercy.  Every  doctrine  that  is  not 
carefully  guarded,  is  interpreted  in  the  worst  sense 
that  it  will  bear.  Every  act  of  worship  that  differs 
from  our  own  way  of  serving  God,  is  held  up  to  ridi- 
cule and  contempt;  and  this  is  not  done  by  accident, 
but  with  a  set  purpose.    *    *    *    The  result  has  been  * 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  II9 

a  complete  miscarriage  of  justice,  an  utter  misappre- 
hension of  the  real  character  and  purpose  of  the  ancient 
religions  of  mankind;  and,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, a  failure  in  discovering  the  peculiar  features 
which  really  distinguish  Christianity  from  all  the 
religions  of  the  world,  and  secure  to  its  founder  his 
his  own  peculiar  place  in  the  history  of  the  world — 
far  away  from  Vasishtha,  Zoroaster  and  Buddha, — 
from  Moses  and  Mohammed,  from  Confucius  and 
Laotz.  *  *  There  are  people  who,  from  mere  igno- 
rance of  the  ancient  religions  of  mankind,  have 
adopted  a  doctrine  more  unchristian  than  any  that 
could  be  found  in  the  pages  of  the  religious  books  of 
antiquity — namely,  that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
before  the  rise  of  Christianity,  were  mere  outcasts, 
forsaken  and  forgotten  of  their  Father  in  heaven, 
without  a  knowledge  of  God,  without  a  hope  of 
heaven/' 

^^If  we  believe,-'  he  continues,  ^^that  there  is  a 
God,  and  that  he  created  heaven  and  earth,  and  that 
he  rules  the  earth  by  his  unceasing  providence,  we 
cannot  believe  that  millions  of  human  beings,  all 
created  like  ourselves,  in  the  image  of  God,  were,  in 
their  time  of  ignorance,  so  utterly  abandoned  that 
their  whole  religion  was  a  falsehood,  their  whole  wor- 
ship a  farce,  their  whole  life  a  mockery."^ 

The  conspicuous  error  of  Christian  people  has  been 
the  assumption    that   heathens    and   pagans    are    so 

I.     Science  of  Religion,  p.  102. 


I20  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

utterly  depraved  and  corrupt,    that   all  improvement, 
without  the  aid  of  the  Christian  Gospel,  is  impossible. 

The  Virtue  of  Knowledge, 

We  have  had  occasion  already  to  note  how  the 
intellectual  powers  have,  all  through  the  ages,  been 
exalted  and  overestimated  as  factors  of  human 
experience;  and,  in  accord  with  this  persistent  mis- 
conception, the  efforts  put  forth  for  bettering  human 
life  were  directed  by  the  early  masters,  chiefly  as 
they  are  even  yet,  to  the  cultivation  of  the  intellectual 
powers. 

The  theory  that  makes  ignorance  the  cause  or 
source  of  all  vice,  has  had  long  and  wide  acceptance. 
Socrates  and  Zeno  emphasized  this  doctrine,  but  it 
was  taught  by  the  Egyptians,  and  became  a  tenet  of 
Brahminism  long  before  these  great  masters  were 
born. 

Socrates,  especially,  and  with  great  force  of  argu- 
ment, insisted  that  if  men  did  but  know  what  is 
right,  they  would  gladly  do  it.  Often  they  know  but 
imperfectly,  if  at  all,  what  is  right — more  frequently 
they  have  considered  neither  the  good  that  must 
spring  from  right-doing,  nor  the  evil  that  must  come 
from  wrong-doing,  in  their  respective  and  ever-widen- 
ing results;  for,  if  they  could  see  all  and  know  all, 
there  then  would  be  found  every  motive  for  the  one, 
and  no  motive  for  the  other.  Men  prefer  the  right 
when  they  see  it  clearly  in  its  beauty  and  blessedness 
— in  its  hallowed  and  far-reaching  consequences,  and 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  121 

seeing  it  thus,  they  would  be  held  to  the  practice  of 
virtue  as  the  needle  tc  the  pole. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  men  were  even  indifferent  to 
the  right,  but  could  yet  see  and  comprehend  the 
wrong  in  its  repulsiveness  and  dire  consequences,  it 
must  fill  them  with  aversion  and  horror,  and  effectu- 
ally prevent  them  from  either  practicing  it,  or  con- 
senting to  it.  In  deciding  as  to  what  is  right  and 
wrong  in  human  conduct,  one  is  not  to  simply  follow 
custom  and  prescription.  What  accords  with  truth 
and  justice — this,  one's  own  moral  sense  sanctions  as 
right,  and  hence,  to  determine  the  right,  one  must 
appeal  to  reason  and  his  consciousness  of  the  right, 
and  follow  his  convictions. 

This  is  substantially  and  briefly  the  argument  of 
the  great  philosopher. 

On  this  theory,  of  course,  the  ethical  requirement 
is  to  educate,  and  by  all  possible  means  to  enlighten 
men  as  to  what  is  right  in  human  conduct,  and  all  this 
ado  about  ^ Sprayer"  and  ^ 'faith, "about  moral  sentiment 
and  religious  obligation,  is  a  waste  of  energy,  and 
is  fitly  characterized  as   ''zeal  without  knowledge." 

"If  the  child  of  a  king,"  says  Menu,  "is  exposed, 
and  brought  up  as  an  outcast,  he  is  an  outcast.  But, 
as  soon  as  a  friend  tells  him  who  he  is,  he  not  only 
knows  himself  to  be  a  prince,  but  he  is  a  prince,  and 
succeeds  to  the  throne  of  his  father" — he  had  lost 
his  place  and  right  as  a  prince  through  ignorance,  he 
has  recovered  them  through  knowledge.* 

*    Ten  Great  Religions,  Vol.  2,  p.  178. 


122  THE    NEW   RELIGION. 

'^Goodness,"  says  the  same  authority,  '^is  disclosed 
to  be  true  knowledge.  *  *  Let  every  Brahmin 
consider  with  fixed  attention  all  nature,  both  visible 
and  invisible,  as  existing  in  the  divine  spirit,  for 
when  he  contemplates  the  boundless  universe  exist- 
ing in  the  divine  spirit,  he  cannot  give  his  heart  to 
iniquity."^ 

This  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  ethical  value  of 
knowledge  is  discernable  even  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  church,  where  we  should  least  expect  to 
find  it,  as  appears  in  the  importance  attached  to 
creeds  and  forms  of  belief,  and  especially  in  the  per- 
secutions for  error  or  heresy,  which  have  so  disgraced 
the  cause  of  Christianit}^ 

In  the  order  of  sequence,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
knowledge  must  precede  sentiment.  But  some- 
how the  sentiment  or  attendant  feeling  is,  often,  out 
of  all  proportion  with  the  inherent  value  of  the 
object  conceived  or  known — the  knowledge,  for 
instance,  of  how  one  may  attain  wealth  or  office  or 
honorable  distinction,  will  give  rise  to  a  tempest  of 
feeling,  and  call  forth  efforts  out  of  all  proportion 
with  the  value  of  the  thing  sought. 

Did  everything  give  rise  to  so  much,  and  only  so 
much  feeling  as  is  right  and  proper  in  itself — as  it 
would,  in  a  state  of  ideal  perfection — then  this  theory 
of  the  supremacy  of  knowledge  would  probably  hold 
true  in  its  ethical  relations. 

I.     Anthology,  p.  8i. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 23 

But  when  there  is  a  predisposition,  arising  from 
whatever  cause,  and  accounted  for  as  it  may  be,  to  this 
irregular,  erratic  manifestation  of  sensibility — such 
as  we  know  to  exist  in  the  present  state  of  being, 
ignorance  is  not  the  whole  evil,  nor  is  knowledge  the 
whole  remedy. 

The  thought  of  getting  gain  ought  to  excite  a  rea- 
sonable effort  to  acquire  it,  but  in  some  cases — 
they  are  very  few,  it  is  true — it  scarcely  moves  a 
muscle,  while  in  others — and  these  cases  are  very 
numerous — it  explodes  an  inordinate  passion,  and 
precipitates  all  the  forces  of  life  upon  an  object  alto- 
gether unworthy. 

There  are  some  defects  in  the  present  constitution 
and  life  of  man  which  no  amount  or  kind  of  knowledge 
can  remedy.  The  reason  can  only  reach  to  and 
restrain  the  appetites  and  passions  through  the  moral 
sense,  or  conscience,  and  the  will.  To  do  the  right 
in  any  given  case,  the  moral  sense  must  hold  the  will 
against  all  antagonistic  appetites  and  passions.  The 
authority  of  conscience,  enforcing  the  antecedent 
judgment  of  the  reason,  must  reign  supreme.  This  it 
cannot,  or,  at  least,  does  not  always  do. 

The  passion  for  money  alone  outweighs,  in  many 
cases,  all  that  reason  can  throw  into  the  scales  on  the 
side  of  conscience.  Avarice  and  ambition  may  com- 
bine to  influence  the  will  against  the  claims  of  the 
moral  sense.  The  pleasures  of  the  banquet,  the 
desire  of  elegant  ease — otium  cum  digiiitate^ — the  fasci- 
nations of  dress  and  love  of  display  may  unite  with 


124  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

avarice  to  hold  the  citadel  of  the  soul  against  reason 
and  conscience;  or,  the  sexual  passion  may  kindle  the 
lurid  flames  of  devouring  lust,  or  the  insatiate  thirst 
for  strong  drink,  or  some  other  intoxicant,  too  often 
avails  to  intensify  the  appetite  with  unquenchable, 
over-mastering  hunger.  What  then?  Will  any  kind 
or  amount  of  knowledge  appease  the  morbid  appe- 
tite, or  quench  the  fires  of  lust? 

It  must  be  noted  that  in  many  of  these  cases  the 
wrong  on  the  one  side,  and  the  right  on  the  other, 
are  patent  and  well  understood  by  the  parties  to  the 
practice.  They  know  that  nothing  but  a  very  short- 
lived gratification  can  come  from  doing  wrong,  that 
harm  and  evil  must  come  of  it,  that  to  do  the  right 
thing  would  be  much  the  best  thing  for  them  in  the 
end,  and  yet,  the  grip  of  passion  upon  the  will  is 
maintained. 

''Video  meliora proboque 
Deleteriora  seguar.'' — Ovid. 

So  far,  indeed,  is  knowledge  from  serving  as  an 
infallible  check  upon  vice,  that  it  too  readily  lends  its 
power  to  the  cause  of  vice  against  virtue,  and  becomes 
a  wily  abettor  of  crime  by  opening  up  new  fields  of 
forbidden  pleasure,  and  aiding  the  criminal  in  his 
dexterous  villainy. 

What  the  Brahmin  prince  needed  under  his  con- 
ditions, and  in  his  particular  emergency,  was  the 
knowledge  that  he  was  born  a  prince;  but  note,  the 
wayward  soul  needs  more  than  the  knowledge  of  a 
fact  that  can  be  communicated.     He  needs  a  read- 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 25 

justment  of  his  moral  nature.  He  needs  a  rehabili- 
tated conscience.  He  needs  love  re-enthroned  among 
the  affections,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  amount 
or  kind  of  knowledge  would  be  a  remedy.  Some- 
thing to  fortify  the  conscience,  something  to  redis- 
tribute and  redirect  the  moral  forces,  if  such  a  thing 
be  possible — this  is  what  he  needs.  The  salvation  of 
the  prince  was  a  small  matter  as  compared  with  the 
salvation  needed  to  bring  men  to  ideal  perfection. 

It  must  not  be  questioned,  however,  that  the  right 
kind  of  moral  teaching,  especially  in  the  plastic 
periods  of  childhood  and  youth,  is  of  the  utmost 
importance,  as  an  aid  to  virtue.  There  is  doubtless 
a  sense  in  which  ^^virtue  can  be  taught."  A  clear 
knowledge  of  the  truth  touching  the  obligations 
incumbent  in  all  the  relations  of  life  may  have  the 
effect  to  fortify  conscience  to  develop  the  better 
nature,  to  guard  against  vice,  however  powerless  it 
may  seem  in  certain  cases;  and  this  is  the  kind  of 
knowledge  upon  which  Socrates,  in  common  with  all 
the  old  masters,  relied,  and  the  general  correctness 
of  their  ethical  teaching  cannot  be  questioned. 

The  Egyptian   Code  of  Morals, 

^^We  are  not  obliged,"  said  Renouf,  ^^to  believe 
that  this  or  that  man  possessed  all  the  virtues  ascribed 
to  him,  but  we  cannot  resist  the  conviction  that  thq 
recognized  Egyptian  code  of  morality  was  a  very 
noble  and  refined  one;"  and,  in  confirmation  of  this, 
he  adds:      ^'The  translators  of  the  bible  and  the  early 


126  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Christian  literature,  who  were  so  often  compelled  to 
retain  Greek  words  for  which  they  could  find  no  suita- 
ble equivalent,  found  the  native  Egyptian  vocabulary 
amply  sufficient  for  the  expression  of  the  most  deli- 
cate notions  of  Christian  ethics.'* 

^'None  of  the  Christian  virtues,"  says  Chabas, 
*^are  forgotten  in  the  Egyptian  code — piety,  gentle- 
ness, charity,  self-command  in  word  and  action, 
benevolence  toward  the  humble,  chastity,  the  protec- 
tion of  the  weak,  deference  to  superiors,  respect  for 
property  in  its  minutest  details,  all  expressed  in 
extremely  good   language. '^^ 

^^We  are  acquainted  with  several  collections  of  pre- 
cepts and  maxims  in  the  conduct  of  life.  Such  are 
the  maxims  of  Ptahotep,  *  the  instruction  of 
Amenemhat  and  the  maxims  of  Oni.  *  *  The 
most  venerable  of  them  is  the  work  of  Ptahotep, 
which  dates  from  the  age  of  the  pyramids,  and  yet 
appeals  to  the  authority  of  the  ancients.  It  is 
undoubtedly,  le  plus  Ancien  libre  de  Monde — the  most 
ancient  book  of  the  world. 

^^The  manuscript  at  Paris  which  contains  it,  was 
written  centuries  before  the  Hebrew  language  was 
born.  The  author  of  the  work  lived  in  the  reign  of 
Ossa-Talkara,  and  the  fourth  dynasty.  The  books 
are  similar  in  character  and  tone  to  the  book  of 
Proverbs  in  our  bible.  They  include  the  study  of 
wisdom,  the  duty  to  parents  and  superiors,  respect  for 
property,    the    advantages  of  charitableness,    peace- 

I.     Ten  Great  Religions,  part  2,  p.  309. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 27 

ableness  of  conduct,  of  liberality,  of  humanity,  chas- 
tity and  sobriety,  of  truthfulness  and  justice.  And 
they  show  the  wickedness  and  folly  of  disobedience 
and  strife,  of  arrogance  and  pride,  of  slothfulness, 
intemperance,  unchastity  and  other  vices. *'^ 

Some  of  the  ancient  nations  of  India,  though 
widely  separated  from  the  Egyptians  in  place  and 
time  and  character,  were  not  wanting  in  teachers  of 
good  intelligence  and  high  moral  culture. 

The  Brahmin   Code, 

This  code  of  morals  was  very  elaborate  and  specific 
in  its  requirements. 

'^A  wise  man  must  faithfully  discharge  all  his 
moral  duties,  even  though  he  does  not  constantly 
perform  the  ceremonies  of  religion/'  which  was  in 
fact  quite  another  thing.  ^*He  will  fall  very  low  if 
he  performs  ceremonial  acts  only,  and  fails  to  dis- 
charge his  moral  duties."^ 

Among  the  duties  named  in  this  code  are,  con- 
tentment, returning  good  for  evil,  resistance  to  sen- 
sual appetites,  abstinence  from  illicit  gain,  purifica- 
tion, control  of  the  senses,  knowledge  of  the  sacred 
writings,  veracity  and  freedom  from  anger.  ^^Let 
a  man  continually  take  pleasure  in  truth,  in  justice, 
in  purity.  Let  him  keep  in  subjection  his  speech, 
his  arm,  his  appetite.  Wealth  and  pleasures  repug- 
nant to  law  let  him  shun — even  lawful  pleasures  which 

1.  Renouf,  in  Hibbert  Lect.,  1879. 

2.  Anthology,  p   3. 


128  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

may  cause  future  pain,  or  be  offensive  to  mankind. 
Let  him  not  have  nimble  fingers,  restless  feet  or 
voluble  eyes.  Let  him  not  be  crooked  in  his  ways, 
nor  flippant  in  his  speech,  nor  intelligent  in  doing 
mischief.    Let  him  walk  in  the  paths  of  good  men."^* 

The  Buddhist  Code, 

This  is  not  less  specific  and  elaborate. 

Buddhism  was  a  revolt  against  the  system  of  caste 
so  persistently  taught  and  relentlessly  practiced  by 
the  Brahmins.  But  these  two  systems  are  closely 
allied,  in  their  moral  teaching,  if  we  except  the  sub- 
ject of  caste. 

Let  us  note  the  following  as  indicating,  in  the 
briefest  way,  the  wide  range  of  their  moral  precepts, 
and  the  infinite  details  of  their  ethical  teaching. 

There  are  three  sins  of  the  body:  i.  Murder; 
2,  Theft;  3,  Impiety. 

I.     Ibid,  p.  7. 

*    There  are  twelve  books  of  Menu. 

The  first  reveals  a  cosmogony,  or  generation  of  the  world. 
The  second  and  third  regulate  education  and  marriage. 
The  fourth  treats  of  economics  and  morals. 
The  fifth  treats  of  diet,  purification  and  women. 
The  sixth  treats  of  devotion. 

The  seventh  of  government  and  the  military  class. 
The  eighth  of  private  and  criminal  laws. 
The  ninth  treats  of  the  commercial  and  servile  classes. 
The  tenth  of  mixed  classes,  and  gives  direction  for  their  duties. 
The  eleventh  treats  of  penance  and  expiation. 
The  twelfth  of  transmigration  and  final  beatitude. — Oriental 
Religions,  p.  179. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 29 

There  are  four  sins  of  speech:  i,  Lying:  2,  Slan- 
der; 3,  Abuse;  4,  Unprofitable  Conversation. 

There  are  three  sins  of  the  mind:  i,  Covetousness; 
2,  Malice;  3,  Skepticism. 

'There  are    also   five   other   evils    to    be    avoided: 

1,  Drinking  intoxicating  liquors;  2,  Gambling;  3,  Idle- 
ness; 4,  Improper  Associates;  5,  Frequenting  places 
of  Amusement.^ 

^*There  are  difficult  things  in  the  world, '^  said 
Buddha, *^^Being  rich  and  great,  to  be  religious;  being 
poor,  to  be  charitable;  to  escape  destiny;  to  repress 

I.     Ten  Great  Religions,  Vol.  2,  p.  403. 

*     Buddha  gave   five   precepts   for   all   men:     i,    Not   to   kill; 

2,  Not  to  steal;  3,  Not  to  commit  adultery;  4,  Not  to  lie;  5,  Not 
to  be  drunken. 

Five  for  professed  disciples:  i,  To  abstain  from  food  out  of 
season;  2,  From  dances  and  music;  3,  From  personal  ornaments 
and  perfumes;  4,  From  soft  and  luxurious  couches;  5,  From 
money. 

To  those  farther  advanced  in  the  religious  life  he  enjoined 
twelve  ordinances:  i,  To  wear  only  rags  cast  away  by  men  of 
the  world;  2,  To  wear  only  of  these  rags  sufficient  to  serve  as  a 
short  skirt,  a  night  shirt  and  a  cape;  3,  Of  these  to  wear  the  cape 
only  on  one  shoulder;  4,  To  live  only  on  alms;  5,  to  take  only 
one  meal  a  day;  6,  And  that  before  noon;  7,  To  live  in  solitary 
places,  and  only  to  enter  a  town  to  ask  alms;  8,  To  take  no  shel- 
ter except  the  foliage  of  trees;  9,  To  take  rest  at  the  foot  of  a  tree; 
ID,  To  sleep  the,  back  against  the  tree  without  lying  down; 
II,  Not  to  mov^i  the  carpet  from  place  to  place;  12,  And  to  medi- 
tate nightly  among  the  tombs  on  the  transitoriness  of  aU  human 
things. — Baring  Gould,  Religious  Beliefs,  p.  340, 


130  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

lust  and  regulate  desire;  to  see  an  agreeable  object, 
and  not  desire  to  obtain  it;  to  be  strong  without 
being  rash;  to  bear  insult  without  anger;  to  move  in 
the  world  without  setting  the  heart  on  it;  to  investi- 
gate a  matter  to  the  bottom;  not  to  contemn  the 
ignorant;  thoroughly  to  extirpate  self-esteem;  to  be 
good,  and,  at  the  same  time,  learned  and  clever;  to 
see  the  hidden  principle  in  the  possession  of  religion; 
to  attain  one's  end  without  exultation;  to  exhibit,  in 
a  right  way,  the  doctrine  of  expediency;  to  be  the 
same  in  heart   and  life,  and  to   avoid  controversy."^ 

Other  Codes. 

Confucius,  the  Chinese  law-giver,  whose  precepts 
have  had  a  more  distinct  and  wider  acceptance  than 
those  of  any  other  teacher,  had  many  just  views  on 
the  relations  and  conduct  of  life. 

Being  asked,  ^^Is  there  not  one  word  which  may 
serve  as  a  rule  for  one's  whole  life?"  he  replied:  ^'Is 
not  reciprocity  such  a  word?" 

^'What  you  do  not  wish  done  to  yourself,  do  not  to 
others.  When  you  are  laboring  for  others  let  it  be 
with  the  same  zeal  as  if  it  were  for  yourself." 

He  constantly  emphasized  the  duty  of  humility, 
and  no  master  ever  so  succeeded  in  enforcing  the 
duty  of  filial  obedience  as  did  he, — so  closely  did  he 
approach  to  the  best  precepts  of  Christianity. 

In  Greece  and  Rome,  as  elsewhere  in  the  ancient 
world,  morality  and  religion  are  different  things. 

I.     Anthropology,  p.  171. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I3I 

The  Romanes  religious  duties  were  prescribed  for 
him  with  the  greatest  exactness,  and  to  the  last  detail 
— what  God  he  was  to  worship,  in  what  way,  with 
what  words.  All  this  was  definitely  settled  by  ancient 
tradition. 

In  these  particulars,  too,  he  was  excessively 
punctillious;  whereas  he  was  entirely  unconcerned  as 
to  the  state  of  his  soul.  He  was  deemed  most  religious 
who  best  knew  the  ritual,  and  most  exactly  observed  it.^ 

All  are  familiar  with  the  teaching  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  masters — Socrates,  Plato,  Zeno,  Seneca, 
Epictetus,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  many  others,  to 
which  the  founder  of  Christianity  could  add  little  more 
in  the  way  of  moral  precept  than  the  sanction  of  his 
great  authority  and  the  inspiration  of  his  spotless  life. 

Thus  it  is.  The  wide  range  of  thought  in  the  vari- 
ous fields  of  duty,  traversed  by  these  ancient  worthies, 
living  400  to  1,000  years,  or  even  more,  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  the  intelligent  views  expressed, 
leave  us  little  to  claim  as  modern  in  the  sphere  of 
practical  ethics. 

But,  after  all,  it  must  be  admitted  we  have  looked 
on  the  bright  side  of  this  picture.  These  glittering 
gems  of  moral  science  have  been  dug  up,  and  washed 
out,  from  an  immense  mass  of  repulsive  crudities,  and 
absurd,  not  to  say  disgusting,  superstitions. 

The  masses  of  men  in  all  countries,  and  in  all  the 
world' s  history,  have  had  little  conception  of  the  higher 
life  and  possibilities  of  human  nature.      In  the  world's 

I.     Ullman  Conf.  Chris,  and  Heathenism. 


132  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

wide  waste  there  stands  here  and  there  a  solitary 
mountain  stretching  itself  toward  heaven;  its  tower- 
ing summit  has  caught  the  gleam  and  glitter  of  the 
stars.  The  moon  sheds  her  pale  light  upon  it,  and 
the  coming  day  touches  it  with  more  resplendent 
hues,  while  around  its  deep,  broad  base  there  reign 
night  and  desolation.  Scattered  throughout  the 
ancient  world  there  are  to  be  found  a  few  of  stronger 
vision  and  larger  power— the  sons  of  God.  They 
stand  above  the  wide-spread  plain  and  waste  of 
humanity.  They  have  caught  the  light  and  felt  the 
inspiration  which  never  comes  to  those  below.  They 
have  called  down  to  the  multitude  to  follow  them,  but 
called  in  vain.  Around  these  Himalayas  there 
reign  darkness  and  desolation;  and  so  it  would  seem 
they  must  yet  long  reign. 

It  is  something  wonderful  that  men  who  have 
attained  to  such  heights  of  true  knowledge — to  such 
delicate  appreciation  of  social  and  moral  obligation — 
could  yet  suffer  themselves  to  be  weighted  down  with 
so  much  that  seems  to  us  absurd  and  degrading,  and 
that  their  confessedly  wise  teaching  should  prove  to 
be  so  powerless  to  uplift  and  save  the  masses.  But 
this  is  human  nature.  If  we  go  into  those  countries 
that  have  long  been  under  the  exclusive  cultus  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  so-called  Christian  churches,  we 
shall  find  ignorance  and  superstition  and  corruption 
scarcely  less  repulsive  and  degrading  than  those  of 
pagan  and  heathen  lands. 

One  lesson  seems  to  be  plainly  taught.     It  is,   that 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 33 

education,  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  including  the 
best  moral  precepts,  is  inadequate  to  save  men.  It 
cannot  avail  to  reform  and  save  the  masses  of  men 
from  vice  and  wretchedness. 

There  is  a  conscious  sense  of  want  in  men  that 
appeals  from  what  mere  moral  teaching  cannot 
accomplish,  for  the  saving  of  the  soul,  to  a  higher 
power — a  power  that  can  awaken  conscience  and 
readjust  the  affections.  It  is  an  appeal  from  reason 
to  sentiment,  from  science  to  religion. 

Confucius  was  the  greatest  mere  moral,  non-relig- 
ious teacher  the  world  ever  produced.  His  success 
was  extraordinary — phenomenal;  and  the  result  is 
peculiarly  instructive,  as  illustrating  the  impotency  of 
mere  moral  prece|)ts  to  uplift  and  reform  men.  His 
followers,  through  the  ages,  have  failed  to  exhibit 
that  resilliancy  of  spirit,  that  energy  of  thought  and 
character  which  are  the  invariable  con-comitants,  at 
least,  if  not  the  cause  of  the  best  phases  of  human 
progress. 

Something  of  this  want  of  energy  and  discursive 
activity  must,  no  doubt,  be  ascribed  to  the  debilitat- 
ing influences  of  a  tropical  climate  and  unfavorable 
surroundings.  But  these  are  no  worse  upon  them 
than  upon  other  peoples  of  the  Orient,  and  yet,  more 
than  any  other  nation,  the  Chinese  seem  to  have 
reached  the  limits  of  possible  progress,  without  fun- 
damental changes  in  their  modes  of  thought  and  cult- 
ure. They  have  been  wanting  in  the  inspirations  of 
an   uplifting    religion.      Their   moral   instincts   have 


134  "^^^    ^^^    RELIGION. 

taken  too  low  a  trend.     They  have  been  wanting  in 
enthusiasm. 

In  the  absence  of  a  Divine  Being,  the  source  of  all 
blessing,  and  proper  object  of  worship,  his  disciples, 
when  death  and  distance  of  time  had  lent  their 
enchantment,  fell  down  and  worshiped  their  great 
master;  or,  driven  by  a  more  decidedly  religious 
instinct,  they  have  strayed  away  to  become  Tauists 
or  semi-Buddhists. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Religion  Proper, 

And  now,  having  had  a  glimpse  of  the  ancient 
theories  of  culture  and  methods  of  moral  discipline, 
as  proposed  and  practiced  by  the  early  masters  of 
thought,  let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  into  their 
religions  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  how  perfectly  or 
imperfectly  they  respond  to  the  legitimate  needs  of 
men,  and  their  value  as  reformatory  and  uplifting 
agencies. 

Religion  is  necessary  to  a  complete  character. 
The  religious  bias  or  trend  is  an  intuition,  and  relig- 
ion in  some  form,  develops  among  all  peoples.  Its 
germ  is  born  with  men,  and  when  properly  developed 
it  lifts  the  soul  into  fellowship  with  the  spirits  above, 
and  with  God. 

The  first  thing  that  impresses  one  upon  looking 
back  upon  the  Old  Religions  is  their  vastness  and 
complexity — their  immense  capacities  for  good  or  evil. 

Behold  their  varied  and  manifold  prescriptions  for 
the  religious  life!  Behold  their  rites  and  ceremonies, 
the  sacrifices  they  required — the  immolations  and  the 
self-denials! 

Behold  the  huge  temples  they  builded — the  shrines 
they  consecrated. 


136  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Their  divinities  stand  visaged  upon  mountain  and 
stream,  in  wood  and  lawn,  and  what  a  role  did  they 
play  in  all  the  drama  of  that  ancient  life! 

As  enlightened  Christians  we  are  accustomed  to 
think  of  religion  being  inseparably  connected  with 
morality.  But  the  votaries  of  religion  do  not  always 
act  on  this  hypothesis. 

Morals  relate  to  the  duties  of  man  to  man,  and  to 
society. 

Religion  relates  to  God  and  the  destiny  of  the  soul 
in  the  hereafter. 

In  the  ante  Christian  cultus,  more  especially  out- 
side of  Egypt  and  Persia,  morality  is  one  thing  and 
religion  quite  another. 

We  shall  fail  to  comprehend  and  properly  estimate 
the  Old  Religions  if  we  lose  sight  of  this  fact. 

In  the  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome  this  separa- 
tion between  religion  and  morality  was  carried  so  far 
that  the  inculcation  of  morality  at  last  devolved 
avowedly  and  exclusively  upon  the  philosophers, 
while  the  priests  were  wholly  occupied  with  the  duties 
of  religion."^ 

The  time  has  not  long  gone  since  there  were  to  be 
found  votaries  even  of  the  Christian  religion,  who 
made  this  distinction  and  held  this  view.  Their  argu- 
ment was  brief,  but  conclusive — ^^A  man  uncon- 
verted," they  said,  ^  ^without  religion,  is  corrupt — a 
child  of  the  devil."       In  this  state,    nolens   volens,    he 

I.     Leckey  Hist.  Rat.,  Vol.  i,  p.  311. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 37 

plays  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked  one.  The  more 
decently  and  morally  he  lives  the  greater  will  be  his 
influence  in  favor  of  morality  and  against  religion; 
and  the  more  effectually,  therefore,  will  he  serve  the 
devil  and  prevent  the  spread  of  religion  and  the  sal- 
vation of  men.  I  have  myself  frequently  heard  this 
argument  made  from  the  pulpit.  But  happily  in  the 
more  enlightened  Christian  countries  the  time  for 
such  preposterous  teaching  is  past. 

Prayer  and  worship  are  the  staple  constituents  of 
all  religions  and  are  as  universally  prevalent  among 
men  as  the  religious  instinct,  and  the  sense  of  sin  and 
ill  desert. 

But,  in  the  Old  Religions,  what  is  prayer,  and 
what  is  worship? 

The  Egyptian, 

Behold,  all  these  living,  growing,  changing  things, 
how  wonderful!  Whence  did  they  come?  They  had 
a  cause — a  maker,  where  is  he?  He  must  be  some- 
where back  of  and  beyond  them.  To  find  him,  to 
know  him,  I  must  look  into  these  things,  and  through 
them.  How  else  shall  I  ever  know  him?  Behold  the 
opening  bud,  the  expanding  flower,  the  climbing 
arbutus,  so  beautiful  and  inspiring;  behold  the  leopard 
and  the  cat,  so  winsome  and  agile;  behold  the  crawl- 
ing reptile  gliding  about  in  the  dark  depths,  and 
holding  perpetual  vigils  in  the  deep;  how  curious  all 
and  wonderful — inviting  study !  Ah,  yes — '  tis  through 
these  visible  things  we  must  look  if  we  would  find  the 


138  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

eternal — through  nature  up  to  nature's  God — Thus 
the  Egyptian. 

What  then  is  the  Egyptian's  prayer  and  worship 
but  an  effort  to  commune  with  God,  through  these 
visible  expressions  of  himself?  Do  we  marvel  to 
behold  the  votary  of  religion  paying  his  devotions  to 
these  visible  representatives  of  the  Eternal. 

*^Do  not  think,"  says  the  Egyptian  priest,  ''we 
worship  animals.  Each  of  them  is  a  symbol — a 
representative  of  a  divine  thought  of  the  Creator;  we 
reverence  the  Creator  in  his  works.  We  do  not  make 
statues  in  the  likeness  of  God.  We  take  the  crea- 
tures of  his  hand,  as  signifying  his  character.  It  is  to 
avoid  idolatry, — to  avoid  making  anything  in  the 
image  of  God,  that  we  place  these  creatures  in 
shrine." 

''Such,"  says  the  author  of  "Ten  Great  Religions," 
"was  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians  during  thousands 
of  years  running  back  into  the  darkness  of  prehistoric 
times." 

This  statement  of  Mr.  Clarke  must  be  received 
cicm  grane  salts.  While  it  is  probable  that  the  reli- 
gion of  that  early  people  had  some  such  origin  as 
above  indicated,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  in  its 
practical  working — whatever  it  may  have  been  in  theory, 
among  a  very  few  of  the  most  intelligent — it  bordered 
closely  upon  mere  Fetichism. 

These  visible  aids  to  worship,  yet  so  common  and 
even   popular  in  some  quarters,  have   always  proved 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 39 

to   be  futile  and    worse  than  useless   as    a    standing 
means  of  worship. 

Whether  among  pagans  or  in  the  Christian  churches, 
the  ordinary  worshiper  cannot  habitually  look  up 
through  visible  symbols  to  the  invisible  spirit — cannot 
rise  ^^through  nature  up  to  nature's  God.'*  The 
prayer  familiarly  and  repeatedly  addressed  to  the 
cat  or  the  tortoise  by  the  Egyptian,  or  to  the  picture 
of  Mary  by  the  Roman  Catholic,  hardly  passes 
beyond  it,  and  tends  to  degrade  rather  than  to  elevate 
the  worshiper. 

The  Persian, 

The  Persian  seems  to  have  made  closer  observa- 
tion of  the  distinction  between  good  and  evil  and  was 
more  profoundly  impressed  by  it.  The  two — good 
and  evil,  are  everywhere  to  be  found  arrayed  against 
each  other,  waging  war. 

Now  victory  perches  upon  the  banner  of  one,  then 
upon  that  of  the  other.  They  are  so  universally  and 
constantly  in  this  relation  of  conflict  with  each  other, 
and  on  a  scale  of  such  magnitude,  extending  through 
all  realms,  there  must  be  divinity  in  them.  Beyond 
the  visible,  both  of  good  and  evil,  there  must  be 
eternal  powers — Behold  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman! 

By  the  very  imminence  of  these  mighty  spirits,  the 
life  of  the  Persian  was  intoned  to  a  keen  and  constant 
sense  of  danger.  The  conflict  was  ever  on,  and  no 
moment  would  admit  a  truce. 

The  religious  duties  of  the    Parsee    were  accord- 


140  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ingly  many,  and  imperative.  Baring  Gould  gives 
them  as  follows:  Reading  the  law,  prayer  and  sacri- 
fice. By  prayer  he  guarded  himself  from  the  attacks 
of  Ahriman,  the  principle  of  evil,  and  his  attendant 
spirits. 

Prayer  was  made  on  rising  from  sleep  and  on  going 
to  bed,  on  eating  and  sneezing,  on  cutting  his  hair 
and  paring  his  nails,  on  kindling  sticks  and  lighting  a 
lamp.^  The  prayer  of  the  votary  was  directed  to 
good  and  merciful  Ormuzd,  to  save  him  from  the 
wiles   and  the  power  of  the  wicked  Ahriman. 

If  we  go  still  farther  Eastward,  we  shall  find  other 
peculiarities  of  religion. 

The  Aryans. 

The  Aryans  of  India  were  remarkable  for  their 
pensive  moods,  and  their  spiritual  development. 
They  seemed  to  stand  lightly  upon  terra  firma. 
Their  thoughts  readily  took  wing  and  soared  away 
into  realms  of  spirit.  The  battle  of  actual  life  was 
distasteful — repugnant  to  them,  its  conquests  thor- 
oughly unsatisfying. 

Matter  is  the  very  essence  of  corruption.  Every- 
thing touching  it  is  tainted  and  needs  purification. 
Thought  was  free  to  mount  and  fly,  but  only  thought. 
All  else  how  ^ ^cribbed  and  cabined."  All  is  gross, 
groveling.  Behold  the  beasts  of  the  field.  They  eat 
and  drink   and  care  not.     They  care  not  for  honor  or 

I.     Origin  of  Beliefs,  p.  220. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I4I 

dishonor,  for  fame  or  shame.  And  behold  man  is  a 
very  beast,  feeds  like  him,  sleeps  and  wakes  like  him. 
The  lofty  Aryan  is  mortified  and  disgusted.  Yoked 
with  matter  in  a  living  organism,  he  3^earns  for  liberty 
and  for  purity.  Could  this  world,  with  its  incessant 
and  bitter  strifes,  its  manifest  disorders  and  its  rigid 
limitations,  be  his  home?  Alas,  he  feels  it  to  be  his 
prison. 

And  what  is  this  physical  organism  that  makes  him 
so  like  a  beast — what,  but  a  body  of  death?  And 
whence  these  illicit  desires  and  vile  passions? 
They  appear  in  the  beast — at  best  they  indicate  a  low 
and  mean  nature — they  must  be  extinguished.  The 
better  self  must  be  lifted  out  of  this  grossness.  O 
thou  noble,  high-born  Aryan,  dost  thou  know  whither 
thou  art  tending? 

No  people  ever  evinced  such  habitual  disregard  of 
temporal  things,  of  business  and  worldly  thrift.  No 
people  ever  staked  so  much  on  religion.  Behold 
Brahminism  and  Buddhism  and  Tauism,  for  they  are 
all  of  one  root  and  stem,  and  differ  only  in  their 
foliage,  and  but  little  in  their  fruit. 

It  will  aid  us  in  our  inquiries  as  to  the  reformatory 
efficiency  of  these  several  forms  of  religion  if  we  take 
note  of  their  prayers  and  ceremonial  worship.  The 
Brahmin,  like  the  worshiper  of  Osirib,  prayed  through 
symbols,  at  least  in  part,  but  less  than  the  Egyptian 
did  he  stick  and  stop  in  the  symbol. 

These  Orientals  were  profoundly  and  thoroughly 
religious.     They  built  temples  and  pagodas  and  con- 


^ 


142  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

secrated  shrines  innumerable.  All  streams  and  lakes 
and  pools  were  held  sacred.  The  great  Ganges  the 
most  sacred  of  all.  Annually,  or  oftener,  multitudes 
make  toilsome  journeys  to  their  great  temples  for 
protracted  prayer  and  worship. 

As  the  Divinity  is  localized  the  worshiper  must  be 
present  on  the  spot.  The  prayers  are  prescribed 
forms  of  thought,  committed  to  memory  and  repeated, 
the  oftener  the  better;  but,  without  the  accommo- 
dating expedient  of  a  ^ ^Rosary,"  I  believe,  which  the 
Roman  Catholic  finds  so  convenient  and  necessary. 

The  service  usually  is  merely  perfunctory,  and 
might  be  turned  off  from  a  machine.^ 

Dr.  Butler,  in  his  '^Land  of  the  Vedas,"  pages  26 
to  28,  gives  us  a  specimen  morning  service  of  one 
well  advanced  in  religious  culture,  which  I  quote  sub- 
stantially, as  illustrative  of  the  trend  and  scope  of  the 
Brahmin's  religion:  ^^The  worshiper  may  bathe  in 
any  water  from  a  well,  but  preferably  from  a  running 
stream,  and  best  of  all  in  the  Ganges  or  other  sacred 
stream  if  the  Ganges  be  beyond  his  reach,  saying, 
^O  Gunga,  hear  my  prayers;  for  my  sake  be  included 
in  this  small  quantity  of  water.' 

I.  An  enterprising  Llama  worshiper  comprehending  this, 
invented  his  Tchu-kor,  a  kind  of  barrel  turning  on  ."ts  axis,  and 
written  all  over  with  prayers,  which  he  set  going  co  turn  off 
prayers  for  his  benefit,  while,  Yankee-like,  he  went  in  pursuit  of 
more  lucrative  business.  But  surely  no  true  Brahmin,  nor 
Buddhist,  nor  disciple  of  the  weird  Laotze,  could  have  displayed 
such  greed  for  this  world. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I43 

^^Then,  standing  in  the  water,  he  must  hallow  his 
intended  performance  by  the  inaudible  recitation  of 
sacred  texts. 

.  '^Next,  sipping  water,  and  spurting  some  before 
him,  he  is  to  throw  water  eight  times  upon  the  crown 
of  his  head,  on  the  earth,  and  toward  the  sky;  then 
again  toward  the  sky,  on  the  earth,  upon  the  crown 
of  his  head,  and  lastly  on  the  ground  to  destoy  the 
demons  who  wage  war  with  the  God — all  the  time  he 
must  be  reciting  these  prayers,  ^O  waters,  since  ye 
afford  delight,  grant  us  present  happiness  and  the 
rapturous  sight  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Like  tender 
mothers  make  us  partakers  of  your  most  auspicious 
essence,  with  which  ye  satisfy  the  universe — O 
waters,  grant  it  to  us.' 

^'Immediately  after  this  first  ablution,  he  sips 
water  without  swallowing  it,  silently  praying.  He 
then  plunges  three  times  into  the  water,  each  time 
repeating  the  prescribed  expiatory  texts.  He  then 
meditates  in  the  deepest  silence.  During  this 
moment  of  intense  devotion  he  is  striving  to  realize 
that  Brahma,  with  four  faces  and  a  red  complexion, 
resides  in  his  bosom.  Vishnu,  with  four  arms  and  a 
black  complexion,  in  his  heart,  and  Shiva,  with  five 
faces  and  a  white  complexion,  in  his  forehead! 

''To  this  sublime  meditation  succeeds  a  suppression 
of  the  breath,  performed  thus:  Closing  the  left  nos- 
tril with  the  two  long  fingers  of  his  right  hand,  he 
draws  his  breath  through  the  right  nostril,  and  then, 
closing   this   nostril   with   his   thumb,    be  holds    his 


144  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

breath  while  he  repeats  to  himself  the  Gayatri^  and 
other  texts.  Last  of  all  he  raises  both  fingers  off  the 
left  nostril  and  emits  the  breath  he  had  suppressed 
through  the  right. 

*^The  process  being  repeated  three  times,  he  next 
makes  three  ablutions  with  this  prayer: 

<As  he  who  bathes  is  cleansed  from  all  foulness,  as 
an  ablution  is  sanctified  by  holy  grass,  so  may  this 
water  purify  me  from  sin.' 

^'He  then  fills  the  palm  of  his  hand  with  water  and, 
presenting  it  to  his  nose,  inhales  the  fluid  by  one  nostril, 
and,  retaining  it  for  a  while,  exhales  it  through  the  other 
and  throws  the  water  away  to  the  northeast  quarter.^ 

^'He  then  concludes  by  sipping  water  with  this 
prayer:  ^Water,thou  dost  penetrate  all  beings;  thou  dost 
reach  the  deep  recesses  of  the  mountains;  thou  art  the 
mouth  of  the  universe;  thou  art  sacrifice;  thou  art  the 
mystic  word  ^Vasha;'  thou  art  light,  taste  and  the  immor- 
tal fluid, '  and  concludes  by  worshiping  the  rising  sun.  ^  '^ 

1.  The  Gayatri  is  regarded  as  the  most  sacred  verse  of  the 
Vedas.  It  is  as  follows:  "Let  us  adore  the  supremacy  of  that 
Divine  Sun — the  Deity,  who  illuminates  all,  from  whom  all  pro- 
ceed, are  renovated,  to  whom  all  must  return;  whom  we  invok§ 
to  direct  our  intellects  in  our  progress  toward  his  holy  seat." 

2.  This  for  internal  ablution  which  washes  away  sin. — Ibid, 

3.  The  law  of  Menu  adjudges  the  manner  in  which  the  Brah-. 
min  is  to  eat,  drink,  clothe  himself,  relieve  his  bowels,  wash  his 
feet,  cut  his  hair,  and  even  perform  the  most  secret  functions, 
It  designates  with  precision  the  hours  of  rising  and  going  to  rest. 
It  tells  what  precautions  to  take  for  his  personal  safety.  It 
enumerates  the  rights  and  duties  peculiar  to  each  caste  and  each 
divi§iQo  of  cc^ste, — Bmn^  Gould,  Religious  Beliefs,  p.  206, 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I45 

It  is  not  difficult  to,  discover  that  in  this  service  the 
votary  is  burdened  with  a  sense  of  impurity  and  sin. 
His  ablutions  symbolize  and  express  what  he  feels 
he  needs  to  have  done  for  his  spiritual  nature.  As  a 
result  of  this  purifying  process  he  expects  to  obtain 
relief  from  his  burden. 

^^O  waters,  since  ye  afford  delight,  grant  us  present 
happiness,  and  the  rapturous  sight  of  the  Supreme 
Being. ^  Make  us  partakers  of  your  most  auspicious 
essence,  with  which  ye  satisfy  the  universe. i' 

Shall  we  say  that  such  a  service,  however  it  may 
differ  in  its  conduct,  is  less  availing  than  that  of  the 
Christian  votary,  when  their  respective  objects  are  so 
near  of  kin?  That  he  never  finds  the  blessing  he 
seeks? 

After  working  one's  wa}^  through  the  deep  jungle 
of  absurd  ritual,  and  dogma,  and  superstitious  cere- 
mony, whose  object  is  half  concealed  by  masses  of 
symbols  and  tropes  and  Oriental  imagery,  it  is  refresh- 
ing, upon  emerging,  to  find  rising  out  of  all  prayers 
such  as  these: 

^^May  that  soul  of  mine  which  mounts  aloft  in  my 
waking  and  my  sleeping  hours,  an  ethereal  spark 
from  the  light  of  lights,  be  united  by  devout  medita- 
tion, with  the  spirit  supremely  blest  and  supremely 
intelligent! 

'^May  that  soul  of    mine,    the   guide    by  which  the 

I.  It  was  believed  that  the  Yogi — those  who  had  made  the 
highest  attainments  in  religion,  could  literally  see  the  Diving 
Spirit. 


146  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

lowly  perform  their  menial  work,  and  the  wise,  versed 
in  science,  worship — that  soul  which  is  the  primal 
oblation  within  all  creatures,  be  united  by  devout 
meditation  with  the  spirit  supremely  blest  and 
supremely  intelligent! 

^^May  that  soul  of  mine,  which  is  a  ray  of  perfect 
wisdom,  pure  intellect  and  permanent  existence, 
the  inextinguishable  light  set  in  mortal  bodies,  with- 
out which  no  good  act  is  performed,  be  united,  by 
devout  meditation,  with  the  spirit  supremely  blest 
and  supremely  intelligent! 

^'May  that  soul  of  mine,  in  whose  eternal  essence 
is  comprised  whatever  has  passed,  is  present,  or  will 
be  hereafter,  be  united,  by  devout  meditation,  with 
the  spirit  supremely  blest  and  supremely  intelligent! 

^^May  that  soul  of  mine,  which,  distributed  also 
through  others,  guides  mankind,  as  the  charioteer 
guides  his  steeds — the  soul  fixed  in  my  breast, 
exernpt  from  old  age,  swift  in  its  course,  be  united, 
by  divine  meditation,  with  the  spirit  supremely  blest 
and  supremely  intelligent!"^ 

The  following  beautiful  Brahmin  burial  service 
throws  light  upon  their  great  and  complex  system  of 
religion: 

^^O  Earth!  to  thee  we  commend  our  brother.  Of 
thee  he  was  formed.  By  thee  he  was  sustained,  and 
unto  thee  he  now  returns. 

'^O  Fire!  thou  hadst  a  claim  in  our   brother  during 

I,     Anthology,  p-  103. 


tHE    OLD   kELIGlONS.  I47 

life.  He  subsisted  by  thy  influence  in  nature.  To 
thee  we  commit  his  body,  thou  emblem  of  purity. 
May  his  spirit  be  purified  on  entering  a  new  state 
existence. 

'^O  Air!  while  the  breath  of  life  continued,  our 
brother  respired  thee.  His  last  breath  is  now 
departed.     To  thee  we  yield  him. 

^^O  Water!  thou  didst  contribute  to  the  life  of  our 
brother.  Thou  wert  one  of  his  sustaining  elements. 
His  remains  are  now  dispersed.  Receive  thy  share 
of   him    who    has    now  taken   an  everlasting  flight!"^ 

The  service  outlined  by  Dr.  Butler  only  hints  at 
the  range  and  character  of  the  Oriental  religious  life 
— its  spirit,  its  elaborate  ritual,  its  numerous  cere- 
monies, often  seemingly  very  superstitious  and 
absurd,  but  always  spiritual  and  world-forgetting. 

We  shall  get  a  better  conception  of  these  great  relig- 
ions of  the  Orient,  considered  as  agencies  for  bettering 
the  conditions  of  mankind,  if  we  note  even  briefly  their 
ascetic  tendencies  and  requirements.  How  much 
soever  we  moderns  may  be  inclined  to  think  that  the 
requirements  and  enjoyments  of  religion  are  consis- 
tent with  successful  business,  with  domestic  and 
social  pleasure,  and  adapted  to  make  the  present  life 
happy,  we  must  not  expect  to  find  such  views  held 
by  Brahmin  and  Buddhist. 

Their  modes  of  thought,  their  institutions,  their 
environment,  and  of  course  their  religious  cultus,  are 
profoundly  different. 

I.     Anthology,  by  Conway,  p.  420. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Asceticism, 

However  wisely  or  unwisely,  this  ancient  cultus 
looks  not  so  much  to  the  needs  of  the  present  life  as 
to  those  of  the  larger  life  beyond,  to  which  the 
present  is  but  an  introduction. 

If  the  happiness  of  the  present  brief  life  is  incom- 
patible with  that  of  the  future  and  eternal  life,  it 
were,  indeed,  the  greatest  folly  to  sacrifice  the  latter 
to  the  former. 

To  attain  an  eternity  of  repose  and  blessing,  at  the 
expense  and  loss  of  all  that  can  be  conceived  to  be 
good  in  this  life,  which  so  hastens  to  its  close,  would 
be  wise.  Something  of  this  view,  it  would  seem, 
underlies  the  life  of  the  ascetic.  Asceticism  is  the 
offspring  of  the  philosophico-religious  views  incul- 
cated by  the  old  masters  as  to  the  nature  and  effect 
of  matter  in  its  organic  relations  with  the  human 
spirit.  Matter  fetters  and  debases;  it  is  corrupting, 
and  defiles  the  soul.  Emotions  and  passions  which 
have  their  root  in  the  physical  organism  are  destruc- 
tive of  true  happiness.  Desire  must  be  subdued, 
according  to  Buddha  completely  annihilated.  To 
purge  away  the  dross  and  defilement  of  matter,   and 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I49 

break  the  power  of  the  sensuous  Hfe,  is  the  thing  to 
be  accomplished. 

'^A  man  endued  with  a  purified  intellect,  having 
humbled  his  spirit  by  resolution;  who  hath  freed  him- 
self from  passion  and  dislike;  who  worshipeth  with 
discrimination,  eateth  with  moderation,  and  is  lowly 
of  speech,  of  body,  and  of  mind,  and  who  preferreth 
the  devotion  of  meditation  and  who  constantly  placeth 
his  confidence  in  dispassion,  who  is  freed  from  osten- 
tation, tyrannic  strength,  vain  glory,  lust,  anger  and 
avarice,  and  who  is  exempt  from  selfishness  and  in  all 
things  temperate,  is  formed  for  union  with  God.  *  * 
It  is  to  be  obtained  by  resolution,  by  the  man  who 
knoweth  his  own  mind,  wheresover  the  unsteady 
mind  roameth,  he  should  subdue  i"-  bring  it  back  and 
place  it  in  his  own  breast."^ 

If  the  Divine  Being  be  conceived  of  as  anthropo- 
morphic, as  in  Greece  and  Rome,  there  is  really  no 
great  change  needed  to  bring  the  votary  into  har- 
mony and  likeness  with  the  object  of  his  worship. 
Accordingly  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  we  find 
no  expressed  need  of  such  change,  no  disavowal  of 
existing  manhood,  no  claim  that  a  regeneration  of 
life  and  character  is  necessary  to  harmony  with  the 
celestials,  and  per  consequence,  no  conversion,  no 
asceticism.  If,  however,  the  Divine  Spirit  be  con- 
ceived of  as  a  pure  spirit,  above  all  sensibility,  and 
ineffably  pure   and  holy,    the   case  is   very   different. 

I.     Anthol.  p.  58,  et  seq. 


150  •  THE    NEW   RELIGION. 

To  bring  a  willful,  sinning,  vice-smitten,  sensuous 
mortal  into  likeness  and  harmony  with  such  an  exalted 
being,  great  changes  must  be  wrought  in  him.  And 
this  is  the  deep  conviction  of  the  consciously  imper- 
fect soul.  This,  say,  the  old  masters,  must  be  done. 
The  deliverance  of  the  spirit  must  be  effected.  And, 
with  this  line  thrown  out  to  religious  fanaticism,  what 
may  we  not  expect  in  the  way  of  extremes,  from  relig- 
ious zealots?  What  has  been  the  result?  We  have 
self-denial  and  penance  ^^gone  mad." 

Human  nature  has  made  no  more  humiliating  and 
pitiful  exhibition  of  itself  than  that  recorded  in 
the  history  of  Asceticism,  Religious  convictions  lie 
so  deep  in  man's  nature,  and  so  overshadow  and  con- 
trol all  mere  world  considerations  that  they  often 
drive  men  into  revolting  extremes  of  folly. 

Behold  the  excesses  and  horrors  of  religious  wars 
and  religious  persecutions! 

To  get  a  proper  conception  of  Asceticism  as  prac- 
ticed by  the  Brahmins  and  other  Orientals,  we  must 
look  a  little  into  the  organization  of  their  social  and 
religious  life.  It  was  not  altogether  a  voluntary  and 
sporadic  development  of  the  religious  nature. 

Four  stages  of  life  are  marked  out  by  Menu,  the 
great  Brahmanic  law-giver: 

1.  The  Brahmachari,  or  student's  life  of  the  Veda. 

2.  The  Grishastha,  or  married  life  stage. 

3.  The  Hermit  life  period. 

4.  The  Sannyassi,  or  Devotee  period. 

Passing  the  first   and  second   of   these    periods,  in 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  t^t 

which  no  great  amount  of  self-torture  was  required, 
let  us  notice  the  third  and  fourth. 

In  the  third,  or  Hermit  stage,  such  a  course  of  dis- 
cipline as  will  mortify  the  passions  and  extinguish 
desire,  is  the  desideratum. 

'^When  one  has  remained  a  Grishastha — in  the 
married  stage  of  life — until  his  muscles  become  flac- 
cid, and  his  hair  gray,  and  he  has  seen  a  child  of  his 
child,  let  him  abandon  his  household,  and  repair  to 
the  forest  and  dwell  there  as  a  hermit. 

^^Let  him  take  with  him  the  consecrated  fire, and  all 
the  implements  for  making  oblations  to  the  fire,  and 
there  dwell  in  the  forest  with  perfect  control  over  all 
his  organs. 

^'Day  by  day  he  should  perform  the  five 
sacraments." 

He  should  wear  a  black  antelope's  hide,  or  a  vest- 
ure of  black,   and  bathe  every  morning  and  evening. 

He  should  allow  his  nails  and  the  hair  of  his  head 
and  beard  to  grow  without  cutting,  and  he  should  be 
constantly  engaged  in  reading  the  Veda. 

He  should  be  patient  in  all  extremities,  universally 
benevolent  and  entertain  a  tender  affection  for  all  liv- 
ing creatures. 

His  mind  should  be  ever  intent  upon  the  Supreme 
Being. 

He  should  slide  backward  and  forward,  or  stand  a 
whole  day  upon  tiptoe,  or  continue  in  motion  by 
alternately  rising   and  sitting;  but  every  day,  at  sun- 


152  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

rise,  at  noon,  and  at  sunset,  he  should  go  to  the 
waters  and  bathe. 

In  the  hot  season  he  should  sit  exposed  to  five  fires, 
viz.,  four  blazing  around  him,  while  the  sun  burns 
above  him. 

In  the  raining  season  he  should  stand  uncovered 
without  a  mantle,  while  the  clouds  pour  down  their 
heaviest  showers. 

In  the  cold  season  he  should  wear  damp  vesture. 

He  should  increase  the  austerity  of  his  devotions 
by  degrees  until,  by  enduring  harsher  and  harsher 
mortifications,    he    has    dried  up  his    bodily  frame. ^ 

When  he  has  thus  lived  in  the  forest  during  the 
third  portion  of  his  life  as  a  Vanaprastha,  he  should, 
for  the  fourth  portion  of  it,  become  a  Sannyassi,  and 
abandon  all  sensual  affections,  and  repose  wholly  in 
the  Supreme  Spirit. 

He  should  take  an  earthen  water-pot,  dwell  at  the 
roots  of  large  trees,  wear  coarse  vesture,  abide  in 
total  solitude,  and  exhibit  a  perfect  equanimity  toward 
all  creatures. 

He  should  wish  for  neither  death  nor  life,  but 
expect  his  appointed  time  as  a  hired  servant  expects 
his  wages. 

He  should  look  down  as  he  advances  his  step,  lest 
he  should  touch  anything  impure. 

He  should  drink   water  that  has  been   purified   by 

I.     Code  iv.  22;  Vishnu  Purana  iii.  g,  etc.     Substantially  as 
given  by  Dr.  Butler.     Land  of  the  Vedas,  pp.  35  and  36. 


THE    OLt)    RELIGIONS.  X53 

straining  through  a  cloth,  lest  he  should  hurt  an 
insect. 

He  should  bear  a  reproachable  spirit  with  patience. 
Speak  reproachfully  to  no  one,  never  utter  a  word 
relating  to  vain,  illusory  things,  delight  in  meditating 
upon  the  Supreme  Spirit,  and  sit  fixed  in  such  medi- 
tation without  needing  anything  earthly,  without  one 
sensual  desire,  and  without  any  companion  but  his 
own  soul;  and  much  more  to  the  same  general  effect.^ 

In  all  this.  Buddhism  substantially  followed  Brah- 
minism.  Even  the  Buddha  himself  was  the  subject 
of  innumerable  mortifying  births  ere  asceticism  had 
wrought  its  perfect  work. 

Under  such  a  cultus  the  wildest  fanaticism  of  course 
had  free  play. 

Great  importance  was  attached,  by  these  Old  Mas- 
ters, to  meditation,  in  which  they  were  zealously  fol- 
lowed by  Plato.  To  go  into  profound  solitude,  and 
indulge  in  protracted,  intense,  absorbing  contempla- 
tion, was  the  supplementary  and  final  means  of 
attaining  Nirwana — the    condition  of  eternal   repose. 

It  was  needful  that  they  should  reflect  upon  the 
transmigrations  of  men,  caused  by  their  sinful  deeds, 
their  downfall  into  the  regions  of  darkness,  their  tor- 
ments in  the  mansions  of  Yama,  their  separation 
from  those  whom  they  love,  their  union  with  those 
whom  they  hate,  upon  their  strength  being  over- 
powered by  old  age,  their  bodies  racked  with  disease, 


Ibid. 


154  '^^^    ^^W   RELIGION. 

their  agonizing  departure  from  this  corporeal  fram^, 
their  formation  again  in  the  womb,  on  the  misery 
attached  to  embodied  spirits  from  a  violation  of  their 
duties,  and  the  imperishable  bliss  which  attaches  to 
disembodied  spirits,  who  have  '^abundantly  performed 
their  whole  duty.'' 

Starting  with  asceticism  thus  formulated  and 
organized,  we  have  it  in  full  chorus  of  horror  in  all 
the  Orient. 

Baring  Gould,  in  his  Origin  of  Beliefs,^  says, 
''On  the  borders  of  the  Ganges  the  Yogin  strives  by 
every  exaggeration  of  torture  to  emancipate  his  soul 
and  confound  it  with  God. 

''Yogins  swarming  with  vermin,  covered  with  dirt, 
mixing  filth  with  their  food,  running  skewers  through 
their  cheeks,  suspending  themselves  by  hooks  thrust 
into  their  flesh,  standing  on  one  foot  for  many 
years,  lying  for  half  a  lifetime  upon  sharp  nails, 
strive,  by  withdrawing  their  affections  from  things 
here  below,  to  fix  them  with  greater  intensity  on  the 
Divinity  above." 

It  were  easy  to  fill  pages  with  the  horrors  of  asceti- 
cism as  practiced  in  Orient. 

Dr.  Butler  says  there  are  2,000,000  of  these  Yogin 
and  Mohammedan  Fakirs  in  India. 

But  as  a  second  result  of  this  system  of  asceticism 
we  have  self-righteousness  and  pride  gone  mad. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  penances  were 

I.    Page  362. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  155 

considered  meritorious.  The  devotee  becomes  more 
pure  and  holy  in  proportion  as  he  pushes  his  self-sac- 
rifices to  extremes,  and  in  this  fact  lies  the  persistent 
strength  and  popularity  of  the  system.  The  pious 
ascetic,  under  the  reign,  possibly,  of  a  pure  selfishness, 
sets  up  a  claim  to  superior  sanctity — a  claim  which 
he  knows  will  be  respected — and  becomes  the  most 
haughty  and  supercilious  of  mortals.  He  has  merited 
support,  deference,  adoration.  He  has  disarmed 
criticism,  risen  above  censure,  and  attained  divine 
power,  and  must  be  respected  even  by  the  lower 
divinities. 

"Supreme  he  stood 
The  merit  of  his  sacrifice 

Was  a  monsoon  flood. 

His  good  deeds  numberless." 

— deeds,  whose  ^^merit"  was  so  great  as  to  compel 
gods  ^^who  fain  would  shed  his  heart's  red  blood,"  to 
bless  them.  Is  it  strange  that  under  the  combined 
impulses  of  religion  and  selfish  ambition,  thousands, 
age  after  age,  should  fall  into  line  and  swarm  into 
the  forests? 

It  may  be  said  indeed  that  this  is  an  abuse  and  not 
the  proper  use  of  the  system;  and  this,  in  candor, 
ought  to  be  admitted;  but,  given  human  nature  as  it 
is,  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that  it  is  an  abuse  which  is 
inseparable  from  its  use. 

What,  then,  must  be  the  verdict  as  to  the  reforma- 
tory efficiency  and  uplifting  virtue  of  asceticism,  con- 
sidered in  its  means  and  methods?     Does  it  make  the 


156  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

individual  happier,  or  society  better,  or  final  beatitude 
more  certain? 

That  there  is  advantage  in  occasionally  retiring  from 
the  hurly  burly  and  excitements  of  society,  into  soli- 
tude, and  spending  an  hour  in  self-examination  and 
contemplation,  we  should  freely  admit  and  do  believe. 

One  can  hardly  dwell  upon  the  shifting  vicissitudes 
of  this  world-life,  and  the  inevitable  results  of  vice  and 
virtue  in  human  conduct,  without  coming  into  closer 
sympathy  with  that  which  is  good  and  true  in  human 
life.  To  ardently  cherish  an  ideal  character,  to  hold 
in  mind  the  symbols  of  goodness  and  perfection,  and 
cherish  with  prayerful  yearning  the  better  life,  can 
hardly  fail  to  fortify  resolution  and  give  new  zest  and 
vitality  to  all  virtuous  and  worthy  purposes. 

That  such  devout  and  prolonged  contemplation  and 
aspiration,  as  Menu  enjoined  upon  the  Sannyassi,  and 
Plato  prescribed  for  his  philosophers,  connect  with 
great  spiritual  possibilities  can  hardly  be  doubted;  and 
we  hasten  to  accord  this  meed  of  virtue  to  asceticism. 
But,  just  how  this  murderous  self-denial  and  self-immo- 
lation, thus  systematically  enjoined  and  practiced,  can 
promote  human  happiness  in  this  state  of  being  or  in 
any  state  of  being  is  not  easy  to  see. 

In  the  first  place  asceticism  is,  at  the  bottom,  but 
another  form  of  selfishness.  The  ascetic  does  all,  and 
suffers  all,  for  his  own  ultimate  benefit.  He  cherishes 
no  philanthropy,  feels  no  benevolence,  contemplates 
n^  help  for  others,  however  needy. 

5q  far  from  it,  he  does  great  wrong  to  those  who  are 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I57 

dependent  upon  him,  and  who  have  a  right  to  look  to 
him  for  aid  aad  comfort.  The  Grishastha,  or  ^^House- 
holder/' may  ^^see  the  child  of  his  child"  at  forty  to 
forty-five,  and  while  yet  in  the  prime  and  strength  of  his 
manhood,  and  when  he  could  provide  for  his  depend- 
ent family  and  render  important  services  to  society. 
His  wife  and  children,  abandoned  by  him,  may  be 
quite  unable  to  provide  against  hunger  and  want. 
Every  consideration  of  love  and  justice  requires  that 
he  should  stay  with  them  and  help  them.  But  not  so, 
he  must  become  a  ^ ^hermit;"  he  abandons  them  to 
their  fate! — becomes  a  mendicant,  and  henceforth 
ceases  to  be  a  producer  and  lives  off  public  charity;  he 
turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the  cries  of  his  orphaned  children 
and  bereaved  and  possibly  destitute  wife,  to  become  a 
miserable  and  selfish  Anchorite,  under  pretence  of 
gaining  what? — beatitude  for  himself! 

But  beyond  the  fact  of  its  being  essentially  selfish  in 
its  purpose,  asceticism  evidently  antagonizes  the 
whole  order  of  nature.  It  is  a  pure  assumption  that 
matter  corrupts  the  spirit. 

What  do  we  mean  by  corruption  as  applied  to 
spirit?  We  cannot  mean  guiltiness,  certainly,  for 
there  are  innocent  spirits  in  organic  union  with  matter. 
Children  begin  life  in  a  state  of  innocence.  Guilt  can- 
not be  predicated  until  intentional  sin  has  been  com- 
mitted. Do  we  mean  necessitated  limitations  of 
thought?  imperfect  appreciation  of  the  good? 

This  condition  of  disability  can  hardly  be  called  one 
pf  impunity,     It  is  a  bad  use  of  terms,     But   if  thi^ 


158  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

torturing  self-denial  and  self-abuse  which  finally 
results  in  destroying  the  body,  has  the  effect  to  purify 
the  spirit,  why  should  one  not  cut  the  work  short  in 
righteousness  and  shoot  himself? 

The  best  proof  of  our  being  good  is,  that  we  fit  into 
our  place,  that  we  live  as  we  were  intended  to  live. 
If  there  be  light,  and  eyes  fitted  to  it,  we  should  use 
them,  and  enjoy  the  light;  if  there  be  sound,  and  ears 
fitted  to  it,  we  should  use  them  and  enjoy  its  blessings; 
if  there  be  food  and  drink,  and  a  digestive  apparatus 
adapted  to  them,  we  should  heed  the  monitions  of 
taste  and  appetite  and  enjoy  them;  if  there  be  a  family 
with  helpless  infancy,  and  stronger  arms  and  wiser 
thoughts  of  father  and  mother,  and  an  instinct  that 
urges  on,  the  strong  arms  should  hold  up  and  defend 
the  defenceless;  if  there  be  society,  the  individual 
should  adjust  himself  to  it,  receiving  from  it  and  giv- 
ing to  it  what  is  best  for  both.  Desires  and  passions, 
when  properly  regulated,  have  their  uses  and  adapta- 
tion. Love  incites  to  doing  good  to  others.  F'ear 
warns  against  danger,  the  passion  for  money  provides 
for  home  and  comfort.  The  love  of  the  beautiful,  the 
true  and  the  good  is  to  be  gratified,  by  beauty  and 
truth  and  goodness.  We  should  study  God's  order 
and  make  the  best  of  it,  instead  of  placing  ourselves 
at  cross  purposes  with  it.  The  best  preparation  we 
can  have  for  the  life  beyond  is  to  have  fulfilled  the 
evident  purpose  of  the  life  that  is  here;  and  the  proof 
that  we  shall  be  happy  hereafter  is  the  fact  that  we  are 
so  living  as  to  be  happy  now. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I59 

Human  life  and  human  happiness  do  not  consist  of 
parts  and  fragments.  The  Heaven  beyond  is  here 
begun,  and  it  must  be  substantially  the  same  in  kind 
^  ^f or  aye. ' ' 

But  the  ascetic  takes  direct  issue  with  the  order  of 
nature,  and,  at  infinite  cost  and  loss,  wages  an  unequal 
warfare  against  it.  He  tortures  himself,  stifles  parental 
and  social  affection,  wickedly  withdraws  his  sympathies 
from  those  who  would  love  him,  abandons  dependent 
wife  and  children,  shuts  his  eyes  against  those  in  suf- 
fering, turns  a  deaf  ear  to  the  claims  of  all  others,  to 
nurse  himself.  He  seeks  to  extinguish  and  to  crush 
out  from  his  nature  all  that  would  go  to  make  a  man 
of  him,  and  in  doing  so  becomes  the  most  forlorn  and 
pitiable  of  mankind.  Alas  for  religion!  Alas  for 
humanity! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Fear  a  Motive  to  Virtue. 

Having  glanced  at  some  of  the  many  and  onerous 
duties  imposed  upon  the  rehgious  votary  by  the  Old 
Religions,  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  how  they 
enforce  obedience  in  actual  life. 

It  is  one  thing  to  preach  and  point  the  way  of  duty, 
it  is  quite  another  to  put  precepts  into  practice — to 
take  up  the  line  of  march  and  go  forward. 

In  all  moral  and  religious  teaching,  there  are  pre- 
sented at  least,  two  principal  motives  to  the  practice 
of  virtue — gain  and  loss.  Do  right  and  enjoy,  do 
wrong  and  suffer. 

The  legislator  says  to  the  citizen,  do  wrong  if  you 
will;  but  if  you  do  I  will  make  you  suffer  for  it.  This 
is  the  spirit  of  Law  everywhere. 

The  mother  says  to  her  child,  you  are  very  dear  to 
me.  I  am  happy  when  you  are  happy.  I  suffer  when 
you  suffer.  I  cannot  help  it.  If  you  should  do  wrong 
it  would  make  you  miserable  and  it  would  distress  me. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  influence  brought  to  bear  in 
favor  of  the  practice  of  virtue.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  discuss  which  is  the  more  effective. 

As  a  factor  of  virtue  and  piety^  fear  holds  an  import- 
ant plage,     Man,  in  all  his  relations,    is  a  subject  of 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  l6l 

law,  and  violated  law  means  suffering.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  we  regard  law  as  vindictive  and  suffering 
as  punitive.  It  is  better  to  think  of  it  as  preventive 
and  reformatory.  But  the  penalty  is,  nevertheless, 
suffering,  and  inspires  fear.  Hence  fear  becomes  a 
motive  urging  men  to  obey  law,  and  to  obey  law  is  to 
practice  virtue. 

Some  have  sought  to  eliminate  fear  from  the  list  of 
motives  to  virtue.  They  say  that  love  should  draw  men 
rather  than  that  fear  should  push  and  drive  them  to 
obedience.  But  will  love  always  do  it?  and  if  not, 
will  fear  help? 

Fear  is  an  inborn  sensibility,  and  inseparable  from 
human  experience  in  the  presence  of  danger.  It  has 
its  proper  function  and  should  not  be  ignored  either  in 
ethics  or  religion,  in  the  family  or  in  the  state. 

Let  it  once  be  settled  and  fixed  that,  God  is  not 
mocked,  that  whatsoever  a  man  sows  that  shall  he 
reap;  that  if  he  sow  to  the  flesh  he  shall  of  the  flesh 
reap  corruption;  and,  it  is  easy  to  see,  that  fear  will 
supplement  and  reinforce  the  purpose  to  sow  to  the 
spirit.  Love  and  fear  are  here,  quite  in  accord  in 
their  influence  on  the  will,  and  unite  to  secure  the 
practice  of  virtue. 

A  just  fear  invigorates  true  love  and  renders  it  more 
powerful  to  combat  the  tendencies  to  vice  and  sin,  so 
strong  in  human  nature.  The  greater  the  temptation 
to  do  wrong  the  greater  the  need  of  fear  to  supplement 
and  fortify  the  power  of  love  as  a  conservator  of  right 
conduct,     If  there  be  danger  of  infinite  loss,    it  \y?ir^ 


l62  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

better  to  array  every  motive  against  it;  and,  to  dis- 
place fear,  as  some  sentimentalists  seek  to  do,  were  a 
serious  mistake. 

But  it  were  a  much  greater  mistake  to  ignore  love, 
and  rely  upon  fear  as  the  principle  means  of  securing 
obedience,  as  most  governments  and  some  families 
yet  do. 

Under  the  earlier  teachers  of  mankind,  as  among 
barbarous  nations  and  barbarous  families,  the  chief 
reliance  was  upon  fear,  as  motive  to  obedience. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  the  Egyptian  Typhon 
represented  moral  evil. 

Mr.  J.  Freeman  Clarke,  author  of  ^^Ten  Great  Relig- 
ions," seems  to  think  that  transmigration  among  this 
people  was  not  penal,  but  evolutional,  developmental 
in  its  character.^  But  it  would  be  difficult  to  defend 
this  view,  and  it  is  not  generally  accepted.  Man  was 
held  to  be  accountable  hereafter  for  his  actions  done 
in  this  life,  and  to  be  adjudged  according  to  his  works. 
He  was  to  be  brought  before  Osiris,  and  his  heart 
'^weighed  against  the  feather  of  truth."  He  was  to  be 
questioned  respecting  his  conduct  in  life  and  especially 
as  to  the  whether  he  had  committed  the  '  ^forty-two 
sins,"  concernmg  which  his  accusers  inquired. 

In  this  court  of  last  appeal  he  has  no  friend,  no 
advocate,  as  has  the  Christian.  If  he  can  show  that 
his  good  deeds  out-weigh  his  evil  deeds  in  the  scales 
of  exact  truth  and  justice,  Osiris  will  admit  him  to  the 

I.     Vol.  2,  p.  175. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  163 

Islands  of  the  Blessed;  but  if  his  evil  deeds  over-bal- 
ance his  good  ones,  then  woe!  woe!  to  his  poor  soul! 
He  must  return  to  earth  and  transmigrate  through 
horrid  creatures  in  the  lower  ranges  of  life,  and  suffer 
all  the  disgusting  experiences  incident  to  their  wretched 
condition;  and  this  on  and  on,  through  cycles  of  such 
experience,  until  he  can  be  again  trusted  with  the  privi- 
leges and  responsibilities  of  regained  human  life,  when 
he  is  permitted  to  start  again. 

Souls  cannot  die.     They  leave  a  former  home 
And  in  new  bodies  dwell,  and  from  them  roam. 
Nothing  can  perish.   All  things  change  below, 
For  spirits  through  all  forms  may  come  and  go. 
Great  beasts  shall  rise  to  human  forms,  and  men, 
If  bad,  shall  downward  turn  to  beasts  again. 
Thus,  through  a  thousand  shapes,  the  soul  shall  go, 
And  thus  fulfill  its  destiny  below.  1 

— Ovid. 

The  good  Isis  may  turn  a  sympathizing  look  upon 
the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  but  it  avails  him  not,  and  he 
knows  not  what  fate  awaits  him  until  the  august  judge 
gives  sentence.  Going  thus  into  court  with  a  sense  of 
conscious  guilt  upon  his  soul  (and  who  has  not  such 
conviction  of  guilt),  he  may  well  fear  the  worst. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that,  under   such   conditions  of  life 

I  The  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis,  says  Mr.  Clarke,  was 
taught  by  Pythagoras,  Empedocles  and  Plato;  by  the  Neo 
Platonists  the  Jewish  Cabbala  and  Arab  Philosophers;  by  Origen 
ana  othei  Christian  Fathers,  by  the  Gnostics  and  Manichians,  by 
the  Druids,  and,  in  more  recent  times,  by  Fourier  and  others. 
Vol.  2.  p.  176. 


164  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

and  death,  fear  must  play  a  principal  part  among  the 
motives  to  virtue  and  piety.  That  such  anticipation 
of  future  desert  did  restrain  men  from  vice  and  pro- 
mote virtue  cannot  be  doubted.  But,  the  civilization 
of  this  wonderful  people,  so  renowned  for  their  early 
progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  was  always  wanting 
in  philanthropy,  and  some  of  the  higher  forms  of  sym- 
pathetic virtue,  as  the  absence  of  public  charities  and 
the  neglect  of  the  poor  and  unfortunate  sufficiently 
prove.  No  people  of  high  moral  development  and 
active  philanthropy  could  have  held  such  crude  notions 
as  to  the  rights,  social  and  political,  of  the  masses,  or 
such  views  of  the  divine  prerogatives  of  the  governing 
few,  as  the  building  of  the  pyramids  imply. 

The  doctrine  of  Transmigration  was  a  fundamental 
tenet  of  Brahminism  and  passed  into  Buddhism  with 
little  modification;  and,  as  in  Egypt,  it  appealed  to 
the  fears  of  men. 

^^A  priest,"  says  the  great  Indian  law- giver,  '^who 
has  drunk  spirituous  liquor  shall  migrate  into  the  form 
of  a  larger  or  smaller  worm,  or  insect,  of  a  moth,  or 
some  ravenous  animal.  If  a  man  steal  grain  in  the 
husk  he  shall  be  born  a  rat;  if  a  yellow  mixed  metal,  a 
gander;  if  water,  a  Plava,  or  diver;  if  honey,  a  great 
stinging  gnat;  if  milk,  a  crow;  if  expressed  juice,  a 
dog;  if  clarified  butter,  an  ichneumon  or  weasel." 
'^As  far  as  vital  souls  addicted  to  sensuality  indulge  in 
forbidden  pleasures,  even  to  the  same  degree  shall  the 
acuteness  of  their  senses  be  raised  in  their  future 
bodies,  that  they  may  endure  analogous  pains." 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  165 

'^Then  shall  follow  separations  from  kindred  and 
friends,  forced  residence  with  the  wicked,  painful 
gains  and  ruinous  losses  of  wealth,  friendships,  hardly 
acquired,  and  at  length  changed  into  enmities."^ 

*^It  may  well  be  doubted,"  says  Mr.  J.  Thomas, 
whether  the  comparatively  vague  fear  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment, taught  among  the  nations  of  the  West,  was 
calculated  to  exert  so  powerful  an  influence  on  the 
mind,  as  the  definite,  though  infinitely  varied  terrors 
which  these  impending  transmigrations  inspired.  "^ 
*'The  mysterious  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis,"  says 
William  R.  Alger,  ^^has  held  the  entire  mind,  sentiment 
and  civilization  of  the  East  through  every  period  of  its 
history  as  with  an  irrevocable  spell. "^  In  all  this  Bud- 
dhism substantially  follows  Brahminism.  The  Buddha 
himself  was  the  subject  of  ^^innumerable  births."  He 
was  born  as  an  ascetic  eighty-three  times,  as  the  soul 
of  a  tree,  forty-three  times,  and  many  times  also  as  an 
ape,  deer,  lion,  snipe,  chicken,  eagle,  serpent,  pig,  frog, 
etc.  According  to  a  Chinese  authority  he  was  made  to 
say,  ^^The  number  of  my  births  and  deaths  can  only  be 
compared  to  that  of  all  the  planets  of  the  universe." 

Transmigration  is  punishment.  If  prayers  and  pen- 
ance and  sacrifices — if  self-torture  and  devout  contem- 
plation fail,  the  punishment  of  transmigration  must 
complete  the  work  of  purification. 

Sacrifices  were  offered    for   various   purposes,    but 

1.  Taken  from  Laws  of  Menu,  as  given  by  Clarke.     J.  F. 

2.  Johnson's  Cyclop.,  p.  752,  Vol.  i. 

3.  Ibid,  p.  84,  Vol.  3. 


r66  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

sacrifices  to  appease  the  divine  wrath  and  expiate  sin 
were  by  far  the  most  common.  Under  a  deep  sense 
of  sin  and  personal  guilt,  the  alarmed  devotee,  with 
the  instinct  of  danger  quivering  in  every  fibre  of  his 
being,  cries  out  through  these  acted  prayers  for  help 
against  the  coming  destiny,  but  no  help  comes,  and 
he  knows  nothing  of  the  love  that  '^casts  out  fear."^ 

Will  fear  put  an  effectual  check  upon  sin?  Will 
punishment  purify  the  soul — mean  what  you  will  by 
purify?  That  it  will  is  the  implied  postulate  of  the 
Old  Religions.  The  history  of  penal  servitude  does 
not  warrant  any  such  hope.  The  well-known  effect 
of  punishment  for  crime  has  been  to  harden  men,  to 
destroy  moral  sensibility,  to  engender  bitterness,  and 
hate,  to  dwarf  and  destroy  self-respect,  and  thus 
to  weaken  rather  than  strengthen  men  against 
temptation. 

Any  number  of  facts  could  be  produced  to  show 
that  punishment  inflicted  by  tribunals  of  justice  has 
not  proved  reformatory  and  saving.  The  uniform 
testimony  of  officers  in  charge  of  penal  institutions, 
both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  as  collected  by  Mr. 
Wines,    is    to    the    effect    that    prison    discipline    is 

I.  Not  only  in  India,  but  elsewhere,  men  shuddered  at  the 
thought  of  this  lower  world.  "My  temples  are  gray,"  said  the 
pleasure-loving  Anacreon,  "and  white  my  head.  Beautiful  yauth 
is  gone.  Not  much  remains  of  sweet  life.  Therefore  I  often 
sigh,  fearing  Tartarus — dreadful  abyss  of  Hades— full  of  horrors 
is  the  descent  thither;  and  whatever  has  gone  down  there  never 
returns." — Ullhorn  Conflict  Christ,  and  Heath.,  p.  73. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 67 

demoralizing,  and  the  more  so  as  the  effort  has  been 
made  to  degrade  men  and  make  them  suffer  for  their 
crimes.  The  treatment,  says  Dr.  Despine,  an  eminent 
physician  and  philosopher  of  France,  the  treatment 
which  aims  only  to  punish,  is  dangerous  both  to 
society  and  the  criminal.  In  France  it  produces  from 
40  to  45  per  cent,  of  repeaters — that  is,  about  one- 
half  of  those  subjected  to  this  course  of  penal  disci- 
pline, leave,  to  go  out  and  re-enter  the  list  of  crimi- 
nals, and  are  again  returned  to  prison,  and,  generally, 
for  worse  crimes  than  the  first  upon  which  they  were 
convicted.  And  this  proportion  of  ^ ^repeaters,"  or 
^^revolvers,"  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  holds  good 
in  this  country.  Does  clubbing  a  man  reform  him? 
Says  Mr.  Altgeld:^  ^^Does  brutal  treatment  elevate 
his  thoughts?  Does  handcuffing  fill  him  with  good 
resolutions?"  There  is  no  greater  mistake  (says  the 
National  Prison  Reform  Convention,  by  resolution  at 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  1870),  in  the  whole  compass  of 
penal  discipline  than  its  studied  methods  of  degrada- 
tion, as  a  part  of  punishment.  Such  imposition 
destroys  every  better  impulse  and  aspiration;  it 
crushes  the  weak,  irritates  the  strong,  and  indisposes 
all  to  submission  and  reform. 

Cruel  treatment  (says  Mr.  F.  Wines  in  his  work 
on  Prisons),  was  once  generally  esteemed  the  most 
sure,  just,  and  only  fitting  method  of  penal  discipline. 
But  the  period  is  well  passed  when   the   interior  of   a 

I.     Penal  Machinery. 


1 68  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

prison  is  to  be  the  arena  for  the  exercise  of  brutaliz- 
ing forces  upon  erring  and  wicked  men. 

There  is,  says  another/  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race,  not  a  single  instance  wherein  cruelty  effected  a 
genuine  reformation.  It  can  crush,  but  it  cannot 
improve.  It  can  restrain,  but  as  soon  as  the  restraint 
is  removed,  the  subject  is  worse  than  before.  The 
human  mind  is  so  constituted  that  it  must  be  led 
towards  the  good,  and  can  be  driven  only  in  one 
direction,  and  that  is  towards  ruin. 

This  fact  is  clearly  admitted  in  the  so-called  Chris- 
tian dogma  of  eternal  damnation.  If  the  invitations 
and  warnings  of  love,  and  the  reformatory  agencies  of 
the  present  life,  where  hope  and  liberty  reign,  fail  to 
lead  to  virtue,  and  the  subject  enters  upon  his  pun- 
ishment, there  is  thenceforth  no  possible  hope  for 
him;  his  punishment  never  reforms  him. 

The  Old  Religions  then  have  staked  too  much  upon 
this  method  of  saving  men  through  fear  of  punishment. 
They  have  failed  to  comprehend  the  fact,  now  so  well 
attested,  that  such  a  method  works,  not  toward  virtue, 
but  toward  vice,  and  is  therefore  utterly  unsuited  to 
the  purposes  of  reformation. 

I.     Altgeld. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Want  of  Sympathy. 

Such  are  some  of  the  principal  reformatory  means 
and  agencies  relied  on  by  the  Old  Masters. 

In  a  spirit  of  fairness,  I  hope,  we  have  sought  to 
estimate  them  at  their  true  value. 

We  should  not,  however,  be  true  to  the  cause  of 
truth  if  we  do  not  note  at  least  one  important  fact  that 
lies  against  them — a  fact  which  shows  how  far  these 
religions  come  short  of  making  satisfactory  response 
to  the  needs  of  men  involved,  as  they  are,  in  the  dire 
disasters  incident  to  human  life. 

This  fact  is  their  evident  want  of  sympathy  with 
the  erring  and  unfortunate  victims  of  vice  and 
suffering. 

"That  good  and  ill  is  God's  play, 

Do  not  our  sages  say? 
May  they  not  what  they  make,  unmake  again? 

Mayhap  in  sport  divine 

They  made  your  blood  and  mine, 
May  they  not  shed  it  as  they  shed  rain?" 

One  of  the  most  obvious  and  most  significant  facts 
of  history,  is  the  fact  that  men  do  always  sin.  This 
must  be  affirmed  of  every  age,  and  of  all  classes  of 
men.     Even  the  optimist  cannot  deny  this.     There  is 


170  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

no  one  generation,  no  nation,  however  civilized,   who 
have  not  exhibited  flagrant  and  repeated  immorahties. 

This  is  a  fact  so  constant  and  so  obvious  that  it 
demands  serious  consideration,  both  by  legislators 
and  religious  teachers  and  moral  philosophers. 
Among  all  peoples  there  may  be  found  good  moral 
precepts,  a  high  sense  of  honor  and  rectitude  in  pub- 
lic sentiment,  and,  here  and  there,  admirable  exam- 
ples of  personal  purity  and  virtue;  but  this  does  not 
prove  that  either  the  Republic  of  Plato  or  the  Utopia 
of  Sir  Thomas  Moore,  or  the  scheme  of  Bellamy  is 
possible  among  men. 

As  to  a  large  proportion  of  men,  immersed  in  the 
cares  of  business,  and  absorbed  by  its  excitements, 
there  is,  perhaps,  little  serious  concern  for  moral  con- 
sequences, and  the  desert  of  the  future;  and  yet  there 
are  sure  to  come,  even  to  these,  on  occasions,  such 
a  sense  of  ill-desert  and  unworthiness  as  to  humble 
them  in  the  dust.  Many  who  are  careful  and  solici- 
tous to  do  the  right  thing  always,  are  nevertheless 
yet  compelled  to  admit  their  failure.  With  Paul  they 
are  ready  to  say,  '^When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is 
present  with  me." 

We  know  that  in  the  dying  hour,  if  not  sooner, 
men  often  charge  themselves  with  folly,  and  experi- 
ence an  imperative  need  of  the  divine  sympathy  and 
compassion. 

Take  men  of  the  largest  knowledge  and  culture — 
men  of  the  highest  virtue  and  most  exemplary  char- 
acter— do  they,  when  facing  death,  do  they  realize  no 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  17I 

need  of  sympathy  and  divine  compassion?  Evcii  the 
dying  Son  of  Man  exclaimed,  ^^My  God!  My  God!  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 

If  the  wisest  and  the  best  come  into  such  straits,  and 
feel  such  need  of  appreciating  sympathy,  what  shall 
we  say  of  those  who  have  been  less  perfect  and 
fortunate  in  the  battle  of  life? 

The  bent  to  sinning  seems  to  be  universal  among 
men,  and  sinful  indulgence  is  as  truly  characteristic  of 
the  human  race  as  is  the  capacity  and  Instinct  of 
worship  and  the  conviction  of  duty.  Human  life 
springs  into  being,  and  enters  upon  its  vicissitudes 
and  anxieties,  without  having  been  consulted,  having 
no  choice  in  its  make-  up,  in  its  environment.  It 
inherits  ignorance  and  infirmity.  It  inherits  appetites 
and  passions,  which,  at  great  cost  of  self  denial, 
must  be  restrained.  It  is  born  to  a  legacy  of  unavoid- 
able sorrow  and  suffering.  It  is  doomed  to  many  a 
disappointment,  and  blighted  hope.  It  must  live  in 
the  face  of  inevitable  death,  which  often  comes  ere  the 
sweets  of  life  have  been  little  more  than  tasted.  Per- 
adventure  the  soul  wakes  to  the  consciousness  of 
great  moral  responsibility,  and  realizes  that  it  is  a 
solemn  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God. 
Are  the  gods  capable  of  compassion  and  mercy?  Do 
they  feel  the  touches  of  sympathy  for  the  suffering? 

Thus  born  and  thus  conditioned,  has  man  any  claim 
upon  the  divine  sympathy?  May  the  chastened  spirit, 
driven  by  relentless  fate,  and  sighing  for  appreciation 
and  reciprocity,  look  up  in   hope?     Does  Osiris,  or 


172  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

Brahma,  or  the  good  Ormuzed,  Buddha,  or  Zeus,  give 
any  intimation  that  he  has  a  heart  of  sympathy — that 
he  will  reach  down  hands  of  love  and  welcome  the 
alien  home? 

What  mean  all  the  self-denial  and  penance,  self- 
sacrifice  and  self-immolation  of  human  beings  that 
fill  the  pages  of  history?  Are  men  demented — crazed? 
What  mighty  impulse  has  swept  over  them  that  they 
should  go  upon  exhausting  pilgrimages — should  flee 
from  the  haunts  of  men  to  starve  in  the  wilderness, 
should  build  altars  and  burn  their  fellow  men,  and  be 
burnt  by  them  by  thousands?  Do  you  say  it  is  ignorance, 
fanaticism,  folly?  Grant  it,  but  it  is  not  the  less  real 
and  horrid — not  the  less  the  outcome  of  the  nature  to 
which  men  were  born.  They  were  born  to  the  igno- 
rance, the  infirmity,  the  environment,  to  the  influences 
which  more  than  their  own  choice  have  ^^made  them 
what  they  are. ' '  At  any  rate,  in  all  this  degradation  do 
they  not  need  commiseration?  do  they  not  need  sym- 
pathy, if  sympathy  there  be  in  the  hearts  of  the  gods? 
What  a  pathetic  sigh  of  despair  echoes  from  the 
words  of  the  popular  and  well-to-do  comedian:  ^^I 
have  worshiped  to  gods  who  do  not  care  for  me!"^ 

But  you  may  be  ready  to  say,  man  is  not  a  .mere 
creature  of  fate.  He  is  high-born,  made  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels,  nobly  endowed,  capable  of  high 
enjoyment  and  endless  progression.  His  thoughts 
take  wide  range  and  play  with  the   outcropping  won- 

I.     Menajider 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I73 

ders  of  the  universe.  He  has  seen  the  beautiful,  and 
felt  the  touches  of  its  joy.  He  has  discovered  the 
truth  and  tasted  its  sweetness.  He  has  entered  upon 
a  sphere  of  activity  which  is  full  of  inspiration  and 
hope!  Aye,  grant  it  all;  and,  what  then?  He  is  cut 
down  as  the  flower  and  withers  as  the  grass,  his 
majestic  form  becomes  food  for  worms,  his  earthly 
schemes  come  to  naught,  his  purposes  are  thwarted, 
his  work  left  imperfectly  accomplished,  he  is  cut  off 
and  taken  away  forever.  All  this  at  least  to  seeming 
— does  he  need  sympathy — does  he  need  to  know 
that 

"Earth  hath  no  sorrows 

That  heaven  cannot  heal?" 

Does  he  need  to  know  that,  somewhere  in  the 
beyond,  the  mighty  catastrophe  he  must  suffer  will 
find  recognition  and  compensation?  He  may  be 
great  as  men  count  greatness,  but  he  is  yet  the  vic- 
tim of  losses  and  crosses,  of  broken  purposes  and 
blighted  hopes — he  cannot  escape  the  intermediate 
evil.  He  cannot  escape  the  clouds  and  storms  that 
come  and  go  unbidden.  He  cannot  pursue  his  cher- 
ished purposes  to  their  fulfillment,  ere  death  drops 
her  dark  curtain  and  the  drama  closes.  And  then 
what  trusts  are  displaced,  what  solemn  changes  have 
come?  Could  he  be  human  and  not  feel  in  this 
crucial  hour  the  need  of  sympathy  that  is  more  than 
human?  What,  if  such  ^^good  and  ill"  is  thought  to  be 
indeed  ^^God' s plaf — that  the  eternal  has  no  heart 
in  such  a  life  of  vicissitude,   and  such  experience  of 


174  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

misfortune  and  suffering,  would  not  raven  despair 
crown  every  death  scene,  and  render  life  miserable  by 
dread  anticipation?  How  does  the  poor,  death- 
smitten  soul  need  to  feel  that  the  great  God  is  merci- 
ful and  good,  and  that  whatever  else  may  prove  to  be 
true,  He  can  be  trusted  in  the  direst  extremities,  as 
one  that  is  capable  of  sympathizing  and  helpful  love. 

But  the  gods  of  the  Cld  Religion  are  not  gods  of 
sympathy  and  love.  The  Eternal  is  a  God  of  justice, 
of  pure  and  exalted  spirit,  far  removed  from  the  con- 
cerns of  mankind;  a  God  of  inexorable  law;  or,  as 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  of  superhuman 
power,  capable  of  every  conceivable  form  of  lust  and 
passion.  The  Egyptian  might  indeed  hope  to  become 
divine,  and  to  dwell  among  the  gods  in  the  ^Tslands 
of  the  Blessed,"  but  he  must  first  pass  the  ordeal  of 
his  forty-two  judges,  and  be  weighed  in  the  scales  of 
truth  and  justice.  He  has  no  sympathy  at  court,  and 
may  not  hope  for  mercy. 

The  Brahmin,  after  infinite  penance  and  prepara- 
tion, may  hope  for  absorption  into  the  Great  and 
Holy  Being  from  whom,  in  the  cycles  of  past  eternity, 
the  whole  universe,  including  himself,  had  proceeded, 
but,  not  until  prayer  and  sacrifice  and  punishment, 
through  sufficiently  repeated  and  protracted  transmi- 
grations, had  sublimated  him  into  pure  spirit. 

The  Buddhist  talks  of  heaven  and  may  hope  for 
Nirwana;  but  not  until  his  whole  moral  organism  has 
been  practically  destroyed  by  the  annihilation  and 
obliteration    of    all    sensibility.       He    must  abide    in 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 75 

affliction  until  the  spiritual  surgery  of  suffering  has 
cut  away  all  emotion,  all  passion,  all  desire  from  his 
nature,  and  he  is  qualified  to  lie  down  in  eternal 
unconscious  rest — his  last  hope — Nirwana.  The 
regime  is  one  of  inexorable  law,  without  a  hint  of 
divine  clemency  or  a  hope  of  pardoning  sympathetic 
love.^ 

When  Confucius  was  asked  whether  there  is  one 
word  which  includes  all  the  duties  of  life,  he  answered, 
yes,  and  that  word  is  ^^reciprocity;"  so  thoroughly  was 
he  penetrated  with  the  need  and  power  of  sympathy 
among  men.  Sympathy  is  the  outcrop  and  concrete 
expression  of  love.  No  one  is  complete  without  it, 
either  in  his  suojective  condition  or  in  his  objective 
relations.  It  constitutes  mankind  integrally  one,  and 
as  men  are  thus  one  with  each  other  in  nature,  they 
are  one  with  God,  the  all  Father,  who,  in  his  prime 
manifestation  to  his  creatures,  is  declared  to  be  love. 
''As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brook,  so  panteth 
my  soul  after  thee,  O  God." 

What  shall  we  say,  then,  of  that  religious  cultus 
which  recognizes  no  correspondence  of  mutual  sym- 
pathy between  the  creature  and  the  Creator,  no  tender- 

I.  A  God  (says  Ullhorn,  Conflict  of  Christianity  and  Heathen- 
ism, p.  30) — A  God  who  takes  pity  on  sinners  and  turns  away  the 
proud  and  self-reliant  reverses  all  the  old  conceptions  of  God. 
The  gods  neither  give  nor  receive  love  and  the  strict  justice 
attributed  to  them  makes  forgiveness  impossible.  Therefore 
Celsus  opposes  the  Christian  God  who  takes  the  part  of  the 
wretched  and  those  who  weep  and  suffer. 


176  THE    NEW    RELIGION, 

ness,  no  forgiving  mercy?  We  happen  to  know,  thanks 
to  the  blessed  Son  of  Man,  that  He  with  whom  are  the 
issues  of  hfe  is  touched  with  the  ^^feehngof  our  infirmi- 
ties,'' but  the  Old  Masters  knew  it  not,  and  they  there- 
fore could  offer  no  such  consolation  to  their  suffering 
and  dying  fellow  men. 

There  is,  however,  deep  within  the  nature  of  man 
an  instinctive  trust  in  the  divine  goodness  which  all 
philosophy,  with  her  proofs  of  inexorable  law  and 
justice,  cannot  eradicate  or  suppress,  and  the  cry  of  the 
Hebrew  seer  is  the  cry  of  the  smitten  soul  the  world 
over  and  through  the  ages:  ^^O  that  I  knew  where  I 
might  find  him!  I  would  bring  my  cause  before  him, 
I  would  plead  with  him  as  a  man  pleads  with  his 
friend. ' ' 

The  deep  felt  sense  of  want,  and  need  of  divine 
help,  will  not  lift,  even  from  those  who  know  not  God. 
How  sweet  the  touches  of  generous  appreciative 
sympathy,  even  of  friend  for  friend,  in  the  dark  hours. 
However,  after  all,  human  arms  are  short  in  the  direst 
extremities  of  the  soul. 

But  let  the  victim  of  suffering,  awaiting  his  inevita- 
ble doom,  know  that  the  Almighty  Creator,  who  gave 
him  being,  and  who  is  privy  to  all  his  direst  needs,  is 
the  Father  in  Heaven,  and  not  only  able,  but  willing 
and  lovingly  anxious  to  succour  and  to  save,  and  how 
does  the  whole   aspect  of  his  life  and  destiny  change? 

But  this  is  a  ray  of  light  from  the  ^^New  Religion" 
which  is  now  soon  to  claim  our  attention.  No  Old 
Religion  offers  such  solace.     The  sun  of  life,  checkered 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 77 

with  many  a  grievous  sorrow,  sets  in  ni^ht,  relieved 
only,  at  best,  by  the  flickering  hope  that  somehow, 
sometime  in  the  cycle  of  revolving  ages,  the  light  may 
again  dawn  upon  him,  or  that  he  may  be  permitted  an 
eternal,  unbroken  and  unconscious  sleep. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Supernatural. 

The  Old  Religions  dwelt  in  the  clouds — they 
scarcely  ever  touched  foot  upon  terra  firma.  They 
have  shed  down  upon  men  a  mighty  influence  of  bless- 
ing and  of  cursing,  and  history  has  been  able  to  report 
some  of  their  good  and  some  of  their  evil,  but  has  not 
been  able  to  follow  them  into  the  heavens,  where  the 
clouds  conceal  them.  They  were  born  of  the  spirit 
and  breathe  the  air  of  the  supernatural. 

There  is  no  religion  without  mystery,  without 
legend,  without  the  supernatural,  if  we  mean  by 
supernatural  that  which  has  hitherto  seemed  unac- 
countable on  natural  principles  or  by  natural  law. 

The  supernatural,  at  least  in  this  qualified  sense,  is 
involved  in  Christianity  and  bound  up  with  it. 
That  it  has  been  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of 
offence  to  certain  classes,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
Those  of  a  philosophic  turn  of  mind  believing  in  the 
uniformity  of  natural  law,  and  who  habitually  seek  to 
know  the  how  and  wherefore  of  things,  are  repulsed  by 
what  implies  disorder  in  nature,  and  they  naturally 
enough  refuse  to  go  forward  when  they  know  not  why 
or  whither.  Their  studies  of  physical  law  and  natural 
science  have  had  the  effect,    possibly,    to  disqualify 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  179 

them,  in  some  measure,  for  the  airy  regions,  whither 
the  spirit  alwa3^s  and  necessarily  tends.  At  any  rate 
they  appreciate  the  advice  of  Paul  to  "'prove  all  thiiigs 
a7id  hold  fast  only  that  which  is  good,''  With  cold 
logic  they  are  want  to  insist,  that  even  in  matters  of 
religion  men  should  be  able  to  give  "r  reason  for  the 
hope  that  is  within  them." 

But,  unfortunately,  however,  a  really  good  reason  in 
matters  religious  does  not  always  appear  to  be  good 
to  the  philosopher  and  scientist. 

The  things  of  the  spirit  can  only  be  spiritually  dis- 
cerned— can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  can 
rise  above  the  realm  of  sense,  and  this  he  who  always 
holds  in  hand  his  measuring  line  and  square  and  com- 
pass finds  it  difficult  to  do. 

But,  really,  one  must  not  be  content  to  abide  in  the 
merely  sensuous,  if  he  is  to  realize  on  his  possibilities 
as  a  mxan.  He  must  sooner  or  later  outgrow  the 
physical,  must  develop  the  psychic,  must  realize  his 
relations  to  an  informing  spirit,  must  come  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  what  mere  matter  cannot  give. 

But  in  admitting  and  claiming  the  intervention  and 
necessity  of  an  informing  spiritual  discernment,  do  we 
not  throw  wide  open  the  gateway  to  all  manner  of 
spiritual  vagaries  and  absurd  beliefs? 

It  is  frankly  admitted  that  such  doctrine  is  very 
liable  to  dangerous  abuses,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  it 
has  been  the  fruitful  source  of  visionary  and  hurtful 
superstitions  in  all  the  ages.  But  without  some 
spiritual  discernment  and  recognition  of  spiritual  life 


i8g  the  new  religion. 

there  could  be  no  religion,  and  without  religion  men 
could  not  live. 

The  case,  however,  is  not  so  desperate  as  some  seem 
to  think.  We  must  distinguish  broadly  between  the 
supernatural  and  the  supersensual.  The  supernatural 
always  transcends  our  reason,  and,  as  it  has  been  the 
custom  to  present  it,  '^ contradicts'^  our  reason.  The 
supersensual  does  neither. 

Men  are  born  with  certain  intuitions  and  appeten- 
cies, which  underlie  religion,  and  upon  which  it  may 
be  built,  as  upon  the  rocks.  Those  who  do  not 
properly  read  these  intuitions  out  of  their  own  experi- 
ence, and  abide  in  them,  are  in  danger  of  being 
drifted  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  and  finally 
lost  in  the  nethermost  wilderness  of  superstition. 

The  religious  philosopher  will  stand  unflinchingly 
by  his  intuitions,  his  reason  and  common  sense — 
which  is  the  God  given  sense — and,  doing  this,  he  will 
walk  securely  on  the  high  grounds  of  the  supersen- 
sual, and  attain  a  conscious  exaltation  of  life  and 
blessing  never  realized  on  the  lower  planes  of  animal 
life. 

The  effort  to  eradicate  the  supernatural  from  Chris- 
tianity has  been  a  prolonged  and  earnest  one.  That 
there  is  much  that  is  good  and  great  in  the  Christian 
system  has  hardly  been  questioned  by  the  most  skep- 
tical and  prejudiced,  and  it  is  felt  to  be  a  grand  pity 
that  it  should  be  so  embarrassed  and  discredited  by 
any  mixture  with  the  miraculous  and  supernatural. 

The  efforts  of  Strauss  and  Renan  are  memorable  in 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  l8l 

the  history  of  the  conflict  waged  against  the  super- 
natural, as  it  appears  in  Christianity; — as  to  the  Ger- 
man, they  are  pathetic. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  to  decry  and  behttle  these 
struggles  with  the  supernatural,  but  this  fashion,  like 
most  other  mere  fashions,  prevails  among  shallow 
people,  who  are  guiltless  of  any  great  depth,  either  of 
candor  or  charity  or  learning. 

Recognizing  these  difSculties  as  real  and  great,  and 
respecting  the  candor  of  those  who  experience  them, 
it  has  not  been  the  least  purpose  of  these  pages  to 
present  the  Christian  system  in  such  a  light,  if  possi- 
ble, as  to  lessen  somewhat  its  apparent  supernatural- 
ism,  and  make  it  more  acceptable  to  men  of  this 
class. 

But,  saying  what  we  may,  if  we  shall  yet  have 
something  of  the  supernatural  left  in  Christianity,  it 
must  seem  to  be  little,  when  compared  with  the  super- 
natural of  the  Old  Religions. 

In  their  very  warp  and  woof  they  are  supernatural, 
a  fact  which,  by  the  way,  has  been  slurred  over  by 
some  who  are  very  sensitive  of  the  supernatural  in 
Christianity. 

I  am  aware  that  the  mystical  divinities  of  the 
Old  Religions,  in  their  philosophic  and  true  signifi- 
cance, impersonate  principles  which  thus  take  a  per- 
manent form  of  expression — a  kind  of  personality — 
but,  granting  this,  we  have  yet  to  account  for  much 
that  is  built  into  their  character  by  the  fertile  fancy, 
rendering  them  extremely  abnormal   and   grotesque. 


1 82  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

They  have  all  the  rickety  conformation  and  disjointed 
features  of  dreams,  which  stamp  them  as  wholly 
supernatural.  Let  us  indulge  but  for  a  moment  a 
glance  at  some  of  their  principal  divinities. 

In  Egypt,  Osiris,  in  general,  represents  the  good, 
as  his  brother  Typhon  does  the  evil,  though  certainly 
very  imperfectly,  since  Osiris  is  often  anything  but 
good,  and  Typhon  far  from  being  purely  evil. 

Osiris  was  the  son  of  Seb  and  Nut.  He  reigned 
over  Egypt  450  years,  traveled  over  the  rest  of  the 
world,  was  assassinated,  locked  and  sealed  up  in  a 
mummy  chest  and  thrown  into  the  Nile.  He  was 
carried  to  Bybloss  by  the  waves,  lodged  in  the 
branches  of  a  tamarisk,  which,  growing,  enclosed  him 
in  its  trunk.  Isis,  his  wife  and  sister  recovered  the 
chest  and  took  it  back  to  Egypt,  was  discovered  by 
Typhon,  who  tore  the  body  of  Osiris  into  fourteen 
pieces,  which  he  scattered  about  the  country.  Isis 
again  sought  and  found  these  pieces,  except  portions 
which  the  dogs  and  fish  had  destroyed.  He  finally 
emerges  as  Chief  of  the  Egyptian  Pantheon  and  Pre- 
siding Judge  of  the  Dead!  Supernatural  enough,  you 
say. 

In  the  Hindu  Pantheon  we  have  Brahm  repre- 
sented by  Brahma,  Vishnu  and  Siva,  three  separate 
avatars,  constituting  the  Divine  Trimurti  (Trinity). 

The  most  remarkable  of  these  is  Vishnu.  Nine 
times  he  has  been  born  into  flesh,  and  the  devout 
Hindu  is  now  expecting  his  tenth  incarnation. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  183 

He  is  regarded  as  the  Encompasser,  the  All  Pene- 
trator,  as  the  Supreme  Deity  forming  Heaven  and 
Earth;  he  is  the  indefinable  Omnipotent,  the  comrade 
of  the  gods  of  fire,  and  the  spacious  Firmanent.  He 
reclines  on  the  Lotus,  is  fierce  as  the  long-tusked 
boar,  is  guarded  by  the  hooded  serpent  of  many  heads; 
is  the  primal  fish  of  the  ocean  of  births;  is  the  eternal 
tortoise,  and  on  his  back  can  bear  the  weight  of  the 
Universe;  is  the  man-lion  and  the  fulfiller  of  space, 
who  can  at  will  take  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  dwarf. 
Brahma,  with  his  four  heads,  springs  into  being  from 
his  naval.  He  is  the  husband  of  the  peerless  vSita, 
who  is  so  pure  that  even  the  flames  of  a  furnace  can- 
not take  effect  upon  her  person,  and  much  more  to 
the  same  general  effect.^  In  like  manner  the  whole 
great  mythological  Pantheon  is  wrapped  in  endless 
legend  and  an  all-embracing  supernaturalism.  After 
making  the  most  liberal  allowance  for  allegory  and 
poetic  license,  one  cannot  but  feel  that  the  unreason- 
ing credulity,  which  the  Hindu's  faith  implies,  is  sim- 
ply marvelous. 

Mohammedanism,  as  compared  with  the  Old  Relig- 
ions, is  widely  different  and  singularly  free  from 
the  supernatural.  It  is  indeed  less  interwoven  with 
the  miraculous  than,  Christianity.  There  is  but  one 
God,  and  Mahomet  is  his  Apostle,  says  Mohamme- 
danism. There  is  but  one  God,  and  Jesus,  the  Christ, 
is  his  Son,  says  Christianity. 

I,     See  Johnson's  Cyclop. 


184  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

If  one  claimed  to  receive  frequent  revelations  from 
the  one  God,  the  other  claimed  to  reveal  and  imper- 
sonate the  Almighty  Father  in  what  he  did  and  said. 

That  the  great  name  of  Mohammed  should  inspire 
veneration,  and  even  worship,  can  hardly  surprise  the 
student  of  human  nature,  so  powerful  is  the  religious 
imagination  to  exalt  the  teacher  who  assumes  to  know 
the  will  of  God. 

Even  the  matter-of-fact,  non-religious,  but  great 
Confucius,  has  not  escaped  the  apotheosizing  ten- 
dency, while  the  mystic  and  spiritual  Gotama  was 
almost  a  born  ^^Buddha,'*  and,  ere  the  first  generation 
of  Christians  had  passed  away,  it  was  said  of  Jesus 
in  language  sufficiently  suggestive  of  philosophical 
speculation, — ^^In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and 
the  Word  was  with  God,"  and,  going  beyond  this, — 
^^the  Word  was  God.  All  things  were  made  by  him, 
and  without  him  was  not  anything  made  that  hath 
been  made."^ 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  to  this  tendency  of 
human  nature,  this  ready  credulity  in  matters  religious, 
may  be  traced  much  that  has  come  down  to  us  as 
supernatural  in  Christianity. 

And  hence  the  necessity  of  abiding  most  faithfully 
by  reason  and  authoritative  history,  in  making  up  our 
conclusions  as  to  the  supernatural  in  our  religion. 

In  our  present  state  of  knowledge  if  we  accept 
Christianity  at  all,  we  must  accept  what  is  called  the 

I.     John  i:  I,  2. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  185 

superncttural.  To  reject  it  is  historically  impossible. 
To  do  so  we  must  discredit  its  most  sacred  vouchers 
and  invalidate  its  claims  to  truth  and  consistency.  By 
definition,  by  reasonable  construction  and  inference, 
by  historical  criticism  and  emendation,  we  can  reduce 
the  miraculous  to  a  minimum,  but  that  minimum  will 
remain  until  it  is  removed  by  larger  knowledge  than 
men  now  possess,  if  removed  it  ever  shall  be. 

I  do  not  accept  the  current  teaching  that,  if  Chris- 
tianity did  not  include  the  miraculous  (as  the  term  is 
used)  it  would  not  be  a  religion  at  all.  I  cannot  think 
that  man,  endowed  with  his  great  powers  and  his 
thirst  for  knowledge,  must  always  grope  in  the  dark 
and  forever  fail  to  vindicate  his  right  to  know  what 
the  divine  order  is,  and  his  relations  to  it.  Sometime, 
somewhere,  he  must  be  relieved  from  this  conscious 
inadequacy  of  reason. 

Mr.  Hume's  famous  argument  against  miracles  has 
attracted  wide  attention,  as  one  absolutely  unanswera- 
ble.     It  is  thus  stated.- 

^ invariable  experience  is  in  favor  of  the  uniformity 
of  nature,  while  it  is  not  in  favor  of  the  infallibility  of 
human  testimony;  hence  there  is,  in  all  cases,  a 
greater  probability  of  the  falseness  of  the  miracle  than 
of  the  violation  of  the  law  of  nature  thereby  implied. '* 

Under  the  usually  accepted  definition  of  the  term 
miracle,  I  am  free  to  admit,  I  cannot  see  how  the 
force  of  this  argument  can  be  resisted. 

Webster  defines  the  term  miracle  as  ^'an  event  or 
an  effect  contrary  to  the  established   constitution  and 


1 86  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

course  of  things,  or  a  deviation  from  the  known  laws 
of  nature."  President  Seelye  says:  ^^A  miracle 
shows  a  new  force  introduced  into  nature,  by  which 
nature  is  checked  and  changed — a  miracle  may  be 
defined,  therefore,"  he  says,  ^^as  a  counteraction  of 
natu7'e  by  the  Author  of  natter  e.''^ 

To  offset  this  argument  of  Mr.  Hume,  it  has  been 
found   necessary   to  assert,    as   Mr.    Seelye    does:^ 

*^ist.      The  reasonable  may  have  no  existence. 

*^2d.      There  is  no  universal  standard  of  reason. 

*^3d.  There  is  no  uniformity  of  nature  which  does 
not  imply  the  supernatural!" 

But,  unfortunately  for  this  argument,  men  go 
steadily  forward,  assuming  that  the  reasonable  does 
exist'y  that  there  is  a  standard  of  reason  to  which  all 
men  appeal,  and  that  there  is  a  uniformity  in  the  order 
of  nature,  which  does  not  imply  ^^a  counteraction  of 
nature  by  the  Author  of  nature." 

The  reply  shows  the  desperate  strain  of  the  effort 
made  to  escape  from  the  argument. 

I  suggest  that  the  error  lies  in  the  definition  of  the 
term,  and  the  difficulty  in  our  ignorance. 

According  to  his  biographers,  Jesus  was  begotten 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  a  virgin;  and  the  very 
inception  of  the  whole  mov-^ment  is,  therefore,  you 
say,  miraculcus.  Such  an  origin  is  '^contrary  to  the 
established  constitution  of  things."     It  shows  ^*a   new 

1.  Johnston's  Cyclop.,  Art.  Miracle. 

2.  In  loco  cit. 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 87 

force  introduced  into  nature,  by  which  nature  is 
checked  and  changed." 

But  does  it?  Does  it  show  any  counteraction  of 
nature  by  the  Author  of  nature?  What  established 
order  of  things  is  checked  and  changed? 

Is  it  an  estabhshed  order  of  nature  that  the  domain 
of  animated  existence  shall  not  be  extended? — that  no 
more  species  or  genera  shall  be  produced?  Very  many 
have  been  produced.  We  know  them,  have  classified 
and  tabulated  them.  Is  it  contrary  to  any  established 
constitution  of  things,  or  to  any  law  of  nature,  that 
another  genus  or  another  species  shall  be  added? 
That  such  an  event  duly  notified  to  us  would  be  some- 
thing new,  something  different — miraculous,  is  plain 
enough,  but  would  it  be  contrary  to  any  existing  order 
of  nature?  Would  it  oppose  or  antagonize,  or  break 
any  law  of  nature? 

It  has  been  maintained  by  many  ripe  scholars, 
among  whom  was  our  own  Agassiz,  that  there  were 
different  centers  of  creation — different  genera  of  men, 
created  at  different  times  and  places.^ 

I.  The  unity  of  man  was  generally  conceded  by  the  early 
naturalists — notably  by  Buffon,  Blumenbach,  Linnaeus  and 
Prichard.  Visey,  whose  work  was  first  published  in  1801,  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  among  modern  naturalists  to  call  in  ques- 
tion the  specific  unity  of  man. 

Visey  divided  man  into  two  species,  founding  his  distinction 
mainly  upon  the  facial  angle  of  Camper. 

In  1825  Borey  de  St.  Vincent  divided  man  into  fifteen  species. 

In  1826  Desmoulins,  who  had  previously  recognized  eleven 
species,  increased  the  number  to  sixteen. 

Jacquinot,    in    1849,   recognized    three    species;    Dr.    Morton, 


1 88  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

But  while  we  have  not  accepted  this  view,  and  hold 
that  ^^of  one  blood  were  created  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth/'  would  the  addition  of  another  genus  be  incom- 
patible -mth  the  ^^established  constitution  of  things?'* 
Would  the  successive  production  of  new  types  of 
being  be  in  ^  ^violation"  of  any  known  law?  Would  it 
be  a  ^^counteraction  of  nature  by  the  Author  of 
nature?" 

But  you  say  whether  there  be  but  one  genus  homo, 
as  most  naturalists  now  agree  in  believing,  or  two,  or 
eight,  or  sixteen,  or  sixty-three  genera,  as  others  have 
taught,  they  were  not  ^  ^begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  born  of  a  virgin."  Ah!  well — ^^not  begotten  of 
the  Holy  Spirit?"  How  then  begotten,  pray?  Not 
^^born  of  a  virgin?"  True,  so  far  as  we  know.  The 
mother  conditions  of  the  human  race  in  its  origin  have 
not  been  clearly  given.  Every  human  being  is  a 
child  of  the  All  Father  in  Heaven — child  of  whatever 
mother — Son  of  God.  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  Mary — 
^^Son  of  God,"  sui generis^  ^^the  only  begotten,  full  of 
grace  and  truth."  This,  at  least.  Is  the  story  given  us 
of  Jesus.  Will  those  who  insist  upon  the  celebrated 
argument  of  the  great  English  skeptic,  point  out  what 
known  law  is  here  violated  even  by  implication? 

His  argument  is  defective  because  it  assumes  that 
a  miracle  implies  a  violation  of  some  natural  law — a 
fact  which  is  not  and  cannot  be  admitted. 

twenty-two  families;  Luke  Burke,  sixty-three  species;  Agassiz 
eight,  and  in  this  he  was  followed  by  Nott  and  Gliddon. — John- 
son s  Cyclop.,  Art.  Man,  by  M.  B.  Apder§on, 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 89 

We  leave  President  Seelye  with  his  inadmissible 
definition  of  miracle  to  take  care  of  himself;  but,  con- 
cluding on  this  point,  we  insist  against  Mr.  Hume 
that,  so  far  as  this  miracle  of  genesis  is  concerned, 
there  has  been  no  disturbance  of  the  established  con- 
stitution of  things,  no  deviation  from  any  known  law 
of  nature,  expressed  or  implied;  no  counteraction  of 
nature  by  the  Author  of  nature. 

For  a  specific  and  expressed  purpose,  an  addition 
of  another  order  of  being  was  made,  and  the  incep- 
tion of  the  wonderful  movement  which  has  since  fol- 
lowed in  the  world's  history  is  provided  for.  ^^God  so 
loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  might  not  perish  but 
have  everlasting  life. " 

With  such  a  paternity  what  should  we  expect  in  the 
character  of  Jesus?  The  human  predominating  more 
at  first,  the  divine  more  toward  the  last,  he  grows 
from  ordinary  infancy  and  childhood  to  extraordinary, 
superhuman  manhood.  Instead  of  being  both  *Very 
man"  and  ^Very  God,"  as  the  great  Council  of 
Chalcedon  declared,  he  is  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  as  his  biographers  represent  him,  but,  and  in 
strict  accord  with  what  we  know  of  the  laws  of  repro- 
duction and  heredity,  he  is  both  the  Son  of  Man  and 
the  Son  of  God.  He  is  styled  the  '^Son  of  Man" 
some  thirty  times,  and  the  ^'Son  of  God"  a  less  num- 
ber of  times  in  these  written  histories  of  him. 

If  such  be  the  genesis  of  this  remarkable  character, 
his  sphere  of  activity  would  be  larger,  and  his  power 


igo  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

greater  than  that  of  a  mere  man;  and  it  should  not 
surprise  us  if  he  should  be  found  doing  something 
that  seems  very  wonderful,  but  it  is  here  neither 
claimed  nor  admitted  that  he  ever  transcended  his 
proper  functions — ever  disturbed  or  counteracted  the 
established  constitution  of  things. 

As  to  what  he  did  do,  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
comparatively  little  has  been  transmitted  to  us.  But 
he  is  represented  as  performing  some  thirty-seven 
miracles,  which  let  us  note: 

He  stood,  with  his  disciples,  by  the  fig  tree,  which 
had  died  at  his  bidding.  They  were  amazed  at  his 
power.  He  said  to  them,  have  faith  in  God. — Mark 
ii:  22. 

He  was  asleep  on  board  a  ship  amid  a  dangerous 
sea.  His  disciples  were  alarmed.  They  aw^oke  him 
and,  trembling  with  fear,  prayed,  ^^Lord  save  us!" 
The  sea  at  once  became  calm,  and  he  said  to  them, 
^^O  ye  of  little  faith."— Matt.  8:   25. 

On  another  occasion  the  disciples  were  at  sea  and 
they  beheld  Jesus  in  the  distance  walking  upon  the 
sea.  The  impetuous  Peter  could  not  wait,  but  desired 
to  go  to  meet  him,  and  he  bid  him  come.  He 
started,  but  terrified  at  the  surging  waves,  he  began 
to  sink,  and  cried,  ^^Lord,  save,  or  I  perish."  Jesus 
reaching,  caught  him,  and  said,  ^^Wherefore  did  you 
doubt?"— Matt.  14:   29. 

On  one  occasion  his  disciples  tried  to  cure  a  young 
lunatic,  but  could  not.  The  boy's  father  took  him  to 
Jesus  and   reported  their   failure.     He   immediately 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  igi 

effected  a  cure,  and  turning  to  his  disciples  said,  ^'O 
faithless  and  perverse  generation,  how  long  shall  I  be 
with  you?  How  long  shall  I  suffer  you?"  And,  when 
they  desired  to  know  why  they  could  not  effect  a  cure, 
he  said,  ^ ^because  of  your  unbelief." 

Three  times  he  is  reported  as  having  brought  the 
dead  to  life,  one  after  being  dead  ^^four  days!" 
Among  the  other  wonders  wrought  by  him  were,  as 
reported,  restoring  sight  to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the 
deaf,  and  health  to  the  sick  and  diseased.  Many  of 
them,  somehow,  were  conditioned  on  "faith.' ^  Of 
these  thirty-seven  different  miracles,  so-called,  six 
are  reported  by  two,  and  twelve  by  three  of  his 
biographers. 

It  must  be  remembered,  now,  that  these  authors 
wrote  in  an  age  of  miracles — they  were  common — 
they  were  in  the  air.  They  wrote  long  after  the 
events  reported  had  transpired,  twenty  to  sixty  years 
or  more  afterward;^  and  it  should  not  greatly  surprise 
us  if  their  accounts  should  differ  in  some  of  the 
details — if  some  should  report  what  others  omit,  if 
something  of  error  should  be  mixed  with  the  truth, 
nor  if  some  things  were  reported  as  miracles  that  were 
wrongfully  accredited  as  such.  They  wrote  what 
they  knew,  or  at  least  believed  to  be  true,  and  this  is 
all  that  should  be  claimed  for  them. 

But  what  about  being  ^'inspired"  by  the  Holy 
Spirit   of  God,    to   write  only   the  truth — Well,  what 

I.  See  Haweis'  Christ  and  Christianity,  Story  of  the  Four, 
PP-  ^5.  43.  73- 


192  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

about  it?  If  there  are  those  who  can  yet  accept  the 
theory  of  plenary  inspiration,  let  it  be  so.  They  will 
probably  in  time  be  compelled  to  abandon  this  view. 
Each  writer  seems  to  have  a  personality  of  his  own. 
His  language  and  style  are  his  own.  His  account 
differs  in  some  respects  from  that  of  each  of  the 
others.  Ere  the  account  ends  they  all  confess  them- 
selves to  have  been  mistaken  as  to  what,  on  certain 
occasions,  the  Master  tried  to  teach  them,  and  none 
of  them  lays  any  claim  to  having  been  infallibly 
directed  to  write  what  he  did;  even  their  quotations 
from  the  Old  Testament  are  frequently  forced,  some- 
times erroneous — all  of  which,  and  more,  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  theory  of  plenary  inspiration. 

If,,  then,  anything  has  been  reported  as  a  miracle 
which  is  known  to  contradict  or  violate  a  law  of 
nature,  known  to  be  contrary  to  the  *  ^established  con- 
stitution of  things,"  it  must  be  instantly  rejected, 
there  must  be  error  in  the  report — error  somewhere.  It 
cannot  be  historically  true,  and  the  Christian  religion 
must  not  be  held  responsible  for  it. 

But  let  us  weigh  these  words.  Many,  very  many 
things  are,  and  must  be,  believed  that  are  not  known. 
I  have  used  the  word  known.  Does  any  one,  or 
more,  of  the  wonderful  things  done  by  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  reported  as  miracles,  antagonize,  contra- 
dict, violate  any  natural  law  or  '^established  constitu- 
tion of  things?''  Does  the  established  order  of  nature 
forbid  healing  the  sick,  giving  sight  to  the  blind  or 
hearing  to  the  deaf?     What,  then,  is  the  vocation  of 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  1 93 

the  physician  but  a  contest  with  nature?  So  far  from 
it  that  nature  is  ever  seeking  to  do  these  very  things 
herself,  and,  in  a  great  majority  of  cases,  succeeds; 
the  broken  bone  knits,  the  wound  is  healed,  and 
health  restored.  But  there  are  cases  in  which  nature 
seems  to  need  a  little  help,  and  hence  the  need  of  the 
physician.  If  the  physician  knew  more  he  could  help 
more;  at  least  there  is  no  antagonism  between  him 
and  nature,  unless,  indeed,  he  assume  the  role  of  the 
^^quack, "  and  begin  outright  to  antagonize  nature,  as 
he  too  often  does. 

If,  then,  the  thirty-seven  miracles,  reported,  are  hard 
to  understand — transcend  our  knowledge,  let  us  go  slow, 
hold  them  sub  Judice,  until  we  come  to  know  whether 
they  do  actually  contradict,  or  ^  ^antagonize"  the 
established  order  of  nature. 

Suppose  that  too  years  ago  some  Watt  had  left  his 
friends  in  Liverpool,  and  after  less  than  twelve  days  he 
had  returned  to  them  again,  bringing  with  him  a  score 
of  proofs  that  he  had  in  the  meantime  been  in  New 
York — had  made  the  round  trip  across  the  Atlantic ! 
In  the  face  of  all  proof  everybody  would  have  said, 
*  ^impossible!"  Or  suppose  some  LeSage,  loo  years 
ago,  had  said  to  a  friend,  step  into  the  office  across  the 
street,  and  wait,  in  six  seconds  I  will  send  you  a  mes- 
sage around  the  world — and  it  is  done.  But  everybody 
says,  ^^Youjoke;  it  cannot  be — it  is  impossible — pre- 
posterous !  !" 

Or,  suppose  that  but  forty  years  ago  some  Bell,  or 
Gray  had  said  to  a  friend  in  New  York  City,      ^^You 


194  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

know  me  well,  my  voice  and  manner  of  speech,  with 
its  peculiar  inflections  and  intonations;  you  go  over  to 
Chicago,  looo  miles  away,  put  your  ear  to  a  little 
trumpet  hanging  on  the  wall  of  the  Mayor's  office  and 
I  will  speak  to  you  in  audible  tones,  exactly  at  4  o'clock, 
p.m.,  making  allowance  for  difference  in  longitude. 
At  that  moment  you  shall  hear  me— you  will  recognize 
my  voice,  its  peculiar  inflections  and  cadences."  Pre- 
posterous !  But  it  is  done,  and  he  has  heard  as  per 
agreement !  !  ! 

Or  suppose  that  some  Edison,  less  than  forty  years 
ago,  had  said,  ^^At  midnight  to-morrow  I  will  bid  the 
light  of  day  flash  in  an  instant  from  the  all-embracing 
air,  and  light  up  every  city  on  the  continent." 

Or  suppose  he  should  say  he  had  in  his  possession 
a  box  which  he  had  brought  from  the  opposite  side  of 
the  globe,  in  which  he  had  locked  up  a  curious  speech 
and  laid  it  away  for  future  hearing,  and  that  if  his 
friends  were  curious  to  hear  an  Oriental  in  his  own 
voice  and  words,  the  inflections  and  intonations  per- 
fect, he  would  gratify  them.  What !  Is  this  Edison 
crazy?  The  puzzling  challenge  is  accepted.  He  un- 
locks the  wizard  phonograph,  and  sure  enough  they 
instantly  hear  the  said  Oriental  begin  his  speech.  On 
and  on  he  goes.  The  reproduction  is  exact.  Astound- 
ing! What  now?  Would  not  all  the  doctors  vote 
Edison  in  league  with  the  devil,  or  be  disposed  to  fall 
down  and  worship  him?  These  sons  of  genius  are  not 
wizards,  not  imposters,  not  endowed  with  super, 
natural  power.     They  do  not  even  claim  to  be  begotten 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I95 

of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  a  virgin.  They  might 
each  say  in  all  truth  and  candor,  *^the  things  which 
ye  see  me  do,  shall  ye  do,  and  even  greater  things  than 
these.'' 

The  difficulty  with  the  supernatural  in  Christianity 
lies  most  in  our  lack  vf  knowledge  and  not  probably  in 
any  conflict  with  the  order  of  nature.  We  know  full 
well  that  mystery  and  miracle  dissolve  and  disappear 
as  knowledge  increases.  The  position  attained  by 
the  profound  scholar  enables  him  to  see  through  and 
comprehend  a  thousand  things  that  are  as  inscrutable 
as  mystery  itself,  to  the  ignorant  plodders  in  life's 
pathway  below. 

Now,  strip  the  reported  m.iracles  of  Jesus  of  Ori- 
ental tropes,  and  Oriental  extravagance,  and  study 
them  with  Anglo-American  directness  and  common 
sen^e,  and  how  many  of  them  do  we  know  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  natural  order?  Different  from  the 
usual  order,  new,  strange,  unaccountable  they  may 
be,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  they  must  be  incom- 
patible with  natural  law,  did  we  but  know  the  law. 
If  you  would  reproduce  an  oratorio  of  Handel,  an 
opera  of  M.ozart,  or  a  symphony  of  Beethoven,  you 
must  know  what  key  to  touch,  what  note  to  prolong. 
Grant  that  the  wonderful  Son  of  Man  knew  what  key 
to  touch  and  what  note  to  prolong,  and  you  probably 
have  most,  if  not  all  the  thirty-seven  miracles  reported, 
accounted  for,  and  this,  too,  without  hypothecating 
any  violation  of  nature's  order. 

It  must  be  noted  that  Jesus  did  not  claim  that  this 


ig6  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

miracle  power  belonged  to  himself  only.  So  far  from 
it  that  he  assured  his  disciples  that  they  too  could  do 
the  same  things  he  did,  and  even  ^  ^greater  than  these/* 
if  they  would  but  put  themselves  into  proper  relations 
to  the  work — they  must  have  ^^faith" — must  not  doubt 
their  ability  to  do,  and  herein,  let  us  admit  candidly, 
our  trouble  is  doubled. 

This  power  belongs  to  men,  not  because  of  any 
peculiar  sanctity,  or  holiness  of  character,  giving  them 
closer  access  to  God,  and  securing  the  divine  help.  It 
can  hardly  be  said  that  the  disciples  had  then  been 
even  converted.  They  certainly  knew  little  of  the 
Christ-mission  and  the  Christ-work.  But  he  assured 
them  in  true  Oriental  imagery  that,  ^^if  they  had  faith,  *' 
but  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  they  could  say  to 
this  mountain,  ^^be  thou  taken  up  and  cast  into  the  sea, 
and  it  would  be  done. ' ' 

What  now?  Are  we  to  be  lifted  from  terra  firma 
and  suspended  in  mid  ether?  Must  we  at  the  last 
moment  surrender  reason,  and  betake  ouraelves  to 
faith  and  mystery,  if  we  would  be  Christians? 

Or,  does  the  author  of  Christianity  only  mean  to 
teach  us,  when  his  teaching  is  put  into  Anglo-Ameri- 
can phrase,  that  confidence  in  the  result  goes  far 
toward  achieving  it;  that  devotion  and  concentrated 
effort  are  conditions  of  the  largest  success — that  men 
have  failed  to  appreciate  these  conditions — that 
human  power  and  human  effort  have  not  been  called 
into  action  and  relied  upon  for  half  their  capacity? 
Does  he   mean   to  teach   that,  if  men,   did   they  but 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  I97 

know  it,  stand  in  the  immediate  presence  of  mighty 
forces,  whose  concealed  spring  they  shall  yet  learn  to 
touch,  whose  latent  power  they  shall  yet  learn  to 
develop,  and  command  for  purposes  of  achieving 
results  which  only  seem  to  be  supernatural? 

We  think  of  spirit.  We  have  a  consciousness  that 
the  soul  is  something  different  from  inert  matter.  We 
are  accustomed  to  think  of  spirit  as  living  and  having 
pov/er  as  opposed  to  death.  But  what  is  life  and  what 
is  death?  Science  is  making  more  and  more  narrow 
the  chasm  which  separates  spirit  and  matter — life  and 
death.  What  if  this  process  continues?  Give  us  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  brink  on  the  hither  and  the  nither 
side,  and  may  not  this  required  '^faith,"  this  Pistue, 
span  the  chasm  and  open  up  a  new  world?  May  it 
not  close  the  circuit  of  available  means  and  make  the 
truly  miraculous  possible  on  a  scale  hitherto  unthought 
of  ?  The  human  soul  touches  the  external  world  at 
five  points  and  wakes  to  conscious  relations  with  it. 
What  would  a  hundred  senses  instead  of  only  five 
reveal  to  us? 

Within  the  deep  darkness  of  a  subterranean  cavern 
you  have  perhaps  four  senses:  touch,  taste,  hearing, 
smell.  Introduce  a  ray  of  light  and  another  sense  is 
given  you,  and  with  it  behold  the  over-arching  glory! 
Gleaming  crystal  and  stalactite  with  every  hue  and 
image  of  color  and  beauty.  We  stand  upon  the  very 
brink  of  the  spiritual.  Already  the  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone have  well  nigh  annihilated  time  and  space. 
The  next  turn  of  the   wheel  may  give  us  the  victory 


198  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

over  gravity  and  opacity,  contingent  only  upon  the 
use  of  proper  means  as  indicated  by  Jesus  to  his  dis- 
ciples. On  all  subjects  and  at  all  times,  when  proper 
tests  have  been  made,  this  wonderful  Son  of  Man  has 
been  found  very  much  in  advance  of  current  thought. 
This  has  been  more  than  once  indicated  in  preceding 
pages  of  this  work.  He  doubtless  had  a  range  of  vision 
that  ordinary  mem  have  not.  Within  the  larger  sphere 
of  his  knowledge  and  power,  we  may  suppose  it  were 
easy  for  him  to  do  what  might  seem  to  us  to  be  very 
wonderful — impossible.  In  some  of  these  miracles  he 
may  have  been  incorrectly  reported.  The  authors 
were  human,  very  human,  and  very  imperfect,  and  may 
have  misapprehended  some, or  many,  of  the  facts  in  any 
given  case.  They  may  have  been  imposed  upon — 
mistaken — and  before  taking  up  a  charge  against  the 
founder  of  the  Christian  system,  or  against  any  one 
else  for  that  matter,  we  should  know  whereof  we  affirm. 
Jesus  was  no  imposter,  no  spiritual  mountebank,  ex- 
ploiting unsupported  pretensions  before  a  credulous 
public.  His  reputation  for  candor  and  truth  is  unim- 
peachable. In  the  world's  history  he  stands  much 
above  other  men,  and  I  submit  that  we  are  hardly  com- 
petent to  pronounce  against  him.  With  reverent 
spirits  we  may  say,  with  the  bewildered  Nicodemus, 
'^Hqw  can  these  things  be!"  But,  until  we  attain  to 
greater  heights  of  knowledge  and  become  better  able 
to  test  their  truth,  shall  we  be  able  to  intelligently 
reject  the  miracles  of  Jesus  as  false  or  impossible? 
There    is    too    much    for    us    and    for    the    world    in 


THE    OLD    RELIGIONS.  IQQ 

Christianity  to  allow  its  claims  to  be  hastily  set 
aside. 

I  would  not  ask  the  skeptic  to  forego  his  reason,  or 
abandon  common  sense,  as  so  many  seem  to  do,  in 
embracing  religion.  This  were  a  crime  against  his 
better  nature.  There  can  be  nothing  sacred  enough, 
even  in  religion,  to  justify  such  a  course.  But  if  a 
cloud  overspread  the  sun,  shall  we  hastily  conclude 
that  it  has  left  its  place  in  the  heavens?  If  a  spot  has 
been  discovered  upon  its  disk,  shall  we  close  our  eyes 
to  the  radiant  light  and  live  our  poor  lives  through  in 
perpetual  night  ?  If  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus  the 
Christ  we  find  things  too  high  for  us — difficult,  impos- 
sible for  us  to  understand — let  us  not  allow  them  to 
discredit  our  religion,  or  shake  our  confidence  in  what 
we  knoiv  to  be  good  and  true.  We  can  well  afford  to 
hold  them  under  judgment  until  the  resolving  light 
shall  come,  as  come  it  will,  we  may  be  sure. 

But  after  all,  these  thirty-seven  miracles  with  which 
his  biographers  accredit  him,  are  but  minor  miracles. 
Grant  that  his  parentage  and  birth  were  as  they  have 
been  reported,  that  he  lived  a  blameless  and  very 
extraordinary  life,  that  he  was  crucified,  dead,  and 
buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  to  life,  displaying  evi- 
dently superhuman  characteristics,  and  we  need  not 
stop  to  higgle  over  the  question  whether  he  once  con- 
verted water  into  wine  at  a  wedding,  or  whether  in 
some  mysterious  way,  but  imperfectly  reported,  he  fed 
4,000  or  5,000  people  in  the  wilderness.  Under  the 
lead  of  the  principal  facts,  sufficiently   authenticated, 


200  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

minors  and  details  must  fall  into  line,  and  both  the 
Christian  apologist  and  the  skeptic  betray  their  weak- 
ness when  they  lose  sight  of  the  governing  facts,  and 
allow  themselves  to  become  engrossed  with  mere 
details  and  incidents.  If  the  extraordinary  life  and 
teaching  of  the  Son  of  Man — his  startling  revelations 
in  the  sphere  of  morals  and  religion — accord  with  and 
enforce  the  circumstantial  and  historical  proof  of  his 
resurrection  and  ascension  to  heaven,  we  may  rest 
assured  that  somehow  all  minor  mysteries  will  at  last 
dissolve  and  leave  the  sky  above  and  about  us  without 
a  cloud. 


We  say  nothing  of  schools  of  theology  with  their  conflicting 
interpretations,  nothing  of  private  and  speculative  beliefs  in 
outside  circles,  nothing  of  skepticism  touching  religion  in  general; 
but  so  long  as  religion  itself,  as  a  system  of  truth,  is  a  complex 
inconsistency,  or  an  architectural  absurdity,  or  its  disciples  are 
ignoraiit  of  the  truths  that  enter  into  its  composition,  there  will 
be  necessity  for  repeated  exploration,  adoption  of  new  definitions 
and  ventures  on  higher  achievements. 

— Plato  and  Paul, 


PART  IIL 


THE  NEW  RELIGION— OUTLINED. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Christ  Character. 

In  pursuance  of  our  purpose  to  find  a  remedy  for 
the  imperfections  and  infirmities  of  men,  we  turn  now 
from  the  Old  Religions  to  the  New.  Does  it  supple- 
ment what  was  found  to  be  lacking  in  them?  Is  it 
better  suited  to  the  needs  of  mankind  than  were  they? 
Is  it  so  adapted  to  human  wants  as  to  justify  the  hope 
that  it  will  become  the  religion  of  humanity?  These 
are  large  and  serious  questions,  and  they  demand  our 
utmost  candor  and  most  earnest  attention. 

Christianity,  though  a  comparatively  new  religion, 
has  now  had  a  history  of  about  nineteen  centuries. 
It  came,  it  is  said,  in  the  ^  ^fullness  of  the  time" — in  the 
golden  age  of  the  ancient  civilizations,  when  men 
were  better  prepared  to  understand  and  appreciate  it 
than  they  had  ever  been.  Egyptian  theology  and 
science  had  shed  their  light.  The  institutes  of  Menu 
were  held  in  venerated  authority.  Buddha  and  Laotze 
^,nd    Confucius   had   taught   mankind   for   centuries, 


204  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

Pythagoras  and  Socrates  and  Plato  had  Hved. 
Stoicism  and  epicureanism  had  borne  their  best  fruits. 
Greek  philosophy  was  enshrined  in  tomes  of  papyrus; 
Greek  and  Roman  science  and  art  in  imperishable 
monuments.  Rome  had  thrown  her  doors  wide  open 
to  all  religions,  and  the  light  of  the  ages  was  concen- 
trated upon  the  time  and  the  spot  when  and  where 
Christianity  had  its  birth. 

It  has  since  been  presented  to  the  consideration  of 
more  than  fifty  generations.  As  a  religion  it  is  incom- 
parably simple  in  its  teachings  and  direct  in  its  pur- 
poses. In  a  trial  of  nineteen  centuries,  under  such 
enlightened  observation,  and  before  such  competent 
judges,  one  would  suppose  that  its  merits  or  demerits 
would  ha.ve  been,  by  this  time,  so  attested  as  to  leave 
no  division  of  opinion  and  sentiment  in  regard  to  the 
one  or  the  other,  in  the  public  mind. 

But  this  result  has  not  been  attained.  Counting  in 
all  nominal  with  real  Christians  the  world  over,  not 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  population  of  the  globe 
has  accepted  the  New  Religion.^ 

What  then  is  the  matter?  Is  it  because  it  antago- 
nizes the  Old   Religions,  which  men  are  slow  to  give 

I.  According  to  Prof.  Schem,  as  quoted  by  H.  W.  Bellows,  in 
Johnson's  Encyclopedia,  the  population  of  the  globe  is  1,392,000,- 
000;  Roman  Catholics,  201,000,000;  Protestants,  106,000,000; 
Eastern  Churches,  81,000,000.  Total  Nominal  Christians,  388,- 
000,000;  Buddhists,  340,000,000;  Mohammedans,  2oi,ooo,ooci 
Brahmins,  175,000,000;  Followers  of  Confucius,  80,000,000; 
Sintoo  Religion,  14,000,000;  Judaism,  7,000,000;  Total  of  all 
Religions,  1,205,000,000. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  205 

Up? — because  it  requires    reformation    of  life,    which 

men  are  slow  to  make? — because  it  involves  mysteries, 

which    men    are    slow   to  believe?      Possibly,    and  in 

part. 

Biographers, 

Early  in  the  history  of  his  public  life  Jesus  chose 
twelve  men,  who  became  his  followers  and  constant 
companions,  and  to  whom  he  sedulously  sought  to  im- 
part a  correct  knowledge  of  his  character  and  mission. 
Two  of  these  afterward  became  his  biographers.  They 
were  Jewish  peasants,  without  previous  distinction 
among  men. 

Mark  and  Luke  also  wrote  up  the  story  of  the  life 
and  works  of  Jesus.  Mark  was  the  companion  of 
Peter,  who,  as  one  of  the  twelve,  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  apostolic  college.  Mark  was  himself,  no  doubt,  an 
eye  and  ear  witness  to  much  he  records,  and  accepted 
Peter's  account  of  what  was  done  as  authoritative. 

Luke  was  the  constant  companion  of  the  great 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  He  was  a  physician — a  man 
of  somewhat  wider  intelligence — but  was  doubtless 
very  much  under  the  influence  of  Paul,  the  Jew,  whose 
beliefs  and  opinions  may  be  read  between  the  lines, 
though  he  himself  was  more  a  Greek. 

From  these  four  historians,  with  incidental  contribu- 
tions direct  from  Peter,  and  James,  and  Judas,  other 
members  of  the  college,  and  from  Paul,  who  claims  to 
have  been  a  competent  witness,  we  have  learned  what 
we  know  of  the  immediate  life  and  teaching  of  the  Son 
of  Man — the  founder  of  the  New  Religion, 


2o6  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Since  the  story  they  have  written  up  is  a  most  won- 
derful one  and  beyond  comparison  the  most  powerful 
in  its  yet  living  and  wide  reaching  influence,  touching 
all  our  most  sacred  interests,  it  is  important  to  note 
their  qualifications  for  a  task  so  momentous.  Are  the 
facts  they  give  credible  ?  Is  the  subject  matter  a  legend, 
a  painted  fiction,  or  a  true  history? 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  them  and  their  work 
through  this  short  and  simple  narrative^  they  have 
become  the  venerated  teachers  o£  a  large  part  of  man- 
kind, and  without  pretense  of  fostering  genius,  and 
without  the  patronage  of  fortune,  their  story  of  Jesus 
is  certain  to  outlive  the  most  brilliant  and  renowned 
^  ^classics.'' 

The  subject  matter  of  this  history,  prhna  facie,  chal- 
lenges our  incredulity  and  puts  upon  us  the  necessity 
of  questioning  its  authenticity  at  ev^ry  step  of  our 
inquiry  into  its  contents.  Abiding,  then,  by  the  canons 
of  historic  criticism,  are  we  compelled  to  accept  these 
narratives  as  true  history? 

1.  In  the  first  place  these  biographers  were  well 
meaning,  honest  gazeteers,  and  wrote  down  only  what 
they  knew,  or  believed  to  be  true. 

This  is  frankly  admitted  by  all,  I  believe,  even  by 
those  who  have  shown  the  most  hostility  to  their  record. 

2.  They  made  no  pretense  to  scholarship  or  exten- 
sive learning.  Not  one  of  them  stood  at  the  head  of 
any  school  of  philosophy,  or  was  prominent  in  any  such 
school.  If  John  exhibits  some  traces  of  Neo-Platonic 
influence^  he  nevertheless  writes  down  a  simple  narra 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  207 

tive  of  what  he  saw  and  heard,  indulging  but  rarely  in 
speculation.  ^ 

If  we  except  Luke  and  Paul,  they  were  unsophisti- 
cated peasants,  untrained  is  histronic  art,  and  qualified 
only  with  good  eyes  and  ears  to  see  and  hear,  and  with 
a  good  memory  to  preserve  the  facts,  and  an  honest 
purpose  to  make  true  record  of  them. 

Luke  and  Paul,  with  somewhat  wider  range  of  knowl- 
edge,  do  not  vary,  but  reaiSrm  and  sustain  the  story 
throughout  as  given  by  their  more  illiterate  fellow 
biographers. 

3.  They  all  had  good  opportunities  to  know  whereof 
they  wrote — Matthew  and  John  especially.  Their 
intimate  and  protracted  acquaintance  and  discipleship 
with  Jesus,  their  presence  in  moments  of  great  stress 
and  emergency,  furnished  them  rare  opportunities  to 
know  him — his  habits  and  manner  of  life,  his  temper 
and  spirit  as  they  appeared  in  the  flash  of  his  eye  and 
tones  of  his  voice — and  qualified  them  for  painting  the 
artless  picture  they  have  given  us. 

4.  But  they  could  not  have  been  free  from  errone- 
ous beliefs  and  prepossession.  No  historian  ever  is. 
Profound  scholarship,  extensive  travel  and  commerce 
with  the  world,  a  wide  knowledge  of  the  customs,  hab- 
its  and   beliefs   of  men,  will  help  the  historian  to  rise 

I.     It  is  believed  by  some  that  John  oiJy  furnished  the  matter 
in  substance,  and  that  the  gloss  of  speculation  apparent  in  the  ' 
work  are  chargeable  to  the  compiler,  who   must   have   been    an 
educated  Greek.     (See  Hawies'  Christ  and  Christianity,  page  95.) 


2o8  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

above  the  level  of  prevailing  error  and  prejudice,  and 
divest  him  of  the  narrower  views  of  his  countrymen; 
but  these  authors  had  neither  large  scholarship  nor 
large  commerce  with  the  world,  nor  a  wide  knowledge 
of  the  customs  and  beliefs  of  other  peoples.  As  already 
said,  they  were  Jewish  peasants.  They  breathe  a  com- 
mon Jewish  atmosphere.  They  have  a  common  men- 
tal furnishing  made  up  of  opinions  and  beliefs  then 
current  in  the  public  mind,  which  were  to  some  extent 
unavoidably  woven  into  their  story. 

5.  And  then,  too,  they  were,  and  the  fact  must  not 
be  forgotten,  very  much  below  and  inferior  to  their 
Master,  whose  life  they  seek  to  reproduce.  This  is 
always  and  everywhere  apparent.  They  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  understand  him.  Often  they  could  not  under- 
stand him  at  all,  as  they  frankly  afterward  confess. 
Often  they  misinterpreted  him  as  they  afterward  dis- 
cover and  confess.  He  led  the  way;  they  simply 
followed,  often  utterly  surprised  and  confounded  be- 
cause of  what  they  saw  and  heard.  He  spake  with 
self-assertion  and  authority.  With  hesitating  surprise 
and  humility  they  listened  and  treasured  up  in  memory. 
Twenty  to  forty  years  afterward  they  wrote  down  what 
they  could. 

But  they  wrote  wiser  than  they  knew.  The  deep 
truths,  the  moral  and  spiritual  significaiice  and  pro- 
found wisdom  of  what  they  somewhat  mechanically 
wrote  down  has  furnished  themes  for  study  by  thq 
^wisest  and  best  through  the  ages,  and  yet  chaUeuge^ 
I'eji^.W^d  ^i}4  qgptiB^^d  investigation. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  209 

6.  We  are  not  to  suppose  their  own  views  and  faith 
were  free  from  errors  of  belief,  nor  does  this  conclusion 
rest  on  any  apparent  discrepancies  in  their  respective 
accounts.  There  are  some  such  discrepancies,  but 
they  are  not  material.  They  affect  the  general  account 
little  more  than  to  prove  that  there  was  no  servile 
copying,  no  collusion  to  palm  off  a  fiction  upon  the 
public.  These  errors  were  errors  of  Old  Testament 
exegesis,  errors  in  the  comprehension  of  figures  of 
speech,  of  tropes  and  allegories,  in  resting  in  the  letter 
and  not  perceiving  the  true  meaning  beyond  it.  Of 
some  of  these  errors  the  Master  frequently  sought  to 
disabuse  them  but  could  not.  Knowledge  of  the  truth 
had  to  await  the  revelations  of  time. 

That  they  finally  caught  his  true  meaning,  and  put 
down  just  those  words  which  would  convey  it  to  the 
generations  that  were  to  follow  is  hardly  probable. 

They  have  left  us  a  remarkable  record,  a  record 
made  in  all  honesty  of  purpose,  and  bequeathed  it  to  us 
for  our  interpretation  in  the  light  of  larger  knowledge 
and  better  opportunities. 

So  much,  it  seems  in  candor,  it  is  necessary  to 
grant  and  predicate  concerning  these  biographers  of 
the  Son  of  Man — Son  of  God. 

While,  then,  we  accept  the  history  of  the  founder  of 
Christianity,  as  given  us  by  these  authors,  let  us  avoid 
the  too  prevalent  practice  of  ascribing  to  him  teach- 
ings and  doctrines  which  they  have  not  reported  as 
his,  and  which  in  fact  h^ye  b^en  improperly  ascribe^] 
to  him  b^  ptbejr§, 


2IO  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

In  order  to  a  correct  comprehension  of  the  Chris- 
tian system,  it  has  been  the  custom  to  consult,  not 
only  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  but  the  Church 
and  Church  Fathers  as  well.  The  ''Church,'"  so 
called,  assuming  to  be  the  embodiment  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion,  has  claimed  to  be  its  authoritative 
expounder;  but  it  has  made  sad  work  of  it. 

The  Church  proper  took  form  after  the  departure  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  among  men.  It  grew  up  under  the 
supervision  of  the  ^  ^Twelve"  and  Paul,  and  the 
Fathers.  Some  of  these  have  been  canonized  as 
authority  in  matters  of  religion,  and  their  teaching  is 
held  sacred.  Whatever  views  and  doctrines  they, 
and  ,  the  expounding  church,  in  council  assembled, 
expressed  or  endorsed,  as  judges  of  the  Christian 
Canon,  has  been  credited  to,  or  charged  upon,  Chris- 
tianity. They  have  thus  becom_e  factors  in  the  popu- 
lar estimate  of  the  Christian  system.  Christianity  is 
no  longer  the  embodiment  of  the  principles  and 
teachings  of  its  Founder,  as  illustrated  by  his  life,  but, 
the  principles  and  teachings  of  the  ^  ^Apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  being  but  the  Chief  Corner- 
Stone."  Still  later,  and  now,  it  is  that  embodiment 
of  doctrines  and  principles  which  are  represented  and 
set  forth  by  the  organized  church. 

If  we  would  make  a  proper  estmiate  of  the  New 
Religion,  as  distinguished  from  the  Old  Religions,  we 
must  differentiate  it,  not  only  from  the  mass  of  specu- 
lation and  dogma  which  preceded  it,  but  also  from 
that  which  has  been  foisted  upon  it,  and  interwoven 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  211 

with,  by  subsequent  teachers  and  councils.  It  is 
obviously  just  and  proper  to  judge  the  Founder  of 
Christianity,  and  Christianity  itself^  by  what  he  taught 
and  sanctioned  rather  than  by  what  others  have  taught 
concerning  him  and  his  teaching.  As  to  matters  of 
historic  fact,  we  must  accept  the  statements  of  his 
biographers;  but,  as  to  the  drift  and  significance  of 
what  he  taught,  none  are  to  be  trusted  as  supreme 
authority,  not  even  the  Apostles  themselves,  and 
much  less  the  later  Fathers  and  Church  Councils. 

"The  first  century  of  the  Christian  era  produced  a  large  number 
of  literary  works,  beyond  those  contained  in  the  New  Testament; 
and  such  of  these  works  as  were  of  genuine  Apostolic  origin,  or 
were  faithful  representatives  of  Christian  truth,  must  be  sepa- 
rated and  recognized  apart  from  all  others.  There  was  no  distinct 
dividing  line  to  be  drawn.  The  division  did  not  make  or  suggest 
itself.  The  whole  body  of  works  might  be  graded  from  Matthew 
down  to  the  most  gross  and  contemptible  product  of  superstition, 
but  the  stages  were  gradual  all  the  way.  Different  persons 
differed  in  their  comparative  estimates  (of  the  several  produc- 
tions) though  they  agreed  in  the  general  range  of  estimate. 

Down  to  the  middle  of  the  second  century  the  Christians  used 
the  Old  Testament  for  their  apologetics  and  their  polemics.  We 
do  not  find  in  any  writers  earlier  than  Irenaeus,  A.  D.  202,  refer- 
ences to  the  New  Testament  writings  as  authoritative,  or  inspired 
in  any  such  sense  as  the  Old  Testament  was  believed  to  be 
inspired.  The  books  were  collected  and  studied  and  compared, 
and  their  respective  authority  determined.  The  informal  verdict 
of  the  Church  accepted  certain  books,  and  rejected  others,  but 
there  were  a  num.ber  which  were  on  the  line  or  in  doubt,  as  the 
Epistle  of  Jude,  the  second  of  Peter,  the  second  and  third  of  John, 
the  Epistles  to  the  Hebrews,  etc."l 

1.     W.  G.  Summer,  in  Johnson's  Cyclopedii,  Art.  Bible 


^12  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

The  Council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  has  the  honor  of 
nearly  completing  the  Christian  Canon  as  we  have 
it  now,  though  it  was  not  formally  declared  complete 
until  Pope  Innocent,  A.  D.  405,  fixed  the  Canon  by 
decree  as  it  now  stands.^ 

But  by  this  time  great  changes  had  been  wrought 
in  the  status  and  methods  of  the  New  Religion. 

Jesus  had  taught  that  his  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world — does  not  depend  upon  wealth  or  political 
power.  It  had  its  place  in  the  transformed  lives  of 
his  disciples. 

But  under  date  of  A.  D.  325  it  was  different. 

The  church,  under  Constantine,  had  become  great 
and  powerful.  It  dictated  policies  and  made  emper- 
ors. It  held  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven — 
could  forgive  and  retain  the  sins  of  men.  Without 
its  pale  men  could  not  be  saved — at  least  such  were 
the  preposterous  claims  made  by  the  ecclesiastics 
who  assembled  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  sacred 
canon. 

The  Council  of  Nice  VN^as  the  first  Ecumenical.  It 
was  probably  fairly  representative,  but  it  is  very  pos- 
sible that  those  comprising  it  were  hardly  qualified 
for  such  a  task.  Some  of  them  were  ambitious  of 
place  and  power,  many  of  them  were  selfish,  some 
of  them  were  tools  in  the  hands  of  unscrupulous 
leaders,  and  all  of  them  liable  to  mistake.  It  is  very 
possible   that   they    failed   to   properly  represent    the 

I.      In  loco  cit. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  21 3 

Founder  of  Christianity  in  his  teaclmig^  as  they  cer- 
tainly failed  to  exhibit  his  spirit  in  the  bitter  contest 
they  waged  with  each  other  in  that  council. 

King  Asoka,  the  Indian  Constantine,  had  to  remind 
the  assembled  priests  at  the  great  council  which  he 
had  called  to  settle  the  Buddhist  Canon,  that  what 
was  said  by  Buddha,  that  alone  was  well  said'^  but  the 
Christian  Constantine  enjoined  no  such  limitation 
upon  the  Council  of  Nice.  Did  the  members  of  this 
great  council  incorporate  nothing  of  doubtful  inspira- 
tion? Were  the  doctrines  which  they  approved  and 
put  upon  record  just  such  as  the  Master  himself  had 
delivered,  or  fairly  deducible  from  them?  Must  we 
accept  the  compact  organization  then  recognized  as 
the  '^Church,"  with  its  claims  of  power  to  forgive  and 
to  retain  sins — to  bind  and  to  loose  the  souls  of  men, 
and  its  assumption  of  authority  to  punish  heresy  with 
faggot  and  flame — as  the  authorized  expounder  of 
Christian  faith  and  doctrine?  Shall  we  go  to  this 
council  and  a  teaching  church  for  the  contents  of 
Christianity?  Or  to  the  Founder  of  the  Christian 
religion  himself,  as  he  has  been  presented  by  the 
historian? 

The  earliest  expounders  of  Christianity  did  not,  like 
the  present  Pope,  claim  infallibility.  Even  Paul  and 
Peter  could  not  always  agree,  nor  did  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas. The  Apostles  respectively  had  their  peculiar  views, 
but   they  all  gave  admirable  proof  that  they  had  been 

I.     Max  Mueller,  Science  of  Religion,  p.  138. 


214  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

with  Jesus  and  learned  of  him.  The  best  and  most 
influential  of  the  Church  Fathers,  whose  memories 
we  revere,  were  farther  removed  from  the  fountain 
head  of  Christian  truth,  and,  having  to  depend  more 
upon  interpretation  and  construction,  were  more  liable 
than  the  Apostles  to  err,  as  they  themselves  give 
ample  proof. 

At  any  rate,  we  cannot  conclude  that  their  authority 
was  such  as  to  preclude  criticism  and  silence  doubt. 
Alas!  under  the  reign  of  unquestioning  credulity, 
following  myth  and  miracle,  and  theological  specula- 
tion, Christianity  has  been  led,  no  one  can  tell  how 
far,  into  the  wilderness  of  legend  and  superstition. 

The  church  is  a  human  institution — very  human  in 
many  of  its  features.  It  has  dictated  creeds  and  doc- 
trines and  dogma,  some  of  which  accord  with  the 
teaching  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity  and  some  do 
not;  and  so  true  is  this,  that  at  least  the  old  Roman 
and  Greek  churches  cannot  be  regarded  as  admissible 
expounders  of  Christianity. 

But  did  not  Luther  and  the  Reformation  cut  away 
from  the  church  unwarranted  accretions  and  restore 
Christianity  to  its  pristine  simplicity  and  purity?  Let 
us  see.  They  discarded  and  denounced  the  practice 
of  selling  indulgences;  they  rejected  the  Pope's  claim 

1.  We  cannot  cut  the  gospels  loose  from  their  historical  basis 
and  hope  to  retain  long  the  ideal  beauty  and  truth  of  Christianity. 
We  must  have  the  root  implanted  in  the  earth  before  we  can 
have  the  fragrance  in  the  air. — Smyth,  "Old  Faiths  in  New 
Lights." 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  215 

of  authority  to  forgive  and  to  retain  sins.  They 
replaced  his  authority  by  that  of  the  Bible  as  the 
revealed  Word  of  God,  maxing  it  the  infallible  arbiter 
in  matters  of  religion.  They  restored  the  Bible  to  the 
hands  of  the  people,  and  proclaimed  the  right  of 
private  opinion;  and  all  this  was  much  for  reason  and 
the  cause  of  religious  liberty.  And  then,  too,  it  must 
be  conceded  the  ^^Reformation"  set  on  foot  by 
Luther,  passed  be37ond  him,  in  departing  from  the 
errors  of  the  Old  Church.  Christian  people,  exer- 
cising the  right  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of 
religion,  split  into  numerous  sects,  each  claiming  for 
itself  some  particular  virtue  of  doctrine  or  of  church 
government.  But  yet  a  great  majority  of  all  Protes- 
tants, always  agreed,  and  yet  agree,  in  accepting  the 
teaching  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  to  all  the 
fundamentals  of  doctrine  and  dogma  as  they  came 
from  her  teachers  and  were  adopted  by  her  councils. 
They  always  agreed  and  yet  agree  in  accepting  the 
doctrine  of  atonement  as  formulated  by  Anselm,  A. 
D.  1 100,  and  substantially  the  whole  creed  as  made 
up  A.  D.  451,  by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  i,ooo 
years  before  Luther  was  bor 

'Tf  doctrines  have  been  propagated  in  the  name  of 
Christianity  which  are  absurd,  irrational  and  impos- 
sible, it  has  been  because  the  system  of  Christian 
truth  has  been  misunderstood,  and  revelation  misin- 
terpreted. That  this  has  been  so  many  times  it  is 
impossible  to  doubt. "^ 

I.     Bishop  Foster,  in  Studies  in  Theology,  Vol.  2,  p.   268. 


:2l6  THE    NEW    RELICION. 

If  we  abide  by  the  life  and  teachings  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  as  set  forth  by  his  biographers,  we  shall 
not  go  far  astray,  nor  fail  to  comprehend  the  essence 
and  substance  of  all  that  constitutes  the  New  Religion; 
and  this  it  is  our  purpose  to  do  without  the  least 
desire  to  discredit  other  canonical  authorities. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Christ  Character. 
The   Christ, 

It  is  confessedly  difficult  to  say  anything  of  Jesus 
the  Christ,  which  has  not  already  been  said,  and  per- 
haps controverted — difficult  to  avoid  controversy  where 
controversy  of  all  things  is  the  most  worthless. 

Jesus,  who  has  just  been  baptized,  is  fairly  before  the 
public,  and  the  marvel  of  history  has  begun.  *^And 
there  came  a  voice  from  heaven  saying,  ^Thou  art  my 
beloved  Son.'  "  So  says  Mark,  chapt.  i:ii.  So, 
substantially,  says  Luke,  chapt.  3-22.  So  says  Mat- 
thew, chapt.  3:17.  So  also  John  the  Baptist  is 
reported  as  saying,  John,  chapt.  1:33,  34.  Jesus  is 
thus  repeatedly  and  distinctly  set  forth  as  the  Son  of 
God. 

Some  years  afterward,  according  to  his  biographers, 
when  upon  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  the  same 
announcement  was  repeated:  '^And  behold  a  voice 
out  of  a  cloud,  saying,  this  is  viy  beloved  Son  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased."  Matt,  chapt.  17:  5.  This  is  my 
beloved  Son.  Mark  9:  7.  This  is  my  Son — my 
chosen,  hear  ye  him.      Luke  9:  25. 

All  his  biographers  thus  start  out  with  a  very 
unique  and  wonderful  subject. 


2l8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Of  his  life  previous  to  his  baptism  we  known  next 
to  nothing. 

After  this,  according  to  the  chronologists,  he  hved 
but  about  three  years,  and  was  crucified  as  a  male- 
factor. 

Usually  he  spoke  of  himself  as  ^^the  Son  of  Man." 
Occasionally  he  claimed  to  be  the  ^'Son  of  God,"  or, 
^^a  Son  of  God." 

Son  of  Man — Son  of  God,  and  so  declared  by  a  voice 
from  heaven.  How  can  this  be?  Do  we  step  at  once 
from  terra  firma  into  wonder-land.  Must  we  at  once 
betake  ourselves  to  myth  and  legend — to  '^faith  and 
mystery  ?" 

Well,  let  us  realize  that  a  most  unique  and  wonder- 
ful character  lies  in  the  record  of  four  books  before  us 
— books  written  by  well  accredited  honest  men.  More 
than  this,  this  character  stands  forth  in  the  record  of 
nineteen  centuries  of  the  world's  history  and  challenges 
our  notice — our  criticism.  It  cannot  be  ignored.  // 
must  be  accounted  for. 

We  have  the  account  of  his  biographers  on  this 
wise — He  was  ^ ^begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born 
of  a  virgin!"  Luke  i:  35.  '^The  Word  was  made 
flesh  and  dwelt  among  us. "  Jno.  i:  14.  An  incar- 
nation! Well,  the  Brahmin  has  had  nine  incarnations 
of  Vishnu  and  expects  another.  Is  this  incarnation  to 
take  rank  with  those  of  the  Brahmin?  No  matter 
now. 

The  following  is  Luke's  account:  ''The  angel 
Gabriel   was   sent  from    God    to    a   Nazarene   virgin 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  219 

named  Mary,  who  was  betrothed  to  a  man  whose 
name  was  Joseph;  and  the  angel  came  in  unto  her 
and  said,  Hail  thou  that  art  highly  favored;  the  Lord 
is  with  thee.  But  she  was  greatly  troubled  at  the 
saying,  and  cast  in  her  mind  what  manner  of  saluta- 
tion this  might  be.  And  the  angel  said  unto  her, 
Fear  not,  Mary,  for  thou  has  found  favor  with  God; 
and  behold,  thou  shalt  conceive  and  bring  forth  a  son, 
and  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus.  And  Mary  said  unto 
the  angel,  how  shalt  this  be,  seeing  I  know  not  a 
man?  And  the  angel  said  unto  her,  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  highest 
shall  overshadow  thee,  wherefore  also  that  which  is  to 
be  born  shall  be  called  holy — the  Son  of  God.'^ — Luke 
1 :   26,  et  seq. 

But  you  say,  in  the  face  of  Matthew  and  Luke, 
preposterous!  a  wild  legend,  another  avatar  of 
Vishnu,  the  dream  of  some  poet's  fancy.  It  cannot 
be  history — brush  it  aside. 

But  grant,  if  you  will  for  a  moment,  that  it  is  his- 
tory— that  these  unsophisticated,  truth-loving  authors 
have  given  us  facts^,  grant  that  such  a  genesis  and 
birth  actually  transpired,  would  the  life  that  followed 
have  been  different?  Remember  a  most  wonderful 
life  is  upon  the  pages  of  history  and  niust  be  accounted 
for.  Do  we  know  enough  of  the  resources  of  the  all- 
creating  power  to  say  that  a  son,  an  ^^only  Son,"  sui 
generis,  could  not  be  thus  started  into  being  and  sent 
upon  a  mission.'^ 

But  truly,  it  all  seems  very  strange — very  improba- 


220  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ble — yes.  However,  if  you  will,  let  us  take  this 
account  of  these  honest,  well-meaning  men  in  hand, 
and  follow  this  remarkable  child  into  history.  The 
mystery  we  enter  is  a  deep  one,  it  is  conceded,  but 
let  us  be  candid  and  proceed. 

Jesus,  recognized  as  a  man,  was  for  years  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  other  men.  ^^Is  he  not  the  car- 
penter's son,  and  his  brethren,  are  they  not  with  us?" 
Matt.  13:  55.  But,  from  the  date  of  his  baptism,  his 
life  became  more  and  more  remarkable.  He  rapidly 
took  on  modes  of  thought  and  conduct  that  excited 
attention  and  partisan  opposition.  He  evidently  felt 
that  he  had  a  great  mission  to  fulfill,  and  went 
directly  to  his  work,  Poor^  humble,  unknown  to 
fame,  he  yet  evinced  a  dignity  of  conduct  and  authori- 
tative mien  and  method  of  teaching  which  commanded 
respect  and  the  most  serious  attention.  He  soon 
became  distinguished  by  gravity  of  character  and  self- 
assertion,  and  for  certain  great  cures  and  miracles 
which  he  wrought,  while  at  the  same  time  he  mani- 
fested the  greatest  humility  in  consorting  with  the 
poor  and  suffering,  and  evincing  the  deepest  sympa- 
thy with  them.  His  criticism  of  existing  customs, 
and  especially  those  of  the  wealthy  classes,  was 
unsparing;  his  doctrines  were  novel  and  trenchantly 
stated.  His  power  as  a  great  moral  and  religious 
reformer  soon  began  to  be  felt.  His  manner  was 
always  kind  and  affectionate,  even  toward  the  lowest 
and  meanest  outcasts  from  society,  his  temper  geutl^ 
^nd  s^^et;,  tiis  lif§  p,  b^nedigtigrif 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  221 

He  did  many  wonderful  things,  mostly  for  the  needy 
and  suffering — ^  ^miracles"  they  were  called,  and  his 
fame  spread  rapidly  abroad.  The  populace  began  to 
throng  around  him,  and  such  was  the  obvious  common 
sense  of  his  teaching  that  ^^the  common  people  heard 
him  gladly. '* 

He  had  a  mission.  The  angel  said  to  Joseph,  ^^He 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins."  It  was  to 
inaugurate  a  new  regime,  to  open  up  and  establish 
among  men  the  Kingdom  of  God,  not  another  Jewish 
theocracy,  but  such  a  kingdom  as  had  been  fore- 
shadowed, but  never  understood,  by  the  old  prophets. 
Accordingly  he  began  by  announcing  the  immediate 
coming  of  '^the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."  Matt.  4:  17. 
Scribe  and  Pharisee,  Priests  and  Sanhedrim — all  the 
hoary  institutions  of  the  Jewish  religion,  stood  in  his 
way,  and  the  bitter  contest  which  followed  and  which 
culminated  in  his  death  on  the  cross,  is  begun. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  college  of  twelve  apostles  is 
chosen,  who  become  his  constant  companions.  He 
boldly  denounces  error  and  sin,  discomfits  scribe  and 
lawyer  and  priest,  reviews  the  law  of  Moses,  pointing 
out  its  errors,  and  insists  that  it  is  the  first  duty  of 
men  not  to  tithe  their  mint,  and  anise,  and  cumin, 
and  mechanically  -^bey  Moses,  but  to  repent  of  their 
sins  and  seek  thet  ,igdom  of  Heaven.  The  storm  of 
religious  opposition  soon  ragesi  around  him,  Nothing 
daunt^dj  and  r^ever  losing  his  temper,  he  proclaims 
the  solenjn  tr^th,  so  damaging  to  the  Jews  as  a 
jl^tion^  ^nd  the  Jewish  institutions,  and,  at  the  ^anie 


222  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

lime,  so  new  and  wonderful  as  to  excite  the  profound- 
est  interest  in  all  who  heard  him. 

But  the  marvel  of  his  life  and  conduct  becomes  more 
marvelous. 

He  heals  the  sick,  casts  out  devils,  restores  sight  to 
the  blind  and  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  even  raises  the 
dead  again  to  life!  At  least,  so  it  is  reported,  and  so 
it  is  believed — reported  by  four  biographers,  good 
men  and  true,  reported  by  the  college  of  twelve  apos- 
tles, reported  by  other  contemporaries,  including 
Paul,  and  not  denied  even  by  his  bitterest  enemies. 
Of  course  his  fame  spread  abroad.  Men  everywhere 
marveled,  saying,  among  other  things,  ^'What  man- 
ner of  man  is  he?'* 

Teaching — speaking  such  words  of  wisdom  as  never 
man  spake,  encouraging  the  poor  and  outcast,  and 
aiding  the  needy  and  suffering  by  helpful  ministries, 
and  exhibiting  a  pure  and  spotless  life  which  ever 
seemed  to  flow  from  exhaustless  fountains  of  love,  he 
went  down  to  death  as  a  malefactor  amid  his  wonder- 
stricken  countrymen. 

But  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  mystery  deepens  in 
the  record  of  these  four  books. 

The  life  you  behold  has  never  been  approached  in 
its  principal  characteristics.  His  self-assertion  and 
exercise  of  authority  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  evident 
humility  and  sympathy  with  the  poorest  and  lowest  of 
men  on  the  other,  have  amazed  men.  His  acts  and 
his  words  were,  respectively,  a  series  of  perpetual  sur- 
prises, but  always  tending  to  deepen  the  impression  gf 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  223 

his  essential  goodness.  He  taught  with  a  well  poised 
authority  that  none  could  resist,  and  few  could  ques- 
tion. The  most  startling  announcements  fell  in  quick 
succession  from  his  lips — announcements  that  crossed 
all  previous  lines  of  thought,  and  turned  professional 
moralists  and  theologians  upon  their  heads.  His 
criticism  of  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  his  interpretation 
of  Holy  Writ;  his  pretensions  to  authority,  as  dictating 
a  higher  law  and  inaugurating  a  new  moral  and  relig- 
ious order;  his  power  displayed  in  miracle,  and  his 
asserted  kin-ship  and  communion  with  God,  confounded 
the  most  credulous,  and  the  most  friendly,  and  chal- 
lenged universal  skepticism. 

^^I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. '^  John  14: 
6.  ^^I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches."  John  15: 
5.  i'  *  *  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing. "  ^^I  and 
my  Father  are  one."  John  10:  30.  ^^Who  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father."  John  14:  9.  *^A11  power 
is  given  to  me,  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth."  Matt. 
28:  18.  What  pretensions  are  these?  How  border- 
ing upon  the  insane  to  be  made  by  a  poor  peasant 
without  the  prestige  of  rank,  or  position,  or  learning! 

At  one  time  he  so  grew  upon  public  favor  that  they 
wanted  to  take  him  and  make  him  king,  John  6:  15, 
but  he  refused!  After  the  great  temptation,  he  never 
felt  the  touch  or  pressure  of  political  ambition  or 
worldly  fame.  But  by  the  magic  of  his  easy  presence 
he  attracted  men  to  closest  sympathy  and  fellowship. 
Social,  genial,  free  from  prejudice  and  caste  and  cant, 
he  went  about  doing  good  to  all,  finding  opportunity  of 


224  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

course  most  frequent  among  the  suffering  and  forlorn 
poor.  In  short,  he  was  at  once  so  hke  and  so  unlike 
other  men,  as  to  confuse  and  confound  the  most  saga- 
cious student  of  human  nature. 

But  the  mystery  deepens.  He  has  come  into  con- 
flict with  religious  bigotry  and  intolerance.  He  shrinks 
from  no  responsibility  and  no  danger.  Scribe  and 
Pharisee  are  wrought  into  frenzy.  They  curl  the  lip  of 
scorn,  and  mutter  threats.  It  is  not  strange  that  he 
should  anticipate  violence  at  their  hands — that  he 
should  say  to  his  disciples:  ^^The  Son  of  Man  shall 
be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  men,  and  they  shall  kill 
hira.'^  Matt.  17:  22.  It  was  but  the  anticipation  of 
that  foresight  which  comprehended  the  impending 
danger.  But,  when  he  added,  "And  the  third  day  he 
shall  rise  again.'' ^  What  then?  Rise  again!  Rise 
again  !  !     What  could  this  mean  ? 

But  on  occasions  he  reiterates  the  declaration  with 
particularity  of  detail  and  circumstance.  What  hallu- 
cination can  it  be!  Does  his  insanity  grow  upon  him? 
His  biographers  afterward  admit  they  did  not 
— could  not — understand  what  this  ^'rising  again''  on 
the  third  day  can  mean. 

But  sure  enough,  the  Son  of  Man  ere  long  is  betrayed 
into  the  hands  of  sinful  men.  They  kill  him,  and  on 
the  third  day  he  rises  from  the  dead.  At  least,  all  his 
biographers  say  so.  All  the  Apostles  say  so.  They 
had  seen  him  tried  and  condemned.  They  had  seen 
him  expire  on  the  cross — had  seen  him  buried,  and 
yet  they  all  affirm  that  he  did  rise  again^  and  they  ^re 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  225 

all  honorable  and  truthful  men — except  Judas.  Very 
many  others,  including  Paul,  say  he  rose  again. 

They  do  not  say  he  rose  again  on  mere  report,  or 
public  rumor.  The}^  say,  we  know  it,  for  we  have 
seen  him.  And  he  took  special  pains  to  prove  it  to 
us,  Luke  24:  39-43,  to  identify  himself  as  the  risen 
Lord.  He  talked  with  them,  ate  with  them,  traveled 
with  them,  Mark  16:  12,  made  appointments  to  meet 
them,  Mark  i6:  7,  reminded  them  of  what  he  had 
taught  before  his  crucifixion  and  supplemented  it  by 
additional  teaching.  He  banished  every  doubt,  even 
from  the  mind  of  the  skeptical  Thomas,  Jno.  20:  27, 
that  he  had  on  the  third  day  risen  again.  He  was 
seen  by  the  two  Marys,  and  Joanna  and  other  women, 
Luke  24:  10.  He  was  seen  by  two  disciples  going  to 
Emmaus,  Luke  24:  15,  31.  He  was  seen  by  the  col- 
lege of  apostles,  Luke  24:  36,  to  whom  he  showed 
himself  alive  after  his  passion  *^by  many  infallible 
proofs,  being  seen  of  them  forty  days,  and  speaking  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  God."  Acts 
i:  3.  He  was  seen  by  ten  apostles  in  an  upper 
room,  Jno.  20:  30,  and  again  by  the  eleven,  Mark 
16:  14,  and  Jno.  20:  26.  He  was  seen  by  seven 
apostles  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  Jno.  21:  12,  and  by 
the  eleven  on  a  mountain  in   Gallilee.      Matt.    28:   17. 

Paul,  who  was  so  profoundly  impressed  by  the 
incredible  fact  that  he  never  ceased  to  talk  of  it,  and 
to  preach  it,  says  ^^he  was  seen  by  more  than  500  at 
once,  and,  last  of  all,  he  was  seen  by  me  also  ae  one 
born  out  of  due  time,"     i  Cor.  15:  5-8* 


226  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

How  now,  shall  we  brush  the  story  asl^e?  Or,  is 
the  Son  of  Man — Son  of  God — begotten  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  born  of  a  virgin — outgrowing  his  humanity? 

But  the  mystery  deepens.  Before  his  crucifixion 
Jesus  had  said  to  his  disciples,  *^1  came  forth  from 
the  Father  and  am  come  into  the  world.''  ^^Again  I 
leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father."  Jno.  i6:  28. 
''Yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you,  and  then  I  go  unto 
him  that  sent  me."  Jno.  7:  33.  But  he  was  too 
much  above  them.  They  could  not  comprehend  his 
meaning. 

Very  soon  after  his  resurrection  he  said  to  Mary, 
who  was  the  first  to  recognize  him,  ''Go  to  my  breth- 
ren and  say  to  them  'I  ascend  to  my  Father  and  to 
your  Father,  to  my  God  and  to  your  God.' "  Jno. 
20:  17.  But  how  dark  was  all  this!  Forty  days 
after  his  resurrection,  from  the  midst  of  a  group  of 
his  disciples,  on  Mount  Olivet,  having  said,  as  they 
afterward  remembered,  "If  I  be  lifted  up,  I  will  draw 
all  men  after  me,"  (Jno.  12:  32,)  he  was  taken  up 
and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight!  Mark 
16:    19;  Acts  i:   19;  Luke  24:   51. 

And  all  this  strange  story  is  told  continuously  of 
him  who  was  said  to  have  been  begotten  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  a'nd  Avas  born  of  Mary;  who  was  baptized  by 
John,  and  announced  from  Heaven  as  the  Son  of  God 
—  of  him  who  lived  as  an  humble  peasant  on  terms  of 
familiarity  and  affection  with  his  associates,  "ate  with 
publicans  and  sinners,"  Matt.  9:  10,  went  about 
doing  ^'ood  among  the  poor  and  needy — all  is   said   of 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  227 

him  who  stood  innocent  and  silent  in  the  judgment 
hall,  acquitted  and  yet  condemned  by  Pilate,  put  to 
death  by  a  mob,  praying  with  his  last  breath  for 
his  murderers — ^  ^Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do,"  and  at  last  raised  from  the  dead 
and  taken  to  Heaven!!  What  now?  The  skeptical 
Thomas  exclaimed,  in  the  crucial  hour  of  his  doubt, 
^^My  Lord  and  my  God!'' 

What  conception  of  his  character  is  possible?  Can 
contrarity  take  on  the  color  of  consistency?  The  pano- 
rama passes  and  all  parallels  disappear.  In  the 
record  of  these  four  books  he  stands  forth  an  unsolved 
mystery — an  abiding  wonder  character,  yrt  challeng- 
ing alike  our  faith  and  our  skepticism. 

But  can  we  not  brush  the  incredible  story  aside  as  a 
dream  of  some  disordered  fancy — as  a  myth  born  some- 
where in  the  realm  of  fancy?  Was  not  Romulus 
miraculously  saved  by  a  wolf?  and,  afterwards,  did  not 
a  whirlwind  and  cloud  take  him  up  out  of  sight?  Was 
not  Sakya  Mouni  the  son  of  a  prince,  a  hermit  in  the 
wilderness,  a  great  preacher  of  new  doctrines,  born  as 
many  times  ^^as  there  are  leaves  in  the  forest,"  then 
enthroned  as  a  god  and  worshipped  as  Buddha?  No. 
We  cannot  brush  aside  this  story  as  we  do  the 
legends  about  Romulus  and  Sakya  Mouni 

The  whole  life  of  Romulus  is  prehistoric.  He 
emerges  as  a  myth  in  an  age  of  myths.  He  has  little 
place  in  what  pretends  to  be  history.  There  is 
scarcely  a  trace  of  him  to  be  found  in  the  institutions 
or  the  thought  of  the  world. 


228  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

And  Sakya  Mouni,  too,  is  prehistoric.  His  reputed 
high  birth,  his  strange  and  unnatural  Hfe  as  a  recluse 
in  the  wilderness,  are  stories  from  the  legendary  past. 
Tradition  has  delivered  him  to  us  as  a  great  reformer. 
The  legend  breaks  down  under  the  weight  of  utter 
improbability,  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
the  traditional  Buddha  ever  had  a  personal  existence. 
There  is  no  reliable  proof  of  it — not  a  syllable. 

We  brush  aside  these  stories,  but  the  story  of  Jesus 
we  cannot  brush  aside. 

Jesus  came  upon  the  stage  in  the  ^ ^fulness  of  the 
time,''  (Gal.  4:  4,)  in  the  palmy  days  of  Roman  civili- 
zation. History  had  already  enshrined  the  learning 
and  the  arts  of  Greece.  The  genius  of  her  statesmen, 
her  philosophers,  her  orators  and  poets,  stood  full- 
orbed  in  the  zenith  of  her  glory.  Augustus  was  upon 
the  throne.  It  was  ^ ^Rome's  golden  age."  History 
and  criticism  never  commanded  greater  ability  nor 
wrought  better  results.  It  was  no  time  for  imposi- 
tion upon  public  credulity.  The  disappointed  and 
chagrined  Jew  was  the  sworn  enemy  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  stood  ready  to  expose  and  suppress 
him. 

We  cannot  brush  this  story  aside,  because  we  know 
those  who  presented  it  to  us.  We  know  where  they 
lived  and  how  they  did.  We  know  Peter  and  James 
and  John  as  well  as  we  know  Solon  or  Seneca  or 
Epictetus.  We  know  Paul  and  Luke  as  well  as  we 
know  Cicero  and  Pliny.  And  we  know  them,  too,  to 
be  every  way  as  trustworthy.      Nor  did  what  they  say 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  229 

of  Jesus,   let   it   be  remembered,    drift   down  through 
dim  centuries  of  tradition  and  superstition. 

One  of  the  twelve  whom  he  had  chosen  betrayed  his 
Master  and  then  hanged  himself.  Within  a  few  days 
after  the  departure  of  Jesus,  the  remaining  eleven 
thought  best  to  choose  a  successor  to  ^^Judas"  ^^from 
among  those,"  said  Peter,  ^^who  have  companied 
with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and 
out  among  us,  from  the  time  he  was  baptized  of  John, 
until  he  was  taken  up  from  us."  (Acts  i:  21,  26.) 
Why?  What  for?  ''To  be  an  eye-witness  with  us  of 
his  resurrection,'^ 

The  facts  are  spread  abroad  among  the  Jews. 
Within  a  few  days  we  have  the  Pentecost;  and  Peter, 
standing  up  with  the  eleven  (Acts  2:  14,  et  seq.), 
said  to  the  very  men  v/ho  had  planned  and  executed 
the  crucifixion,  ^^Ye  men  of  Judea,  and  all  ye  that  dwell 
at  Jerusalem,  be  this  known  unto  you  and  hearken  to 
my  words.  *  *  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of 
God  among  you  by  the  miracles  and  wonders  and 
signs  which  God  did  by  him,  in  the  midst  of  you,  as 
ye  yourselves  know,  being  delivered,  '^  "^  ye  have  taken, 
and,  by  wicked  hands,  have  crucified  and  slain,  whom 
God  hath  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pains  of  death 
— this  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  are  all 
witnesses. ' ' 

Was  this  appeal  to  matters  of  fact  denied?  Was 
this  home  thrust  resisted?  Was  this  the  setting  of  a 
myth?  the  style  and  jugglery  of  an  imposter?  Why 
did  not  the  crafty  officials  who  had  just  compassed  his 


230  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

death,  Instead  of  being  *  ^pricked  in  their  hearts  and 
crying  out,  men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?"  — 
why  did  they  not  face  Peter  and  denounce  the  whole 
story  as  false? 

Within  two  years  Paul  is  converted  (Acts  26:  13), 
and  with  full  knowledge  of  the  facts,  not  only  endorses 
the  story  as  true,  but  makes  it  the  basis  of  his  preach- 
ing everywhere  throughout  the  most  remarkable  and 
successful  gospel  ministry  ever  accomplished. 

Within  eight  years  the  story  of  this  unique  and 
superhuman  character,  attested  by  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  ardent  disciples,  spreads  over  Judea  and 
out  into  Syria,  and  a  church  is  organized  at  Antioch, 
taking  the  name  of  Christiaii.  Acts  1 1 :  26.  Where 
is  there  time  or  place  for  myth  and  legend?  Could  a 
myth  be  born  in  a  day,  and  be  made  to  play  such  a 
roll,  at  such  a  time,  in  such  a  country,  under  such 
circumstances? 

We  cannot — the  great  Strauss  could  not — brush 
aside  this  story.  It  is  too  much  rooted  in  the  history 
of  the  time  and  in  all  subsequent  history. 

Whence  the  mighty  changes  that  gave  birth  to  our 
Anno  Domine  calendar?  Whence  the  ideal  character 
which,  says  Mr.  Leckey,  ^  ^through  all  the  changes  of 
eighteen  centuries,  has  inspired  the  hearts  of  men 
with  an  impassioned  love,  lias  shown  itself  capable  of 
acting  on  all  ages,  nations  and  temperaments  and 
conditions,  has  been  not  only  the  highest  pattern  of 
virtue,  but  the  strongest  incentive  to  its  practice,  and 
has    exercised    so  deep   an   influence   that  it  may  be 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  23I 

truly  said  that  the  simple  record  of  three  short  years 
of  active  life  has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  soften 
men  than  all  the  disquisitions  of  philosophers,  and  all 
the  exhortations  of  moralists.^ 

What,  kind  reader,  can  we  say  now  of  this  remarka- 
ble child,  said  by  Matthew  and  Luke  to  have  been 
begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  a  virgin? 
Could  his  career  have  been  what  it  was  on  any  other 
hypothesis? 

Nineteen  centuries  have  failed  to  give  us  any  other 
or  better  account  of  the  ^^Son  of  Mary"  than  that 
given  by  the  unsophisticated  peasants  whom  he  chose 
to  follow  him;  and,  however  overwhelmed  by  anoma- 
lous character-phenomena,  we  are  yet  face  to  face 
with  a  broad  necessity  that  compels  his  acceptance  as 
a  genuinely  historical  character,  which  we  cannot,  if 
we  would,  displace  from  the  record  of  events.  His 
place  in  history  as  a  great  reformer,  as  the  founder  of 
the  Christian  system,  as  one  that  has  influenced  the 
world  as  no  one  ever  did  or  could,  mtcst  be  conceded. 
Grant  that  Jesus  was  begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
born  of  a  woman,  as  these  authors  agree  in  assuring 
us,  we  miust  then  expect  a  superhuman  career.  It 
would  border  on  the  grotesque  and  ludicrous  to 
claim  such  a  parentage  for  an  ordinary  or  purely 
human  life. 

But  accepting  the  account  given,  and  the  life  and 
character  of  the  Son  of  Man  could  consistently  be  what 

I.     History  of  European  Morals,  Vol.  2,  p.  9. 


232  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

they  are  represented  to  be — what  we  see  them  to  be, 
standing  out  in  nineteen  centuries  of  past  history — 
symmetrical  in  their  origin  and  in  their  end?  Does 
not  such  a  career  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ,  impHcitly 
assert  and  require  something  superhuman  in  his 
origin? 

But,  while  some  have  had  difficulty  in  going  so  far 
with  the  Evangelists  as  to  believe  that  Jesus  was 
really  the  Son  of  God,  there  are  others  who  hasten 
away  to  the  other  extreme  and  hold  him  to  be  ^^very 
and  truly  God,"  *  ^co-equal  with  the  Father,"  in  all 
the  attributes  of  Omniscience,  Omnipotence  and 
Omnipresence. 

There  have  always  been  two  classes  of  men.  Those 
of  one  class  are  more  reverent,  more  inclined  to 
believe  and  to  trust.  They  are  ever  ready  to  follow 
leaders  and  to  exalt  them.  They  make  heroes  and 
canonize  saints. 

Those  of  the  other  class  are  more  egoistic.  They 
have  more  personal  individuality.  They  are  the  last 
to  exalt  leaders  or  to  canonize  saints. 

It  would  be  very  natural  for  the  former,  and  they  are 
largely  in  the  majority,  to  ^'magnify  the  Lord,"  to 
sink  the  human  and  exalt  the  divine,  in  the  character 
of  the  Son  of  God.  And  it  would  be  as  natural  for 
the  latter  to  eliminate  the  supernatural,  to  sink  the 
divine  and  exalt  the  human.  Accordingly  the  two 
classes  make  up  very  different  opinions  as  to  the  origin 
and  nature  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity,  and  very 
different  opinions  as  to  doctrines  and  creeds. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  233 

The  former  are  fairly  represented  by  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  A.  D.  451,  which  has  the  honor  of  com- 
pleting the  formula  of  Christian  doctrine,  as  held  ever 
since  by  all  orthodox  churches,  Catholic  and 
Protestant. 

The  article  relating  to  the  nature  of  the  Christ,  as 
formulated  by  this  Council,  is  given  as  follows  by 
Prof.  Schedd:^  Jesus  Christ  is  perfect  as  respects 
Godhood,  and  perfect  as  respects  manhood.  He  is 
truly  God  and  truly  man,  consisting  of  a  rational  soul 
and  body.  He  was  begotten  of  the  Father  before 
creation,  as  to  his  Deity;  but  in  these  last  days  he 
was  born  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  God,  as  to  his 
humanity.  He  is  one  Christ  existing  in  two  natures, 
without  mixture,  without  change,  without  division, 
without  separation,  the  diversity  of  the  two  not  being 
at  all  destroyed  by  their  union  in  the  person,  but  the 
peculiar  properties  of  each  nature  being  possessed, 
and  concurring  to  one  person  and  one  substance. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  a  large  majority  of  all  pro- 
fessing Christians  during  all  the  fifteen  following  cen- 
turies of  the  history  of  Christianit}^,  have  accepted 
this  view,  and  a  large  majority  still  accept  and  hold  it; 
and  this  is  admitting  much  in  its  favor. 

Of  those  who  have  not  been  able  to  accept  this 
view  of  Christ's  essential  deity,  there  are  various 
opinions  as  to  his  nature  and  comparative  divinity, 
ranging  from  those  of  Arius  to  those  of  Channing  and 
other  Unitarians. 

I.     Johnston's  Cyclop.,  Art,  Christology. 


234  '^^^    ^^^    RELIGION. 

Without  desiring  to  extend  a  discussion  which 
promises  so  Httle  in  the  way  of  practical  utiHty,  I  can 
see  no  reason  for  taking  issue  with  the  account  given 
by  his  four  biographers  as  plainly  given. 

If  indeed  he  were  begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
born  of  a  virgin,  then  were  he  both  the  Son  of  Man 
and  the  Son  of  God.  The  Son  participates  in  the 
nature  of  both  parents — this  is  physiological  law  as  we 
know  it. 

If  this  law  is  to  hold  universally — and  we  believe  in 
the  uniformity  of  nature — Jesus  was  both  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Son  of  Man,  and  we  shall  find  that  his 
life  and  mission  fit  unto  this  view  better  than  into 
any  other  and  is  consistent  throughout.  If  this  view 
thus  presented  by  the  Evangelists  be  the  true  one, 
then  this  Son  of  Man,  Son  of  God,  belongs  properly 
neither  to  the  genits  homo  nor  to  the  ge?ius  deus.  He 
1*^  sui generis — the  ''only  begotten  son^^'  and  born  to  a 
larger  sphere  of  activity  than  the  merely  human — to  a 
specific  mission  and  destiny;  and  this  obviously 
accords  with  the  authoritative  declaration,  ^^God  so 
loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  son 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life,"  (Jno.  3:  i6)-^-a  purpose 
and  mission  one  may  well  think  too  great  to  be 
entrusted  to  a  mere  man. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Jesus  an  Exemplar. 

However  the  life  and  character  of  the  Son  o^  Man 
ma}^  impress  us  as  being  somehow  above  the  human, 
especially  in  their  later  phases,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  for  the  most  part  of  his  earthly  career  he  lived 
as  a  man  among  men,  and  that  as  such  he  is  best 
known  to  history. 

Those  who  feel  compelled  to  regard  him  as  merely 
the  highest  style  of  a  man,  excelling  others  only  in 
his  superior  moral  and  spiritual  development,  say, 
and  with  reason,  that  so  regarded  his  life  would  be 
more  really  exemplary  and  inspiring  than  it  could  be 
if  he  should  be  considered  in  any  degree  superhuman, 
and  especially  so  if  he  is  regarded  as  very  God. 

Without  wishing  to  detract  from  the  merits  of  this 
view,  I  think  it  may  be  said  that  any  one  who  should 
be  able  to  resist  all  temptation,  as  he  did,  and  live  a 
life  of  ideal  perfection,  be  he  ever  so  human,  could 
hardly  be  looked  upon  by  his  more  imperfect  fellows 
otherwise  than  as  possessing  some  advantages  of 
birth  or  education  or  environment  which  had  been 
denied  to  themselves.  If  to  be  a  true  and  helpful 
exemplar,  one  must  live  on  the  same  plane,  and  havg 


236  •  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

the  sam^  infirmities,  that  those  who  would  follow 
have,  then  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  our  best 
men  may  be  held  up  as  exemplars;  for  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  there  are  hereditary  differences  among 
men,  and  that  the  inborn  tendencies  to  vice  in  some 
are  much  stronger  than  in  others.  Success  under 
great  difficulties  and  temptations  is  always  inspiring, 
and  this  the  devoted  son  of  Mary  most  gallantly 
achieved. 

It  is  much  that  he  placed  before  us  an  ideal  charac- 
ter, even  though  he  had  superior  powers,  especially  as 
we  know  that  in  any  just  estimate  of  our  characters, 
due  allowance  will  and  must  be  made  for  any  disad- 
vantages or  weakness  we  had  suffered. 

However  this  may  be,  the  Lord  Jesus  certainly 
gave  full  proof  that  he  was  capable  of  the  most  human 
feelings  and  sympathies.  What  could  be  more  tender 
and  touching  than  his  oft-repeated  generous  ministries 
among  the  poor  and  suffering?  What  more  beautiful 
than  the  interest  and  affection  he  manifested  toward 
the  little  ones  which  fond  mothers  familiarly  pre- 
sented to  him,  or  the  ready  and  unqualified  appreci- 
ation of  the  penitent,  even  among  the  lowest  and  most 
abandoned.  In  the  case  of  the  frail  woman  taken  in 
adultery  could  the  mercy  have  been  larger,  or  the 
sympathy  deeper,  or  the  encouragement  to  a  better 
life  stronger,  had  the  verdict,  ^ ^neither  do  I  condemn 
thee,  go  and  sin  no  more,"  come  from  the  most 
human  lips?  In  all  these  early  years  of  his  life  he  was 
not  in  the  habit  of   going  where  others  could  not  hope 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  237 

to  follow.  He  went  in  easy  intercourse  among  all 
classes — among  publicans  and  sinners,  eating  and 
drinking  with  them,  proof  of  born  companionship. 
He  sought  opportunities,  as  any  others  could,  to 
render  assistance  to  the  needy.  He  taught  men,  as 
best  he  could,  to  walk  in  the  pathway  of  duty,  him- 
self always  living  in  such  a  way  as  that  he  could  sa}^, 
follow  me.  Was  Socrates  or  Seneca,  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  or  Epictetus  a  more  approachable,  a  more  inspir- 
ing exemplar? 

Unlike  the  Brahmin  Yogin,  the  Buddhist  recluse, 
or  the  Mohammedan  Fakir,  he  lived,  apparently  at 
least,  on  the  same  plane  with  other  men,  and  on  terms 
of  the  most  familiar  intercourse.  If  he  attained  to 
greater  heights  of  moral  and  spiritual  power  and  per- 
fection than  others,  he  never  failed  to  leave  behind 
him  an  example  of  unaffected  humility  and  charming 
companionship,  from  which  the  weakest  of  mortals 
could  draw  inspiration  and  hope.  It  is  much  that  he 
gave  us  an  ideal  toward  which  we  may  aspire,  much 
that  he  gave  it  form  and  setting  in  purely  human  con- 
ditions, and,  if  he  appear  superhuman  at  all,  he  does 
so  scarcely  less  in  the  elegant  finesse  and  charm  of 
his  fellow-like  experience,  and  the  delicate  and  inspir- 
ing touches  of  the  humane,  always  so  characteristic  of 
his  intercourse  among  men,  than  in  what  he  did  in 
the  more  inexplicable  denouements  of  his  career. 

If,  in  the  later  developments  of  life  among  men,  he 
outgrew  his  humanity  more  and  more,  he  yet  breathed 
the  atmosphere  of  human  life  and  shed   upon  his  dis- 


238  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ciples  and  friends  the  fragrance  of  the  most  tender  and 
affectionate  sympathy. 

But  his  career  as  an  exemplar  is  ended.  Behold 
the  Son  of  God!  Inexplicable,  astounding  phenomena 
are  now  witnessed;  authoritative,  sententious  teach- 
ing, strange  predictions  concerning  himself,  his  trans- 
figuration! his  death  and  resurrection!  What  shall  we 
say  but  that  he  is  passing  beyond  the  outermost  range 
of  human  infirmity,  to  the  realization  of  his  higher  life 
as  the  Son  of  God?  And  then  opens  that  wonderful 
Epiphany  of  fort}^  days,  during  which  he  glided  so 
lightly  along  the  borders  of  the  infinite,  until  he 
ascended  ^'to  my  Father  and  to  your  Father,  to  my 
God  and  to  your  God.'' 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Jesus  a  Teacher. 

As  a  teacher  of  men,  wise  and  capable,  Jesus  is 
winning  more  and  more  the  confidence  of  the  world. 
If  he  ever  did  wrong,  or  made  mistakes,  the  fact  has 
not  been  authenticated. 

^^Wisdom,"  said  Solomon,  ^^is  the  principal  thing," 
but  by  wisdom  he  meant,  no  doubt,  a  great  deal  more 
than  mere  knov/ledge.  He  meant  that  capacity  of 
wise  choice  and  prudence  which  keep  men  from  mak- 
ing mistakes  and  falling  into  hurtful  errors. 

The  Son  of  Man  possessed  this  wisdom.  He  has  a 
place  in  history,  not  as  a  philosopher,  or  scholar,  or 
statesman,  but  as  a  great  teacher,  nevertheless.  He 
was  not  distinguished  for  possessing,  or,  at  least, 
evincing  wide  and  varied  knowledge,  but  for  possess- 
ing the  right  kind  of  knowledge,  and  just  the  kind  of 
knowledge  which  always  served  his  purpose.  There 
is  much  knowledge  that  is  not  worth  the  getting,  and 
some  even  the  worse  for  having.  Some  very  industri- 
ous seekers  after  knowledge  have  made  the  mistake 
of  looking  upon  it  as  an  end,  whereas  it  is,  at  best, 
but  a  means  to  an  end.  It  is  as  incumbent  upon 
those  seeking  knowledge  to  inquire  for  what  good, 
cui  bono,  as  it  is  for  those  seeking  wealth,  or  fame,  cr 


240 


THE    NEW    RELIGION. 


power.  But  the  fact  is,  all  these  classes  of  seekers 
too  generally  fail  to  make  such  inquiry.  Knowledge 
is  useful  in  proportion  as  it  tends  to  make  one  wise, 
and  enables  him  to  achieve  results.  He  who  makes 
no  mistakes  will  always  succeed.  He  never  stumbles 
and  falls,  is  never  compelled  to  retreat  and  begin  anew. 
He  is  as  wise  as  he  needs  to  be,  to  be  perfect,  and 
perfectly  happy.  He  will  fill  up  the  measure  of  life's 
duties  and  attain  happiness,  the  divinely  appointed 
goal  of  life. 

The  Son  of  Man  made  no  mistakes,  and,  we  may 
believe,  completely  accomplished  his  mission.  He 
went  directly  and  continuously  from  Egypt  to  Canaan 
— there  were  for  him  no  forty  years  of  weary  wander- 
ing in  the  wilderness. 

We  know  not,  nor  need  we  care  just  now  to  know, 
how  it  came  to  be  that  he  knew  more  and  better  than 
Moses,  but  he  did.  Moses  had  been  taught  the  learn- 
ing of  Egypt,  which  was  varied  and  great,  he  had 
been  on  Sinai,  and  held  secret  council  with  the  Most 
High.     But  in'wisdom  Jesus  stood  above  him. 

The  lips  of  the  Old  Prophets  had  been  ^^touched 
with  coals  from  the  altar."  They  were  accustomed 
to  holding  converse  with  God.  They  had  had  strange 
glimpses  into  the  future — moments  of  seraphic  inspira- 
tion and  foresight.  But,  somehow,  the  Son  of  Man 
was  yet  above  them.  It  had  been  well  had  their 
teachings  and  warnings  been  heeded;  and  the  ^^Law," 
given  by  Moses  had  its  sanction  from  Mount  Sinai. 
But  it  remained  for  the  son  of  Mary  to  disclose  the 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  24I 

true  intent  and  full  significance  of  the  ^^Law,"  and 
the  prophetic  teaching  as  well.      Matt.  22:  40. 

As  given  in  that  early  age,  this  teaching  was  suited 
to  the  capacities  and  needs  of  a  peculiar  people — the 
conditions  of  that  dark  age.  But  in  the  ^^days  of  the 
Son  of  Man"  it  needed  modification  and  supplement. 
The  son  of  Mary  had  the  penetration  to  see  through 
all,  to  understand  all.  He  had  no  censure  for  Moses, 
or  for  the  prophets.  But  without  offensive  criticism 
he  thrust  the  keen  blade  of  criticism  into  the  Law  of 
Moses  and  the  teaching  of  the  prophets,  and  laid 
open  their  defects.  ^^Ye  have  heard  it  was  said,"  * 
^^butlsay,"  etc.  Criticism,  supplement.  ^^Whence 
hath  this  man  this  wisdom  and  these  mighty  works?" 

The  standard  of  duty,  high  enough  for  a  dark  age, 
now  needed  raising.  The  thought  of  the  world  was 
rising  out  of  types  and  symbols.  It  was  throwing 
off,  more  and  more,  the  external  and  spectacular. 
The  practice  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  the  killing  of 
bulls  and  goats,  and  the  burning  of  incense,  are  no 
longer  sufficient.  More  enlightened  men  began  to 
feel  that  above  and  beyond  this  display  of  types  and 
S3^mbols  there  is  a  more  spiritual  realm,  which  all 
these  external  and  mechanical  contrivances  failed  to 
set  forth.  A  new  cultus  was  needed.  Moral  obliga- 
tions must  be  more  closely  and  clearly  defined,  a 
higher  standard  of  duty  raised.  But  who  could  do  it 
but  him,  who  '^spake  as  never  man  spake?" 

To  impart  a  better  conception  and  ideal  of  God,  to 
disclose  the  deeper  and  true  significance  of  the  Mosaic 


242  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

and  prophetic  teaching;  to  interpret  and  give  true 
meaning  to  the  ^^commandments,"  to  amplify  the  code 
of  prevailing  ethics,  and  to  open  up  the  way  to  another 
and  better  life,  as  he  did,  goes  much  farther  to  show 
forth  the  wisdom  of  this  great  teacher  than  the  apt 
and  overwhelming  replies  he  made  from  time  to  time 
to  the  astute  lawyers  and  hypocritical  bigots  who  so 
sedulously  sought  to  entangle  him  in  criminal  incon- 
sistency. And  yet,  how  peculiarly  happy  and  over- 
mastering were  these  replies.  ^ ^Render  unto  Caesar 
the  things  wliich  are  Caesar's,"  etc.  Indeed,  such 
were  his  easy  mastery  in  all  these  ^  ^passages  at  arms" 
that  ere  long  all  became  afraid  of  him,  and  no  man 
^ 'dared  to  ask  him  any  more  questions"  with  a  view 
of  embarrassing  him.  He  never  became  befogged 
with  doubt  or  tangled  in  the  meshes  of  their  casuistry. 
He  never  lost  his  poise,  or  yielded  his  vantage  ground. 
Secure  himself  in  the  fortress  of  truth  and  conscious 
rectitude,  it  seemed  the  easiest  thing  possible  for  him 
to  rout  and  discomfit  his  enemies  and  put  all  their 
intrigues  and  subtility  to  shame  and  confusion. 

Those  who  heard  him  were  constantly  surprised. 
*'He  spake  as  never  man  spake" — this  was  the 
feeling. 

Coming  out  of  the  moral  darkness  that  then  brooded 
over  the  nations,  he  unfolded  the  deep  things  of  man 
and  of  God.  He  walked  easily  and  firmly  forward 
where  others  stumbled  and  fell.  He  mounted  upon 
heights  never  before  trodden,  and  to  which  men  have 
found  it  difficult  to  follow.     The  more  we  study  him 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  243 

the  more  profoundly  convincing — the  more  marvelous 
he  becomes. 

Since  he  taught  in  Gallilee  the  world  has  made 
advancement  in  various  kinds  of  knowledge.  Has  he 
been  found  in  error?  Were  he  teaching  now,  would 
he  teach  differently?  Other  wise  men,  and  even  philo- 
sophers have  been  outgrown.  They  have  been  found 
to  be  in  error  at  points.  Were  they  living  they  would 
modify  their  teaching — would  the  son  of  Mary?  So 
far  from  it  that  it  is  becoming  more  evident  as  knowl- 
edge increases  that  he  still  leads  all  other  teachers, 
even  in  matters  scientific  and  philosophical,  where  he 
made  no  pretensions  to  leadership.  This  may  seem 
to  some  extravagant,  but  most  frankly,  for  one  at 
least,  I  believe  it  to  be  true.^ 

Nor  must  we  fail  to  note  that  he  always  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions.  Few  have  ever  had  such 
courage,  and  these  have  gone  to  the  stake  with 
scarcely  an  exception. 

He  looked  beyond  the  surface.  He  held  sham  and 
pretense  in  contempt.  He  taught  the  truth  as  it 
stood  related  to  the  intent  and   purposes  of  the  soul. 

I.  Above  the  intermediate  levels  of  common  human  nature, 
across  the  intervening  distances  of  history,  an  image  of  solitary 
majesty  stands  out  before  the  mind,  and  the  view  of  that  sublime 
character,  rising  from  the  midst  of  our  low,  monotonous  human 
attainments,  clearly  outlined  against  the  soul's  horison  in  its  won- 
derful elevation,  is  an  inspiration  and  a  joy,  awakening  the  whole 
moral  enthusiasm  of  our  being.  Dr.  Smyth,  in  "Old  Faiths  in 
New  Lights,"  p.  227. 


244  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

He  traversed  prevailing  customs,  and  with  inflexible 
fidelity  exposed  their  hollowness  and  their  iniquity. 

He  laid  open  the  errors  and  the  bigotry  of  syna- 
gogue and  Sanhedrim.  He  unmasked  the  Scribe  and 
Pharisee.  He  exposed  the  miserable  travesty  of 
ethics  and  religion,  as  presented  by  Rabbi  and  priest. 
His  teaching  went  to  the  heart  of  matters  ^ ^sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword,  even  to  the  dividing 
asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  mar- 
row, discerning  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.'' 
Heb.  4:   12. 

It  was  so  different,  so  radical,  and  withal  so  damag- 
ing to  the  pride  and  pretensions  of  men  in  authority 
that  it  had  within  it  from  the  first,  as  another  has 
said,  ^^the  shadow  of  the  cross.  "^  The  narrow- 
minded  bigots,  who  had  assumed  to  teach  by  authority, 
could  not  brook  the  indignity  his  teaching  implied. 
Humbled,  chagrined,  embittered,  they  knew  not  what 
more  or  better  to  do  with  this  Gallilean  peasant,  who 
had  so  presumptiously  assailed  their  teaching  and 
their  authority,  than  to  kill  him;  and  kill  him  they 
did. 

As  a  teacher  he  dealt  chiefly  with  ethics  and  relig- 
ion, subjects  that  lie  very  close  to  all  the  great  inter- 
ests of  men.  The  truth  here  is  too  sacred  to  admit 
of  subterfuge  or  tampering.  It  must  be  set  forth  in 
its  simplicity  and  directness.  He  addressed  himself 
to  the  dangerous  task  without  protection  and  without 

I.     Jos.   Parker. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  245 

hope  of  reward.  Such  a  school  had  never  been 
opened,  such  a  teacher  the  world  had  never  had. 
In  the  love  of  the  truth  he  taught,  for  the  love  of  the 
truth,  he  was  sent  to  the  cross.  No  one,  not  even 
Confucius,  ever  so  captivated  the  hearts  of  his  pupils. 
None  ever  so  comprehended  the  nature  of  man,  or 
opened  up  to  him  a  destiny  so  hopeful.  None  ever 
sustained  a  character  so  perfect.  After  1,900  years 
of  attentive  listening  and  careful  examination,  the 
verdict  of  the  world  is  the  verdict  of  the  Old  Scribe; 
**Master,  thou  hast  well  taught." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Jesus  a  Philanthropist. 

Finally,  let  us  indulge  for  a  moment  another  view 
of  the  more  human  characteristics  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

His  biographers  represent  him  as  living  a  life  com- 
pletely dominated  by  love.  It  is  the  very  essence  and 
spirit  of  love  to  help  and  to  make  happy  the  object 
loved — to  do  him  good  in  every  possible  way;  and 
this  Jesus  did  habitually.  There  were  none  so  poor 
or  degraded  whom  he  did  not  recognize  as  possessing 
a  nature  which  allied  them  to  God  and  made  them 
brothers  to  himself. 

^^Love,"  said  Paul,  ^^suffereth  long,  and  is  kind; 
love  envieth  not;  love  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not 
puffed  up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh 
not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil, 
rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth; 
beareth  all  things;"  all  of  which  he  easily  read  out  of 
the  character  of  the  exemplary  Son  of  Man.  How  he 
suffered  long  and  was  kind,  how  he  bore  himself 
meekly  and  behaved  himself  seemly,  how  he  sought 
not  his  own  good  but  that  of  others,  endured  provo- 
cation, rejoiced  in  the  truth;  how  he  endured  all 
things,  makes  up  a  large  part  of  the  story  of  his  won- 
derful life. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  247 

It  may  be  thought  that,  in  denouncing  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  as  hypocrites,  he  manifested  a  spirit  of 
anger  and  hate.  Mark  tells  us,  indeed,  in  so  many 
words,  that  ^'he  looked  round  upon  them  with  anger, 
being  grieved  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts."  But 
this  view  does  great  injustice  to  his  character. 

In  this  denunciation,  as  often  elsewhere,  his  language 
is  highly  figurative — oriental,  and  his  metaphors  must 
be  taken  in  their  meaning. 

To  characterize  certain  men  as  a  generation  of 
vipers  seems  indeed  harsh  to  our  ears,  and  when  he 
applied  this  language  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
how  shall  it  be  understood?  Not  certainly  as  imply- 
ing personal  enmity.  When  the  Baptist  went  preach- 
ing in  the  wilderness  he  noticed  among  his  hearers 
certain  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  turning  upon  them 
he  addressed  them  as  a  '^generation  of  vipers."  He 
used  a  common  trope  expressive  of  his  conviction 
that,  though  teachers  and  leaders  of  the  thought  of  the 
age,  they  were  nevertheless  egotistic  and  hypocritical. 
It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  he  held  any  personal  ill-will 
against  them.  He  knew  of  their  claims  to  superiority, 
how  they  gloried  in  being  the  children  of  Abra- 
ham, and  how,  under  all  these  professions,  there  lay 
concealed,  as  a  serpent,  a  thorough  and  blighting 
selfishness,  and  hence  his  metaphor. 

Precisely  the  same  may  be  said  of  Jesus.  His  lan- 
guage sprung  not  out  of  personal  bitterness  and  hate, 
but  out  of  the  fact,  well  known  to  himself,  of  their 
habitual  and  persistent  hypocrisy  in  posing  before  the 


248  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

public  as  being  better  than  they  really  were   at  heart. 

^^How  shall  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell?" 
Terrible  words,  you  say,  are  these.  Can  they  be  in 
accord  with  the  spirit  of  love  with  which  he  is  so  gen- 
erally accredited?  This  damnation  of  hell  can  mean 
nothing  more  than  condemnation  in  the  light  of  truth, 
a  necessary  consequence  of  their  hypocritical  conduct 
— a  threatened  result  over  which  he  felt  the  deepest 
sorrow.  That  he  only  denounced  their  unreasoning 
bigotry  and  obstinate  hypocrisy,  is  made  plain  by  the 
term  hypocrites,  which  he  does  not  fail  to  repeat,  and 
by  what  he  charges  them  with  doing.  That  he 
was  perfectly  free  from  personal  ill-will  and  bit- 
terness, must  be  admitted,  since,  putting  these 
same  several  parties  together,  he  includes  them  in 
that  pathetic  lament  over  their  national  capital:  '^O 
Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  how  oft  would  I  have  gathered 
thee  together  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wing,  but  ye  would  not."  And  then,  in  a  few 
days,  when  these  same  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  suc- 
ceeded in  nailing  him  to  the  cross,  we  discover  his 
true  feelings  for  them  as  men  in  his  prayer  on  the 
cross: 

^'Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what  they 
do!" 

No  one  act,  or  any  dozen,  exhibits  the  whole  moral 
character  of  the  actor.  There  is  within  the  sinner  a 
whole  world  of  moral  capacity  and  goodness,  which 
we  are  liable  to  forget,  when  we  see  one  doing  what 
we  believe  to  be  wrong,  especially  if  he  be   an  enemy 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  249 

> — a  fact  which  the  Son  of  Man  never  lost  sight  of,  and 
which  underhes  the  injunction,  '^Love  your  enemies." 
He  could 

*     *     '^-     "Hate  the  sin 
And  yet  the  sinner  love." 

His  fierce  denunciation  was  leveled  against  their 
crimes,  their  hypocrisy  and  selfishness,  which  must 
inevitably  entail  upon  them  ^^woe!  woe!"  We  must 
let  his  dying  prayer  interpret  Lis  bold,  earnest,  faith- 
ful words,  when,  in  the  very  crisis  of  his  mission  he 
felt  it  to  be  incumbent  upon  him  to  stand  unflinch- 
ingly for  the  truth,  and  to  take  every  responsibility 
which  his  great  work  involved. 

If  we  look  among  the  great  philanthropists  of  his- 
tory we  shall  find  no  parallel  to  the  wonderful  Son  of 
Man. 

In  a  celebrated  passage  from  Rousseau  we  have  a 
comparison  between  the  Son  of  Sophroniscus,  the 
reputed  father  of  moral  philosophy,  and  the  son  of 
Mary,  the  Founder  of  the  New  Religion. 

They  both  stood  by  their  convictions  of  duty  in  the 
face  of  ignominy  and  death,  and  were  both  murdered 
in  consequence.  Socrates  approached  nearer  in  char- 
acter to  Jesus  than  did  Plato.  He  could  see  more  in 
man  than  did  his  illustrious  pupil.  He  felt  the  pulses 
of  a  common  brotherhood  which  Plato  did  not.  He 
had  convictions  of  duty  toward  all  classes  of  men — 
certain  qualms  of  ccnscience  which  never  seemed  to 
trouble  the  great  Plato. 


250  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

He  had  an  inveterate  passion  for  ' 'philosophizing 
and  testing  things." 

He  beheved  that  men  were  in  error,  and  his  benevo- 
lent interest  in  them  prompted  most  assiduous  efforts 
to  aid  and  help  men  to  better  views.  It  was  a  strong 
conviction  laid  upon  him  by  the  gods.  In  his  fidelity 
to  the  truth  as  he  understood  it,  and  in  his  antipathy 
to  falsehood  and  pretense  and  shams,  he  was  no  mean 
prototype  of  the  great  Gallilean,  who  was  to  follow 
him.  '^I  choose  to  obey  God  rather  than  men,  and 
so  long  as  I  live  and  breathe  I  will  never  cease  philo- 
sophizing and  exhorting  any  of  you  I  may  chance  to 
meet,  as  I  have  been  wont."  These  were  among  his 
last  brave  words. 

Mr.  Blackie  ascribes  to  Socrates  a  '^fine  erotic 
passion  for  human  beings — a  divine  rage  for  humanity, ' ' 
which  was  the  inspiration  of  his  hfe,  and  ''which  put 
into  his  hand  the  golden  key  to  the  hearts  of  all  teach- 
able men."^  If  wa  grant  so  much  we  must  not  fail  to 
note  that  this  "divine  rage  for  humanity,"  in  Socrates, 
differed  very  much  from  the  "love  that  so  loved  the 
world"  in  his  successor.  The  one  Master  sought  to 
respond  to  the  needs  of  men  as  he  himself  saw  them, 
and  in  doing  so  not  unfrequently  mortified  and 
offended  them.  The  other  sought  more  to  respond  to 
the  needs  of  men  as  they  were  realized  iii  their  own 
experienee,?indi  in  doing  so  elicited  their  love  and  grati- 
tude as  their  voluntary  benefactor.      The  philanthropy 

I.     Four  Phases  of  Morals. 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  25 1 

of  the  philosopher  exhausted  itself  chiefly  on  one  line 
of  effort  for  the  good  of  men;  that  of  the  Savior  took 
a  wide  range  through  the  whole  realm  of  want  and 
suffering,  and  proffered  every  variety  of  needed  help. 

We  have  heard  not  a  little  of  platonic  love,  ancient 
and  modern — and  the  modern,  for  the  most  part,  is 
but  a  sorry  carricature  of  the  ancient.  As  advocated 
and  probably  experienced  by  Plato,  it  was  a  genuine 
and  pure  affection.  It  was  the  attachment  which 
exists  between  highly  cultured  and  congenial  spirits. 
The  ideally  perfect  was  the  abstract  object  of  this 
love. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Plato's  philanthropy,  if  such  it 
may  be  called,  had  severe  limitations.  He  looked 
upon  the  ignorant  masses  with  little  more  affection  or 
interest  than  upon  so  many  mere  animals.  There  was 
no  human  feeling  he  would  not  quickly  sacrifice  to  a 
cold  perfection  of  character,  suited  to  his  ideal. 

Jesus,  very  unlike  Plato,  cared  little  for  speculative 
philosophy.  The  happiness  of  mankind  depends  upon 
the  sensibilities — upon  the  state  of  the  affections,  more 
than  upon  the  intellect  or  knowledge,  and  he  is  drawn 
towards  men  because  of  their  capacities  for  happiness. 
These  he  finds  in  all  men — hardly  less  in  the  lowest, 
than  the  highest,  and  all  men,  therefore,  come  within 
the  range  of  his  beneficence. 

His  was  a  true  philanthropy.  It  embraced  human 
nature  as  it  is,  with  its  manifold  imperfections  and  ten- 
dencies to  evil.  It  touched  every  human  capacity  for 
goodness.        ^ 


252  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Jesus  saw  what  Plato  did  not  see,  and  what  very 
many  since  his  day  have  failed  to  see,  that  there  is  a 
divinity  within  every  human  being,  that  allies  him  with 
the  divine — powers  and  capacities  which,  when  properly 
adjusted,  qualify  him  for  heirship  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  and  he  was  drawn  to  him  by  a  sympathy  that 
laid  head,  and  hand,  and  heart,  under  contribution  for 
his  bettering. 

Moses  was  a  true  son  of  Israel,  a  great  hero,  and 
more  than  any  other  gave  direction  and  destiny  to  the 
Hebrew  people.  Renowned  for  his  learning,  for  his 
executive  ability,  and  for  his  devotion  to  his  enslaved 
countrymen,  he  is  yet  more  remarkable  as  their  great 
law-giver;  and,  as  such,  displayed  a  wisdom  that  easily 
places  him  above  all  other  men  of  that  distant  age. 
He  carried  his  people  ever  on  his  heart.  For  their 
sake  ^'he  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharoah's 
daughter."  He  determined  to  share  their  fate  and  to 
perish  with  them,  if  perish  they  must.  How  he  aroused 
them  to  a  sense  of  their  condition  ;  how  he  organized 
them,  and  eventually  precipitated  them,  in  one  mighty 
exodus,  across  the  sea,  into  the  wilderness,  has  come 
down  to  us  through  tradition  and  history,  and  the 
heroism  and  fidelity  he  displayed  have  no  equal  among 
the  rulers  of  nations. 

But  his  great  trial  had  not  yet  come.  His  people 
had  seen  him  giving  up  all  for  them,  facing  every  dan- 
ger, and  enduring  every  hardship,  and,  if  they  can  do 
nothing  else,  they  will,  at  least,  thank  him  and  be 
grateful  to  him  for  giving  them  freedom.      Alas  !     They 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  253 

suddenly  find  themselves  in  new  relations,  and  begin 
to  demur  and  complain.  They  miss  their  ''leeks  and 
onions."  They  long  for  the  ''flesh-pots  of  Egypt,"  for 
which,  already,  they  seem  willing  to  exchange  the 
liberty  he  had  procured  for  them  at  such  personal  cost 
and  danger  !  They  utterly  apostatize — become  openly 
disloyal  and  charge  him  with  folly  for  bringing  them  on 
their  way  to  Canaan.  They  give  themselves  over  to 
dissipation  and  idolatry,  until  the  ire  of  heaven  is  kin- 
dled and  is  ready  to  consume  them.  Did  Moses  give 
the  ingrate  hosts  of  Israel  over  to  destruction?  No. 
Hear  him:  "Ye  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  now  I 
will  go  up  unto  the  Lord,  peradventure  I  shall  make 
an  atonement  for  your  sin."  Very  kind  of  you,  good 
Moses.  And  Moses  returned  unto  the  Lord  and  said  : 
"O,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have 
made  them  gods  of  gold,  yet  nov/,  if  thou  wilt,  forgive 
their  sin,  and  if  thou  wilt  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee, 
out  of  thy  book,  which  thou  hast  written  !" 

No  greater  love  can  one  have  for  another  than  that 
he  should  be  willing  to  die  for  him,  and  this  love  Moses 
had  for  his  long-cherished  but  ungrateful  people.  And 
that,  too,  was  an  early  dark  age,  when  such  instances 
of  moral  heroism  were  unknown.  Generous,  noble 
Moses!  Thou  hast  honored  humanity.  The  world 
will  not  forget  thee.  Thirty  centuries  have  not  dimmed 
the  glory  that  adorns  thy  brow. 

It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  the  affection  of 
Moses  for  his  people  is  something  less  than  the  broad 
philanthropy  of  Jesus.      If,  on  occasions,  he  displayed 


254  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

a  chivalrous  sense  of  right  and  justice,  and  a  meas- 
ureless love,  yet  his  affection  was  Jewish  in  its  color, 
not  to  say  limited  to  his  own  people.  The  extreme 
measures  to  which  he  felt  himself  compelled  to  resort, 
in  executing  his  great  trust,  the  indiscriminate  slaughter 
of  women  and  children,  and  the  utter  annihilation  of 
opposing  tribes  and  nations  are  not,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  to  be  harshly  condemned.  He  was  leading  a 
peculiar  and  remarkable  people,  upon  whom,  as  history 
has  since  proved,  the  well-being  of  subsequent  gen- 
erations very  largely  depended,  out  of  bondage  to 
liberty.  He  was  planting  a  harvest  to  be  reaped  and 
garnered  through  the  coming  centuries.  Account  for 
it  as  we  may,  the  human  race  has  hitherto  made  pro- 
gress only  through  blood  and  carnage.  What  the  dire 
necessities  of  human  progress  are,  who  can  yet  tell? 
Somehow  he  knew,  or  at  least  believed,  it  was  God's 
will  and  purpose  that  he  should  do  as  he  did,  bloody 
and  merciless  as  his  course  seemed  to  be.  If,  however, 
we  grant  that  his  horrible  massacres  of  Ammonite  and 
Perizite  were  justifiable,  it  will  yet  appear  that  the 
human  affection  of  Moses  exhausted  itself  chiefly  upon 
his  own  people.  His  language  and  bearing  were  con- 
stantly '^If  ye  shall  diligently  keep  all  these  com- 
mandments, to  do  them,  to  love  the  Lord  your  God, 
to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  to  cleave  unto  him,  then 
will  the  Lord  drive  out  all  these  nations  from  before 
you,  and  ye  shall  possess  greater  nations  and  mightier 
than  yourselves."      (Exod.  ii:   22,  23.) 

Jesus,  too,  was   a  son   of  Israel,  and   on  occasion^ 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  255 

signified  a  peculiar  attachment  for  his  own  people. 
His  lament  over  Jerusalem  is  a  pathetic  expression  of 
such  attachment.  It  was  but  natural  that  he  should 
be  drawn  to  a  people  through  whom  ^'AU  the  nations 
of  the  earth  were  to  be  blessed."  He  offered  them 
first,  ^'glad  tidings  of  great  joy,"  influenced,  perhaps, 
by  his  peculiar  love  for  them,  but  chiefly,  no  doubt, 
because  they  had  the  scriptures,  and  the  promise  of 
the  Messiah,  and  he,  therefore,  might  hope  to  find 
with  them,  an  open  door  of  opportunity  and  easy 
entrance  on  his  mission.  But  his  philanthropy  was 
not  confined  to  the  Jewish  nation.  In  the  face  of  the 
shame  and  humiliation  which  other  Jews  would  have 
felt,  he  went  forth  to  Samaritan  and  Gentile,  even  the 
poorest  and  most  debased,  with  his  message  of  love 
and  kindly  ministries.  No  caste  or  race  prejudice 
could  restrain  his  world-embracing  sympathy.  No 
suffering  son  of  man  or  daughter  of  affliction,  no  sin- 
scarred  abandoned  mortal  whom  he  did  not  carry  on 
his  heart  with  all  the  fidelity  and  affection  which  Moses 
had  cherished  for  the  one  people  of  his  love. 

The  Son  of  Man  has  been  compared  with  the  fabu- 
lous Sakya  Mouni. 

The  one  was  born  a  peasant,  the  other  a  prince. 

The  Hindu  abandoned  his  home  and  fortune  to  become 
a  devout  recluse  in  the  wilderness,  and  afterward  the 
founder  of  Buddhism.  He  lived,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, about  six  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era. 

Disgusted  with  the  whole  system  of  caste,  which 


256  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

played  such  a  conspicuous  part  among  the  Brahmins, 
he  threw  the  whole  weight  of  his  great  influence 
against  it.  He  saw  in  every  human  being  that  which 
made  him  kin  to  himself ;  and  more,  he  saw  in  every 
living,  creeping  thing,  a  transmigrating  spirit,  once  a 
man,  now  a  soul  in  process  of  purification.  ' 

He  was  thoroughly  unselfish,  and  in  this  respect 
resembled  the  founder  of  the  Christian  system.  He 
was  born  a  Brahmin,  as  Jesus  was  born  a  Jew,  and 
both  became  great  reformers,  one  of  Brahminism,  the 
other  of  Judaism,  of  ethics  and  religion  the  world 
over. 

As  philanthropists  they  had  less  in  common  than 
we  have  been  taught  to  believe. 

The  kinship  of  Buddha  to  animated  nature  was  the 
kinship  of  law  and  relation,  and  not  that  of  personal 
sentiment  and  capacity.  He  could  find  nothing  author- 
izing or  justifying  the  caste  system  of  the  Brahmins. 
The  spirit  of  every  living  thing,  and  of  course  man 
included,  was  an  emanation  in  kind  from  the  divine 
spirit,  and  hence  the  universal  kinship  of  animated 
nature.  Any  pretension  to  natural  superiority  or  pre- 
rogative was  pure  assumption,  and  hence  the  whole 
caste  system  is  rotten  at  the  core. 

But  the  brotherhood  of  the  Buddhist  is  kinship, 
without  reciprocity,  without  philanthrop}^ 

Rest,  absolute,  eternal  rest  is  the  condition  of  final 
blessedness — Nirwana. 

Philanthropy  itself  is  a  passion,  and  incompatible 
with  repose.     It  senci^  men  out   to  help  others — to 


THE    CHRIST    CHARACTER.  257 

heal  the  sick,  to  open  Wind  eyes,  to  unstop  deaf  ears, 
to  help  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  to  visit  the  sick 
and  them  that  are  in  prison.  It  is  attended  with  some- 
thing of  care  and  anxiety.  In  its  essence  it  is  action 
and  not  rest.  It  is  incompatible  with  the  Buddhist 
thrjory  of  the  ideal  good. 

Buddha  was  tired — tii-ed  of  soul  and  must  rest,  as 
an  exhausted  man  must  sleep.  That  which  prevents 
sleep — rest — must  be  withdrawn,  annihilated.  Desire, 
sensibility  prevents  rest — is  itself  active  and  incom- 
patible with  rest  of  soul.  Buddha  philanthropy,  if 
philanthropy  it  may  be  called,  having  attained  its  per- 
fection, visits  no  prisons,  cared  for  no  widows  and 
orphans,  built  no  almshouses. 

All  are  united  in  the  same  march  of  events,  all  are 
destined  to  the  same  goal — let  the  all-embracing  stream 
of  life  flow  smoothly  onward  in  its  deep  channel,  but 
avoid  the  submerged  rocks,  that  break  the  surface  into 
splashing  white  caps,  or  hurl  the  flood  into  eddying 
whirlpools  beneath.  Desire  is  the  very  devil  of  infe- 
licity. Alas,  this  eternal  unrest  and  toil  of  the  spirit ! 
When  shall  we  be  done  with  it  and  the  soul  be  per- 
mitted to  rest  ?     This  was  Sakya  Mouni. 

How  different  from  all  this  was  Jesus,  needs  hardly 
to  be  said. 

He  enters  upon  life  with  the  divine  passion 
aflame  in  his  heart.  He  did  not  seek  to  destroy  emo- 
tion, passion,  desire,  but  to  temper  and  direct  them. 
A  soul  without  these  sensibilities  would  be  as  destitute 
pind  incapable  of  happiness  as  a  ray  of  light.      In  his 


258  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

own  experience,  conscience  was  supreme,  and  love 
reigned — love  toward  God  and  love  toward  men.  And 
to  this  complexion  he  sought  to  bring  all  men,  with 
what  fidelity  and  devotion  let  Gethsemane  and  the 
cross  witness. 

As  Sakya  Mouni  has  been  delivered  to  us,  he  is 
bewilderingly  great — great  in  self-abnegation,  great  as 
a  reformer,  great  as  a  speculative  and  religious  m3^stic — 
but  with  such  a  monstrous  misconception  of  human 
hfe  and  duty  as  to  vitiate  his  influence,  and  render  it 
doubtful  whether,  after  all,  he  were  more  a  blessing 
than  a  curse  to  the  world. 

Jesus  assumed  that  life  is  worth  living,  and  worth 
saving,  and  he  gave  himself  to  the  task  of  readjusting 
its  forces,  and  making  it  a  harmony  in  the  universe  of 
God.  His  whole  being  throbbed  with  affection  for 
poor  humanity.  He  consecrated  himself  to  the  service 
of  mankind,  and,  giving  all,  obedient  to  the  behests 
of  his  und3ang  love  for  the  race,  he  went  down  through 
trial  and  suffering,  to  death.  And  now,  after  nineteen 
centuries,  he  is  hailed  as  the  Savior  of  men  by  the 
most  enlightened  nations  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Christ  Mission  Outlined. 

It  is  time  now  to  inquire  specifically  what  was  the 
mission  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  this  world.  He 
had  a  specific  mission  and  he  must  have  known  well 
what  it  was.  The  angel  said,  ^^thou  shalt  call  his 
name  Jesus,  savior,  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins. "      Matt,  i:   21. 

The  Evangelist  tells  us  that  God  sent  him — 
^^that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  *  have 
everlasting  life. "     Jno.  3:   16. 

Jesus  himself  says: 

*^My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me, 
and  to  finish  his  work,"  whatever  that  may  have  been. 
See  Jno.  4:   34. 

^'He  that  heareth  my  word  and  believeth  on  him 
that  sent  me  hath  everlasting  life."  Jno.  5:  24.  Not 
shall  have,  but  hath.  ^T  can  of  mine  own  self  do 
nothing;  as  I  hear  I  judge,  and  my  judgment  is  just, 
because  I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the 
Father  which  hath  sent  me."  Jno.  5:  30.  He  is 
under  commission. 

The  work  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  finish, 
the  same  work  I  do — under  commission — and  they 
bear  witness  of  me.     Jno.  5:   36. 


26o  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

^^No  man  cometh  to  me  except  the  Father  draw 
him;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  Jno. 
6:   44.      Will  raise  him  up. 

^^My  doctrine  is  not  mine,  but  his  that  sent  me." 
Jno.  7:    16.      Under  commission. 

''I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me  while  it 
is  day.  The  night  comath  when  no  man  can  work." 
Jno.  9:   4. 

^^The  Father  which  sent  me,  he  gave  me  a  com- 
mandment, what  I  should  say,  and  what  I  should 
speak."      Jno.  12:  49. 

^^The  word  which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the 
Father's  which  sent  me."  Plainly  under  commission. 
Jno.  14:   24. 

From  these  declarations  of  Jesus,  and  others  of 
similar  import,  we  must  learn  the  purposes  of  the 
Father  in  sending  his  beloved  Son  to  this  world. 
Jesus  tells  us  in  so  many  words  why  he  came. 

^^I  came  "^  to  call  *  sinners  to  repentance. "  Mark. 
2:    17;  Luke  5:   32. 

''I  came  not  to  judge  the  w^orld,  but  to  save  the 
world."     Jno.  12:   47. 

^^I  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister 
and  to  give  my  life  a  ransom  for  many."     Mark  10:  45. 

^'Let  us  go  into  the  next  towns,  that  I  ma}^  preach 
there   also,    for   therefore    I   am   come  forth."      Mark 

i:   38. 

He  was  explicit  in  stating  that  the  Father  had  sent 
him;  that  he  came  under  commission  to  do  certain 
^^works;"    to   represent  the    Father    in    his   character 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  261 

and  feelings  toward  men,  and  through  his  hfe  and 
teaching  to  point  the  way  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
—to  be  the  '^way/'  the  '^truth''  and  the  ''Uie.'' 

The  prophet  had  said:  ''The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the 
broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives, 
and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind;  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised;  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord."  Isaiah  6i:  i.  Having  gone  into  the 
synagogue  and  read  this  passage,  he  said,  all  eyes 
being  fixed  upon  him,  ''This  day  is  this  scripture  ful- 
filled in  your  ears."     See  Luke  4:   18-21. 

In  summing  up  his  work  at  the  close  of  his  mission 
he  said: 

"It  behooved  Christ  to  suffer  and  to  rise  from  the 
dead  *  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should 
be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations."  Luke 
24:  46,  47. 

The  Jews  had  long  lived  in  expectation  of  a  great 
deliverer.  The  old  theocracy  had  passed  away,  their 
kings  were  dead,  and  they  had  passed  under  the 
Roman  yoke;  and  their  only  hope,  as  set  forth  by  the 
prophets  Isaiah,  Daniel  and  others,  was  in  the  com- 
ing Messiah. 

Answering  to  this  expectation,  Jesus  is  announced 
as  the  child  of  prophecy  and  claims  to  have  come 
to  open  up  and  establish  the  kingdom  foretold  by  the 
prophets. 

He  assures  them  that  this  kingdom  is  at  hand. 


262  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

From  this  collection  of  facts  and  others  akin  and 
confirmatory,  we  must  make  up  our  ideal  of  the  mis- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  world,  so  far,  at  least,  as 
he  himself  and  his  four  biographers  have  set   it  forth. 

He  was  to  ^^save  men  from  sin"  by  whatever 
means.  This  was  the  general  purpose  and  final 
object  of  his  coming.  Through  him  in  some  way  men 
were  to  attain  ^^everlasting  life,"  and  be  ^ ^raised  up  at 
the  last  day." 

He  explicitly  asserts  that  he  came  to  ^^call  sinners 
to  repentance,"  ^^to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor," 
*'to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind  ^  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

If  it  is  thought  that  Paul  and  other  writers  of  the 
New  Testament,  more  under  the  influence  and  power  of 
the  old  Judaic  cultus  than  was  he,  have  indicated  other 
offices  and  purposes  of  his  mission,  let  us  leave  them 
to  the  criticism  and  judgment  of  the  theologians,  to 
whose  ability  and  learning  no  pretensions  are  here 
made.  We  seek  to  know  only  what  the  Christ  mis- 
sion was  as  he  himself  understood  it,  and  what  he 
himself  taught  us  as  to  our  relations  to  it. 

By  common  consent  to  save  m.en  from  sin  must 
mean  to  bring  them  to  turn  from  sin,  to  eschew  the 
wrong,  to  covet  the  good;  it  must  mean  to  bring  them 
into  relations  of  loyalty  to  the  divine  government, 
into  harmony  with  the  moral  order  of  the  universe. 
Between  the  alien  and  rebellious  sinner,  and  the  good 
God,  and  all  else  that  is  fsfood,  there  must  be  effected 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION^  263 

an  at-one-ment,  a  permanent  harmony.  To  this  con- 
summation all  professing  Christians  look,  though  they 
do  so  under  the  lights  and  shadows  of  various  theories 
as  to  the  means  and  mo  dies  operandi. 

What,  then,  is  it  from  which  men  need  to  be  saved? 
What  must  be  done  to  bring  the  creature  into  har- 
monious relations  with  the  Creator? 

1.  In  the  ordinary  experience  of  men  there  is  some 
consciousness  of  guilt  before  God — an  abiding  con- 
viction that  something  is  not  right,  something  has 
been  done  which  ought  not  to  have  been  done — a 
sense  of  ill-desert,  that  causes  unrest  and  trouble  of 
spirit,  a  ghost  of  apprehension,  if  not  of  condemnation, 
that  will  not  down.  This  state  of  mind  must  be 
replaced  by  one  of  mental  rest  and  satisfaction. 

2.  Between  the  unregenerate  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God  there  is  little  or  no  congeniality.  The  sinful 
and  the  wicked  do  not  enjoy  the  presence  and  society 
of  the  pure  and  good.  They  are  wont  to  slink  away  and 
hide  themselves.  They  are  out  of  their  element,  as 
is  a  fish  out  of  water.  They  are,  as  Paul  puts  it, 
without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world.  They 
are  living  in  their  lower  nature,  and  must  be  brought 
out  of  it  ere  they  can  realize  the  higher  joys  of  which 
man  is  capable.  This  congeniality  and  reciprocity 
must  be  established  to  make  the  best  form  of  human 
happiness  possible. 

3.  And  then,  there  comes  into  tne  life  of  every  one 
a  conscious  sense  of  helplessness — hours  of  suffering 
and  disappointment,    in  which  the  soul  imperatively 


264  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

needs  what  no  human  hand  can  give — needs  to  rest 
down  upon  one  who  can  and  who  will  render  support, 
who  will  keep  and  protect  till  the  storm  be  over — • 
past.  This  sense  of  the  divine  helpfulness  is  to  be 
realized. 

4.  So  much  done,  there  must  yet  be  imparted 
such  strength  and  temper  of  spirit  as  will  enable  the 
individual  to  maintain  his  regenerate  life  in  the  face 
of  temptation  and  opposition,  with  all  its  fruitions 
and  prerogatives,  as  he  goes  forward  in  the  journey 
Oi  the  world-life  to  its  close. 

5.  Finally,  every  one  knows,  when  he  pauses  to 
reflect,  that  the  present  sensuous  life  is  ebbing  away — 
that  time  flies,  and  death  comes,  and  he  needs  to 
know  that  there  will  be  no  break  in  his  conscious 
being  at  death,  that,  -^if  a  man  die,  he  shall  live 
again  ''  And  he  wants  to  know  this  with  something 
ot  more  assurance  than  mere  reason  and  philosophy 
can  give. 

Such  are  the  needs  which  men  realize  in  the  present 
state  of  being — needs  to  which  response  must  be  made 
if  men  are  to  be  saved. 

To  work  out,  or  to  aid  in  working  out,  these  results 
foi  mankind  wc  will  now  assume  that  the  Divine  Son 
01  Man  sent  01  the  Father,  came  to  this  world. 
Whac  was  his  programme?  What,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  did  he  do? 

One  01  his  biographers  in  concluding  his  history 
says — inauiging  a  strong  hyperbole: 

^*And  there  are  also  many  other  things  which  Jesus 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  265 

did,  the  which,  if  they  should  be  written,  every  one 
of  them,  I  suppose  that  even  the  world  itself  could 
not  contain  the  things  that  should  be  written."  Jno. 
21:   25. 

We  are  not  permitted  to  know  all  that  Jesus  did, 
but  we  know  in  part,  and,  it  may  be  safely  assumed, 
that  whatever  he  did,  and  whatever  he  said,  was 
done  and  said  with  a  view  of  furthering  the  salvation 
of  men — the  one  great  purpose  of  his  mission. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Christ — A  Revelation. 

^^O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him" — the  cry 
of  the  much-aiHicted  old  Patriarch,  has  been  the  cry 
of  all  the  ages.  To  ^^find  him/'  has  been  the  quest 
of  all  philosoph}^,  the  one  hope  of  all  religion — the 
inextinguishable  yearning  of  the  human  soul. 

"Nearer  my  God  to  thee, 
Nearer  to  thee." 

But  ^^Who  b}^  searching  can  find  out  God?" 
What  did  the  Egyptian  give  us,  pushing  his  quest 
and  leading  the  thought  of  the  world  through  the  long 
centuries  of  his  culture?  What  did  the  mystic  Brah- 
min, spurning  the  earth  and  aspiring  to  be  with  the 
gods,  give  us,  during  all  the  cycling  centuries,  which 
he  claims  to  have  been  his  ?  What  did  Greek  philoso- 
phy, born  of  genius,  give  us?  What  is  the  ^^Ra"  of 
Egypt,  or  the  ^'BRAHM^'of  India,  or  the  ^^One"  of  Greek 
philosophy,  but  a  dim  abstraction,  without  form  and 
void? 

^'The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God. "  Yes,  they 
do.  And,  as  we  turn  our  telescopes  upon  them,  and 
know  more  of  law,  and  light,  and  electricit}^,  they 
become  all  more  glorious.      But  the  glory  of  God   is 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  267 

not  God.  All  nature  smiles  in  radiant  beauty  under 
the  lambent  touches  of  the  king  of  day  ;  but  all  nature 
is  not  God. 

The  raging  of  our  own  Niagara  tells  of  power.  The 
thunder  and  the  storm  tell  us  of  power.  The  mighty 
orbs  that  were  flung  into  the  upper  deep,  to  count 
their  mighty  revolutions  on  and  on  forever,  tell  us  of 
power,  more  than  we  can  conceive  ;  hut  J^ower  is  not 
God.  The  light  fitted  to  the  eye  and  suited  to  leaf 
and  flow^er  tells  us  of  wisdom ;  but  wisdom  is  not 
God. 

Wisdom  and  power  exhaust  the  category  of  the 
divine  attributes,  as  manifested  in  the  heavens,  that 
declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  the  firmament  that 
showeth  his  handiwork. 

But  out  of  the  depths  there  come  other  voices — 
voices  of  sentiment,  of  love,  of  conscience,  venera- 
tion, justice,  of  sympath}^,  of  gratitude.  Are  these 
the  voices  of  God  sounding  out  of  the  depths  ?  Whence 
come  these  voices? 

Light  and  heat  wake  to  life  the  sleeping  germ.  They 
expand  the  bud,  and  paint  the  rose,  and  the  unseen  air 
bears  to  us  its  fragrance.  But  do  they  tell  us  of  feel- 
ings of  joy,  or  grief?  Electricity  can  reawaken  the 
dead  and  start  it  into  momentary  phenomenal  life  and 
activity.  Can  it  inform  us  of  intent,  or  of  duty,  or  of 
worship? 

^^O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him  !" 

The  Son  of  Man — Son  of  God — came  out  of  the 
depths,  which  thought  had  essayed  in  vain  to  explore. 


268  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

The  conception  of  the  divine  being  prevalent  in  the 
Old  Religions  is  thoroughly  mystical,  and  to  the  last 
degree  obscure  and  confusing.  Their  most  enlight- 
ened worship  was  the  worship  of  the  Greeks  at  Mars 
Hill — worship  of  the  ^ ^Unknown  God." 

In  Judaism  we  have  a  definable  and  palpable  Mono- 
theism. The  God  of  the  Jew  is  one  God.  ^^He 
inhabiteth  eternity,  and  dwelleth  in  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth. '^ 

Unlike  the  supreme  beings  of  other  religions,  he  was 
conceived  of  as  holding  intimate  and  familiar  relations 
with  his  creature  man,  and  because  of  his  imminence 
and  constant  providence,  his  power  to  awe  and  restrain 
men  was  supremely  great. 

But  his  character  as  it  stood  in  the  mind  of  the 
ancient  Jew  approaches  that  of  a  despot,  conscious 
of  unlimited  power,  and  holding  universal  dominion. 
He  is  the  one  Almighty  Being,  more  to  be  feared  than 
loved.  As  in  the  older  religions,  fear  held  sw^ay  as  a 
motive  to  obedience.  The  ^^fear  of  the  Lord"  was 
regarded  as  ^^the  beginning  of  wisdom;' '  and  the  destruc- 
tion frequently  hurled  against  idolatrous  nations,  gave 
ample  sanction  to  the  comprehensive  injunction,  ^'Fear 
God  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole 
duty  of  man." 

The  unique  and  wonderful  Son  of  Man  came  out  of 
the  depths  to  show  us  God — the  All-Father. 

The  Prophet  seven  hundred  years  before  had  said, 
He  shall  be  called  Immanuel — God  with  us.  It  was 
his  to  bring  within  the  range  of  our  sense-appreheii- 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  269 

sion  the  attributes  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  in  so  far, 
at  least,  as  they  stand  related  to  our  well-being.  A 
mere  verbal  revelation  was  not  enough.  There  must 
be  an  acted-living  revelation,  if  men  are  to  be  reached 
and  rescued.  To  the  extent  of  our  needs  ^^all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth"  are  given  to  him.  He  imper- 
sonates the  Father.  What  he  did  the  Father  did 
through  him.  What  he  said  the  Father  said.  In  his 
capacity  as  the  Father's  vicegerent,  he  is  one  with  the 
Father — Immanuel. 

From  him  we  learn  not  only  that  wisdom  is  of  God, 
and  that  power  is  of  God,  but  we  learn  what  had  never 
been  known  or  imagined,  if  we  except  the  Judaic  cult, 
that  sentiment — affection — feeling  are  of  God. 

From  him  we  learn  that  God  loves  all  men. 

From  him  we  learn  that,  as  the  embodiment  and 
impersonation  of  all  that  is  good,  we  should  love  God 
supremely. 

That,  as  equal  to  ourselves  in  all  tho  capacities  for 
goodness,  and  destined  to  the  same  eternity  of  being, 
we  should  love  our  fellowmen  as  we  love  ourselves. 

That,  in  God's  estimate  and  order  of  things,  love 
fulfills  all  moral  obligation,  and  that  its  presence  as  a 
ruling  sentiment  constitutes  the  one  condition  of 
human  well-being  and  happiness. 

From  him  we  learn  that  a  man  weighted  down 
with  sensuous  appetencies  and  exposed  to  torturing 
temptations,  may  be  fortified  and  helped — may  be 
l^rought  to  the  birth  of  a  new  life — may  emerge  into  a 


270  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

more  spiritual  and  higher  state  of  being,  even  in   the 
present  life,  and  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

From  him  we  learn  that  true  penitence  avails  to 
break  the  power  of  sin,  to  purge  the  soul  from  a  con- 
demning sense  of  conscious  unworthiness  as  a  sinner 
before  God  ;  that  he  who  comes  to  see  the  folly  of  sin 
may  fly  from  it,  and  not  remain  forever  cursed  on 
account  of  vows  broken  and  sins  already  committed — 
that  penitent  prodigals  may  return  to  the  Father's 
house. 

From  him  we  learn  that  the  innocence  and  goodness 
which  characterize  the  child  and  constitute  its  heaven, 
is  indispensable  to  the  adult  as  a  qualification  for  the 
same  heaven;  that  the  penitent,  humble  poor  and 
downtrodden  shall  sometime  be  vindicated,  and  that 
they  that  mourn  shall  be  blessed. 

From  him  we  learn  that  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead,  but  of  the  living — that  there  are  no  dead.  From 
him  we  learn  all  these  things,  and  more — things  hitherto 
unknown,  or  but  half  known  at  best. 

Thou  blessed  Christ,  we  thank  thee  for  these  revela- 
tions. They  lift  the  clouds  and  purify  the  air  we 
breathe.  They  remove  great  burdens  from  our  shoulders. 

We  had  thought  we  must  placate  the  gods,  build 
shrines,  offer  sacrifices,  make  weary  pilgrimages.  We 
did  not  know  that  to  the  Almighty  belong  moral  attri- 
butes— parental  feeling — and  that  he  needs  not  to  be 
placated  with  sacrifices  and  blood  ;  that  he  is,  in  fact, 
our  Father  in  heaven^  and  that  he  loves  us  as  his 
children. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION. 


271 


We  thank  thee,  thou  blessed  Christ,  that  thou  hast 
revealed  the  Father's  love.  We  knew  it  not;  we  were 
afraid  of  God.  We  knew  something  of  his  power, 
and  in  the  dark  hours  we  thought  his  wrath  was  upon 
us,  and  we  looked  into  the  grave  without  hope. 

We  knew  not  the  way  of  life.  We  were  blind  and 
went  groping  in  the  dark.  But  thou  hast  brought  to 
light,  with  the  Father's  love,  ^^life   and  immortality." 

We  should  \vdive  known  that  he  who  stands  at  the 
portals  of  life,  sustaining  our  breathing  and  our  heart- 
beats, was  the  Almighty  Father,  attentively  caring  for 
us,  but  we  did  not  ;  it  had  not  occurred  to  us,  and  we 
lifted  up  no  gratitude  for  his  goodness. 

He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.  The 
spirit  that  I  manifest ;  the  interest  and  affection  that 
I  have  had  in  you  and  exhibited  toward  you  are  his 
interest,  his  affection.  Can  it  be  possible  ?  Is  this  an 
exhibition  of  the  Heavenly  Father's  solicitude  and" 
care  for  poor  humanity?  Yes.  He  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father.  We  have  seen  the  blessed 
Christ  going  in  and  out  among  men,  helping  the  needy, 
healing  the  sick,  comforting  the  mourner,  giving  hope 
and  courage  to  the  down-trodden  and  despairing.  We 
saw  thee  on  the  ^^mount"  and  heard  thy  gracious 
words.  We  saw  thee  with  the  religiously  per- 
plexed and  disconsolate  woman  at  the  well — with  the 
penitent  adulteress — at  the  bier  of  the  widow  of  Nain — 
with  the  sisters  of  Bethany,  weeping  at  the  grave  of 
their  brother.  Yes,  thou  Lamb  of  God,  we  saw  thee 
in  Gethsemane  and  on  the  cross,  and  heard  thy  dying 


272  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

prayer,  ^'Father,  forgive  them,"  and  now  thou  dost 
assure  us  that  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father  ! 

We  have  been  told  that  Jesus  made  no  contributions 
to  our  knowledge. 

The  allusion  in  such  a  statement  must  be  to  a  tech- 
nical knowledge  of  physical  science. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  Jesus  was  a  ^ ^scientist."  But 
no  philosopher  or  scholar  of  any  respectability  or 
regard  for  truth  will  say  that  he  made  no  valuable 
contributions  to  the  *  ^science"  of  ethics  and  religion. 

He  brought  to  light — and  let  him  deny  who  will — 
new  conceptions  of  the  divine  being,  new  estimates  of 
the  value  of  love  as  a  factor  of  well-being,  new  ideals 
of  worship  and  a  more  correct  view  of  the  relations 
that  men  sustain  to  each  other  and  to  God,  the  possi- 
bility of  a  rapid  transformation  of  moral  character,  a 
better  ideal  of  the  relation  of  male  and  female,  and  the 
sanctity  of  marriage,  and  to  mention  no  more,  a  more 
worthy  conception  of  the  true  dignity  of  man  and  a 
more  rationally  certified  hope  of  life  and  well-being 
in  the  hereafter. 

It  need  not  here  be  said  that  these  revelations 
opened  up  to  men  a  '^New  Heaven"  and  a  ''New 
Earth." 

It  is  not,  after  all,  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Son 
of  Man  so  profoundly  impressed  mankind.  Such 
astounding  revelations  could  hardly  do  less.  It  is 
only  wonderful  that  men  should  be  so  slow  to  awake 
to  a  proper  recognition  of  what  the  good    ''Father  in 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  273 

Heaven,"  and  the  '^Only  Son"  have  done  for  the 
world. 

It  is  sometliing  humiliating  to  know  that  as  early  as 
the  fourth  century,  men  holding  the  written  life  of 
Jesus  in  hand,  could  proceed  to  build  up  the  most 
gigantic  despotism  the  world  ever  saw. 

It  is  humiliating  to  know  that  the  best  scholars  and 
the  best  men  of  the  world  holding  this  book  in  hand, 
could  submit  for  a  i,ooo  years  to  this  remorseless 
world-embracing  despotism,  without  a  protest  that 
would  shake  the  earth  and  wake  the  dead. 

It  is  not  creditable  to  the  sixteenth  century  intelligence 
that  Christians  having  wrested  this  book,  all  radiant 
with  the  revelations  of  God,  from  the  hands  of  the 
Pope,  should  be  satisfied  with  a  reform  so  partial  and 
imperfect. 

It  is  not  creditable  to  the  eighteenth  century  intelli- 
gence, that  the  churches,  with  this  book  upon  their 
altars,  should  retain  anything  of  the  old  Judaic  and 
Pagan  priesthood  with  its  effete  functions — that  they 
should  retain  anything  of  the  essentially  heathen  belief, 
^hat  the  great  God  can  be  conciliated  by  the  offering 
of  slain  victims,  and  ^^shed  blood,"  with  only  a  diver- 
sion as  to  the  dramatis  per sonce  of  the  offering. 

It  compromises  the  religious  intelligence  of  this  age 
that  even  Protestants  can  shrink  themselves  into  a 
comprehensive  externalism,  and  go  statedly  through 
the  ceremonial  and  ritualistic  services  of  the  temple, 
and  imagine  that,  in  so  doing,  they  are  par  excellence 
serving  God  ;  while  in  the  Roman  and  Greek  churches, 


274  '*'"'''    N^^    RELIGION. 

we  have  heathenism  in  full  chorus!  If  the  divine 
Son  of  Man  were  again  to  speak  to  us  in  audible  terms, 
would  he  not  say  ^^How  long  shall  I  bear  with  you? 
How  long  shall  I  suffer  you?" 

In  the  name  of  the  Only  Begotten,  let  Christians 
awake  out  of  the  sleep  of  a  dead  formalism,  and 
return  to  the  ^ 'mount  of  vision,"  where  Jesus  left  his 
disciples  at  Pentecost. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

According  to  views  just  presented,  the  life  of  the 
^^Son  of  Man"  was  an  acted  and  perpetual  revelation. 
His  teaching,  therefore,  on  any  subject  and  on  all  sub- 
jects, indeed,  must  be  accepted  as  true  and  authori- 
tative,   if  properly  understood. 

But  here  comes  in  some  difficulty,  especially  to  us 
Westerners,  whose  habits  of  thought  and  modes  of 
expression  are  so  different  from  those  of  the  Orientals. 

We  have  dropped  from  the  gorgeous  realm  of  tropes 
and  metaphors  to  the  flat  bottom  of  a  prosy,  matter- 
of-fact  literalism,  and  we  find  it  difficult  to  render  the 
poetry  of  the  Orient  into  the  prose  of  the  Occident. 

Who  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath 
eternal  life!  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh 
my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  him!  And  yet,  with 
attention  to  differences  in  modes  of  thinking,  we  shall 
be  able  to  make  the  translation  more   or  less   correct. 

Another  precaution  seems  necessary.  God  is 
revealed  as  a  spirit.  That  which  exists  on  the  plane 
of  the  material  is  not  God.  The  revelations  of  the 
Son  of  God  deal  with  the  spiritual. 

God  the   Father,    man  the  creature.      The   kinship 


276  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

between  them  is  a  kinship  of  spirit  with  spirit,  of 
thought  with  thought,  of  feehng  with  feehng. 

Largely  overlooking  the  merely  physical  and  per- 
ishable, the  Son  of  Man  proceeds  upon  a  plane  of 
exalted  spirituality.  He  deals  with  the  ^^^ternal 
verities."  If  he  is  interested  in  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
it  is  because  that  cup  is  the  blossoming  out  and  fruit- 
age of  a  temper  and  disposition  which  constitute 
heaven  in  the  soul. 

If  reason  and  conscience  and  love  do  not  predomi- 
nate and  exclude  idolatrous  devotion  to  the  distract- 
ing temporary  concerns  of  the  lower  life,  we  shall  fail 
to  comprehend  this  '^Teacher  come  from  God." 

^^The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
spirit  of  God — they  are  foolishness  unto  him.  He 
cannot  know  them,  for  they  are  spiritualty  discerned." 

And  here  precisely  lies  the  difficulty  with  the  skep- 
tical critics  of  the  Founder  of  Christianit}/.  Living 
habitually  in  the  arit^  regions  of  speculative  thought, 
and  concerned  chiefly  with  the  present  ^ ^world-life," 
they  have  failed  to  apprehend  the  true  significance  of 
his  teaching  at  many  points. 

Man  is  at  his  best  when  his  whole  nature,  intellec- 
tual, moral  and  spiritual,  is  in  full  play,  when  con- 
science asserts  the  divine  presence  and  prerogative, 
when  the  affections  are  duly  subordinated  to  the  law 
of  right,  and  take  hold  on  things  spiritual,  and  the 
soul,  throbbing  with  glad  emotion,  is  lifted  out  of  the 
gross  and  sensuous  and  borne  heavenward.      Then  it  is 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  277 

that  the  words  and  thoughts  of  Jesus  become  ''words 
that  breathe,"  and  ''thoughts  that  burn." 

He  addressed  himself  chiefly  to  the  affectional 
nature,  as  we  all  know,  and  he  must  be  approached 
on  the  line  and  in  the  spirit  of  his  teaching  if  one 
would  get  into  rapport  with  him,  and  become  able  to 
properly  understand  and  appreciate  his  teaching. 

In  his  review  of  the  best  thought  of  his  age  Jesus 
pointed  out  certain  errors  and  indicated  certain  prin- 
ciples of  morality  which  had  never  before  been 
enunciated. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  much  of  his  teaching 
has  not  been  transmitted  to  us  in  form  or  in  fact;  but 
the  more  striking  and  impressive,  and  probably  the 
more  important  passages  have  been  recorded. 

I.  In  review  of  the  Mosaic  teaching  he  says,  Ye  have 
heard  that  it  has  been  said  "an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth" — evil  for  evil.  This  was  the  teach- 
ing, this  the  practice,  this  the  impulse  of  unregener- 
ate  humanity  the  world  over.  But  he  abruptly 
breaks  this  order.  Do  not  do  evil  for  evil.  What 
then,  do  nothing?  Not  that.  "But  I  say  unto  you  * 
Bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate 
you,  and  pray  for  them  who  despitefuUy  use  you  and 
persecute  you!" 

But  is  such  a  course  a  reasonable  one,  and  practicable 
in  actual  life?  Will  it  do  to  assume  that  this  doing 
good  for  evil  will  finally  be  appreciated,  and  prove  to 
be  the  best  thing  that  could  have  been  done?  Well, 
we  know  that  seeing  it  done  usually  touches  the  hard- 


278  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

est  hearts.  It  stays  the  hand  ready  to  strike.  It 
checks  revenge.  It  hardly  fails  to  conquer  peace. 
As  a  rule,  it  does  all  these,  whereas,  returning  evil 
for  evil  stirs  worse  strife,  summons  resistance,  embit- 
ters feeling,  excites  revenge  and  prolongs  hatred  and 
war. 

Is  it  not  better  to  take  the  chances — appeal  to  the 
better  nature,  and  return  good  for  evil,  and  thus  do 
the  best  and  strongest  thing  in  your  power  to  reform 
and  save  the  evil  doer?  So  taught  Jesus,  whose  mis- 
sion it  was  to  save  his  people  from  their  sins. 

He  himself  did  good  for  evil.  He  did  it  when  the 
world  was  against  him,  and  there  was  little  hope  of 
final  appreciation — when  his  own  chosen  ^^tw^elve" 
had  left  him.  He  did  it,  when  to  seeming,  his  cause 
went  down  out  of  sight,  and  he  hung  dying  on  the 
cross. 

But  it  is  a  new  deal  in  morality.  Too  high  for 
some,  possibly  for  most  men.  Even  that  profound 
scholar  and  advanced  thinker,  John  Stuart  Mill, 
thought  such  a  morality  impracticable  in  actual  life. 
Let  them  wait.  Men  are  accepting  it  more  and  more. 
The  evidence  from  history  is  not  all  in.  More  and 
more  the  folly  of  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth  is  becoming  apparent,  more  and  more  is  it 
becoming  evident  that  on  this  line  of  battle  ^^one  shall 
chase  a  thousand  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight." 

2.  Infarther  review  of  the  Mosaic  teaching,  he  brings 
out  new  ideals  as  to  the  position  and  the  rights  of 
woman. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  279 

*^In  the  beginning  God  made  male  and  female. "  '  ^And 
for  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother, 
and  cleave  to  his  wife;  and  they  twain  shall  be  one 
flesh." 

What  then  becomes  of  the  boasted  superiority  of 
man?  Whence  his  right  to  subordinate  and  enslave 
woman,  as  she  has  been  in  all  lands  and  through  the 
ages?  Contrasted  with  all  previous  teaching  this 
reads  like  a  revelation  from  heaven.  There  is 
scarcely  a  trace  of  it  to  be  found  in  history.  The 
teaching  in  Genesis  accounting  for  the  origin  of  male 
and  female  was  accepted,  but  the  logical  inferences 
which  the  Author  of  Christianity  makes  from  it  had 
never  been  made.  Very  soon  after  the  creation, 
woman  drops  out  of  sight,  only  to  appear  again  as  a 
servile  subordinate,  toward  whom  any  indignity  may 
be  offered  with  impunity.  Polygamy  and  concubinage 
run  riot  under  the  eyes  and  in  the  immediate  presence 
of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  It  is  a  distressing  com- 
ment upon  poor  human  nature,  that,  after  i,goo 
years,  so  few  have  yet  risen  to  the  height  of  a  view, 
so  just,  so  human — and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh. 
The  rights  of  women,  as  certified  by  the  Author  of 
Christianity,  are  coming  to  be  recognized  more  and 
more,  but  even  among  professing  Christians  the 
admission  that  they  twain  shall  be  ''one  flesh''  is 
grudgingly  made,  if  made  at  all. 

Blessed  Master,  Ihou  didst  come  to  redeem  and 
save  the  world,  and  thou  art  mightily  lifting   at  least 


28o  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

one-half  of  it — aye,    all  of  it — for  as  woman  is  lifted 
man  is  also  lifted  and  saved. ^ 

Treasure  in  Heaven, 

3.  As  the  conscience  is  awakened  and  becomes  sensi- 
tive to  the  touches  of  sin,  as  the  affections  become 
pure,  the  thoughts  take  new  range,  one  sees  things  in 
new  lights,  and  the  whole  significance  of  life  is 
changed. 

The  Author  of  Christianity  always  insisted  upon  a 
purer  morality — a  higher  life.  There  is  a  realm 
whence  disastrous  changes  and  uncertainty  are  ban- 
ished, and  to  this  realm  he  would  have  men  aspire. 

^^Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  the 
earth  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  and  steal.  But  lay  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  in  heaven.  *  *  For  where 
your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also."  Matt. 
6:    19-21. 

This  teaching,  be  it  old  or  new,  is  squarely  in  the 
face  of  the  world's  activities.  In  an  iron  age — even 
in  a  silver  and  gold  age — it  can  have  little  recognition 
among  men.  The  average  adventurer  upon  the  sea 
of  life  will  thrust  it  aside  as  the  dictum  of  a  dreaming 

I.  The  teaching  of  the  Founder  of  the  New  Religion,  that 
only  one  single  ground  of  divorce  is  lawful,  alike  distinguishes  his 
followers  from  both  Jews  and  heathens  of  his  day.  He  revolu- 
tionized society  by  giving  to  the  family  a  sure  foundation,  and  by 
the  elevation  of  woman  to  be  the  true  companion  of  man.  Chris- 
tian Archaeology,  by  Bennett,  p.  461. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  281 

enthusiast,  and  utterly  incompatible  with  business 
life  in  this  business  world. 

We  forget  that  we  are  children  of  the  Father  in 
heaven,  and  capable  of  holding  high  converse  with 
him,  that  we  are  destined,  very  soon,  to  be  withdrawn 
from  the  present  environment.  The  lower  life  burns 
out  while  incubating  the  higher.  The  lower  life, 
within  its  sphere,  has  its  uses.  But  its  uses  are  tem- 
porary, and  it  is  liable  to  error.  It  is  wont  to  busy 
itself  constantly  with  momentary  pleasures  and  Cheap 
entertainments.  These  entertainments  and  pleasures 
sometimes  prove  to  be  so  fascinating  as  to  draw  upon 
the  life  forces  above,  and  pervert  them.  They  are,  it 
must  be  admitted,  very  beguiling,  and  tend  to  draw 
us.  down  ward — to  keep  us  on  the  plane  of  the  lower 
life. 

The  mad  chase  for  gold  is  on  throughout  the  wide 
world.  Behold  the  struggle  it  engenders,  always  and 
everywhere!  What  does  it  prove?'  It  proves  that 
most  men  are  the  victims  of  avarice.  It  proves  that 
the  lower  life  is  master — that  men  are  standing  on  the 
lower  and  not  the  higher  plane  of  their  being — that 
the  glare  of  gold  has  blinded  them  to  the  spiritual 
possibilities  of  their  nature — that  they  have  not 
^'tasted  of  the  good  word  of  God  and  the  powers  of 
the  world  to  come."  They,  indeed,  know  something 
of  a  crude  and  cheap  friendship,  but  it  usually  has  the 
taint  of  money.  They  know  little  or  nothing  of  the 
true  feast  of  reason  and  flow  of  soul  sometimes  real- 
ized by  high-born  congcjnial  spirits.      Such  fellowship 


202  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

is  too  high,  for  the  professional  money-getter.  He 
cannot  attain  unto  it.  He  is  living  in  his  lower  nature, 
which  admits  of  certain  fervid  ill-fragrant  excitements, 
but  yields  no  charismic  exaltation.  He  is  breathing 
an  atmosphere  that  is  heavy  and  choking,  loaded  with 
the  rust  and  poison  of  selfishness,  and  the  love  of 
money.  His  feet  are  amid  the  swamps  and  quag- 
mires of  the  earth,  earthy.  He  is  to  be  pitied,  since 
he  knows  not,  or  seems  not  to  know,  that  there  is 
anything  better  than  money.  There  are  many  things 
better  than  money.  When  you  are  healthy  and 
buoyant  your  dollar  is  worth  its  face,  every  cent  of  it. 
When  you  linger  on  a  cheerless  bed  of  protracted  sick- 
ness and  sufiering,  from  which  all  the  money  of  the 
banks  cannot  lift  you,  your  dollar  is  at  discount.  As 
your  malady  increases  its  discount  increases.  When 
you  are  looking  into  the  grave,  what  is  the  value  of 
your  dollar,  or  a  million  of  them? 

Money  is  at  best  but  a  cheap  advantage.  It  can 
only  buy  what  is  of  little  worth,  and  cheap  in  the 
market.  It  cannot  buy  a  friendship  worth  having. 
It  cannot  purchase  3^ou  a  restful  and  happy  state  of 
mind  or  a  good  character — a  breath  or  touch  of 
heaven. 

Better  not  lay  it  up.  It  will  not  keep  long  in  any 
case.      Rust  will  corrode  it.      Thieves  may  steal  it. 

When  love  warms  your  heart  and  sweetens  your 
temper,  your  thoughts  are  likely  to  take  a  range  above 
money  and  money  hunting.  When  gratitude  for  a  life 
crowned  with  blessings  wells   up   from   the   depths  of 


THE    CHRISr    MISSION.  283 

your  being,  you  are  surmounting  your  lower  nature. 
You  are  stepping  well  upon  the  borders  of  the  upper 
kingdom,  and  earthly  treasures  are  of  little  worth. 

Why  do  we  so  habitually  shut  our  eyes  to  things 
eternal,  and  open  them  so  eagerly  and  fix  them  so 
intently  upon  things  perishable  and  of  little  worth? 
Somehow  this  tendency  is  upon  us — upon  some  more 
and  stronger  than  upon  others,  but  upon  us  all. 
However,  we  have  moments  of  aspiration  and  clearer 
light — moods  let  us  call  them — outcrops  of  the  future 
life — foregleams  of  the  coming  day — flashes  of  disem- 
bodied spirit  existence.  There  are  few,  perhaps  none, 
w^ho  have  not  had  these  moods — seasons  of  temporary 
exaltation — prophesies  cf  the  hereafter.  They  have 
come  in  response  to  fervid  prayer  to  God  for  a  purer 
and  better  life.  They  have  come,  as  they  did  in  the 
olden  time  to  Plato,  in  hours  of  solitary  contempla- 
tion. They  have  come  on  occasions  of  sweet  and 
holy  converse  of  friend  with  friend — blessed  anti- 
pasts  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  And  in  such 
moods  how  radiant  and  joyous  is  all  nature;  theheavens 
are  more  benignant,  the  landscape  more  charming, 
the  foliage  more  gorgeous,  the  flowers  sweeter.  Even 
the  bark  of  the  distant  dog,  on  his  faithful  watch,  is  a 
note  of  praise  that  reaches  heaven.  The  lowing  herd 
and  the  flitting  songsters  of  the  forest,  and  every 
sound  that  breaks  upon  the  ambient  air  peal  their 
grateful  melodies  into  the  ear  of  the  Most  High. 
How  then  does  the  ^*earth-earthy"  sink  into  worth- 
^.ssness?      What    now    of    the    money-grubbers   and 


284  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

notoriety  mongers  who  are  so  busily  digging  to  bury 
themselves  deeper  and  deeper  in  the  accumulations  of 
earthy  treasure?  What  ample  proof  the  millionaire 
gives  of  short-sighted  folly!  How  evident  the  damag- 
ing mistakes  made  by  those  who,  like  the  great  Alex- 
ander, are  ambitious  of  earthly  renown.  Renown,  the 
most  flattering,  is  unsatisfying.  It  did  not  satisfy 
Alexander — did  net  bless  him  Living,  he  gave  the 
largest  proof  of  his  mad  foll}^,  and  dying  he  went  off 
an  impoverished  bankrupt,  a  wreck  into  a  shoreless 
sea.  He  died  as  the  fool  dies.  The  golden  sands  of 
Pactolus  could  not  protect  the  proverbial  Croesus 
against  the  determination  of  Cyrus  to  offer  him  in 
sacrifice  to  the  Persian's  God.  And  gold  would  not 
bless  you,  though,  like  Midas,  you  could  turn  every- 
thing you  touch  into  gold.  It  would  curse  you.  It 
cursed  Midas  until  he  besought  the  gods  to  smite  him 
again  with  utter  poverty,  if  need  be,  to  save  him  from 
the  curse  of  gold. 

What  will  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul? 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

In  pursuance  of  his  mission  ^^Jesus  began  to  preach, 
saying,  repent  ye  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand.' 

That  repentance  was  somehow  needful  to  reforma- 
tion was  urgently  taught  in  the  Hebrew  scriptures. 
^'If  my  people  shall  humble  themselves  and  seek  my 
face  and  turn  from  their  wicked  ways,  then  will  I  for- 
give their  sins,  and  heal  their  land  (2  Kings  7:  14). 
The  Psalmist,  whose  enlarged  views  and  exalted  spir- 
ituality, exhibit  the  best  phases  of  the  Judaic  cultus, 
prays  : 

*  ^         *         *         *         O  Lord 
Pardon  my  iniquity,  for  it  is  great. 

*  *  -jt  ^  H?  ^ 

Turn  thou  unto  me,  and  have  mercy  upon  me, 
For  I  am  desolate,  and  afflicted. 

*  -jf  *  *  *  ^ 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God, 
According  to  thy  loving  kindness. 

*  -x-  :i;  *  *  * 
And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

*  -X-  :ic  -X-  *  * 

The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  them  of  a  broken  heart, 
And  saveth  such  as  be  of  a  contrite  spirit. 


286  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

A  broken  and  a  contrite  heart, 
O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise — 

From  this  cultus  Jesus  emerged  as  the  '^Messiah/' 
commissioned  to  ^^save  his  people  from  their  sins." 

John  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea  calling  upon 
men  to  repent — preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord.  The 
impassioned  cry  of  John  became  the  solemn  injunction 
of  Jesus — ''•Repent  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand."  Throughout  his  teaching  great  stress  is  laid 
upon  the  need  of  repentance. 

When  he  sent  out  the  12  and  the  70,  it  was  to  call 
upon  men  to  repent,  as  he  himself  had  done,  in  their 
hearing  (Mark  6-12);  and  later,  Peter  reproducing  his 
teaching  said,  ^ ^Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  con- 
verted, that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."     Acts  3:  19. 

In  summing  up  results  just  before  his  departure, 
alluding  to  what  had  been  written  concerning  him  in 
the  Law  of  Moses  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the 
Psalms,  Jesus  said,  ^^Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it 
behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead, 
that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached  in  my  name,  to  all  nations." 

It  must  no:  be  forgotten  that  whatever  discord  may 
exist  between  the  Almighty  Father  and  any  human 
being,  it  is  chargeable  to  the  man  himself,  because  of 
wrongs  done— of  sins  committed.  If  one  is  conscious 
of  personal  guilt,  he  has  brought  it  upon  himself. 
Like  the  Prodigal  he  has  sinned,  and  like  the  Prodigal 
he  must  repent.  The  good  Heavenly  Father  is  ever 
ready  to  forgive  and  welcome  the  wanderer  home. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  287 

What  is  it  to  sin,  and  what  to  repent  ?  We  ought 
to  be  very  clear  on  subjects  of  so  much  moment. 

To  sin^  then,  is  to  violate  law,  to  go  against  the 
moral  sense,  to  do  what  you  know,  or  at  least  what 
you  believe,  to  be  wrong.  It  is  to  take  up  arms  against 
conscience,  to  take  sides  with  the  bad  against  the 
good. 

Doing  this,  you  cease  to  be  loyal  to  the  divine  gov- 
ernment, you  become  a  discord  in  the  moral  order, 
you  become  consciously  unworthy  and  feel  guilty. 
This  is  human  experience,  always  and  everywhere,  at 
the  inception  of  a  sinful  and  vicious  life. 

But  what  is  it  to  repent,  that  so  much  emphasis  is 
put  upon  it  by  the  Great  Teacher  ?  What  can  it  be, 
but  to  lay  down  the  arms  you  have  taken  up  against 
conscience,  to  renounce  sin,  to  eschcAV  evil  ?  What 
is  it,  but  to  take  the  back  track  on  your  erring  life, 
with  the  solemn  purpose  of  reforming  and  making  all 
possible  amends,  and  thus  resuming  your  place  in  the 
divine  favor,  or  rather,  perhaps,  to  experience  such  a 
sense  of  personal  guilt  and  consciousness  of  ill-desert, 
on  account  of  missteps  taken  and  wrongs  done,  as  will 
cause  you  to  gladly  do  these  things  ?  The  one  course 
in  the  very  nature  of  things  makes  the  other  necessary. 
The  one  covers,  and  corrects  the  other,  leaving  you 
something  damaged,  indeed,  and  less  than  you  other- 
wise would  have  been,  because  of  opportunities  lost, 
z^rA  capacities  unimproved,  but  yet  reconciled  with 
God,  and  in  sympathy  and  harmony  with  all  that  is 
good. 


288  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Sooner  or  later  there  comes  to  most  men,  if  not  to 
all,  a  thoughtful  and  serious  hour,  in  which  they  are 
wont  to  cast  the  horoscope  of  life  descendant.  They 
ponder  upon  the  pathway  they  have  trod.  They  ques- 
tion the  oracles  as  to  their  fortune  and  destiny.  They 
stand  in  the  conscious  presence  of  the  inevitable. 
Perhaps  they  begin  to  realize  that  their  feet  are  already 
^^taking  hold  on  death,"  and  are  ready  to  cry  out  with 
the  Publican,  ^^God  be  merciful."  Some  great  sorrow 
has  come,  recalling  their  thoughts  to  the  uncertainty 
and  insufficiency  of  all  earthly  good  ;  or,  the  exhibi- 
tion of  some  great  but  undeserved  love,  has  sent  a 
thrill  of  keen  conviction  to  the  heart ;  or,  it  may  be, 
that  some  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel,  like  the 
consecrated  prophet  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  has 
effectually  reached  them  with  his  warning  cry  ;  or  the 
^^still  small  voice"  in  the  evening  twilight,  more  pow- 
erful than  ^^the  rushing  might}^  wind,"  has  been  heard 
in  the  solemn  depths  of  the  soul,  calling  them  back  to 
duty  and  to  God.  At  any  rate  the  moral  and  religious 
sense  is  at  high-tide.  Man  is  face  to  face  with  his 
destiny.  The  moment  is  auspicious  for  high  resolve, 
and  blessed  is  he  who,  in  such  an  hour,  takes  resolu- 
tion to  abandon  sin  and  consecrate  himself  to  good- 
ness and  to  God. 

Now,  it  is  something  of  this  plastic  state  of  mind 
that  Jesus  seeks  to  bring  in  as  the  first  condition  need- 
ful to  the  uplifting  and  saving  process.  There  must 
be  some  experience  of  sorrow  for  sin,  some  review  of 
the  past,  uncovering  its  errors,  an  honest  hour  with 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  28g 

God  and  the  truth,  resulting,  as  it  must,  in  a  sense  of 
guilt  and  unworthiness  before  God,  if  the  future  pos- 
sibilities of  the  higher  life  are  to  be  realized.  This, 
at  least,  is  the  postulate  of  the  New  Religion. 

At  this  point  stoicism  takes  issue  squarely  with 
Christianity. 

It  was  the  conceit  of  the  stoics  that  one  could  reform 
himself  simply  by  dint' of  resolution,  and  stiffening  up 
courage.  With  them  sorrow  for  sin  was  a  childish 
weakness.  Seneca  scouted  penitence  as  unbecoming 
a  manly  character.  ^^The  calm  of  a  mind,  blessed 
with  the  consciousness  of  its  own  virtue,  is  the  supreme 
expression  of  felicity."  (Leckey,  Hist.  Mor.,voL  i,  p. 
207.) 

But  alas  !  Seneca,  what  about  the  disquietude  and 
unrest  of  a  mind  conscious  of  its  own  vice  ?  And 
where,  good  Seneca,  will  you  go  to  find  one  who  has 
not  had  something  of  this  experience  with  vice  ?  Is 
the  pleasure  of  virtue  more  real  to  consciousness  than 
the  pain  of  vice? 

Jesus  and  Seneca  were  contemporaries,  and  lived 
under  the  same  government-  To  Seneca,  his  Gali- 
lean contemporary  would  have  said,  ^^They  that  are 
whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick. 
I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repent- 
ance." 

Suppose,  Seneca,  you  know  yourself  to  have  done 
wrong,  as  surely  you  must  have  known  you  were  doing, 
when  truckling  to  the  wicked  whims  of  the  most 
vicious  despot  th«at  ever  disgraced  a  throne.     Suppose 


290  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

you  already  feel  a  damning  sense  of  guilt  and  sin, 
such  as  very  many  men  come  to  feel,  what  then?  You  can 
not  by  a  mere  edict  of  the  will  banish  it ;  what  is  your 
alternative  ?  You  may  disregard  the  voice  of  con- 
science, you  may  possibly  hush  its  warnings,  but  in 
so  far  as  you  succeed  in  doing  this,  3^ou  break  down 
your  moral  nature,  and  disqualify  yourself  for  the 
enjoyment  of  those  divine  pleasures  which  spring  from 
congenial  fellowship  with  the  pure,  the  good  and  the 
true. 

If  you  ignore  and  discard  sorrow  for  sin,  what  will 
fortify  any  purpose  to  do  right  in  the  future  ?  How 
can  you  reassume  your  relations  of  loyalty  to  the  right 
if  no  sorrow^  for  wrong-doing  has  begotten  within  you 
a  stronger  motive  to  obedience  ? 

Jesus  says.  Repent,  give  place  to  sorrow,  examine 
your  life  in  the  light  of  your  best  knowledge,  and  with 
prayerful  interest,  seek  to  know  the  worst  as  God 
knows  it.  To  do  this  is  no  evidence  of  weakness  or 
want  of  manhood. 

Your  sorrow  is  but  the  needed  ministry  of  suffering — 
the  condition  and  prophecy  of  your  emancipation  from 
sin. 

Nor  is  the  result  uncertain.  That  one  comes  up  out 
of  the  ordeal  of  a  true  penitence,  nobler  and  happier,  is 
not  an  accident. 

When  Jesus  began  to  preach  saying,  ^'Repent  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand,"  he  announced  the 
law  of  the   spirit's   emergence  into   higher   forms   of 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  29I 

life.     Peter  repeats  it  in  form,  ' 'Repent  ye  therefore  and 
be  converted." 

''How  can  it  be?"  Never  mind,  Nicodemus,  it  is 
so.  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it  hsteth,  and  you 
hear  the  sound  thereof."  "Marvel  not."  "Kf  must 
be  born  again. " 

Most  of  us  have  seen  men  come  out  of  this  ordeal 
of  penitence.  What  are  the  facts  ?  They  come  with 
smiles  of  joy  playing  over  every  feature,  with  expres- 
sions of  thankfulness  and  gratitude,  with  a  fathomless 
love  that  reaches  out  toward  friends  and  foes,  and 
takes  in  the  world. 

And  this  process  of  redemption  we  have  seen 
repeated  so  often,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  law 
of  regeneration.  They  come  out  of  this  ordeal  "new 
creatures,' '  childlike,  transparent,  with  new  aspirations, 
new  hopes  and  purposes.  They  experience  new  affini- 
ties and  seek  new  associations. 

And  Jesus  evidently  regarded  all  such  penitents  as 
already  saved  and  worthy  of  confidence.  If  one  sin 
against  you  forgive  him.  The  penitent  publican  was 
"justified."  The  penitent  adulteress  was  forgiven. 
The  penitent  thief  on  the  cross  was  promised 
paradise. 

He  did  not  exalt  "faith,"  as  did  Luther ;  nor  the 
"blood,"  as  does  Moody,  and  orthodoxy  in  general. 
It  seemed  to  be  enough  that  the  sinner  should  be 
penitent  as  the  prodigal  was  penitent.  It  was  not 
necessary  that  he  should  go  round  and  round  through 
the  wilderness  of  ecclesiastical  dogma  and  sacraments, 


:^92  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

nor  to  halt  at  the  dead  sea  of  forms  and  ceremony — 
*^the  kingdom  is  at  hand." 

In  a  case  given  expressly  to  illustrate  the  way  out 
of  sin  and  return  to  virtue,  sketched  by  the  Master's 
own  hand,  the  prodigal  son  is  made  to  reviev/  his  past 
life,  the  favors  slighted,  the  opportunities  lost  ;  and 
the  dire  necessities  of  a  life  of  sin,  are  made  to  bring 
the  erring  wanderer  to  himself,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
true  penitence  he  determines  to  go  back  to  his  father 
and  say  to  him,  '^Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven 
and  before  thee  ;  I  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called 
thy  son.  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants. 
And  the  father  seeing  him  runs  to  meet  him  and  wel- 
come him  home."  No  priestly  ^^absolution"  nor  '^39 
Articles."      ^^No  slain  lamb  or  bleeding  victim." 

Among  the  angels  in  heaven  and  the  angels  on 
earth  there  is  ^^joy  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  this  Christian  view  of  the  virtue 
of  repentance  as  adequate  to  exculpate  the  offender 
from  further  blame,  is  accepted  and  acted  on  by  men 
generally.  If  one  do  you  a  wrong,  to  accomplish 
some  selfish  purpose,  you  have  reason  for  feeling  that 
he  should  be  punished  for  it  some  way.  But  let  him 
repent  and  prove  to  you  true  sorrow,  and  3^ou  not  onl}^ 
readily  forgive  him,  but  your  confidence  in  his  essen- 
tial moral  integrity  is  restored.  This  is  the  experience 
of  all  honorable,  fair-minded  men.  Throughout  Juda- 
ism and  Christianity,  at  least,  it  is  recognized  as  the 
sufficient  ground  of  forgiveness  and  restoration  to  the 
divine  favor. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  293 

It  is  not  claimed  that  penitence,  however  deep  and 
sincere,  operates  to  lessen  the  divine  abhorrence  of 
sin,  or  that  one  having  sinned  can,  through  repent- 
ance, recover  all  that  he  lost  through  sinning  ;  but 
only  that  he  will  be  lifted  out  of  the  conscious  con- 
demnation and  wretchedness  which  weighs  upon  him 
during  his  alienation  from  God.  He  returns  to  his 
loyalty  to  the  right,  not  to  be  what  he  might  have 
been,  but  yet,  to  be  at  peace  with  conscience,  and  in 
harmony  with  all  that  is  good.  The  end  of  law  is 
universal  harmony.  This  end  has  been  attained 
through  penitence  and  reformation  of  life,  and  what 
more  do  men,  or  angels,  or  God  require  ? 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

Reformation  of  life  by  means  of  moral  precept  and 
education  is  always  tediously  slow  and  often  far  from 
satisfactory. 

Jesus  had  less  to  say  in  favor  of  such  reformatory 
means  than  most  masters. 

About  the  only  hope  held  out  by  him  to  the  habitual 
sinner  is  the  possibility  of  his  regeneration.  He  did 
not  indoctrinate  him  in  ethics,  did  not  teach  him 
science,  but  called  upon  him  to  repent. 

If  a  rapid,  not  to  say  an  instantaneous  transforma- 
tion of  the  moral  character,  be  impossible,  then  at 
least  one  of  the  chief  postulates  of  the  New  Religion 
is  unfounded,  and  Christianity  sinks  well  nigh  to  the 
level  of  the  Older  Religions. 

Born  only  of  the  flesh  you  may  tramp  the  world- 
life  through  to  its  end  on  a  very  low  plane  of  being. 
And  you  need  more  than  education  and  good  advice. 
To  realize  your  destiny  as  a  child  of  the  Heavenly 
Father,  you  must  escape  from  the  chrysalis  of  the 
merely  sensuous  life  and  take  your  place  among  the 
immortals.      Education  is  not  enough. 

If  those  vicious  tastes  and  dispositions  of  yours, 
which  take  pleasure  in  domestic  and   social  disorder^ 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  295 

in  conscienceless  greed  and  unjust  gain,  in  mere  sen- 
suous and  degrading  indulgence  of  tastes,  and  disposi- 
tions which  make  history  so  largely  a  record  of  crime 
— if  the  flaming  appetites  and  passions  which,  upon 
the  least  temptation,  hurl  you  into  every  species  of 
excessive  indulgence,  cannot  be  replaced  by  some- 
thing better,  then  plainly  there  can  be  no  heaven  for 
3/0U  in  earth  or  sky.  Mere  education  and  precept, 
such  as  the  Old  Masters  relied  on,  are  not  enough. 
The  plummet  must  drop  to  the  bottom.  Marvel  not 
that  I  said  unto  you,  ye  must  be  born  again. 

As  to  the  character  and  extent  of  the  needed  trans- 
formation of  life,  there  is  diversity  of  experience  and 
diversity  of  opinions — opinions  which  vary  somewhat 
with  the  theories  of  human  depravity. 

The  author  of  ^  ^Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World" 
frankly  states  the  necessities  involved  in  conversion 
under  the  ^^Total  Depravity"  theory  of  the  orthodox 
churches. 

*^The  attitude  of  the  natural  man,  with  reference  to 
the  spiritual,  is  a  subject  on  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  equally  pronounced.  Not  only  in  relation  to 
the  spiritual  man,  but  to  the  whole  spiritual  world 
the  natural  man  is  regarded  as  dead.  He  is  as  a  crys- 
tal to  an  organism.  The  natural  world  is  to  the 
spiritual  as  the  inorganic  to  the  organic.  *To  be  car- 
nally minded  is  death.''  ^Thou  hast  a  name  to  live 
but  art  dead.'  ^She  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead 
while  she  liveth.'  ^To  you  hath  he  given  life^  which 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins.'  "     Again  he  says: 


296  THE    NEW    kELlGION. 

'^It  is  an  old-fashioned  theology  which  divides  the 
world  in  this  way — which  speaks  of  men  as  living 
and  dead,  lost  and  saved — a  stern  theology,  all  but 
fallen  into  disuse.  This  difference  between  the  liv- 
ing and  the  dead,  in  souls,  is  so  unproved  by  casual 
observation,  so  impalpable  in  itself,  so  startling  as  a 
doctrine,  that  schools  of  culture  have  ridiculed  or 
denied  the  grim  distinction.  Nevertheless,  the  grim 
distinction  must  be  retained." 

If  this  be,  indeed,  a  true  account  of  the  natural, 
unconverted  man,  then  conversion  must  sweep  the 
whole  field,  and  start  him,  another  being,  into  another 
realm  of  being. 

This  author  is  very  explicit  and  has  the  courage  a* 
his  faith.      Let  us  hear  him: 

''What  now,  let  us  ask,  specifically  distinguishes  a 
Christian  man  from  a  non-Christian  man?  Is  it  that 
he  has  certain  mental  characteristics  not  possessed  by 
the  other?  Is  it  that  certain  faculties  have  been 
trained  in  him,  that  morality  assumes  special  and 
higher  manifestations  and  character  a  nobler  form? 
Is  the  Christian  merely  an  ordinary  man,  who  hap- 
pens, from  birth,  to  have  been  surrounded  with  a 
peculiar  set  of  ideas?  Is  his  religion  merely  that 
peculiar  quality  of  the  moral  life  defined  by  Mr. 
Mathew  Arnold  as  morality,  touched  by  emotion? 
And  does  the  possession  of  a  high  ideal,  benevolcnc 
sympathies,  a  reverent  spirit,  and  a  favorable  envi- 
ronment account  for  what  men  call  his  spiritual  life?" 

To  all  of  which  he  enters  a  negative  as  follows: 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  ^97 

*'The  distinction  between  them  is  the  same  as  that 
between  the  organic  and  the  inorganic,  the  Hving  and 
the  dead.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  crystal 
and  an  organism,  a  stone  and  a  plant?  They  have 
much  in  common.  Both  are  made  of  the  same  atoms. 
Both  display  the  same  properties  of  matter.  Both 
are  subject  to  the  physical  laws.  Both  may  be  very 
beautiful.  But  besides  possessing  all  that  the  crystal 
has,  the  plant  possesses  something  more — a  mysteri- 
ous something  called  life.  This  life  is  not  something 
which  existed  in  the  crystal,  only  in  a  less  developed 
form.  There  is  nothing  at  all  like  it  in  the  crystal. 
There  is  nothing  like  the  first  beginning  of  it  in  the 
crystal,  not  a  trace  or  symptom  of  it.  This  plant  is 
tenanted  by  something  new,  an  original  and  unique 
possession,  added  over  and  above  all  the  properties 
common  to  both.  When  from  vegetable  life  we  rise 
to  animal  life,  here  again  we  find  something  original 
and  unique — unique  at  least  as  compared  with  the 
mineral.  From  animal  life  we  ascend  again  to  spirit- 
ual life.  And  here  also  is  something  new,  something 
still  more  unique.  He  who  lives  the  spiritual  life  has 
a  distinct  kind  of  life,  added  to  all  the  other  phases 
of  life,  which  he  manifests — a  kind  of  life  infinitely 
more  distinct  than  is  the  active  life  of  a  plant  from 
the  inertia  of  a  stone.  The  spiritual  man  is  more  dis- 
tinct in  point  of  fact,  than  is  the  plant  from  the  stone. 
This  is  the  one  possible  comparison  in  nature,  for 
it  is  the  widest  distinction  in  nature;  but  compared 
with  the  difference  between  the  natural  and  the  spirit- 


298  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

ual,  the  gulx  which  divides  the  organic  from  the  inor- 
ganic is  a  hair's  breadth. "^ 

I  have  made  this  quotation  not  because  I  accept  its 
teaching,  nor  for  the  purpose  of  controverting  it,  but 
because  the  author  sets  forth  so  frankly  and  clearly 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  change  necessitated  by 
the  Total  Depravity  theory. 

If  the  so-called  natural  man  is  endowed  with  spirit- 
ual potencies — with  capacities  which,  when  properly 
developed  and  properly  directed,  ally  him  with  the 
spiritual,  and  make  him  brother  to  other  spirits  and 
all  spirits — and  it  seems  most  remarkable  that  any  can 
doubt  it — then,  falling  into  habitual  sin,  and  building 
a  bad  character,  as  the  natural  man  somehow  is  wont 
to  do,  he  needs  conversion.  He  is  going  in  the  wrong 
direction.  He  is  misapplying  and  abusing  his  God- 
given  powers,  and  must  stop  it.  He  is  not  dead,  but 
misguided,  and  living  beneath  his  privileges.  He  yet 
has  some  sense  of  justice,  some  sympathy  with  the 
right,  the  good  and  the  true.  "He  has  some  sense  of 
love  and  friendship,  some  thought  of  God  and  destiny 
— all  men  have.  All  unconverted  men  are  not  purely 
diabolical.  Conversion  does  not  sweep  the  whole 
field  of  their  mental  and  moral  powers  and  substitute 
something  different  in  kind. 

A  sense  of  justice,  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  of 
friendship  and  love,  of  the  good  and  true,  are  intuitions. 
To  these  man  was  born;  and  these  ally  the  most 
natural  man  with  spirit  existence  and  qualify  him   for 

I.     Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  pp.  75  and  80.,  et.  seq. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  299 

possible  spiritual  fellowship.  He  needs  nothing  dif- 
ferent in  kind  but  a  better  temper  and  equilibrium  of 
mental  and  moral  powers  to  make  him  happy.  His 
sense  of  justice  is  not  diabolical,  but  possibly  very 
crude  and  imperfect;  it  may  be  but  germinal  and 
badly  overgrown  with  noxious  vices,  and  so  with  all 
the  virtues  named  and  nameable.  He  needs  rehabili- 
tating. He  can  never  be  the  man  he  was  intended  to 
be,  without  it,  and  hence  Jesus  says  he  must  be  born 
again. 

As  if  he  had  said  to  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  you 
have  taken  a  wrong  drift,  Nicodemus.  You  are  living 
in  your  lower  life.  The  chief  objects  of  your  life  are 
not  what  they  should  be.  Your  estimate  of  things 
that  are  in  themselves  perishing  and  unsatisfying  is 
out  of  all  proportion  with  their  value  as  factors  of  well 
being.  You  must  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  your 
higher  nature  is  to  dominate  the  lower,  that  you  can- 
not live  as  an  animal  and  be  happy  as  an  angel  or  as  a 
man.  Like  the  Prodigal,  you  must  come  to  yourself 
and  change  your  base — admitting  an  expressive  figure 
— you  must  be  born  again. 

On  the  theory  of  total  depravity  all  alike  need  con- 
version— the  most  innocent  child  as  well  as  the  most 
obdurate  criminal. 

But  Jesus  did  not  hold  the  same  language  concern- 
ing children  that  he  held  to  Nicodemus. 

He  did  not  hold  the  language  of  representative 
teachers. 

Watson  said  they  are  ''judicially  damned."      Angus- 


300  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

tine  had  said  substantially  the  same,  long  before  him. 
Luther  indorsed  and  emphasized  Augustine.  The 
Protestant  Episcopal  church  says,  by  implication, 
they  are  ^^fire-brands  of  hell  and  bond-slaves  of  the 
devil."  But  Jesus  said  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  He  must  have  seen  that  their  moral  condi- 
tion was  very  different  from  that  of  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue.  He  breathes  no  suspicion  that  theyv^ere 
or  could  be  involved  in  the  guilt  of  ^ ^original  sin.*' 

And,  among  those  recognized  as  fit  for  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven,  we  trace  a  wide  disparity  of  character  and 
habits — Lazarus  at  the  gate  of  Dives,  the  Prodigal 
Son,  the  good  Samaritan,  the  penitent  Publican,  the 
Marys,  etc. 

In  short,  it  may  be  said  that  throughout  his  whole 
teaching  there  is  no  intimation  of  the  ^^grim  dogma" 
of  original  sin.  It  was  only  necessary  that  candidates 
for  the  franchises  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  should 
eschew  sin  and  love  goodness. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

P-'ayer  is  the  staple  element  of  religion.  It  is  the 
experience  of  conscious  want  appeahng  to  the  powers 
above  for  help.  Whether  offered  up  by  Pagan  or 
Christian, 

"Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 

Uttered  or  unexpressed; 
The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire 
That  trembles  in  the  breast." 

It  sustains  the  moral  sense.  It  renders  conscience 
more  tenderly  sensitive,  it  nourishes  and  fortifies  the 
better  nature,  and  is  essential  to  the  religious  life.  In 
the  direst  extremities  it  is  instinctive  and  the  final 
resort  of  the  driven  spirit. 

The  Founder  of  the  New  Religion  strongly  empha- 
sized its  importance  as  a  privilege  to  be  enjoyed — as  a 
means  to  a  blessing. 

In  response  to  a  request  from  his  disciples  he  fur- 
nishes the  following  as  a  sample,  indicating  generally 
the  spirit  and  matter  of  acceptable  prayer: 

''Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy 
name.  Thy  Kingdom  come.  Thy  Will  be  done  on 
earth,  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  da}^  our  daily 
bread.     Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those 


302  THE-  NEW    RELIGION. 

who  trespass  against  us.  Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion,  but  deliver  us  from  evil;  for  thine  is  the  King- 
dom, and  the  power,  and  the  glory  forever.      Amen." 

1.  It  is  reverent  and  grateful — Hallowed  be  thy 
name. 

2.  It  is  the  dictate  of  love — Thy  Kingdom — a  state 
of  blessing — come  to  all. 

3.  It  springs  from  a  sense  of  dependence  and  need 
— Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 

4.  It  springs  from  a  sense  of  ill  desert — Forgive 
us  our  sins. 

5.  It  is  inconsistent  with  ill  will — As  we  forgive 
others. 

6.  It  implies  a  dangerous  exposure  to  sin — Deliver 
us  from  evil. 

7.  It  recognizes  from  first  to  last  the  Christian 
ideal  of  God.  as  sympathetic  and  merciful — ^^Our 
Father  in  Heaven." 

It  is  a  marvel  of  brevity,  propriety  and  comprehen- 
siveness. Nothing  like  it  or  approaching  it  to  be 
found  in  any  religion. 

Its  spirit,  and  one  or  more  of  these  underlying  prin- 
ciples, go  to  make  up,  we  may  suppose,  all  appro- 
priate prayer.  It  seems  perfect  in  every  particular. 
Suited  to  all  the  dependent  and  needy  relations  of 
men. 

But  certain  precautions  are  entered  up.  ^^Use  not 
vain  repetitions."  ''Don't  pray  to  be  heard  of  m.en." 
The  heathens  make  a  mistake,  for  they  think  they 
will  be  heard    ''for   their  much  speaking."     And,    if 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  303 

you  pray  to  be  heard  of  men,  it  were  more  a  sacri- 
lege than  an  act  of  worship. 

As  if  he  had  said,  I  have  given  you  a  prayer.  The 
form  is  not  material — '^Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  thy  sight;  I  am  no  more  worthy  to  be 
called  thy  Son — make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants" 
— this  will  do.  ^^God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner"  — 
will  do.  *^God,  I  thank  thee  I  am  not  as  other  men, 
extortioners,  unjust" — stop — ^^I  fast  twice  a  week,  I 
give  tithes" — stop,  stop — this  will  not  do. 

Alas  for  human  nature!  There  is  great  danger  of 
falling  into  the  sin  of  praying  to  be  heard  of  men 

In  the  presence  of  a  critical,  fault-finding  public, 
whether  in  the  ^ ^temple,"  or  at  the  ^ ^corners  of  the 
streets,"  it  is  more  difficult  to  collect  and  concentrate 
one's  thoughts  upon  one's  real  needs — upon  God  and 
duty  and  destiny,  than  in  the  privacy  and  solitude  of 
the  closet.  It  is  difficult  to  avoid  attending  too  much 
to  the  ^^form  of  sound  words,"  and  trimming  the 
thoughts  to  expectant  ears.  In  public  many  things 
tend  to  distract  and  to  prevent  that  close  and  candid 
review  of  self,  and  that  deliberation  which  true  devo- 
tion requires.  You  want  to  avoid  ^^temptation"  when 
you  pray,  ^'Lead  us  not  into  temptation." 

A  reverent  recognition  of  the  Divine  Presence  in  a 
public  meeting  is  always  becoming  and  appropriate, 
and  when  the  business  is  important,  and  especially  if 
it  be  perplexing  and  difficult,  it  is  not  only  proper  in 
itself,  but  greatly  needed,  as  it  tends  to  withdraw  the  mind 


304  THE    NEW    RETJGION. 

from  the  murky  regions  of  passion,  and  qualifies  it  for 
sober  and  successful  action. 

But  the  practice  of  going  into  public  for  the  express 
purpose  of  prayer  and  worship  has  no  sanction  in  the 
New  Religion. 

On  the  Christ  theory  of  true  worship  it  is  difficult 
to  justify  the  prevalent  custom  of  repairing  to  public 
shrines  for  prayer  and  worship — especially  difficult  to 
justify  the  practice  of  hiring  another  to  lead  and  con- 
duct your  worship.  How  can  another  know  so  well 
as  you  yourself  know  what  your  soul  needs  in  the  way 
of  God's  mercy  and  God's  blessing?  Perfunctory 
prayers  to  be  paid  for,  so  much  each,  or  by  the  dozen 
— prayers  by  proxy,  are  exceedingly  liable  to  be 
wholly  empty  of  power  for  good,  mere  words  upon 
the  air. 

If  we  grant  that  the  minister,  so  employed,  is  per- 
fectly sincere  and  well-meaning,  his  sincerity  and 
well-meaning  cannot  avail  for  those  who  employ  him, 
each  one  of  whom  is  responsible  for  himself.  No  offi- 
ciating priest  can  come  between  the  individual  soul 
and  God.  If  he  be  very  ignorant  and  feeble,  the 
minister  may,  for  the  time,  aid  him  by  suggesting 
lines  of  thought — may  possibly  stimulate  his  devo- 
tions, but,  exactly  in  such  a  case,  there  is  imminent 
danger  of  the  votary  depending  too  much  upon  his 
priest — imminent  danger  of  his  falling  into  the  practice 
of  listening  to  prayer  more  than  praying  for  himself. 

Every  scul,  however  weak,  is  strong  enough  to  lift 
up  his  prayer  to  God  for  his  mercy  and  blessing.     If 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  305 

one  feels  that  he  needs  an  intermediating  priest,  it  only 
proves  that  he  has  wrong  conceptions  of  worship,  and 
it  might  do  him  good  to  have  all  such  props  knocked 
from  under  him. 

He  has  forgotten,  if  he  ever  knew,  that  God  is  a 
spirit,  and  that  he  who  worships  profitably  must  him- 
self worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

Jesus  himself  was  not  in  the  habit  of  praying  in 
public.  He  went  into  the  temple  and  synagogue,  it 
is  true,  but  it  was  more  to  teach  the  people  than  to 
pray  with  them  or  for  them.  Though  claimed  to  be  a 
priest  (Heb.  5:  10)  and  initiated,  as  some  say,  into 
the  priestly  office,  he  never  officiated  as  such,  and 
never  recognized  the  need  of  a  priesthood  as  being  at 
all  needful  or  helpful  to  true  worship. 

^^But  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and 
when  thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  the  Father 
which  is  in  secret,  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in 
secret,  shall  reward  thee  openly."  In  this  injunction 
it  is  possible  that  he  only  meant  to  emphasize  the 
necessity  of  one's  being  sincere  and  honest  with  him- 
self, and  to  guard  against  all  pride  and  pretense  of 
personal  goodness,  when  seeking  to  commune  with 
God.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  a  noticeable  fact, 
that  he  did  not  appoint  meetings  for  public  worship, 
did  not  instruct  his  disciples  to  do  so,  and  his  own 
custom  of  withdrawing  himself  into  solitude  to  pray, 
leaving  even  his  own  chosen  disciples  and  going  into 
some  ^^desert  place,"  or  up  into  the  ^ ^mountain," 
when  desiring  to  formally  commune  with  the  Father, 


306  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

though  certainly  there  was  no  danger  of  his  being 
insincere  or  hypocritical,  accords  with  and  reaffirms 
his  instructions  on  the  subject. 

The  student  of  history  hardly  needs  to  be  reminded 
that  the  priestly  office  has  always  and  everywhere 
tended  to  abuse  and  usurpation.  It  implies  and 
depends  upon  the  practice  of  public  and  proxy  wor- 
ship, which,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  equally 
tends  to  hypocrisy  and  corruption.  The  Founder  of 
Christianity,  as  if  aware  of  these  dangerous  tenden- 
cies, which,  it  would  seem,  are  too  strong  for  human 
nature,  gave  no  sanction,  either  to  a  paid  priesthood, 
or  to  public  worship  as  such. 

In  heathen  and  Pagan  lands  there  are  very  many 
shrines  for  public  worship,  and  the  scenes  there  wit- 
nessed are  pitiful  and  humiliating  enough.  In  the 
older  Catholic  countries  not  much  can  be  claimed  in 
the  way  of  improvement  upon  Pagan  customs. 

Protestantism  has  very  much  improved  the  customs 
of  public  worship,  though  evidences  of  the  known 
tendencies  are  not  wanting,  in  certain  quarters. 

The  Protestant  church  edifice  is  not  a  mere  shrine. 
It  is  a  place  where  instruction  is  mingled  with  wor- 
ship. The  pulpit  is  not  simply  an  altar,  but  more  a 
rostrum,  and  is  steadily  becoming  more  and  more  a 
^  ^rostrum." 

To  cherish  a  realizing  sense  of  the  Divine  Presence 
during  those  educational  ministries  is  both  eminently 
proper  in  itself,  and  eminently  productive  of  good,  as 
furnishing  the  best  possible  conditions  for  improving 


THE    CHRISt   MISSION.  30^ 

and  exalting  the  whole  man,  and  this  accords  with  the 
teaching  and  practice  of  the  Master  himself. 

But  prayer  must  be  'Hn  spirit  and  in  triUh.^'' 

At  this  point  Christianity  attains  its  highest  eleva- 
tion as  a  religion.  But,  it  is  at  this  point,  precisely, 
that  it  differs  most  from  the  Old  Religions.  Behold 
the  crowds  of  heathen  worshippers  on  their  knees,  or 
prostrate  in  the  dust,  or  on  weary  pilgrimages,  and 
in  their  temples  ! 

Behold  their  priesthood,  and  their  sacrifices  !  Their 
externalism  !  The  Supreme  Being,  who  cares  nothing 
for  them  personally,  can  only  be  worshipped  through 
shrines  and  symbols — through  offered  victims  and 
burnt  incense  !  What  a  mockery  of  High  Heaven,  if, 
indeed,  religion  is  an  affair  of  the  heart — if  worship  is 
a  concern  that  lies  between  the  individual  soul  and 
God — each  for  himself,  as  taught  in  the  New  Religion. 

*^The  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 
pain  until  now,"  the  benighted  creature,  ^^waiting,  in 
earnest  expectation,  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of 
God."  No  journey  was  too  long,  no  sacrifice  too  great 
to  be  made,  to  bring  the  pilgrim  worshipper,  at  least 
once  in  his  life,  to  the  sacred  shrine,  where  he  could 
bow  before  his  God,  and  worship.  In  all  lands  the 
burden  of  religion  was  too  intolerable  to  be  borne.  It 
was  crushing  out  the  best  life  of  the  world. 

The  Founder  of  the  Christian  system,  from  heights 
of  spiritual  vision  which  had  never  been  attained, 
called  down  to  the  benighted  masses — '^Awake,  and 
sing,  ye  that  dwell  in    the   dust,  for  thy   dew  is  as  the 


308  THE    NEW    RELIGION, 

dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shaU  cast  out  the  dead.'* 
Isa.  26:  ig.  ^^Ye  worship  ye  know  not  what.  Beheve 
me,  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  wor- 
shipper shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth. '  ^ 
Your  sacrifices  avail  you  nothing.  Your  massive 
temples  and  gilded  altars  are  voiceless  and  dumb  and 
avail  3^ou  nothing.  Your  priests  are  human  and  sinful 
and  have  need  to  cry  to  God  for  mercy  on  themselves. 
They  can  not  cancel  your  sins,  nor  bear  away  your 
prayers  to  the  ear  of  the  Most  High.  They  can  not 
return  God's  blessing  upon  your  souls.  Ye  worship 
ye  know  not  what.  If  you  want  the  Father's  blessing, 
if  you  want  to  draw  near  to  him  and  ^^order  your  cause 
before  him,"  ^^Enter  into  your  closet" — leave  your 
altars  and  officiating  priests,  your  ritual  and  ceremony, 
outside,  and,  having  shut  thy  door,  worship  God  in 
spirit — ^^pray  to  the  Father  who  is  in  secret,  and  the 
Father,  who  seeth  in  secret,  shall  reward  you  openly," 

How  like  a  revelation  was  all  this  to  the  shell-bound 
devotees  of  externalism  !  It  summons  the  individual 
into  the  presence  of  God.  It  removes  out  of  the  way 
all  external  intervention  and  awkward  machinery  upon 
which  the  feeble  votary  may  place  a  false  dependence; 
it  opens  the  sky  and  the  sunlight  to  those  groping  their 
ways  through  the  dark.  It  brings  to  light  ^'Life  and 
Immortality." 

For  the  early  disciples,  at  least,  the  power  of  this 
externalism  was  broken.  A  ''Pe7itecosf^  had  become 
possible.  They  went  forth  the  heralds  of  a  more 
direct,  a  more  simple,  a   more   spiritual   and  efficient 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION  ^6g 

gospel  of  truth.  Not  a  Christian  church  was 
built  for  two  hundred  years  ;  but  the  success  and 
progress  of  the  gospel  were  phenomenal,  as  all 
historians  agree.  It  was  the  simple  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God.  It  had  not  then  been 
loaded  down  with  doctrine  and  dogma.  It  was  not 
under  the  espionage  of  an  argus-eyed  hierarchy,  jealous 
of  heresy.  It  had  not  been  hedged  about  and  built 
upon  with  the  ritual  and  ceremony  of  an  all-embracing 
ecclesiasticism,  and  it  succeeded  as  it  always  has  suc- 
ceeded and  always  does  succeed  when  properly  pre- 
sented. In  that  day  Paul  said,  what  he  would  yet 
say,  ^^it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation." 

But  if  the  power  of  externalism  had  been  broken, 
the  tendency  toward  it  had  not  been  destroyed.  Alas  ! 
So  many  seem  incapable  of  any  large  spiritual  devel- 
opment !  They  feed  on  mere  sense  impressions.  A 
little  thinking  wearies  and  exhausts  them.  They  must 
call  upon  others  for  help.  They  constantly  tend  back- 
ward from  the  advanced  position  to  which  the  great 
Teacher  would  bring  them.  For  the  millions  of  the 
Roman  and  Greek  churches  time  has  gone  back  upon 
the  ^^hour"  which  ^^cometh  and  now  is,"  when  the  true 
worshipper  shall  ^ ^worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  They  are  again  sunken  into  an  all-pervading 
formalism,  sickening  in  the  proofs  of  its  utter  shallow- 
ness and  superstition. 

Nor  has  Protestantism  entirely  escaped  the  engulf- 
ing tendency.  It,  too,  has  a  surplus  of  doctrine  and 
dogma,    of  symbol  and   ceremony.      It,  too,  is  living 


316  THE   NEW   RELIGION. 

too  much  In  the  letter  of  God's  word,  too  little  m  its 
spirit  and  power,  as  a  dead  formalism,  apparent 
throughout  the  Protestant  world,  sufficiently  proves. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

^Tf  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar  and  there  remem 
berest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee,  leave 
there  thy  gift,  first  go  and  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother 
and  then  come  and  offer  thy  gift." 

When  the  angels  gathered  together  over  the  infant 
Jesus,  and  sang  praises  to  God,  they  indicated  the 
cause  of  their  rejoicing — they  had  a  prophetic  vision 
of  the  blessed  work  the  little  mysterious  stranger  had 
come  to  accomplish.  However  figurative,  or  even 
legendar}^,  this  account  of  the  evangelists  may  be 
thought  to  be,  the  story  fairly  outlines  the  purpose 
and  life-work  of  the  new-born  world's  Savior.  Seven 
hundred  years  before  the  rapt  Isaiah  had  a  vision  of  a 
good  time  coming  when,  adopting  his  own  strong 
metaphors,  ^'the  wolf  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  together,  and  their  young  lie  down  together, 
and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  an  ox,  and  the  suck- 
ing child  shall  play  upon  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the 
weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  den  of  the 
addci    when  they  shall  not  hurt  nor    destroy  in  all  my 


^12  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

holy  mountain,  and  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord."      Isaiah  ii:   6-10. 

It  seems  that  the  ^^angel  and  a  multitude  of  the 
heavenly  host"  had  discovered  that  the  time  had  come 
for  introducing  this  glorious  era  of  peace  and  good 
will,  and  that  the  chief  actor  in  this  drama  of  reform, 
was  about  to  take  the  stage.  In  such  prophesies  as 
that  of  Isaiah,  time  counts  but  little.  According  to 
our  chronology,  which,  however,  is  little  better  than 
mere  guesswork,  when  relating  to  events  in  that  early 
age,  seven  hundred  years  transpired  before  Jesus 
announced  that  this  good  time — ^^the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand." 

But  he  had  come  to  hasten  it.  And  how  he  worked 
for  it,  lived  for  it,  died  for  it,  we  learn  with  gratitude 
from  the  joint  story  of  the  four  evangelists. 

Paul  said,  ^'If  it  be  possible,  live  peaceably  with  all 
men. ' ' 

Many  other  teachers  had  said  as  much.  But  Jesus 
puts  it  stronger — very  much  stronger  than  this. 

Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  ye  shall  love 
thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  in  the  Chris- 
tian code  there  is  no  place  for  hate — absolutely  none, 
except  the  hate  one  should  always  have,  and  must 
have  (if  he  himself  is  good)  against  evil  itself — against 
evil  as  such.  I  say,  hate  not  your  enemies.  This  old 
teaching  is  wrong.  So  far  from  hating,  you  should 
love  your  enemies — yes,  actually  love  them.  Should 
do  good  to  them,  pray  for  them,  as  you  will  be  sure  to 
do  if  you  really  love  them.      This  is  the  way   to  bring 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  313 

in  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men.  This  will 
put  a  stop  to  quarreling  and  bitterness — will  reform 
and  save  men. 

But  more  than  this.  On  an  occasion  his  disciples 
say  to  him,  '^John  taught  his  disciples  how  to  pray — 
Lord,  teach  us  to  pray;"  and,  after  some  prelimina- 
ries, he  consents — ^^ After  this  manner  therefore  pray 
ye — ^Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,'  etc.,  *  ^  'forgive 
us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  them  who  trespass 
against  us.""  "  This  kind  of  praying  would  hardly  be 
safe  for  some  people,  especially  if  there  were  any  dan- 
ger of  their  prayer  being  granted.  It  might  prove  to 
be  a  serious  thing  for  them,  to  be  forgiven  only  as  they 
forgive,  because  they  never  forgive  at  all.  You  want 
to  make  your  peace  with  God — to  realize  that,  through 
his  mercy  and  grace,  the  account  is  square. 

Have  you  made  your  peace  with  men,  those  with 
whom  you  have  done  business,  with  whom  you  have 
had  misunderstanding  and  clash  of  interests?  If  not, 
you  cannot  make  your  peace  with  God — at  least,  you 
cannot  until  you  have  exhausted  all  the  resources  of 
good  will,  in  an  effort  to  make  your  peace  with  men. 

No,  you  cannot.  Don't  bank  on  your  general  good 
character,  on  your  honest  purposes,  on  your  church 
relations  and  accredited  piety,  none  of  it.  Unless 
you  have  it  in  your  heart  to  forgive  them  who  have 
trespassed  against  you,  whatever  else  you  may  ask, 
don't  ask  the  Father  in  Heaven  to  forgive  you.  He 
will  not  forgive  you^  at  least  so  says  the  Son  of  Man — 
the  Lord  Christ. 


314  THE    ISTEW    RELIGION. 

''If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  remenl- 
berest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee"  — 
then  what?  Ask  the  Heavenly  Father  to  forgive  you 
any  wrong  you  may  have  done  him?  No.  Resolve  to 
do  better  hereafter  and  go  on  with  your  offering?  No. 
Shut  your  eyes  upon  the  past  and  go  on  with  your 
offering?  No.  But  leave  there  thy  gift,  and  go,  first 
be  reconciled  to  your  brother,  and  then  come  and  offer 
thy  gift.  Possibly  'twere  hard  to  do  this — humiliating. 
It  may  require  all  your  moral  courage,  but  there  is  no 
alternative.  Leave  there  thy  gift,  be  reconciled. 
There  is  something  better  for  3/ou,  and  more  important, 
than  the  perfunctory  services  of  religion.  Your 
approach  to  the  Father  must  begin  at  the  point  of  your 
greatest  distance  from  him.  You  can  blink  nothing. 
You  must  make  a  clean  breast  of  it.  You  may  not 
have  much  against  your  brother,  may  have  nothing, 
but  he  has  something  against  you.  He  thinks  you 
have  wronged  him,  and  he  is  hurt,  bleeding.  Leave 
there  thy  gift.  Go  prove  to  him  in  some  way,  that  at 
least  you  did  not  intend  to  injure  him,  that  if  you  have 
done  so  you  are  sorry  for  it,  and  will  make  the  ame?tde 
honorable.  You  can  recover  his  confidence  in  any  one 
of  a  hundred  ways,  if  your  heart  is  free  to  it.  Leave 
there  thy  gift,  first,  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  then 
come  and  offer  thy  gift.  Why!  you  say  this  peace- 
making business  seems  to  be  a  serious  thing?  It  is. 
It  is  as  serious  and  sacred  as  religion  itself.  It  is 
impossible  but  that  offences  shall  come.  At  best,  we- 
are  short-sighted,   imperfect  creatures,  very  liable  to 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  315 

err,  subject  to  passions  that  sway  us  to  and  fro,  and  it 
is  morally  certain  that  offences  will  come.  They  will 
come  through  reckless  unconcern,  come  through  strong 
temptation,  come  through  mere  inattention,  come 
sometimes  in  spite  of  good  intentions,  but  woe  to  him 
through  whom  they  come.  The  liabilities  and  temp- 
tations to  sin  on  the  part  of  him  who  is  offended  are 
increased.  The  sensitive  soul  is  pained.  All  heart- 
breaks bleed.  But  if  peace  and  good  will  prevail, 
they  will  be  less  serious,  and  the  injury  inflicted  will 
be  mutually  borne  and  easily  expiated — when  ^  ^war- 
ring passions  cease  their  strife."  Love  dissolves  sel- 
fishness, and  throws  her  sheen  of  bliss  over  all  the 
knots  and  scars  of  ill-directed  sensibility  and  former 
ill  will. 

In  Christian  thinking,  peace  and  good  will  are  in- 
vested with  all  the  sanctions  of  religion.  The  favor 
of  God  and  the  hope  of  heaven  are  staked  upon  them. 
With  enmity  cherished  in  your  heart,  you  dare  not 
repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  concert  at  church,  nor  at 
the  family  altar,  nor  think  it  in  the  solitude  of  your 
own  soul.  With  enmity  in  your  heart,  you  dare  not 
enter  into  your  own  closet  and  shut  the  door,  with 
intent  to  pray  to  the  Father  who  seeth  in  secret,  unless 
it  be  to  cry  out  with  the  publican,  ^^God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner."  This  peacemaking  business  is  a 
serious  and  important  one.  To  go  on  with  it  properly 
you  must  have  love  for  your  neighbor,  even  for  your 
enemies,  if  you  have  any.  Philanthropy  is  the  need 
of  the  hour  and  of  the  life.     And,    ''Blessed  are  the 


3l6  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of 
God/'  The  great  All-Father  cherishes  an  ardent  love 
for  every  struggling  child  of  humanity  for  what  he  is, 
or  may  become,  on  his  own  account,  and  he  who  ap- 
proaches him  for  succor  and  blessing,  must  do  so 
willing  to  meet  every  brother  man  at  the  same  shrine, 
and  share  with  the  same  blessing. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

Whatever  may  the  nature  or  extent  of  the 
change  postulated  by  the  Founder  of  the  New 
ReHgion  as  necessary  to  the  regenerate  hfe  of  the 
sinner,  the  fact  that  it  can  be  speedily  effected  under 
conditions  subject  to  one's  control  is  one  of  the  most 
momentous  consequence — a  fact  so  great  in  its  prac- 
tical possibilities  as  to  warrant  a  halt  in  all  other  pro- 
cesses of  reform,  and  demand  a  readjustment  of 
reformatory  agencies.  The  fact  has  had  some  recog- 
nition in  Christian  circles,  but  it  has  not  been  gener- 
ally relied  on  for  half  its  value.  It  will  help  our  con- 
victions on  the  subject  to  note  results  as  they  have 
appeared  among  men  whom  we  know. 

The  Evangelical  record  is  brief,  but  we  have  sig- 
nificant historical  outlines.  It  is  sufficient  to  note 
that  the  twelve  peasants  who  became  the  disciples  of 
Jesus,  during  their  novitiate  of  three  years,  became  a 
college  of  religious  teachers  whose  respective  habits 
and  moral  characters  were  in  the  meantime,  with  one 
exception,  greatly  changed  and  greatly  improved. 
On  occasions  they  had  manifested  a  disgraceful  sel- 
fishness and  cowardice;^  but  at  least  from   the   Pente- 

I.     Mark  lo:  37;  Luke  9:  54,   Mark  14:  50. 


3l8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

cost  onward  they  evinced  a  very  different  spirit,  attest- 
ing their  fidelity  to  the  right  with  heroic  firmness, 
even  to  the  point  of  martyrdom.  Luke  tells  us  that 
^^with  great  power,  gave  the  Apostles  witness  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  great  grace  rested 
on  them  all. "^     They  were  reborn. 

In  the  meantime  others  also  had  been  ^ ^converted. " 
''The  half  of  my  goods,"  said  the  Chief  Publican,  'T 
give  to  the  poor,  and,  if  I  have  taken  anything  from 
any  one  wrongfully,  I  will  restore  him  four  fold."^ 
And  the  Master  said  unto  him,  ''To-day  is  salvation 
come  to  this  house." 

It  is  said  that  Jesus  cast  seven  devils  out  of  one 
Mary.  Whatever  this  may  mean,  she  at  least  ever 
afterwards  appears  as  a  most  affectionate  and  beauti- 
ful character.  And  there  were  others  of  her  intimate 
acquaintance  and  companionship  who  seem  to  have 
come  into  a  like  experience  and  character. 

Just  how  Nicodemus  himself  was  affected  we  are 
not  told.  We  notice,  however,  that  in  the  face  of  the 
mob,  and  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  he  stood  for  giving 
the  accused,  whom  he  thought  to  be  a  teacher  come 
from  God,  a  fair  trial,  and,  after  the  crucifixion, 
doing  more  than  any  of  the  "disciples,"  he  united 
with  Joseph  in  giving  the  crucified  Lord  a  respect- 
ful interment. 

The  case  of   Peter  is  a  clear  one.      How  he  had,  on 

1.  Acts  4:   3. 

2.  Luke  19:  8. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  319 

various  occasions,  given  proof  of  a  ruling  s  Jfishness; 
how  he,  though  the  acknowledged  chief  of  the  disci- 
ples, yet  denied  his  Lord  with  an  oath,  and,  with  the 
rest  of  them,  forsook  him  and  fled,  is  matter  of 
impartial  record.  His  moral  cowardice  is  especially 
conspicuous  and  humiliating.  But  at  last  the  depths 
of  his  selfish  nature  are  touched  by  a  crushing  sense 
of  guilt,  and  the  vehement,  worldly-minded  Peter 
awakes  to  a  new  life. 

Let  us  hasten  to  note  that  the  angry  tumult  had 
hardly  died  upon  the  air  until  Peter,  facing  and  defy- 
ing the  same  murderous  authorities  from  whom  he 
had  lately  fled  in  terror,  says,  speaking  for  himself  to 
John:  '^We  choose  to  obey  God  rather  than  man." 
^^The  God  of  our  fathers  raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye 
slew  and  hanged  on  a  tree,  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior, 
to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and  forgiveness  of  sins, 
and  we  are  witnesses  of  these  things."^ 

With  what  pleasure  do  we  turn  this  page  in  the 
life  of  Peter  and  John.  From  this  time  forward  Peter 
always  boldly  and  bravely  stood  in  the  very  front  of 
the  battle.  ^^Old  things  were  passed  away.''  For 
thirty-four  years,  through  heroic  self-sacrifice,  through 
persecutions  and  prisons,  and  threatened  death,  he 
maintained  his  Christian  integrity,  leading  and  honor- 
ing the  cause  of  the  New  Religion,  especially  among 
the  Jews. 

In  his  letter  addressed  to   the    ^ ^strangers   scattered 

J,     Acts  18;  39. 


320  THE     NEW    RELIGION. 

throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  and 
Bithynia,"  he  included  himself  among  those  who  have 
been  ^  ^begotten  again  to  a  lively  hope  of  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in 
heaven;  '''  *  being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God,  which 
liveth  and  abideth  forever  *  called  out  of  darkness 
into  his  marvelous  light.  "^ 

The  impress  of  the  Master's  influence  upon  Peter's 
new  life  is  unmistakably  plain.  '^What  glory  is  it  if, 
when  ye — we — be  buffeted  for  our  faults  we  shall  take 
it  patiently?  But  if,  when  we  do  well  and  suffer  for 
it,  we  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable  with  God. 
For  even  hereunto  we  are  called,  because  Christ  also 
suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example  that  we  should 
follow  his  steps,  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled 
not  again,  when  he  suffered,  threatened  not,  but  com- 
mitted himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously.  "^ 

But  Paul's  experience  furnishes  a  most  striking 
illustration  and  proof  of  the  possibility  of  a  speedy 
and  permanent  change  of  character,  under  the  Chris- 
tian regime.  Behold  him  to-day,  the  merciless  arch 
bigot,  ^ ^breathing  out  threatening  and  slaughter," 
and  going  armed  with  authority  to  bring  the  humble 
disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  judgment  and  to  death. 
But  to-morrow  the  humble  and  teachable  convert 
inquiring,    ^^Lord,     what    wilt    thou    have    me    do?" 

I       I  Peter,  Chap,  i  and  2. 
2,     I  Peter,  Chap;  I  ^nd  2, 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  32 1 

Standing  by  with  hard  impenitence  he  had  ''held  the 
the  clothes  of  Stephen,"  while  the  mob  brutally  mur- 
dered him.  He  had  ''made  havoc  with  the  church, 
entering  into  every  house  and  hailing  men  and  women, 
committed  them  to  prison."  He  had  gone  to  the 
High  Priest  and  "obtained  letters  to  the  Damascus 
Synagogue,  that  if  he  found  any  of  this  way,  whether 
they  were  men  or  women,  he  m.ight  bring  them  bound 
to  Jerusalem."  He  was  a  good  lawyer,  a  man  of  fine 
parts  and  fine  scholarship.  He  could  have  succeeded 
and  won  place  and  power.  He  might  at  least  have 
gone  on  with  his  business  and  let  this  bloody  work 
alone.  The  authorities  had  not  sought  him  for  this 
nerve-testing  business.  He  voluntarily  took  it  up, 
and  went  forth  with  a  zeal  v/orthy  of  a  better  cause. 
We  can  hardly  imagine  a  fiercer  or  more  dispassionate 
bigot,  a  more  deliberate  perpetrator  of  high  crimes 
against  humanity. 

But  after  that  Damascus  episode,  let  us  note  that 
Saul  was  a  very  different  kind  of  man.  He  writes  to 
the  Romans:  "Let  us  not  judge  one  another  any 
more!  Let  every  one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own 
mind!"  Saul  of  Tarsus,  what  has  haj)pened!  What 
is  it  you  say?  ''Let  us  ?iot  Judge  07ie  another  any 
inorey  "Why  dost  thou  set  at  naught  thy  brother?" 
"We  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ." 

And  this  is  Saul!  ^'If  eating  meat  make  my  brother 
to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  more  meat  while  the  world 
stands,"     You  are  very  considerate,  Saul — very  ten- 


322  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

der  and  kind  to  your  brother — very  different,  it  seems, 
from  what  you  were  before  that  Damascus  ride 
What  has  happened?  ^^Old  things  are  passed  away, 
behold  all  things  are  become  new."  Saul,  the  obdu- 
rate persecutor,  has  emerged  into  a  new  world. 

Henceforth,  with  all  his  great  powers,  he  was  sim- 
ple-hearted, child-like,  transparent.  His  transforma- 
tion is  complete.  His  intolerance  and  bigotry  are 
gone.  His  hardness  of  heart  and  want  of  sympathy 
are  gone.  The  spirit  of  persecution  is  gone.  The  cur- 
rent of  life's  forces  sets  in  another  direction.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  come  to  be  all  in  all.  If  he 
had  been  narrow  and  selfish,  his  narrowness  and  sel- 
fishness had  gone.  After  that  voice  and  that  light  on 
his  way  to  Damascus,  and  his  interview  with  Ananias 
in  the  house  of  Judas,  he  buries  himself  in  the  Arabian 
desert  for  three  years.  Why?  We  are  not  told,  but 
probably  to  commune  more  at  length  with  God  in 
prayer  and  meditation,  to  obtain  the  clearest  possible 
understanding  of  what  he  should  do,  and  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  responsible  work  which  now  was  open- 
ing up  before  him.  He  '^conferred  not  with  flesh  and 
blood,"  he  tells  us,  but  yielding  to  the  divine  call,  he 
went  forth  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  name  of  the 
Lord  to  the  Gentiles,  to  kings,  and  to  the  children  of 
Israel.^ 

How  heroically  and  successfully  he  fulfilled  his  high 
commission,    and  how   faithfully  and   closely  he   fol- 

j,     Actg9:  15. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  323 

lowed  the  great  Exemplar  and  honored  his  cause  is 
matter  of  delightful  history.      He  was  ^ ^converted." 

Other  cases  could  be  given  by  the  hundred  and  the 
thousand — apposite,  beautiful! — some  of  them  about 
as  striking  and  decisive  as  that  of  Paul,  and  to  the 
same  effect;  so  fully  does  experience  explain  and 
enforce  the  teaching  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  on  the 
subject. 

Justin  Martyr,  living  half  a  century  after  Paul,  says: 
''We  who  formerly  delighted  in  fornication  now  strive 
for  purity.  We  who  used  magical  arts  have  dedi- 
cated ourselves  to  the  good  and  eternal  God.  We 
who  loved  the  acquisition  of  wealth  more  than  all  else 
now  bring  what  we  have  into  the  common  stock  and 
give  to  every  one  in  need.  We  who  hailed  and 
destroyed  one  another,  now  live  familiarly  with  each 
other.  We  pray  for  our  enemies;  we  endeavor  to 
persuade  those  who  hate  us  unjustly  to  live  conforma- 
bly to  the  beautiful  precepts  of  Christ,  to  the  end  they 
may  become  partakers  with  us  of  the  same  joyful 
hope."^ 

When  fifty  years  later  the  Christians  of  Bithynia 
were  brought  before  the  tribunal  of  the  younger  Pliny, 
they  assured  the  Pro- Consul,  that  far  from  being 
engaged  in  any  unlawful  conspiracy,  they  were  bound 
by  a  solemn  obligation  to  abstain  from  the  commis- 
sion of  those  crimes  which  disturb  the  public  peace 
of  society — from  theft,  robbery  and  fraud.      *  *   ''The 

I.     Conflict  of  Chris.  Heathenism,  p.  166. 


324  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

friends  of  Christianity,"  says  Pliny,  ^^may  acknowl- 
edge without  a  blush  that  many  of  the  most  eminent 
saints  had  been,  before  their  baptism  (conversion), 
among  the  most  abandoned." 

Nor  was  the  transforming  power  of  the  Christian 
Gospel  limited  to  the  early  ages  of  the  church,  nor  to 
tlie  respectable  circles  of  society. 

The  Lord  Jesus  gave  large  attention  to  the  poorest 
and  most  degraded  classes.  So  conspicuously  true  is 
this  that  some  have  thought  that  the  Christ  mission  to 
this  world  was  only  to  the  poor.  But  such  a  view 
surely  is  quite  too  narrow  and  inadequate.  He  did, 
however,  have  hope  of  them — carried  them  most  of 
all  on  his  heart. 

The  Christianity  of  the  times  seems  to  be  drifting 
toward  the  wealthy  and  pseudo  ^ ^better  classes." 
The  down-town  churches  are  getting  away  from  the 
crowded  marts  out  upon  ^'avenues"  and  ^ ^boulevards," 
and  away  from  the  ragged  masses.  Fine  churches 
are  built  by  the  wealthy,  and  for  the  wealthy,  and 
comparatively  few  of  the  more  degraded  classes  ever 
get  into  them,  or  hear  the  gospel  anywhere.  They 
seldom  see  anything  distinctly  Christian,  and  the  con- 
viction seems  to  prevail  that  they  are  so  sin-hardened 
and  debased  as  to  be  practically  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  gospel.  The  very  classes  of  people  which 
appealed  most  strongly  to  the  sympathy  and  the  help 
of  the  Master  are  the  most  neglected.  But,  as  in  the 
days  of  the  Son  of  Man,  so  in  these  days,  the  power 
of  the  gospel  to  save  men  from  sin  is  often  strikingly 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  325 

and  beautifully  illustrated  by  the  conversion  of  some 
of  the  worst  characters.  With  the  hope  of  awaken- 
ing increased  interest  in  the  unfortunate  victims  of 
ignorance  and  crime,  who  yet  constitute  so  large  a 
per  cent,  of  the  population,  I  give  the  following  cases 
illustrating  the  specifically  Christian  modus  operandi 
and  its  results.  It  seems  to  me  that  Christians  them- 
selves need  to  be  again  reminded  of  the  powers  and 
possibilities  of  the  Christian  gospel. 

The  following  quotation  from  Rev.  Irenaeus  Prime, 
D.  D.,  will  explain  itself:  ^ ^Returning  home  after 
my  summer  recess  in  1884,  I  had  not  been  in  my 
house  five  minutes  when  a  gentleman  called  to  ask  me 
to  conduct  the  funeral  of  Jerry  McAuley.  Is  he  dead? 
I  asked  in  a  burst  of  mingled  surprise  and  emotion 
*  *  *  The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath.  The  funeral 
was  to  be  in  the  afternoon.  As  the  hour  approached, 
and  indeed  all  day,  my  thoughts  had  been  dwelling 
on  the  fact  that  New  York  had  no  consciousness  of 
the  loss  it  had  met.  *  *  *  Very  few  knew  or 
cared  for  Jerry  McAuley.  We  are  going  to  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle  to  talk  of  what  he  was  and 
what  he  had  done,  to  a  little  congregation  that  will 
gather  there;  if  it  were  Dr.  Taylor,  the  beloved  and 
honored  pastor,  the  house  would  be  crowded,  and  the 
mourners  would  go  about  the  streets,  but  poor  Jerry, 
he  is  dead,  and  who  will  be  there  to  weep  over  his 
remains!  Ah,  how  little  did  I  know  the  place  he 
filled  in  the  heart  of  this  great  city.        *        *       * 

^^As  I   turned   down  Fifth  avenue,  through  Thirty- 


326  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

fourth  street,  I  saw  a  vast  multitude  standing  in  the 
sunshine,  filhng  the  streets  and  the  square  in  front  of 
the  Tabernacle.  Astonished  at  the  spectacle,  and 
wondering  why  they  did  not  go  in  and  take  seats  in 
the  church,  I  soon  found  that  the  church  was  packed 
with  people.  *  *  *  *  * 

'^And  then  eloquent  lips  spoke  of  him,  and  the 
great  good  done  by  him  in  fields  of  labor  uninviting 
and  often  repelling  those  who  care  for  the  souls  of  the 
perishing  among  us.  It  was  said  that  no  one  pastor  in 
New  York  is  doing  the  work  of  this  humble  man — no 
pastor  who  will  leave  a  wider  vacancy  when  he  falls, 
on  the  high-places  in  the  field  of  duty.*'^ 

Jerry  McAuley  was  a  river-thief  and  criminal 
rough,  convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  at  Sing- 
Sing,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  some  years  ago. 

*^I  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age,"  he  says,  '^when 
arrested  for  highway  robbery — a  child  in  years,  but  a 
man  in  sin.  I  had  spent  my  time  in  the  vile  dens 
of  Water  street.  New  York,  practicing  all  sorts  of 
wickedness.  Here  I  learned  to  be  a  prize-fighter, 
and,  by  rapid  degrees,  rose  through  all  the  grades  of 
vice  and  crime  till  I  became  a  terror  and  a  nuisance 
in  the  Fourth  Ward. 

*^I  had  no  friends,  no  advocate  at  court,  and,  with- 
out just  cause,  I  was  sentenced  to  fifteen  years  in  the 
state  prison.  I  burned  with  vengeance,  but  what  could. 
I  do?  I  was  handcuffed  and  sent  in  the  cars  to  Sing- 
Sing^; 

I.     Introduc.  Life  and  works  Jerry  McAuley. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  327 

This  sufficiently  indicates  his  character  and  position 
in  life.  Let  us  follow  him  as  he  approaches  the  crisis 
of  reform.      He  continues: 

^^When  I  had  been  in  the  prison  four  years,  one 
Sunday  morning  I  went  with  the  rest  to  service  in  the 
chapel. 

^'I  was  moody  and  miserable.  As  I  took  my  seat  I 
raised  my  eyes  carelessly  to  the  platform,  and  who 
should  I  see  there  but  a  man  named  Orville  Gardner, 
who  had  been  for  years  a  confederate  in  sin — ^ Awful 
Gardner'  was  the  name  by  which  I  had  always  known 
him.  Since  my  imprisonment  he  had  been  converted 
and  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  visit  the  prison  that  he 
might  tell  the  glad  story  to  the  prisoners.  I  had  not 
heard  of  his  coming,  and  could  not  have  been  more 
surprised  if  an  angel  had  come  down  from  heaven.  *  * 
After  the  first  look  I  began  to  question  in  my  own  mind 
if  it  was  he  after  all,  and  I  thought  I  must  be  mis- 
taken. But  the  moment  he  spoke  I  was  sure,  and 
my  attention  was  held  fast. 

^^He  said  he  did  not  feel  that  he  belonged  on  the 
platform,  where  ministers  and  good  men  stand  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  prisoners — that  he  was  not  worthy 
of  such  a  place;  so  he  came  down  and  stood  in  front  of 
the  desk,  that  he  might  be  among  them.  He  told  them 
that  it  was  only  a  little  while  since  he  had  taken  off 
the  stripes  which  they  were  then  wearing,  and  while  he 
was  talking  the  tears  fairly  rained  down  out  of  his  eyes. 
When  he  kneeled  down  and  prayed  and  sobbed  and 
cried,  I   do  not  believe  there  was   a   dry   eye   in  the 


328  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

whole  crowd.  Tears  filled  my  eyes,  and  I  raised  my 
hand  slowly  to  wipe  them  off,  for  I  was  ashamed  to 
have  my  companions  or  the  guards  see  me  weep.  *  I 
knew  this  man  was  no  hypocrite.  We  had  been  asso- 
ciated in  many  a  dark  deed  and  sinful  pleasure.  I 
had  heard  oaths  and  curses  and  vile  angry  words 
from  his  mouth,  and  I  knew  he  could  not  talk  as  he 
did  unless  some  great  change  had  come  to  him.  I 
devoured  every  word  that  fell  from  his  lips.      *     "^ 

^^I  went  back  to  my  cell  and  what  I  heard  was  ring- 
ing in  my  ears." 

Time  passes,  but  he  could  not  forget  his  old-time 
friend.  He  says:  ^T  was  resting  one  night  from 
walking  up  and  down  and  thinking  what  a  change 
religion  had  made  on  Gardner,  when  I  began  to 
have  a  burning  desire  to  have  the  same.  I  could  not 
get  rid  of  it,    but  what  could  I  do?" 

Retried  to  pray,  but  could  not  ^^form  a  prayer." 
Remembered  the  publican's  prayer,  but  was  ashamed 
to  say  it.  A  great  struggle  ensued.  ^ 'Every  sin," 
he  says,  ^'stared  me  in  the  face.  T  am  so  wicked,'  I 
thought — everything  but  a  murderer,  and  that  many 
a  time  in  my  will."  A  crushing  sense  of  sin  rested 
upon  him  for  some  weeks.  ''But  at  last,"  he  says, 
"the  Lord  sent  a  softness  and  tenderness  into  my 
soul,  and  I  shed  many  tears.  Then  I  began  to  read 
the  bible  on  my  knees.  The  Sunday  services  seemed 
to  do  me  no  good.      They  were  dead  to  me. 

"About  this  time  Miss  D.  began  to  visit  the 
prison,  and  I  was  sent  for  one  day  to  meet  her  in  the 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  329 

library.  She  talked  with  me,  and  then  knelt  down  to 
pray.  I  felt  ashamed,  but  I  knelt  beside  her.  1 
looked  through  my  fingers  and  watched  her.  I  saw 
her  tears  fall.  An  awe  I  cannot  describe  fell  on 
me.  It  seemed  dreadful  to  me — the  prayer  of  that 
holy  woman.  It  made  my  sins  rise  up  till  they 
looked  to  me  as  if  they  rose  clear  up  to  the  throne  of 
God.  *  What  should  I  do?  O  what  can  a  poor 
sinner  do  when  there  is  nothing  between  him  and 
God  but  a  life  of  dark  and  terrible  sin?" 

He  closes  this  tragic  account  as  follows: 

^^That  night  I  fell  on  my  knees  on  the  hard  stone 
floor  of  my  cell,  resolved  to  stay  there,  whatever 
might  happen,  until  I  found  forgiveness.  I  was 
desperate.  >h  ^ic  *  h^ 

'^I  prayed  and  stopped,  prayed  again  and  stopped, 
my  knees  were  rooted  to  those  cold  stones.  *  I  was 
determined  to  stay  till  morning,  till  I  was  called  to 
work.  And  then,  I  said  to  myself,  if  I  did  not  get 
relief,  I  will  never  pray  again.  I  felt  that  I  might 
die,  but  didn't  care  for  that. 

'^All  at  once  it  seemed  as  if  something  supernatural 
was  in  my  room.  I  was  afraid  to  open  my  eyes.  I 
was  in  an  agony,  and  the  sweat  rolled  off  from  my 
face  in  great  drops.  O  how  I  longed  for  God's  mercy! 
Just  then,  in  the  very  height  of  my  distress,  it  seemed 
as  if  a  hand  was  laid  upon  my  head,  and  these  words 
came  to  me:  *My  son,  thy  sins,  which  are  many,  are 
forgiven. '  I  do  not  know  if  I  heard  a  voice,  yet  the 
words  were   distinctly   spoken   to    my  soul.       O   the 


330  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

precious  Christ!  *  What  a  thrill  went  through  me! 
I  jumped  from  my  knees;  I  paced  up  and  down  my 
cell.  A  heavenly  light  seemed  to  fill  it.  *  I  did  not 
know  whether  I  was  living  or  not.  I  clasped  my 
hands  and  shouted — Praise  God,  praise  God." 

We  have  now  to  note  that  Mr.  McAuley  was  in  due 
time  released  from  prison  on  a  governor's  pardon, 
and,  after  tripping  a  few  times,  through  the  force  of 
old  associations  and  bad  habits,  he  finally  became  an 
exemplary  Christian  and  a  very  useful  man. 

He  founded  two  successful  missions  and  a  religious 
journal  in  New  York,  and  for  sixteen  3^ears  he  labored 
among  the  most  abandoned  classes  of  the  great  city, 
with  the  most  signal  and  gratifying  success,  being 
instrumental  in  the  reformation  of  hundreds  of  notori- 
ous criminals.      He  was  born  of  the  Spirit. 

Mr.  McAuley  gives  the  following  account  of  one  of 
the  converts  at  his  mission:  ^'A  professional  gam- 
bler, William  Fitz  Morris,  *  was  converted.  He  gave 
some  fearful  descriptions  of  his  terrible  business,  and 
the  scenes  he  had  witnessed  while  engaged  in  it.  He 
told  how  men  of  families  would  come  in  and  stake, 
little  by  little,  their  earnings  until  every  cent  was 
gone;  then,  fascinated  by  the  game,  they  would  strip 
off  their  clothing,  piece  by  piece,  until  the}'^  could  go 
no  further.  He  told  of  young  girls  sent  by  their 
mothers  to  buy  * 'policy  slips"  for  them — sent  into 
these  hell-holes,  amid  the  cursing  and  obscenity  of 
the  lowest  there,  by  their  own  mothers,  until,  step  by 
step,    they   began   to   be  crazed   over   the  game   and 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  33I  . 

would  buy  for  themselves  *  *  and  in  the  end  sell 
themselves  to  get  money  to  gamble  with.  His  reve- 
lations were  published  in  the  daily  papers,  and  his 
old  associates  became  so  enraged  they  threatened  to 
kill  him.  We  kept  him  and  protected  him  from  their 
fury.  His  health  continued  to  fail,  and  we  expected 
soon  to  have  the  task  of  laying  him  in  his  grave.  He 
did  not  fear  death,  but  continued  strong  in  his  faith 
and  clear  in  the  assurance  of  his  acceptance  with  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  *' 

The  following  case  is  given  because  it  illustrates, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  possible  depths  of  human 
depravity,  and  on  the  other,  the  possibilities  of  reform, 
by  methods  peculiarly  Christian: 

^^There  was  a  certain  man  called  ^Rowdy  Brown,' 
a  great,  powerfully-built,  courageous  fellow,  who  was 
a  terror  to  the  Fourth  Ward.  He  had  been  a  mate 
on  the  Liverpool  packets,  and  was  a  savage  brute. 
Once  he  happened  to  see  a  man  sitting  on  the  fore- 
castle reading  his  bible,  and,  without  a  word  or  sign 
of  provocation.  Brown  drew  back  his  heavy  boot  and 
kicked  the  poor  fellow  square  in  the  mouth,  knocking 
his  teeth  out  and  disfiguring  him  cruelly.  *  *  * 
He  seemed  utterly  fearless  of  consequence  to  himself, 
as  he  proved  one  day  by  standing  and  cursing  a  man 
to  his  face,  who  stood  with  a  revolver  in  each  hand, 
and  fired  their  contents  into  his  body.  He  was 
charged  with  several  murders  and  other  heinous 
crimes.  *  It  happened  that  one  of  his  sailor  chums 
bad  been  converted^  and  wa3  attending  the  meetings. 


332  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Brown  was  mad  when  he  heard  of  it.  Swearing  a 
great  oath,  he  said,  ^I  will  take  a  bottle  of  whisky 
down  there,  and  when  that  fellow  gets  up  to  talk  I  will 
take  him  *"  *  tear  his  mouth  open,  and  pour  the 
whisky  down  him,  or  break  his  back  in  the  attempt.' 
He  came  round  with  his  bottle  and  waited  for  his  old 
companion  to  testify  in  order  to  carry  out  his  plan. 
While  waiting  he  listened  to  others,  and  listening 
he  became  interested,  until  all  of  a  sudden  he  felt 
a  strong  feeling  come  over  him,  and  he  began  to 
tremble.  He  fought  it  off  with  all  his  natural  obsti- 
nacy, but  it  was  of  no  use — it  continued  to  grow 
stronger,  and  when  his  friend  rose  to  testify  this 
human  lion  was  as  tame  as  a  lamb.  When  the  testi- 
monies were  ended,  and  sinners  were  invited  to  come 
forward.  Brown  stood  up  and  cried  out,  ^O  pray  for 
me.'  Everything  was  in  a  state  of  quiet,  but  intense 
excitement  for  a  moment,  for  many  present  knew  his 
desperate  character.  How  he  cried  for  mercy!  It 
was  awful  to  hear  that  man  groan  and  beg.  His 
strong  body  was  racked  with  the  anguish  of  his  soul. 
He  continued  seeking  in  this  manner,  until  the  meet- 
ing closed,  but  apparently  without  encouragement. 
On  the  second  night,  after  getting  into  bed,  he  was 
praying  earnestly,  when  suddenly  the  light  broke  into 
his  heart." 

For  the  rest  of  his  story  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  he 
lived  a  consistent  Christian  life,  was  active  in  helping 
the  mission,  and  died  believing  that  God,  .for  Christ's 
sake,  bad  pardoned  all  his  great  sipis, 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  333 

The  following  touching  story  is  so  beautiful  and  so 
illustrates  the  Christian  method  of  reform  and  its 
power  to  reach  and  to  save  even  the  most  degraded,  I 
shall  be  pardoned  for  quoting  it  somewhat   at  length: 

^^One  night  a  beautiful  little  child  about  five  years 
old  came  to  the  door.  She  was  a  lovely  little  thing, 
with  bright  blue  eyes  and  long  golden  curls — a  perfect 
little  picture,  notwithstanding  the  poor  care  she  had 
received.  She  turned  to  the  m.an  at  the  door  and 
asked,  'Say  mister,  wont  you  please  let  me  in?  PI] 
be  good  if  you  will.'  'Oh  no,'  he  said  looking 
down  at  the  little  waif.  'You  couidn  t  behave.' 
'Yes  I  will,  I'll  be  awful  good.  'Caus'  I  want  to 
hear  the  singing. '  He  yielded  to  her  entreaties,  and 
she  went  in,  and  folding  her  little  hands  on  her  lap,  sat 
as  quiet  as  a  mouse  until  the  meeting  closed.  The 
next  evening  she  came  again  leading  by  the  hand 
another  little  girl,  younger  than  herself,  but  looking  very 
much  like  her.  She  again  asked  permission  to  go  in, 
and  having  referred  to  her  good  behavior  the  previous 
night,  it  was  granted.  They  walked  deliberately  up 
to  the  front  seat,  and,  lifting  her  little  sister  well  up  on 
the  bench,  Mollie  sat  down  beside  her,  and  closely 
watched  everything  that  was  said  or  done.  They 
behaved  beautifully  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting 
my  wife  kissed  them  both,  and  gave  them  a  chunk  of 
cake  each,  and  they  ran  out  happy  enough. 

"This  happened  several  nights  and  they  always  got 
their  kiss  and  cake. 

^^Qm  night  during  th^  meeting,  the  mother  of  the 


334  ^^^    ^^^    RELIGION. 

little  girls  came  to  the  door  of  the  church  and  asked 
if  the  children  were  there.  The  man  replied,  he 
thought  they  were;  when  she  said,  ^I'll  be  thankful  to 
ye  mister,  if  you  will  go  in  and  kick  them  two  chil- 
dren out.'  ^We  don't  do  things  that  way  here,'  said 
the  man;  when  she  called  ^Mollie,  Mollie  Rollins, 
come  out  here/  Poor  little  Mollie  turned  pale,  and 
trembled,  and  looked  at  me  with  such  a  frightened 
look,  like  a  scared  bird.  The  mother  screamed  out 
her  name  again  and  added,  T'll  give  it  to  you  going  in 
there  with  those  black  Protestants,  you  little  wretch,' 
and  as  poor  Mollie  came  out  dragging  her  little  sister 
after  her,  the  drunken  mother  caught  her  by  the 
beautiful  curly  hair,  and  flung  her  clear  off  the 
ground.  ^PU  kill  you,  if  you  go  in  there  again;  and, 
do  they  give  you  any  beer  in  there?     Say?' 

^^The  poor  little  thing  looked  up,  though  the  tears 
were  in  her  eyes,  and  said,  'O  mamma,  aint  you  awful! 
They  don't  drink  any  beer  in  there,  and  they  don't 
get  drunk  neither.' 

*^The  next  night  just  as  service  commenced,  in 
walked  Mollie  and  Jennie  again.  *Aint  you  afraid 
your  mother  will  kill  you.'  -^Oh  no,'  she  answered 
quickly,  as  she  turned  her  blue  e^es  up  to  my  face, 
^I  aint  afraid.      I  like  the  singing.' 

^'Everybody  around  the  mission  .oved  those  dar- 
lings, and  was  pleased  to  have  them  there.  We 
missed  them  for  two  or  three  evenings,  and  afterwards 
learned  the  father  had  returned  from  a  sea-voyage. 
The  husband  and  wife  both  went  on  a  terrible  spree. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  335 

with  the  money  he  brought,  until  finally  he  brutally 
turned  the  mother  and  little  ones  out  of  the  house, 
into  the  cold  October  night  air.  That  night  Mrs. 
McAuley  heard  her  name  called;  she  listened  a 
moment,  and  recognized  Mollie's  voice  calling  from 
the  street,  ^Mrs.  McAuley,  O  Mrs.  McAuley,  come 
down,  I  want  to  tell  you  something.'  After  a  minute 
the  little  voice  rang  out  again,  ^Mrs.  McAuley,  O 
Mrs.  McAuley.'  On  going  down,  my  wife  learned 
that  the  father  had  put  them  out,  and  they  had  been 
on  the  roof.  As  the  wind  blew  cold  the  little  one  said 
to  her  mother,  ^Mamma,  I  know  a  place  where  the 
wind  wont  blow,  and  where  we  wont  be  afraid.' 
^Where's  that?'  asked  her  mother.  ^Over  in  the  mis- 
sion,' said  the  child.  My  wife  came  up  stairs  saying 
to  me,  ^Mrs.  Rollins  is  there  with  her  children.  I 
have  let  them  in.  I  believe  it  may  be  the  salvation 
of  that  woman' s  soul. '  We  took  them  up  stairs,  where 
we  had  the  only  accommodation  the  old  mission  house 
afforded.  It  was  a  rickety  affair,  but  it  was  the  best 
we  could  do.  There  was  a  straw  tick,  and  a  few  old 
quilts,  and  as  they  turned  in  Mollie  looks  up  to  her 
mother  and  says  ^thank  God  mother,  we  have  a  good 
bed  to  night.' 

^^In  the  morning  we  gave  them  their  breakfast — 
the  same  as  we  had  ourselves,  and  sat  with  them  at 
table.  We  never  mentioned  anything  to  the  mother 
about  her  conduct,  but  treated  them  kindly,  and,  after 
breakfast,  they  left. 

<'This  was  the  first  step  toward  reaching  that  poor 


336  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

woman,  and  it  turned  out  that  the  little  acts  of  kind- 
ness were  not  lost. 

''The  man,  having  spent  his  money,  went  off  to  sea 
again,  but  left  the  family  his  advance  money,  and  this 
was  the  mother's  opportunity  for  another  big  spree, 
and  she  made  the  most  of  it.  She  spread  it  every- 
where, and  soon  the  money  was  gone.  But  rum  must 
be  had,  and  one  thing  after  another  went  to  the  pawn- 
shop, till  there  was  nothing  left  that  would  bring  a 
penny.  The  poor  children  were  dirty  and  unwashed, 
and  their  hair  was  all  matted  and  tangled,  and  they 
looked  fearful.  They  came  in  one  day,  their  lips  blue 
with  cold.  My  wife  warmed  them,  combed  out  their 
hair,  and  curled  it  beautifully  over  their  foreheads. 
She  then  begged  two  little  dresses  from  a  friend,  who 
had  some  small  girls;  the  dresses  were  somewhat 
worn,  but  were  neat  and  clean,  and  the  dear  little 
things  were  happy  as  larks.  When  they  went  over 
where  their  mother  was  drinking  she  hardly  recog- 
nized them.  'Oh,' said  she,  'what  happened  to  you? 
Who  did  that?'  The  rumseller's  wife  remarked, 
'Why,  Vd  never  known  them!'  'Nor  I,'  said  the 
mother.  'I  hardly  knew  them  myself.  Well,  you 
look  good  anyhow.' 

"This  was  the  second  blow  at  that  hard  heart. 

"Shortly  after  this  the  long  spree  began  to  tell  on 
Mrs.  Rollins,  and  she  was  taken  sick;  and  after  suffer- 
ing awhile  she  sent  Mollie  over  after  my  wife;  this  being 
the  first  move  toward  us  she  had  ever  made,  we  hailed 
it  with  joy.     My  wife  went  as  requested,  accompanied 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  337 

by  a  friend,  and  oh,  what  a  miserable  sight  there  met 
their  eyes!  The  room  was  robbed  of  everything  mova- 
ble but  the  remains  of  a  bed;  fragments  of  dirty 
dishes  scattered  all  around  the  dirty  floor,  the  room 
cheerless,  fireless,  comfortless.  They  found  her 
stretched  with  the  horrors  (delirium  tremens),  and 
without  saying  much  to  her  straightened  up  the  room, 
made  a  fire  after  getting  some  coal,  and  then  the 
friend  went  home  and  brought  over  a  pitcher  full  of 
good,  strong  hot  tea,  told  her  to  drink  it,  which  she 
did  in  a  hurry.  This  helped  her  somewhat  and  they 
talked  to  her  about  her  condition  and  prayed  with  her. 

^^These  acts  of  kindness  were  the  hardest  blows  of 
all  to  her  prejudices,  and  she  broke  down  and  said, 
*If  ever  I  get  well  of  this  spell  I'm  going  to  come 
over,  Mrs.  McAuley,  and  see  you  at  the  mission.' 
She  got  well,  and  one  night  she  came  into  the  mis- 
sion during  the  meeting.  We  were  singing.  The 
stone  rolled  away,  when  she  screamed  right  out,  and 
starting  from  her  seat,  ran  through  the  kitchen  think- 
ing to  get  out  that  way.  My  wife  followed  quickly, 
caught  her,  and  then  kneeling  down  prayed  earnestly 
with  the  poor  sobbing  creature.  She  found  the  Lord's 
help,  and  he  so  sweetly  saved  ner,  that  it  was  appar- 
ent to  all. ' ' 

The  rest  of  the  story  relates:  how  she  was  not 
ashamed  of  her  religion;  how  she  was  persecuted  b}^ 
her  Roman  Catholic  associates;  how  she  fell  sick  with 
consumption,  and  grew  worse;  how  she  loved  those 
who  had  been  instrumental  in  redeeming  her  from  a 


338  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

life  of  sin  and  shame,  and  how,  at  last  she  sweetly 
rested  in  the  love  of  God  and  died.  She  was  ^^con- 
verted." 

A  case  is  given  of  a  man  fifty-four  years  of  age  who 
had  spent  more  than  half  his  life  in  English  and 
American  prisons.  His  parents  were  thieves  before 
him.  When  eight  years  old  he  was  in  prison  with  his 
mother  and  his  aunt.  He  had  been  transported  to 
Van  Dieman's  land  for  seven  years,  was  sent  to 
Australia  for  ten  years,  and  to  Gibralter  for  five 
years — had  been  in  a  solitary  cell  for  three  years, 
without  being  permitted  to  pass  out  of  it.  His  back 
cut  into  gashes  testified  to  the  punishment  he  had 
suffered  for  disobedience.  He  said  of  himself,  that^ 
coming  out  of  prison,  he  tried  to  quit  stealing,  but 
yet  he  continued  to  steal,  had  ^  ^stealing  on  the 
brain.'' 

But  he  was  converted.  He  makes  this  state- 
ment: 

^^When  I  came  into  this  mission  on  the  i8th  day  of 
March,  1878,  I  vvas  just  down  from  ^Sing-Sing,' 
where  I  had  been  four  years.  But  God  has  taken  the 
desire  for  stealing  out  of  my  heart,  and  put  a  better 
desire  there.  I  have  not  had  a  thought  to  steal  since. 
I  am  trying  to  serve  God  now.  I  ask  an  interest  in 
your  prayers.      McAuley's  Life  and  Work,  p.  202. 

These  cases  must  suffice,  though  I  find  it  difficult  to 
refrain  from  giving  others,  so  beautifully  do  they 
illustrate  and  corroborate  the  peculiarly  Christian 
spirit  and    modus  operandi  of  saving  men  from    sin. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  33^ 

Not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord. 

Stronger  than  death  or  hell, 

The  sacred  power  we  prove, 
And,  conquerors  of  the  world,  we  dwell 

In  heaven,  who  dwell  in  love." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Ministry  of  Doctrine. 

The  Jews  lived  in  expectation  of  a  great  deliverer. 
The  old  theocracy  had  passed  away.  Their  kings 
were  dead,  and  they  had  passed  under  the  Roman 
yoke. 

But  their  prophets  had  assured  them  that  a  better 
destiny  awaited  the  descendants  of  Jacob. 

^^Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given. 
The  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulders.  *  * 
of  his  increase  there  shall  be  no  end.*'^ 

^Tn  the  days  of  those  kings  the  God  of  Heaven 
shall  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed.  *  *  His  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  his  dominion  from  generation  to 
generation."^ 

This  was  the  impassioned  language  of  prophet  and 
seer,  which  led  the  Jews  to  hope  for  an  empire,  of 
which  the  Old  Theocracy  was  but  a  suggestion. 

Answering  to  this  expectation  Jesus  announces  him- 
self as  the   child  of  prophesy — or,    at  least,    accepts 

1.  Isa.  9:  6. 

2,  Dan.  4:  3. 


tttE    CHRIST   MISSION,  341* 

such  announcement  as  true,  and  assured  them  that 
the  long-expected  kingdom  is  at  hand. 

But  he  was  a  great  disappointment  to  them.  They 
had  utterly  failed  to  comprehend  their  own  prophet?^. 
They  were  living  in  the  letter,  their  prophets  had 
written  in  the  spirit. 

Jesus  sought  in  every  way  to  lift  them  out  of  their 
materialistic  conceptions,  but  it  seemed  impossible. 
They  expected  to  enter  the  promised  kingdom  by 
force  of  arms,  and  with  the  glory  of  conquest,  and 
they  saw  nothing  in  the  humble  Nazarene  that  gave 
them  hope.  He  was  poor,  and  without  rank  or  pres- 
tige. Besides,  he  did  not  fall  in  with  their  views,  or 
enter  into  their  hopes.  And  then  they  could  not,  or 
at  least  did  not,  understand  him. 

Remaining  habitually  down  among  the  poor  and 
obscure,  he  yet  exhibited  singular  wisdom,  and  made 
most  extraordinary  claims  to  authority  and  high  kin- 
ship with  God. 

The  Jewish  authorities  could  not,  for  a  moment, 
believe  that  he  was  the  promised  ^'Messiah.'* 

And  he  was  himself  keenly  alive  to  the  danger  of 
being  set  down  as  an  imposter,  if  not  as  a  stark  luna- 
tic. Nothing  could  save  him  from  such  a  judgment 
but  a  life  as  unique  and  extraordinary  as  were  his  pre- 
tensions. His  life  must  be  a  constant  sanction  and 
proof  of  his  high  claims.  It  must  withstand  the 
ordeal  of  merciless  criticism.  It  must  secure  him 
against  prejudice  and  bigotry,  and  protect  him  against 
the  disgrace  arising  from  his  associations. 


342  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Lord  Jesus  found  it  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  make  men  believe  that  he  was  indeed 
the  Christ 

And  yet  this,  precisely,  was  what  he  must  Ao,  oefore 
he  could  more  than  imperfectly  begin  his  work  proper. 

Accordingly  he  improved  every  opportunity,  and 
spared  no  pains  to  impress  this  fact  upon  men,  and  to 
build  up  their  faith  in  him  as  such. 

How  he  wrought  miracles,  lived  a  life  of  spotless 
purity,  manifested  the  divine  power  and  the  divine 
love — how  he  opened  up  the  way  to  life  and  immor- 
tality, was  crucified,  raised  from  the  dead,  and  in  the 
end  was  translated  to  heaven,  are  the  more  remarka- 
ble incidents  in  his  wonderful  life,  as  given  by  his  four 
biographers,  and  repeated  and  confirmed  by  Paul  and 
others — all  this  is  familiar  to  all  conversant  with  these 
scriptures; — a  series  of  events  certainly  quite  as 
unique  and  remarkable  as  were  his  claims  to  the 
Messiahship. 

To  further  his  purposes  he  chose  twelve  men  who 
became  his  disciples. 

These  he  instructed  in  detail,  and,  by  dint  of  repe- 
tition, and  fuller  illustration,  he  sought  to  bring  them 
up  to  some  adequate  conception  of  his  true  character 
and  mission 

But  they  seemed  dull  of  understanding — often, 
mdeed,  gave  sad  proof  of  it.  However,  he  made 
some  things  plain,  and  won  more  and  more  upon 
their  faith  and  confidence. 

He  appealed  to  the  scriptures,  and  bid  the  incredu- 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  343 

lous  Jews  to  search  the  scriptures,  to  note  what  had 
been  written  concerning  him  by  Moses  and  by  the 
Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms. 

And,  last  of  all,  he  appealed  to  his  works — ^'If  I  do 
not  the  works  of  the  Father,  believe  me  not,  but  if  I 
do,  believe  me  for  the  work's  sake." 

But  the  current  set  heavily  against  mm;  tne  Sanhe- 
drim, the  Scribe,  the  Pharisee — the  whole  hierarchy, 
were  yet  against  him. 

It  was  not  until  late  in  his  ministry  that  he  thought 
it  worth  while  to  ask  even  his  disciples,  ^^Whom  do 
men  say  that  I  am?"  They  had  had  much  better  oppor- 
tunities than  the  public  generally,  and  it  was  to  be 
presumed  that,  if  others  had  failed  to  comprehend 
him,  they,  at  least,  had  done  so.  ^^Whom  do  men 
say  that  I  am?"  ^'Some  say  thou  art  John  the  Bap- 
tist, some  say  Elias,  others  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the 
Prophets."  Matt.  i6:  14.  After  all  that  he  had  done 
to  break  his  mission  to  the  world,  it  seemed  no  one 
had  understood  him.  But  ^'Whom  say  ye  that  I 
am?"  Peter  replied,  ^^We  believe  that  thou  art  what 
thou  hast  claimed  to  be,  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God."  At  last  the  disciples  had  caue^ht  a 
glimpse  of  his  true  character,  and  Peter,  first  of  all 
men,  voiced  the  faith  upon  which  he  could  proceed  to 
build  his  future  work. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  his  disciples  more 
than  half  comprehended  their  reply,  for  it  is  certain 
that  they  yet  expected  he  would  some  day  assume 
the  reins  of  political  power,  and  ^  ^restore  the  kingdom 


344  I'HE    NEW    RELIGION. 

to  Israel."  It  is  certain  that,  soon  afterward,  when 
they  saw  their  Master  in  the  toils,  they  all  ^'forsook 
him  and  fled."  But  he  had  made  an  impression. 
He  had  at  least  caused  them  to  formulate  the  truth, 
in  their  own  words,  and  committed  them  to  it.  He 
had  gained  a  point,  and  was  evidently  pleased  to 
think  that  so  much  had  been  accomplished;  and  he 
replied:  ^^Blessed  art  thou,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas. 
Flesh  and  blood  have  not  revealed  this  to  thee,  but 
my  Father  in  Heaven." 

He  experienced  a  like  satisfaction  when  the  woman 
in  faith  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment,  and  again 
when  the  centurion  applied  to  him  with  such  confi- 
dence on  behalf  of  his  sick  daughter.  The  truth  was 
actually  getting  out. 

However,  even  after  the  drama  of  his  world-life  had 
closed,  there  were  yet  but  few  who  were  convinced 
that  he  was,  indeed,  the  promised  Messiah,  and  fewer 
still  who  had  any  fair  conception  of  his  true  character 
and  mission, — so  difficult  was  it  to  inaugurate  the 
New  Religion. 

It  is  evident  that,  before  he  could  fairly  begin  his 
work  proper,  he  must  succeed  in  revealing  himself. 
Faith  in  himself,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  must 
constitute  the  base  of  his  superstructure — the  ^^rock" 
Upon  which  he  must  build,  as  he  intimated  to  the  dis- 
ciples, and  this  accounts  for  his  evident  solicitude 
and  purpose  to  make  himself  known  in  his  true  char- 
acter, both  before  and  after  his  resurrection.  **I 
came  out  from  the  Father  and  am  come  into  the  world. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  345 

Again  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father — Ye 
believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me." 

Here  then  there  is  for  the  Christian  a  quid  creden- 
dum — something  to  be  assented  to,  to  be  believed— 
Jesus  is  the  Christ  of  God,  the  world's  Messiah. 

But  Christian  faith  in  its  fullness  means  more. 

And  now  we  have  to  note  that  Jesus,  at  last 
revealed  and  understood  in  his  true  character  as  the 
Christ,  proposed  to  establish  friendly  and  most 
intimate  relations  between  himself  and  the  world  of 
mankind — such  relations  as  would  infallibly  secure  to 
men  the  development  of  spiritual  capacity  and  power 
otherwise  unattainable. 

He  was  always  easily  accessible,  did  not  repulse 
the  most  timid  and  consciously  unworthy.  He 
explained  at  length,  and  often,  how  congeniality  and 
reciprocity  could  be  established  between  himself  and 
those  who  would  accept  him.  But  one  thing  hin- 
dered— indeed,  it  stood  squarely  in  the  way.  Good 
and  evil  are  incompatible.  Between  virtue  and  vice 
there  is  a  ^^great  gulf  fixed." 

If  one  has  been  doing  wrong,  fostering  vice,  he 
must  stop  it.  He  must  eschew  evil  and  cleave  to 
that  which  is  good.  A  sense  of  conscious  guilt  dis- 
qualifies the  impenitent  guilty  for  society  with  the 
good  and  pure.  In  the  very  nature  of  things  it  can- 
not be  otherwise. 

But  Jesus  calls  upon  sinners  to  repent  and  turn 
from  wrong  doing,  and  assures  them  that  congeniality 
and  reciprocity  with  himself  are  yet  possible. 


346  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

He  gives  indubitable  proof  of  his  love  for  men — 
even  for  the  lowest  and  meanest.  He  exhorts  men  to 
accept  his  overtures — to  make  common  cause  with 
him,  and  share  his  blessing.  He  says  ^Comeuntome 
all  ye  that  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
As  to  all  that  concerns  your  life  and  happiness,  I  and 
my  Father  are  one.  Whom  I  love  the  Father  loves. 
He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father.''  I  rep- 
resent the  Father.  What  I  say  to  you  I  say  not  of 
myself,  but  the  Father  speaks  to  you  through  me. 
Come  unto  me,  then;  congenial  and  reciprocal  with 
me,  you  are  so  with  the  Father. 

As  the  Father  hath  loved  me,  so  have  I  loved  you 
— abide  ye  in  my  love. 

But  Lord,  thou  art  pure  and  holy  and  good — can 
this  scarred  life  of  mine  become  in  kind  like  thine? 
You  can  hardly  attain  to  that  complete  identification 
with  the  Father  and  fullness  of  blessing  which  I 
enjoy,  hardly  feel  the  strong  pulses  of  love  that  throb 
in  my  breast,  hardly  realize  the  heaven  of  peace  and 
satisfaction  that  reign  in  my  experience.  You  have 
been  touched  and  damaged  by  sin,  as  I  have  not. 
Your  sky  is  overclouded,  your  spiritual  faculties 
blunted,  but  come  unto  me  and  you  shall  find  that 
sin  has  not  destroyed  your  capacity  for  heaven  and 
happiness.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches.  The 
life  that  courses  in  the  vine  courses  in  the  branches — 
the  same  in  kind — abide  in  me.  Though  scarred  and 
damaged  by  sin,  you  are  not  destroyed.  Congeniality 
and    reciprocity   with   me    and   with   the    Father   in 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  347 

Heaven  are  yet  possible.  Doubt  it  not.  Created  in 
the  image  of  God,  you  were  born  for  such  congeniality 
and  reciprocity^  and,  lifted  out  of  sin,  you  are  quali- 
fied for  fellowship  with  the  Son  and  with  the  Father. 

^^I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water,"  said  John, 
*^but  one  cometh  after  me  mightier  than  I  *  he 
will  baptize  you  with  the  Spirit  and  with  fire."  What 
are  some  of  the  conditions  under  which  this  baptism 
of  Spirit  and  fire  takes  place,  have  been  noted  in 
former  pages.  Converted — born  from  above,  you 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, — you  come  into 
congeniality  and  rapport  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — 
you  share  his  life  and  his  joy.  These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you  that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you, 
and  that  your  joy  might  be  full. 

We  note  these  two  principal  elements  of  Christian 
faith — a  belief — a  quid  credendum  and  a  ^^trust" — a 
quid  fidendufji.  The  former  is  historical — objective, 
the  latter  experimental — subjective. 

It  is  the  latter  which  Paul  defines  as  the  assurance 
of  things  hoped  for — the  conviction  of  things  not 
seen.  It  is  this,  which,  in  its  subjective  results,  at 
least,  yield  the  richest  possible  fruitage  of  the  Chris- 
tian's life — the  ^^joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

According  to  his  biographers,  faith  was  the  secret  of 
a  great  power  in  the  hands  of  Jesus,  and  he  assured 
his  disciples  that  it  would  be  th^  condition  of  a  like 
power  in  their  hands. 

We  know  that  confidence  in  results  is  generally 
necessary  to  success.     Mutual  undoubting  confidence 


34^  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

makes  beautiful  homes,  good  neighbors,  good 
society.  It  inspires  friendship  and  love.  But  for 
mutual  trust  and  confidence — faith  in  our  fellows — in 
the  powers  that  be  around  and  above  us, — we  could 
not  live. 

Supreme  faith  seems  to  make  men  next  to  omnipo- 
tent. 

'^Give  a  man  faith  and  though  his  heart  be  narrow, 
and  his  brain  confined,  and  what  he  believes,  an 
absurdity,  and  a  dream,  he  will  pass  by  hundreds  of 
other  men  who  occasionally  doubt,  and  tramping 
them  in  their  gore,  will  control  a  fiery  nation,  and 
reign  in  terror,  till  the  name  of  Robespierre  is  a 
trembling,  and  an  abhorrence  over  the  earth.''  ^^Give 
a  people  faith,  and  though  its  tribes  be  scattered  and 
powerless  over  its  desert  domain,  like  the  dismem- 
bered limbs  of  a  giant,  it  will  gather  itself  together, 
and  stride  forth  along  the  quaking  earth,  till  every 
nation  trembles  at  the  name  of  Islam.  "^ 

It  is  not,  however,  my  purpose  to  explain,  or  to 
attempt  to  explain,  the  relation  of  faith  to  powder, 
though  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  human  failures  are 
to  be  traced  more  frequently  to  lack  of  faith,  than  to 
lack  of  possibility.  If  faith,  working  by  misguided 
passion  in  Alexander,  could  conquer  the  world  as  he 
did,  what  shall  it  not  achieve,  when  working  by 
love  and  directed  by  wisdom? 

In  the  tropical  language  of  the  East,  Jesus   assured 

I.     Peter  Bayne,  in  Christian  Life,   p.  44. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  349 

his  disciples,  that,  if  they  had  ^^faith  as  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed,  they  should  say  to  this  mountain, 
remove  hence  to  yonder  plain,  and  it  shall  remove 
and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  you."  Matt. 
17:  20. 

This  of  course  is  hyperbole,  but  its  teaching  can 
hardly  be  misunderstood. 

He  himself  did  many  wonderful  things,  which  were 
called  ^ ^miracles,"  but  he  said  in  connection,  ^^The 
works  that  I  do,  shall  ye  do,  and  even  greater  works 
than  these,  because   I   go  to  the  Father." 

My  opportunities  shall  cease,  while  yours  will 
remain. 

The  subjective  effects  of  faith  are  not  less  remark- 
able and  astounding  than  the  objective.  They  are 
seen  in  trance,  in  hallucination,  in  ecstacy,  in  clair- 
voyance, in  rapture,  in  the  entheasm  of  the  poet,  and 
the  charisms  of  the  seer,  as  well  as  in  the  exaltation 
attained  in  the  higher  Christian  experience. 

That  some  of  these  affections  depend  upon  physi- 
ological conditions,  can  hardly  be  doubted,  but  the 
psychological  phenomena  probably  arise  none  the 
less  according  to  law.  Fixed  attention  upon  an  object, 
ideal  or  real,  and  faith  in  it — that  is,  implicit  reliance 
upon  the  occurrence  of  the  expected,  or  desired  result, 
—a  conviction  that  it  must  be  so,  is  sometimes  fol- 
lowed by  wonderful  results,  as  the  necromancers  and 
mesmerists  have  proven.  But,  however  inexplicable, 
we  may  not  doubt  that  Imv  reigns  within   the  sphere  of 


350  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

the  psychical^  as  we  know  it  reigns  within  the  sphere  of 
the  physical. 

If  we  grant  that  the  wonderful  Son  of  Man  under- 
stood the  laws  of  mind  better  than  the  philosophers, 
and  who  now  doubts  this?  we  should  not  be  sur- 
prised that  he  should  be  able  to  achieve  results  that 
seem  altogether  extraordinary  and  miraculous. 

But  what  is  of  most  import  to  us,  frail  mortals  that 
we  are,  is  to  know  God  the  Father,  and  the  Son  whom 
he  hath  sent,  to  realize  the  divine  presence  in  our 
experience  to  the  extent  of  our  capacity, — to  enjoy  all 
possible  intimacy  and  companionship  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father. 

When  one  comes  to  weigh  the  concerns  of  eternity 
against  the  shifting  panorama  of  the  present  state 
of  being,  how  precious  and  reassuring  it  is  to  know 
and  realize  that  he  is  at  one  with  the  Father  and  with 
the  Son,  and  that  therefore  whatever  may  happen,  all 
will  and  must  be  well.  Do  clouds  gather  and  storms 
rage — the  Father  Almighty  reigns  above  them. 

Do  disappointment  and  suffering  and  uncontrolla- 
ble grief  let  down  their  pall  of  darkness  upon  the  heart, 
in  the  starless  night  of  seeming  fate — 

"Faith  lends  her  realizing  light," 

and  the  night  lifts.  Does  death  approach — the  eyes 
close  upon  the  murky  environment  of  things  perish- 
ing, to  open  upon  the  quenchless  radiance  of  things 
eternal,  and  all  is  well. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  351 

"God's  ways  are  always  right 
And  love  is  o'er  them  all; 
Though  far  above  our  sight, 

Though  grief  benight  our  way, 

'Twill  make  the  joy  more  dear, 
That  comes  with  dawning  day. 

The  path  that  Jesus  trod, 

Tho*  rough  and  dark  it  be, 
Leads  him  to  heaven  and  God." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  Ministry  of  Works. 

John  Stuart  Mill  understands  Christianity  to  be  the 
maxims  and  precepts  contained  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  Mr.  Mill  is  fairly  representative  of  an  influential 
class  of  distinguished  skeptics.  He  says  of  Christian 
morality,  it  is  negative  rather  than  positive,  passive 
rather  than  active,  etc.  In  its  precepts — ^^Thoushalt 
not"  predominates  over  ^^Thou  shalt." 

This  may  be  said,  no  doubt,  of  Old  Testament 
morality,  but  certainly  it  cannot,  with  any  truth,  of 
Christianity.  The  one  summing  up  of  Christian 
ethics,  given  by  the  Master  himself,  will  not  justify 
such  a  charge — Thou  shalt^  reads  the  two  command- 
ments upon  which  Jesus  said  hang  all  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets.  Confucius  had  said,  ^*Do  not  unto 
others  what  you  desire  others  should  not  do  unto 
you,"  but  Jesus  says,  ^ ^Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
others  should  do  unto  you  do  ye  even  so  unto  them" 
— a  teaching  broader  and  more  aggressive.  Repent 
of  your  sins,  forgive  them  who  trespass  against,  love 
one  another,  do  good  to  them  who  despitefuUy  use  you 
and  persecute  you,  love  your  enemies,  etc.  Where, 
Mr.  Mills,  is  your  predominance  of  Thou  shalt  not — 
where  your  passive,   negative   morality?     ^^The  doc- 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  353 

trines  of  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  system,"  he 
says,  ^'contain  but  a  part  of  the  truth,"  and  so  small 
a  part  that  he  thinks  no  system  of  ethics  can  be  reared 
upon  it.^ 

Such  a  charge,  coming  from  one  who  understands 
Christianity  to  be  but  the  ^  ^maxims  and  precepts  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament,  "appears  on  its  face  as  a 
half  confessed  solecism.  No  one  who  has  any  just 
conception  of  Christianity  can  think  of  it  as  consisting 
of  maxims  and  precepts.  It  is  possible  that  in  his 
view  of  it,  it  would  indeed  ^'contain  but  a  part  of  the 
truth,"  and  ^'fall,"  as  he  asserts,  ^'far  below  the 
ancients,"  because  he  saw  so  small  a  part  of  it. 

It  is  most  evident  everywhere  that  Jesus  depended 
comparatively  little  upon  maxims  and  precepts. 
When  Demosthenes  was  requested  to  define  eloquence 
he  replied,  ^^action" — ^^it  is  action."  If  you  were  to 
interrogate  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  system  what 
constitutes  morality,  he  would  reply,  action — 
^' Works.''  ^^Art  thou  he  that  should  come,  or  look  we 
for  another?" — inquired  John,  through  messengers 
sent  to  Jesus.  ^^Go  tell  John  what? — the  things  ye 
do  hear  and  see;  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the 
lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  dead  are 
raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to 
them."  He  did  not  send  word  back  to  John  as  he 
might  have  done — I  am  he  whom  3^ou  yourself 
announced  as  the  ^^Lamb  of  God  thattaketh  away  the 

I.     Liberty,  p.  98. 


354  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

sin  of  the  world,"  and  upon  whom  you  saw  the  '^Spirit 
of  God  descending  as  a  dove  and  resting  upon  him." 
Whatever  significance  this  announcement  and  revela- 
tion from  heaven  may  have  had,  it  was  less  as  a 
proof  of  his  Messiahship  than  the  works  which  he  was 
doing. 

No  great  reformer  ever  depended  so  little  upon 
maxims  and  precepts,  and  so  much  upon  example  as 
did  Jesus.  He  appeals  to  his  own  example  as  fur- 
nishing  the  most  authoritative  attestation  possible  of 
his  own  divine  mission.  ^^The  very  works  that  I  do 
— they  bear  witness  of  me."  If  for  nothing  else, 
believe  me  ''for  the  very  works^  sake.'"  So  completely 
did  Mr.  Mill  misapprehend  the  whole  drift  and  scope 
of  Christianity.  And  this  misapprehension  is  yet  the 
mistake  of  half  the  Christian  w^orld. 

To  subscribe  a  creed  and  join  a  church,  and  thus 
take  sides  with  Christian  people,  has  passed  too 
current  for  practical  Christianity  among  those  who, 
like  Mr.  Mill,  have  been  able  to  see  in  it  only  the 
maxims  and  precepts  contained  in  the  New 
Testament. 

''I  am  the  Light  of  the  world" — more  than  a 
preceptor.  I  exhibit  a  new  life.  I  manifest  a  new 
spirit.  I  look  to  different  purposes.  I  inspire  better 
hopes.  While  I  am  in  the  world  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world.  But  I  go  to  the  Father.  Following  me 
and  becoming  like  me  you  become  the  light  of  the 
world.  Let  your  light  shine,  therefore,  that  others 
peeing   your  good  works   may  glorify  the  Father  in 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  355 

Heaven.  My  mission  ends.  As  the  Father  hath  sent 
me  so  send  I  you.  Jno.  20:  21.  It  is  yours  now  to 
take  up  and  prolong  this  work.  Ye  are  the  hght  of 
the  world — the  salt  of  the  earth — you  must  take  my 
place.  O  Master,  too  imperfect,  too  frail  are  we. 
You  may  not  have  my  wisdom.  You  have  not  my 
responsibility. 

You  have  my  love — an  experience  in  kind  like  mine, 
and  the  love  that  makes  it  my  meat  and  drink  to 
do  the  Father's  will,  will  make  it  yours  to  do  the 
same. 

But  remember,  ^^I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches. 
The  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  except  it  abide  in  the 
vine.  No  more  can  ye  except  ye  abide  in  me." 
Jno.  15:  4.  Your  lives  must  be  like  mine — the  same 
in  spirit,  in  feeling  and  purpose,  the  same  in  faith 
and  trust  in  God — differing  indeed  in  sturdy  strength 
and  robustness,  as  the  trunk  differs  from  the  branches, 
but  of  the  same  sap  and  fruitage.  If  any  one  will  be 
my  disciple  let  him  take  up  his  cross  as  I  have  taken 
up  mine,  and  follow  me — I  have  led  the  way. 

Is  it  said  that  this  is  raising  the  standard  too  high 
— that  mere  men  are  too  gross  and  selfish — they  will 
never  come  up  to  it?  He  resisted  not  evil,  submitted 
to  abuse,  returned  good  for  evil,  loved  all  men,  loved 
even  his  enemies,  and  prayed  for  his  malicious  perse- 
cutors and  murderers — such  virtues  are  too  high — 
who  among  men  can  hope  to  attain  such  heights? 
And  then  what?  Is  there  no  redemption?  Is 
humanity  doomed?     Or  have  we,  after  all,  indications 


356  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

here  and  there  that  such  virtues  are  possible  to  men? 
Did  not  Moses  so  love  his  people  that  he  was  ready 
to  die  for  them?  Did  not  Socrates,  for  the  love  of  the 
right,  submit  to  abuse  and  to  death?  Did  not  Stephen 
pray,  ^*Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge?*'  Does 
not  the  mother  offer  herself  a  sacrifice  for  her  child? 
And  have  there  not  been  martyrs  to  the  truth  and  the 
right  in  all  ages?     Is  the  standard  too  high? 

Resist  not  evil.  Don't  fight  back  and  wrangle  and 
quarrel.  It  will  not  do  any  good.  It  will  do  harm. 
It  will  put  out  your  light. 

If  one  shows  greed  and  over-reaches  you,  prove  to 
him  that  you  are  above  all  such  practice — that  your 
metal  is  of  a  different  kind.  To  prove  this  may  take 
your  cloak,  or  more  than  that;  but  prove  it  plainly  to 
him.  He  needs  the  reproof  of  such  an  example.  It 
will  do  him  good,  and  you  owe  it  to  him;  give  him 
your  cloak  also.  He  has  struck  you  on  one  cheek, 
turn  the  other.  Your  liberality  will  show  forth 
his  selfishness  in  strong  light  and  possibly  reform 
him.  Love  your  enemies.  There  is  more  in  them 
than  enmity  to  you — a  great  deal  more,  and  much 
that  is  good  and  worthy  of  your  love.  You  must  not 
excuse  or  condone  the  wrong  you  see  them  do.  Sin 
is  sin,  crime  is  crime,  and  hateful  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  good  men.  Your  worst  enemy  may  3^et  become  an 
angel,  there  is  such  a  substratum  of  goodness  in  him. 

But,  if  the  demands  of  Christian  morality  yet  seem 
great,  we  know  that  there  is  possible  to  human  nature 
that  which  makes  hard  things  easy.      It  would  seem  a 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  357 

hard  thing  to  shut  up  a  noble  woman  for  thirty  years 
to  the  toil,  and  care,  and  anxiety  of  caring  for  a  family 
of  children.  What  solicitude,  and  self-denial,  and 
sacrifice  does  it  all  imply!  But  a  noble  woman  will 
do  it  all,  and  chooses  to  do  it.  She  does  not  realize 
it  to  be  a  hard  thing  to  do. 

Christian  morality  requires  only  that  the  disciple 
shall  follow  his  Master. 

In  social  and  religious  life  Jesus  differed  from  other 
men  more  in  some  respects,  and  less  in  others,  than 
most  people  imagine.  He  mingled  freely  with 
other  men,  went  often  among  the  poor,  associated 
with  them  on  easy  terms,  as  you  and  I  could 
do.  He  had  about  him  no  airs  of  special  sanctity, 
and  we  need  not  have.  In  appearance  and  manner 
of  life  he  was  less  an  ascetic  than  the  Baptist,  less 
even  than  some  very  moderate  Christians  of  the 
present  day. 

He  was,  it  would  seem,  quite  a  man  of  the  world, 
and  really  somewhat  destitute  of  traditional  piety,  as 
some  thought,  in  view  of  his  conduct  among  publicans, 
and  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

He  was  not  selfish  in  any  bad  sense,  nor  do  we  need 
to  be. 

He  was  always  ready  to  help  and  to  give,  when 
there  was  need,  and  so  should  we  be. 

He  saw  the  danger  of  wealth,  and  undue  attachment 
to  this  world,  and  avoided  them,  as  we  should. 

He  recognized  the   ' 'eternal  verities" — truth,   jus- 


358  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

tice,  goodness,  and  cherished  them,  just  as  we  should. 
Why  not? 

In  spirit  and  affection  he  was  simple,  devoted, 
transparent,  child-like,  as  we  might  be  and  ought 
to  be. 

He  sought  to  make  peace  among  men,  explained 
how  they  could  do  the  same. 

The  standard  is  not  too  high. 

Thanks  to  a  more  enlightened  age,  you  will  not  be 
called  on  to  face  the  Sanhedrim  nor  the  cross,  nor  the 
stake,  but  you  will  need  the  Christ-integrity  all  the 
same.  The  Christian  code,  and  your  own  manhood, 
for  that  matter,  require  it. 

Let  us  banish,  then,  the  suspicion,  tacitly  admitted 
by  half  the  Christian  world,  that  Christian  morality,  so 
beautiful  in  the  outline  of  its  teachings,  is,  after  all, 
impracticable.  This  suspicion  hurts.  It  tends  to 
excuse  and  justify  a  low  grade  of  morality — a  grade 
of  morality  little  if  any  better,  but  certainly  not  worse, 
as  Mr.  Mill  would  have  it,  than  that  of  the  ancients. 

But  if  practicable,  then  incumbent.  In  espousing 
the  cause  of  the  New  Religion  you  undertake  to  rep- 
resent and  reproduce  the  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
— to  aid  in  perpetuating  the  work  he  inaugurated  and 
extending  it  throughout  the  world — as  the  Father 
hath  sent  me  so  send  I  you. 

It  is  evident  throughout  that  Jesus  depended  upon 
a  good  example  as  the  chief  means  of  commending 
and  spreading  the  gospel.  He  constantly  refers  to 
his  own  example  as  evidence  of  his  own  commission. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  359 

It  was  his  as  the  great  exemplar,  and  he  felt  it  to  be 
his,  to  set  an  example  of  fidelity  under  an  ordeal  of 
trial  and  suffering  that  swept  the  whole  field  of 
temptation,  touching  him  at  all  points,  and  exhaust- 
ing every  motive  to  infidelity. 

It  was  not  enough  that  God  should  communicate 
his  will  through  angel  messengers.  It  was  necessary 
that  it  should  be  revealed  to  sight  and  sense-appre- 
hension— crystallized  in  the  experience  of  actual  life. 
Words,  though  freighted  with  divine  wisdom,  are  next 
to  powerless,  when  compared  with  the  touching  and 
transforming  influence  of  a  radiant  example. 

None  knew  better  than  did  Jesus  the  power  of  a 
good  example  to  work  reform.  No  one  ever  relied  so 
implicitly  upon  personal  influence  and  the  power  of  a 
good  example  to  sustain  his  cause. 

He  literally  committed  it  to  the  keeping  of  good 
works — to  the  exhibition  of  the  Christ-life.  Others 
had  organized  well,  taught  eloquently,  written  wisely, 
but  Jesus  said,  '^I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  follow 
me.  To  his  disciples  he  did  not  say:  organize,  edu- 
cate, enlist  the  wealthy,  get  the  popular  tide  at  all 
cost,  as  reformers  are  wont  to  do,  but  be  humble, 
love  each  other,  minister  to  the  needy,  visit  the  sick 
and  the  imprisoned.  Let  your  light  shine.  You  will 
be  ignored,  maligned,  persecuted,  possibly  put  to 
death,  only  be  true — let  your  light  shine.  The  light 
gleaming  out  of  dark  and  obscure  places  of  the  earth 
to  which  he  knew  his   humble  faithful  disciples  would 


360  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

be  driven  was  his  hope  for  the  world — his  trusted 
Evangel. 

The  power  of  example  is  not  confined  to  the  good 
alone.  ^^If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness  how 
great  is  that  darkness."  A  bad  example  will  out- 
weigh and  neutralize  a  great  deal  of  precept — mere 
preaching.  One  bad  example  may  curse  a  whole 
neighborhood — a  whole  generation.  Behold  the  fasci- 
nating power  of  ^^fashion!"  One  follows  another — fol- 
lows into  every  extreme  of  folly  and  absurdity,  often 
at  the  expense  of  health  and  fortune. 

During  the  witch-craft  craze  many  who  were  per- 
fectly innocent  of  the  supposed  diabolical  intercourse, 
were  caught  up  by  the  excitement,  confessed 
implication  and  were  put  to  death. 

During  the  persecutions  of  the  early  church,  when 
even  to  profess  one's  self  a  Christian  was  the  prelude 
to  the  sentence  of  death,  men  and  women  daily 
attested  their  devotion  amid  the  horrors  of  faggot 
and  flame,  and  the  carnage  of  wild  beasts.  Their 
unflinching  heroism  so  impressed  the  multitude,  that, 
many  converts  actually  sought  and  voluntarily  pro- 
voked martyrdom,  in  so  much  that  the  authorities 
had  to  interfere  and  check  the  mania.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  Son  of  Man  sought  to  avail  himself 
of  this  overmastering  power  of  example,  when 
endeavoring  to  save  the  world  from  sin. 

When  the  twelve  and  the  seventy  were  sent  forth 
as  evangelists  they  were  not  sent  to  indoctrinate  men, 
nor   to  proclaim  the   Lamb  of  God  as  ready  to  be 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  361 

offered  in  sacrifice  to  offended  justice.  ^^Go  *  to 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  as  ye  go 
preach,  saying,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand; 
heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead,  cast 
out  devils — (whatever  this  may  mean) — freely  ye  have 
received,  freely  give."  They  were  simply  to  go  on 
errands  of  love  and  mercy,  following  his  example. 

We  are  told  that  the  intention  gives  moral  quality 
to  the  act,  and  in  a  sense  and  to  some  extent  this  is 
true.  A  good  action  is  not  likely  to  spring  from  a 
bad  intent,  nor  a-  bad  action  from  a  good  intent.  The 
fact  is,  there  are  many  intents  good  and  bad  which 
spring  no  action  at  all.  The  intention  belongs  to  and 
affects  the  individual.  It  has  in  itself  no  ethical  value. 
It  may  be  good  or  bad  without  public  benefit  or  public 
damage.  Intentions  do  not  constitute  virtue,  nor 
merit  its  reward.  Like  good  precepts  and  good 
advice  they  are  usually  cheap  if  not  a  drug  on  the 
market. 

Men  are  so  interdependent  and  identified  with  the 
common  weal,  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  that  what 
belongs  so  exclusively  to  the  individual  as  the  intent 
is  of  little  weight  or  moment.  The  author  of  Chris- 
tianity has  taught  us  that  virtue  lies  not  in  the  inten- 
tion, but  in  the  act.  The  tree  is  to  be  judged  not  by 
its  latent  capacity,  but  by  its  fruit.  It  is  not  for 
every  idle  thought,  but  for  ^^every  idle  word"  that  men 
must  give  account.  ^'By  thy  words  shalt  thou  be 
justified,  and  by  thy  words  shalt  thou  be  condemned." 
The  intention    must   crystallize  into  action  and  affect 


362  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

some  one  for  weal  or  woe,  before  it  has  ethical 
value. 

But  you  say  out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
etc.  Yes,  and  it  is  because  they  proceed  out  of  the 
heart,  and  come  to  play  their  roll  among  men  that 
they  come  to  be  factors  of  ethical  results.  He  that 
looketh  upon  a  woman  lusting  after  her  '^hath  com- 
mitted adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart. '^  Yes, 
truly.  But  he  has  not  injured  the  woman.  He  has 
not  outraged  public  decency  and  set  the  tongues  of 
all  the  gossips  going.  He  has  not  debauched  public 
sentiment  nor  lowered  the  standard  of  public  virtue, 
and  cannot  be  called  to  account  in  any  court,  human 
or  divine,  for  doing  any  of  these  things.  But  the 
cherished  lust,  however,  has  wrought  its  baneful  effect 
upon  himself.  It  has  debased  his  moral  sense.  It 
has  lowered  his  self  respect.  It  has  sunk  him  lower 
in  the  scale  of  conscious  purity.  It  has  made  him 
more  a  brute  and  less  a  man.  But  the  crime  is  his 
own  and  has  ethical  significance  only  as  it  tends  to 
weaken  and  disqualify  him  for  those  helpful  ministries 
in  which  his  fellowmen  have  something  of  vested 
rights. 

On  the  other  hand  a  good  deed,  though  it  spring 
from  selfish  motives,  and  may  therefore  prove  to  be 
empty  and  worthless  or  even  injurious  to  him  who 
performs  it,  yet  has  ethical  value,  since  it  helps  some 
one  in  the  struggle  of  life  and  contributes  to  the  sum 
of  human  well  being.  It  is  love — a  pure  and  holy 
love — that  consecrates  both  the  intention  and  the  ac  »< 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  363 

and  constitutes  them  a  blessing.  As  a  rule  we  are  not 
to  judge  the  act  by  the  intention,  but  the  intention 
by  the  act,  because  of  its  external  relations  and  greater 
ethical  import. 

It  is  the  life  revealed  in  action  that  constitutes  the 
individual  a  power  among  men.  Jesus  bore  himself 
with  exemplary  virtue  and  goodness  always  and 
everywhere — through  evil  report  and  good,  through 
obstinate  bigotry  and  superstition,  through  malice  and 
treachery,  through  wickedness  in  high  places  and  in 
low,  in  Gethsemane,  in  the  courts  of  the  High  Priest 
and  of  Pilate,  in  the  hands  of  the  mob  and  on  the 
cross, — in  all,  and  through  all,  he  bore  himself  with 
such  dauntless  courage,  with  such  sweetness  of 
temper,  and  yearning  love  for  his  misguided  persecu- 
tors, as  to  astonish  and  most  powerfully  to  impress  all 
beholders,  and  to  spring  a  reaction  in  his  favor  that 
seems  rather  to  increase  than  decrease  in  force  with 
the  passing  centuries. 

And  hence  his  measureless  power  for  good,  his 
unrivalled  success  as  a  reformer,  his  authority  as  a 
teacher  come  from  God.  He  was  more  than  a  victim 
offered  in  sacrifice,  more  than  a  substituted  sufferer 
for  the  sins  of  mankind.  He  was  a  revelation,  an 
inspiring  exemplar,  the  Light  of  the  World;  and  he 
who  will  be  his  disciple  is  to  take  up  his  cross  and  in 
all  this  follow  him. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

The  Ministry  of  Works — Supplemental. 

One  soul,  with  one  God  and  destiny — the  aura  of 
the  New  ReHgion. 

The  Founder  of  Christianity  steadily  addressed 
himself  to  the  individual.  He  summons  the  indi- 
vidual soul  into  the  presence  of  God  for  review  and 
judgment.  He  lays  upon  the  individual  the  obliga- 
tions of  a  holy  life,  and  makes  it  his  duty  to  let  his 
light  shine.  Even  in  matters  of  worship  the  indi- 
vidual, and  not  the  congregation,  nor  a  substituted 
priest,  must  be  the  actor.  When  he  would  pray  he 
is  to  enter  into  his  closet,  and  having  shut  the  door, 
there  alone  he  shall  pray  to  the  Father  who  is  in 
secret. 

The  College  of  Apostles  was  in  no  proper  sense  an 
organized  body — no  constitution,  no  creed,  no  grip, 
nor  bond,  nor  baptism — nothing  to  interfere  with  the 
autonomy  of  the  individual.  Jesus  himself  belonged 
to  no  organization,  nor  did  he  recommend  organiza- 
tion to  those  who  were  to  take  up  and  carry  for- 
ward his  work. 

The  sense  of  personal  obligation,  binding  naen  to 
all  helpful  ministries,  is  the  measure  of  the  Christ-life. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  365 

and  the  basis  of  the  world's  hope  as  set  forth  in  the 
New  Rehgion. 

For  200  years  or  more  it  was  the  practice  of  the 
Christian  preacher  to  go  out  among  the  people,  and 
to  do  substantially  as  Jesus  himself,  and  the  Apostles, 
and  Paul  had  done — to  go  about  doing  good  as  they 
had  opportunity,  preaching  repentance  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  and  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  They  defined  no  creeds,  built  no  churches, 
established  no  priesthood,  claimed  no  ecclesiastical 
authority  as  binding  in  law. 

In  time,  however,  when  to  become  a  Christian  was  to 
encounter  persecution,  and  the  probability  of  a  martyr's 
death,  it  was  most  natural  that  the  Christian  should 
desire  the  largest  possible  sympathy  and  moral  sup- 
port from  his  fellow  Christians,  and,  if  there  were  no 
other  reasons  for  it,  this  desire  seemed  to  be  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  ecclesiastical  union;  and  then,  too, 
if  Christians  had  to  withstand  persecution,  and  go  to 
the  stake  for  their  faith,  it  seemed  most  proper  that 
their  faith  should  be  clearly  defined,  and  definitely 
stated,  in  order  that  there  be  no  misapprehension — no 
mistakes  made  in  the  dire  emergencies  which  awaited 
them. 

Besides,  Constantino  had  the  penetration  to  see 
that  a  concentration  of  the  widespread  Christian 
forces — forces  which  everywhere  were  proving  ade- 
quate to  conquer,  would  greatly  strengthen  hmi  in  his 
possession  of  political  power,  and  he  therefore  led 
off  in  favor  of  ecclesiastical  organization. 


366  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

Hence,  both  a  strongly  organized  church  and  an 
elaborate  creed  as  early  as  A.  D.  325. 

But  after  all,  these  needs,  so  keenly  experienced  by 
Christians,  were  born  of  their  fears,  and  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  both  the  organization  and  the 
creed  have  helped  more  than  they  have  hurt  the  pro- 
gress of  Christianity. 

The  Master  had  said,  ^*When  they  bring  you  before 
synagogues  and  the  rulers  and  the  authorities,  be  not 
anxious  how  or  what  ye  shall  answer,  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  teach  you  in  that  very  hour  what  ye  ought 
to  say;^  thus  providing  in  advance  for  the  direst  straits 
without  the  intervention  of  external  helps. 

The  reader  need  not  be  reminded  that  a  merciless 
and  crushing  despotism,  enslaving  and  degrading  a 
large  part  of  mankind,  grew  out  of  this  organizing 
and  creed-making  business;  and  its  evil  working  is 
plainly  not  yet  ended.  One  of  its  evils,  and  the  one 
which  claims  our  attention  in  this  connection,  is  its 
tendency  to  lessen  the  the  sense  of  personal  obliga- 
tion to  attend  to  the  v^ants  of  men  as  they  present 
themselves  to  the  individual  Christian. 

With  a  strong  church  in  the  field,  or  several  in  the 
same  field,  as  we  have  them  now,  to  care  for  the 
interests  of  religion,  it  is  very  easy  for  one  to  conclude 
that  if  he  but  give  liberally  to  support  the  church,  he 
is  playing  his  part,  without  drawing  upon  his  time 
and  business  for  the  details  of   Christian  duty;  and, 

I.    Luke  12:  II. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  367 

accordingly,  he  buckles  down  to  business,  and  rele- 
gates the  duty  of  letting  his  light  shine,  to  the  church. 
A  writer  in  a  leading  religious  journal,  just  to  hand, 
says:  ^*Helpless  invalids  must  be  cared  for  by  their 
friends,  if  they  have  them;  if  friendless,  then  by  the 
church  or  the  community!"^  Here  it  is  in  plain  Eng- 
lish. The  tendency  is  unmistakable.  The  Priest 
and  the  Levite,  who  passed  by  on  the  other  side,  and 
left  the  poor  fellow  who  had  fallen  among  thieves 
unhelped,  must  have  felt  very  much  like  this  modern 
priest.  The  man  had  no  friends  and  they  left  him  to 
be  cared  for  by  the  church,  or  the  community. 

Between  the  constantly  recurring  need  of  money 
to  keep  up  the  church  and  pay  the  minister's  salary — 
to  meet  the  claims  of  subordinate  missionary  societies, 
mite  societies,  sewing  circles,  etc.,  id  omne  genus,  and 
added  to  these,  the  rivalry  of  congregational  leader- 
ship, the  last  dollar  that  can  be  squeezed  out  the 
pious  individual  member  is  paid  over  to  organized 
agencies — paid  over,  possibly  with  the  best  of  motives, 
and  applied,  too,-  possibly,  to  the  furtherance  of  good 
causes,  and  it  is  very  natural  that  the  ordinary  Chris- 
tian should  come  to  believe  and  feel  that  he  has,  in 
this  way,  done  his  duty.  Accordingly,  like  the 
brother  mentioned,  he  relegates  the  cases  of  personal 
need  which  come  within  his  knowledge  to  the 
^^church"  and  the  ^^community. "  But  is  this  Chris- 
tian altruism? 

I.     Prof.  H.  F.  Fisk,  D.  D.,  in  N.  W.  C,  Ad.,  May  14,  '90, 


368  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

I  know  we  are  told  the  times  have  greatly  changed 
since  Jesus  wrought  his  helpful  ministries  in  Galilee. 
The  twenticith  century,  with  its  institutions  and  its 
civilization,  is  upon  us.  Things  are  done  now  on  a  large 
scale.  I  grant.  Everything  is  organized,  from  a  mighty 
church  seeking  to  set  up  her  throne  of  power  in  all 
lands,  to  a  prayer  meeting  or  a  child's  play.  The 
individual  is  absorbed.  The  big  fish  have  the  wave. 
Of  course  the  stronger  the  church  the  better.  The 
stronger  and  richer,  the  more  talent  it  can  command, 
the  more  imposing  cathedrals  and  temples  it  can 
build,  and  the  sooner  it  will  ^^fill  the  earth  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord." 

But  candidly,  is  the  method  of  this  century,  with  its 
display  of  large  means — its  roar  and  thunder  and 
tramping  of  feet — its  glitter  and  glare  of  gold — an 
improvement  upon  that  of  the  first  and  second  cen- 
turies, with  their  small  beginning,  their  comparative 
destitution  of  means — their  humility  and  the  little 
'^leaven"  that  was  to  ^ ^leaven  the  whole  lump?" 
What  is  the  proof  of  it?  The  Roman  empire  was 
conquered  to  Christianity  during  the  first  200  years. 
What  Roman  empire  has  been  conquered  to  Chris- 
tianity within  the  last  200  years?  What  has  been  the 
annual  increase  per  centum  of  the  population  of  genu- 
ine, not  noniinal  Christians  of  the  last  200  years,  with 
all  the  advantage  of  multiplied  centers  of  operation, 
better  knowledge  and  exhaustless  resources,  as  com- 
pared with  the  increased  per  centum  of  population 
during  the  first   200  years?     Before   great   cathedrals 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  369 

were  built,  or  elaborate  creeds  were  made  up  by 
ecclesiastical  councils,  and  before  organization  had 
become  a  ^^craze,"  the  New  Religion  had  encountered 
ignorance  and  vice — wickedness  in  ^^high  places" — 
all  the  forms  of  selfishness  and  depravity — it  had 
encountered  Paganism,  with  its  learning  and  philoso- 
phy, and  won  glorious  victories.  Now,  enshrined  in 
strong  and  wealthy  organizations,  and  with  modern 
methods,  is  it  doing  more  or  better? 

A  single  church  in  New  York  is  said  to  be  worth 
$150,000,000.^  Another  in  the  same  city  $100,000,- 
000.2  'pj^g  Presbyterians  have  $300,000,000  in  Chi- 
cago,2  and  all  the  leading  denominations  count  their 
wealth  by  millions.  Are  they  likely  to  do  more  for  the 
spread  of  genuine  Christianity  than  did  a  proportional 
number  of  the  early  Christians  following  the  methods 
of  the  Apostles  and  Paul  and  the  preachers  of  the  first 
century,  before  there  were  either  creeds  or  cathedrals 
or  an  ecclesiastical  priesthood?  Or  is  it  another  case 
of  Goliath  in  his  armor  and  David  with  his  sling? 

In  union  there  is  strength.  Certainly  there  is.  If 
you  want  to  pull  up  sycamine  trees  and  remove 
mountains  into  the  sea,  the  more  spikes  and  shovels 
and  levers  you  employ  the  sooner  you  will  accomplish 
your  purpose.  But  in  the  case  before  us  it  may  be  a 
question  whether  you  can  use  spikes  and  shovels. 

1.  See  Fo7'tcni,  Nov.,  '8g. 

2.  Retiring  Moderator's  address  before  Presbyterian  Asserr.- 
bly,   1890. 


370  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

There  are  things  which  cannot  be  put  into  an 
organization.  You  can  only  put  into  an  organization 
what  has  a  value  in  common,  or  is  supposed,  at  least, 
to  have  such  value.  But  your  religion  is  worth  more 
to  you  than  it  is  to  your  neighbor,  and  his  religion  is 
worth  more  to  him  than  it  is  to  you;  and  so  of  all  the 
rest.  Each  one's  religion  belongs  to  himself  and 
ought  to  be  sacred  against  all  comers.  In  the  nature 
of  things  it  cannot  be  built  into  an  organization.  The 
effort  to  do  this  has  been  a  disastrous  failure  in  all 
time.  It  has  rent  the  Christian  world  into  many 
fragments,  and  caused  an  immense  and  cruel  waste 
of  means  and  engendered  an  amount  of  sectarian 
strife  and  bitterness  that  is  sickening  to   contemplate. 

If  you  think  best  you  can  build  round  an  ^'ism,'* 
and  you  may  persuade  a  good  man}^  to  help  you. 
But  in  the  public  mind  "isnis^^  are  at  discount. 

Catholicism,  Methodism,  Presbyterianism,  Bap- 
tistism,  and  the  rest — each  and  all  are  something  less 
than  Christianity.  They  have  ear-marks  that  disfig- 
ure them,  ^^shibboleths"  that  betray  narrowness,  if 
nothing  worse.  They  beget  suspicion  of  selfishness 
and  offend  public  taste.  They  are  not  the  best  thing 
to  build  around  and  build  up. 

Besides  they  are  dying  out.  They  will  not  live  for- 
ever. Some  have  already  died,  and  more  are  dying, 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  to  invest  in  them  largely  is 
to  make  the  best  use  of  the  ^^Lord's  money." 

The  twentieth  century  civilization  is  not  favorable 
to  the  spread  of  genuine  Christianity.      It  depends  too 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  37I 

much  Upon  organization  and  hurrah — upon  marble 
and  gold — and  too  little  upon  personal  piety  and  good- 
ness— the  leaven  that  is  to  leaven  the  whole  lump. 

Sixty  years  ago  Dr.  Channing  said,  organized 
societies  at  present  tend  strongly  to  excess,  and  espe- 
cially menace  that  individuality  of  character  for 
which  they  can  yield  no  adequate  compensation.  It 
is  notoriously  evident,  at  least  to  those  who  have  not 
been  caught  up  by  the  craze  for  organization,  that  the 
fears  here  expressed  were  well  founded.  Everywhere 
there  are  ^  ^leaders, "  a  few,  followers,  many — leaders, 
sometimes  selfish,  ambitious,  unscrupulous,  and  gen- 
erally overrated — followers,  wanting  in  individuality 
and  true  manhood,  and  ready  on  occasion  to  cry, 
^Crucify  him!  Crucify  him!" 

The  glorified  civilization  of  the  present  imposes 
conditions  unfavorable  to  the  spread  of  Christianity. 
It  makes  a  god  of  wealth.  It  fosters  a  disposition  to 
indulge  in  short-lived  and  debasing  pleasures.  It 
influences  men  to  lay  up  their  treasures  upon  the 
earth.  It  dwarfs  the  individual  and  his  light-shining 
capacity.  The  times  have  indeed  changed  since 
Jesus  sent  his  reply  back  to  John  in  prison.  Reversing 
the  order,  the  rich^  more  than  tlie  poor  have  the  gospel 
preached  to  them.  Silk  and  diamonds  lend  their 
attractions  to  pulpit  and  pew,  without  increasing  their 
power  for  good.  Wealth  is  decoloring  and  detoning 
Christly  goodness  in  highly  cultivated  circles,  and 
many  of  the  modern  apostles  of  Christianity,  without 
any  great  amount  of  the  scruple  and  tender  conscience, 


372  THE    NE\V    RELIGION. 

such  as  was  Paul's,  are  resting   serenely  in  the  lap  of 
wealthy  and  fashionable  congregations. 

Organization  is  in  the  air  of  the  present.  It  is  seen 
in  trusts  and  syndicates — in  everything  and  every- 
where. The  individual  is  seldom  seen  in  his  own 
capacity. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  a  genuine  Christian 
socialism  is  now  possible  without  a  thorough  recon- 
struction of  the  church  and  Christian  institutions. 
The  individual  has  well  nigh  disappeared  from  human 
society.  If  you  find  him  struggling  for  recognition, 
you  find  him  in  an  unequal  contest,  pitted  against 
some  one  or  more  great  combinations,  social,  political, 
or  ecclesiastical,  that  are  ready  to  club  him  down  as  a 
^^crank,'^  and  hoot  him  out  of  society.  It  is  worth 
about  all  that  a  man  holds  dear  in  society,  to  be  a  true 
man,  and  dare  to  do  his  own  thinking.  The  tendency 
of  this  organizing  age  is  to  debase  the  masses  by 
stripping  the  individual — the  unit  of  the  masses — of 
his  sense  of  personal  capacity  and  responsibility.  In 
social  life,  fashion,  in  politics,  party,  and  in  religion, 
the  churches,  have  usurped  the  functions  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  sway  the  scepter  of  a  debasing  tyranny 
over  the  masses.  Mr.  S.  W.  Dike,  in  the  January, 
1890,  Century,  has  noticed  this  tendency  among  Chris- 
tians to  rely  too  much  on  the  church.      He  says: 

^^It  is  time  we  ceased  to  make  people  feel  that  there 
is  no  salvation  except  by  way  of  the  church  door,  in 
simple  justice  to  him  who  said  T  am  the  door.'  *  * 
No  form  of  ecclesiasticism,  not  even  that  of  the  most 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  373 

orthodox  protestantism,  any  more  than  that  of  Rome, 
can  shut  him  within  church  walls,  or  look  to  the  con- 
gregation as  the  place  for  the  greater  part  of  his 
work.'' 

A  Nashville  editor  said: — ^^It  is  a  malign  paradox 
of  ecclesiastical  history  that  as  power  declines  ma- 
chinery increases."  A  New  York  editor,  commenting 
on  this  sentiment,  says: — ^^The  machinery  now 
deemed  necessary  to  carry  forward  the  work  which 
was  originally  committed  by  Christ  and  his  apostles  to 
the  loyalty  and  devotion  and  philanthropy  of  indi- 
vidual Christians,  is  something  appalling." 

And  another  responds: — ^^Machinery  has  little  func- 
tion in  Christ's  ministry.  *  *  Christ's  ministry  and 
method  were  at  least  typical  and  illustrative  of  the 
economy  and  secret  of  greatest  success  in  bringing 
the  world  to  accept  him  as  Savior  and  Master." 

There  are  in  the  United  States  about  90,000 
preachers  of  the  gospel.  If  they  all  had  the  love  and 
zeal  that  sent  Paul  out  through  the  gentile  world,  and 
the  self-sacrificing  conscience  that  made  him  work 
with  his  own  hands,  lest  he  might  become  ' 'burden- 
some," how  soon  would  the  light  of  the  blessed  gospel 
flood  all  this  land! 

Th'e  census  report  of  1880  gives  the  population  of 
the  United  States  as  50,000,000,  and  the  number  of 
Christians  of  all  denominations  as  16,000,000 — one 
to  less  than  every  four  of  the  population.  Suppose 
every  one  was  a  good  Samaritan  kind  of  Christian, 
with  his  oil   and  wine   and   his  two  pence  at  the  inn, 


374  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

and  his  promise  of  more,  what  would  be  the  result 
before  the  next  moon? 

Another  cause,  it  is  believed,  operates  to  lessen  the 
sense  of  personal  obligation  to  active  beneficence. 

There  is  a  religious  cultus  which  makes  the  not-me 
about  everything  in  religion  and  the  me  nothing,  or  next 
to  nothing.  The  sinner  is  taught  that  he  is  a  poor, 
totally  depraved  and  helpless  mortal  whom  nothing 
can  save  but  God  himself,  by  a  fiat  of  his  redeeming 
power. 

This,  because  of  his  great  love,  the  Heavenly 
Father  is  disposed  to  do.  The  sinner  must  be 
'^redeemed,"  ^'washed,"  ^'purified,"  made  holy  by 
the  divine  will  and  power.  He  must,  indeed,  become 
willing  to  be  saved,  but  here  responsibility  seems  to 
end.  He  must  be  saved  by  grace  through  faith,  and 
the  grace  is  the  grace  of  the  divine  Not-Me. 

Henceforth,  what  concerns  him  most  is,  how^  to  keep 
his  religion,  and  in  the  end  make  sure  of  heaven.  ^^I 
want  to  be  good,"  said  a  brother  in  so  many  words, 
the  other  day,  in  a  class-meeting,  ^  ^because  I  want  to 
be  happy.''  This  is  the  feeling.  Under  this  cultus, 
if  you  attend  to  what  are  called  ^^the  means  of  grace" 
— prayer  meeting,  public  worship,  etc.,  you  will  be 
most  likely  to  maintain  your  Christian  integrity,  and 
secure  the  '^crown  of  rejoicing"  and  ^'harp  of  gold." 
No  altruism, — none  of  the  candle  burning  itself  out 
to  give  light  to  other  people.  It  is  the  Old  Religion 
against  the  New,  and  borders  upon  selfishness. 

It  did  not  seem  to  have  occurred   to   the   brother 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  375 

that,  born  into  the  kingdom,  he  must  go  out  of  him- 
self, and,  at  the  cost  of  himself,  he  must  do  some- 
thing to  help  somebody  in  need,  that  he  must  become 
a  supplement a7y  Christy  commissioned  to  help  save 
the  world  from  sin. 

Under  this  cultus  the  redeemed  sinner  owes  every- 
thing to  God,  and  what  more  or  better  can  he  do  than 
to  serve  God,  that  is,  to  say  his  prayers  regularly,  to 
attend  upon  public  worship  faithfully,  to  support  the 
church,  reverence  the  minister  whom  God  has  sent 
him,  read  his  bible,  etc. 

But  all  this  is  done  around  one  center,  and  that 
center  is  himself — his  own  happiness. 

Such  a  cultus  tends  to  dwarf  the  sense  of  personal 
obligation  to  render  service  to  the  outside  world, 
lying  in  poverty  and  squalor  and  wretchedness,  by 
exalting  those  objective  agencies  and  instrumentali- 
ties upon  which  the  ^^believer*'  is  made  to  feel  his 
own  salvation  largely  depends. 

Religion  is  the  chief  concern.  Morality  is  good 
among  men,  but  some  very  profane  and  wicked  men 
are  good  moralists  and  upright  enough.  But  moral- 
ity is  human,  religion  is  divine.  Religion  is  prayer. 
Religion  is  worship,  and  getting  close  to  God,  and 
having  rapturous  communion  and  fellowship  with  the 
Most  High. 

I  could  forever  stay 

In  such  a  frame  as  this. 
And  sit  and  sing  myself  away 

To  everlasting  bliss. 


376  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

In  this  habitual  ecstacy  what  to  him  are  the  hunger 
and  thirst  and  nakedness  of  the  outside  world?  What 
are  helpless  poverty  and  sickness  and  want?  His 
back  is  to  the  world,  his  face  toward  heaven,  God 
is  all  in  all,  and  glory  his  destiny. 

The  teaching  is  at  fault.  It  leaves  out  works. 
It  leaves  out  light-shining.  It  permits  the  votary 
to  forget  that,  ^^As  the  Father  hath  sent  me  so  send  I 
you. '  * 

In  that  dramatic  representation  of  the  last  judgment 
given  by  Matt,  the  results  of  life  are  summed  up  and 
the  value  of  those  helpful  ministries  which  are  made 
so  abundantly  possible  in  this  present  unequal  life  of 
mankind  are  most  powerfully  set  forth: 

^^When  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and 
all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  his  glory:  and  before  him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations:  and  he  shall  separate  them  one 
from  another,  as  a  shepherd  separates  the  sheep  from 
the  goats.  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right 
hand,  and  the  goats  upon  the  left.  Then  shall  the 
King  say  to  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  For  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye 
gave  me  drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited 
me;  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me. ' '  Astound- 
ing! They  themselves  had  not  known  the  moral  value 
of  their  benevolence  and  their  benefactions.      'When 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  377 

saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  thee?  or  thirsty, 
and  gave  thee  drink?  When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger, 
and  took  thee  in?  Or  naked,  and  clothed  thee?  Or 
when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came  unto 
thee?  And  then  the  King  shall  answer  and  say  unto 
them,  '^Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me. 

^^Then  shall  he  also  say  unto  them  on  his  left  hand, 
Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels:  for  I  was  an  hun- 
gered, and  ye  gave  me  no  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye 
gave  me  no  drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me 
not  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not;  sick  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not/' 

Possible!  They  had  not  waked  up  to  the  damning 
character  of  that  close-fisted  selfishness  which  could 
go  stalking  amid  want  and  squalor  and  suffering 
unaffected. 

''When  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  or  athirst,  or  a 
stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not 
minister  unto  thee?  Then  shall  he  answer  them  say- 
ing. Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  unto 
me.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment; but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal.  Matt. 
25:  31-46. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  Ministry  of  Works — Supplemental. 

The  following  conversation  between  two  New 
Yorkers,  one  a  popular  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  other  a  Christian  business  man,  will  explain  itself: 

A.  Good  morning,  Mr.  B.,  I  believe  I  saw  you  in 
the  congregation  at  my  church  yesterday. 

B.  Yes,  sir;  I  was  there. 

A.  Do  you  reside  in  the  city? 

B.  I  do. 

A.  You  don't  get  round  to  my  church  often.  I 
think  I  have  not  noticed  you  before. 

B.  No  sir,  I  don't  attend  church  services  very 
regularly;  I  go  when  I  have  time  and  feel  that  I  need 
such  service.  1  work  hard  through  the  week,  and  I 
generally  feel  by  the  end  of  the  week  that  I  need  a 
little  rest,  and  then,  too,  the  Sabbath  furnishes  me 
the  most  leisure  I  can  command  for  reading,  which  I 
very  much  enjoy. 

A.  I  think  you  would  find  that  it  would  help  you 
to  maintain  your  religious  life — your  spirituality  and 
^'growth  in  grace,"  if  you  would  attend  the  church 
services  regularly;  and,  as  to  rest,  you  could  get  that 
quite  as  well,  or  better,  at  the  church. 

B.  People  evidently  make  very  different  estimates 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  379 

of  the  value  of  ^'church  services.'*  Church-going 
people  seem  to  hold  them  sacred  and  almost  indis- 
pensable to  a  good  life.  But  I  do  not  care  to  d'.scuss 
the  measure  of  their  utility  now — I  want  time  to  read, 
and,  besides,  having  some  notoriety  among  the  poor, 
I  often  have  occasion  to  attend  some  one's  need  on 
the  Sabbath. 

A.  The  teaching  at  the  church  might  be  valuable 
— possibly  as  valuable  as  that  of  your  book;  and, 
would  not  the  ministries  of  the  church  during  public 
worship  qualify  you  all  the  better  for  your  ministries 
to  the  poor.  You  cannot  do  much  for  the  poor  except 
to  supply  their  present  need,  and  this  at  best  would 
be  to  them  a  service  of  somewhat  doubtful  value — it 
might  in  the  end  do  them  more  harm  than  good. 

B.  I  beg  your  pardon — the  poor  generally  need 
sympathy.  The  world  turns  its  back  upon  them  and 
they  are  likely  to  come  to  feel  that  they  are  aban- 
doned of  men  and  forgotten  of  God.  One's  friendly 
presence,  even  for  a  few  moments,  as  occasion  may 
offer,  gives  them  cheer  and  comfort,  and  will  do  them 
much  good,  and  especially  so  if  one  has  something  in 
his  hand  for  the  needy  mother  and  children. 

A.  But  according  to  my  experience  it  is  difficult 
to  reach  them  for  any  permanent  good.  For  the 
most  part,  they  live  on  a  very  low  plane,  and  are  so 
gross  and  unappreciative  you  can  hardly  start  a 
thought  of  the  higher  life.  What  do  most  of  them 
care  for  their  souls?     Many  of  them  hardly  know  they 


380  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

havs  souls.     Alas!   there  is   no  great   encouragement 
to  try  to  help  them. 

B.  And  yet,  however  low  and  gross,  their  desti- 
tution, as  I  often  see  it,  affects  me  keenly.  I  cannot 
forget  that  they  are  of  one  blood  with  myself,  and 
made  ^^in  the  image  of  God,"  and  if  I  cannot  minister 
to  their  higher  nature,  as  you  seek  to  do,  I  can,  at  least, 
do  something  in  the  way  of  supplying;  their  physical 
needs,  and  this  sometimes  seems  to  me   to  be   much. 

A.  Oh,  I  grant  that  using  prudence  and  circum- 
spection, we  must  not  let  the  poor  suffer.  But  the 
poor  we  shall  always  have  with  us.  Mere  physical 
need  is,  when  we  come  to  think  of  it,  a  low  grade  of 
need.  The  body  soon  dies;  the  soul  is  immortal. 
You  help  the  body,  and,  in  the  nature  of  things,,  soon 
all  is  gone;  you  help  the  soul  and  your  work  will 
remain.  You  yourself  need  the  services  of  the  sanc- 
tuary to  nourish  your  moral  and  religious  nature,  and 
prepare  you  for  the  life  immortal.  We  owe  more  to 
God  than  we  do  to  our  poor  neighbors,  and  it  reverses 
things  to  serve  them  more  and  him  less.  There  is  a 
vaporing  sympathy  which  would  exhaust  measurele^j 
resources  upon  short-lived  charities,  and  render  more 
durably  useful  benefactions  impossible — a  sympathy 
which  hurts  more  than  it  helps  the  world. 

B.  You  state  the  case  strongly,  and  I  know  that 
you  express  a  feeling  widespread,  even  in  Christian 
circles.  Prudence  in  giving  must  be  counted  among 
the  virtues,  since  we  know  that  there  are  those  who 
are  base  enough  to  take  advantage  of  our  liberality 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  381 

and  abuse  it.  But  on  the  other  hand  you  will  allow 
that  there  is  danger  of  this  special  plea  of  prudence 
playing  into  the  hands  of  a  blighting  selfishness.  It 
is  to  be  noticed  that  Jesus,  having  no  money,  went 
down  among  the  poor  in  boon  companionship,  eating 
and  drinking  with  them — even  with  *  ^publicans  and 
sinners."  He  did  not  seem  to  be  quite  willing  that 
they  should  be  left  to  the  degradation  to  which  they 
had  been  reduced  by  sin  and  a  hard  fortune.  The  fact 
that  only  one  of  the  ten  lepers  he  had  healed  returned 
to  give  glory  to  God  did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  leper- 
healing  business.  He  discouraged  any  too  severe 
discrimination  among  thu  needy,  by  calling  attention 
to  the  fact  that  God  sends  his  rain  and  sunshine  upon 
the  just  and  the  unjust.  If  ten  righteous  could  be 
found  in  the  cities  of  the  plain,  they  were  not  to  be 
destroyed.  It  were  an  inexcusably  wicked  distrust 
that  would  let  the  deserving  poor  suffer  because  the 
well-meant  charity  might  be  occasionally  abused. 

A.  But  financial  sympathy  is  more  liable  to  abuse 
than  spiritual  sympathy.  You  give  your  money,  and 
it  may  be  spent  upon  appetite — upon  intoxicants — 
upon  inordinate  passion,  and  so  do  more  harm  than 
good.  You  give  moral  instruction,  use  you  influence 
to  make  the  life  better,  and  if  you  have  done  no  good, 
you  have,  at  least,  done  no  harm. 

B.  Plausible,  certainly;  and,  since  we  owe  most 
to  God,  you  think  that  as  a  first  consideration  we 
should  serve  God,  and  that,  if  we  do  this,  the  service 
of  men  will  not  be  neglected.     But  please,   hoiv  will 


382  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

you  serve  God  without  serving  men?  Will  your  prayers 
and  sanctuary  services  please  God  and  render  him 
more  propitious?  Will  they  gratify  him — do  him 
good?  We  have  authority  for  believing  that  many 
who  are  well  up  in  religion — many  who  say  ^^Lord, 
Lord/*  ^ 'shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven/' 
It  is  granted  that,  if  your  worship  be  sincere  and 
true,  it  will  do  you  good,  and  that  it  should  not  be  neg- 
lected. But  how  else  or  who  else  can  it  benefit? 
Herein  is  my  Father  glorified  that  ye  bear  much  fruit. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you — please  note  the  emphasis — 
' 'Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Here 
we  have  a  ''service"  which  is  recognized  as  the  "serv- 
ice of  God." 

A.  As  to  doing  God  himself  good — serving  him  in 
that  sense  no  mortal,  of  course,  can  serve  him.  But 
there  are  other  ways  of  serving  men  than  by  feeding 
and  clothing  them.  They  really  need  to  be  saved 
from  their  sins — converted — more  than  they  need  to 
be  fed  and  clothed.  Their  highest  possible  interests 
are  at  stake,  and  he  that  succeeds  in  getting  a  soul 
converted  "shall  save  a  soul  from  death  and  cover  a 
multitude  of  sins."  As  a  minister  of  the  gospel  this 
is  my  peculiar  work  and  responsibility. 

B.  A  most  noble  work — indeed  a  "high  calling." 
My  mission  is  more  humble.  But,  if  you  give  what 
is  needed,  and  what  is  felt  to  be  needed — mark  what 
I  say — you  will  touch  deep  into  the  heart.  Nine 
times  out  of  ten  you  will  stir  the  better  nature,   and 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  383 

there  will  be  no  abuse  of  your  generosity.  About  a 
week  ago  I  heard  of  a  neighboring  destitute  family 
and  I  called  in  to  see  them.  A  sad  scene  presented 
Itself.  They  told  me  you  had  been  there.  Do  you 
remember  them — on  Water  St.,  No.  ? 

A.  Oh  yes— several  of  them  sick,  and  very  poor. 
I  don't  wonder  at  their  being  sick,  living  in  such  a 
place — should  think  they  would  all  die  of  filth  and 
malaria. 

B.  Did  you  talk  with  them? 

A.  Yes,  quite  at  length.  I  tried  to  tell  them  of 
Jesus  and  God  and  heaven — a  better  world.  The 
children  who  were  able  stood  round  staring  at  me. 
The  mother  seemed  feeble  and  stupid;  the  father 
coarse,  stupidly  inattentive,  and  evidently  shiftless. 
I  felt  sorry  for  them.  I  prayed  with  them  and  for 
them,  and  gave  them  a  bible.  What  more  could  I 
do?  What  a  pity  that  people  will  not  hear  the  truth 
and  learn  to  do  better  before  such  grossness  and  hard- 
ness overtake  them.  It  is  hard  to  reach  people  so 
low  in  the  scale  of  being. 

B.  I  must  say,  I  was  deeply  affected,  especially 
when  I  remembered  that,  without  doubt,  there  are 
thousands  and  thousands  of  such  and  similar  cases  of 
destitution  in  this  one  great  city.  I  inquired  a  little  into 
the  history  of  this  family.  The  husband  had  been  a 
shoemaker,  and  this  was  his  brief  story: — ^T  had  no 
great  difficulty  in  my  early  married  life  in  providing 
for  my  family;  but  after  they  began  to  make  shoes  by 
machinery  the  price  of  work  went  down  till  I  was 


384  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

compelled  to  quit  the  business.  I  had  to  catch  jobs 
and  do  what  I  could.  And  then  I  took  sick  and  lost 
a  good  deal  of  time,  and  so  got  behind,  and  have  never 
been  able  to  catch  up.  And,  to  make  matters  worse, 
my  wife  took  sick  and  has  never  recovered  her  health, 
and  now  the  doctors  say  she  has  the  consumption,  and 
here  we  are — God  only  knows  what  is  to  become 
of  us." 

I  said  to  him,  ^^My  dear  sir,  we  will  get  you  out  of 
this.  God  has  been  good  to  me,  and  I  have  some 
means,  and  we  will  get  you  out  of  this.''  I  found  a 
girl  and  employed  her  to  go  to  work  for  them  and 
clean  up.  I  provided  a  new  and  comfortable  bed 
upon  which  the  poor  woman  could  rest.  I  ordered 
up  what  was  needed  from  the  store  and  the  grocery. 
I  furnished  shoes  and  clothes  for  the  children,  and  I 
said  to  them,  ^'Now  take  courage.  I  will  not  forget 
you  and  God  will  not  forget  you,  nor  cease  to  love 
you.  Here  is  ten  dollars,  if  you  should  need  anything 
before  I  get  back  to  see  you.  I  will  call  again  next 
Sabbath."  On  leaving  them  there  was  a  scene.  Big 
tears  were  rolling  down  the  father's  radiant  face.  He 
was  too  much  affected  to  speak.  The  mother,  stretch- 
ing out  her  trembling,  bony  hand  sobbed  out — ^^O 
how  we  thank  you!  God  bless  and  reward  you,  if  we 
never  can."     And  the  children  were  happier  than  they 

could  tell. Hard  to  reach  people  on   so  Iowa 

pla7ie  of  being!  You  seemed  to  think  they  had  scarcely 
anything  of  the  better  nature  left  within  them,  so 
stupid   and   morally  insensate  were   they.     But  I  did 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  385 

not  find  them  so.  I  doubt  whether  an  angel  in  heaven 
could  have  struck  a  sweeter  note  of  praise  and  grati- 
tude, or  poured  a  grander  symphony  into  the  ears  of 
the  All  Father  than  did  that  family  on  Water  St. — 
And,  of  course,  I  will  stand  by  them.  I  will  see 
them  out.  They  are  of  my  own  blood — my  neighbors 
— and  as  a  Christian  I  cannot  do  less. 

Your  higher  ministries  did  not  reach  them.  My 
humble  ministries  did  reach  them.  You  gave  them 
what  you  thought  they  most  needed,  I  gave  them  what 
they  felt  they  most  needed.  Through  the  felt  needs 
you  can  walk  straight  into  the  better  nature.  You  can- 
not begin  at  the  top  and  build  downward.  You  can- 
not climb  up  to  heaven  without  a  ladder.  Jacob's 
angels  could  not.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  impossibility. 
It  is  a  question  of  how.  Your  means  are  not  well 
adapted  to  accomplish  your  ends.  You  seek  to  carry 
forward  the  work  inaugurated  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  but 
the  tv/entieth  century  is  upon  us  and  you  have  found 
a  different  way  of  doing  things.  He  went  among  the 
poor  and  destitute  with  more  than  a  bible  in  his 
hand  and  prayers  with  them  and  for  them.  He  went 
with  a  spirit  of  sympathy  and  fellow  feeling  that 
opened  his  heart  and  his  hand.  You  did  not.  You 
went  with  your  sermon  and  exhortation.  You  went 
with  kind  words  and  good  advice,  all  of  which  is 
always  theap  in  the  market,  because  it  is  of  little 
value,  and  you  failed.  *^If  a  brother  or  a  sister  be 
naked  and  in  lack  of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say 
UUto  thcjm;   Go  in  peace,   be  ye  warmed   and  filled; 


386  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

and  yet  ye  give  them  not  the  things  needful  to 
the  body,  what  doth  it  profit?^  Your  rich  congrega- 
tion arranges  expensive  appointments,  and  you  pre- 
pare elaborate  and  elegant  sermons,  but  I  am  quite 
sure  that  no  one  of  your  public  services  in  a  year  past 
has  produced  a  more  profound  impression  than  the 
humble  benefactions  bestowed  on  this  poor  family. 
For  conserving  public  virtue  and  personal  piety  and 
good  conduct  your  church  services  may  be  the  best 
possible.  This  is  not  my  point,  but,  as  an  evangel,  as  a 
means  of  reachin  g  and  saving  the  lost  and  the  d3ang  in  this 
great  and  wicked  city,  your  method  is  a  comparative 
failure.  Those  who  need  most  that  gospel  which  is 
the  ^/power  of  God  unto  salvation"  never  get  into 
your  fine  church,  and  if,  as  you  did  in  this  case,  you 
attempt  to  carry  it  to  them,  it  is  presented  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  it  seem  to  them  worthless. 

A.  But  mercy  on  us,  man!  Such  reckless  and 
indiscriminate  charity  would  soon  bankrupt  a  million- 
aire. I  remember  now  having  heard  of  an  eccentric 
enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  charity.  I  think  I  must 
have  found  him. 

B.  But  how  is  it? — beijig  a  Christian,  how  could  I 
have  done  otherwise  with  this  family,  with  whom  now 
we  have  had  something  of  a  common  experience? 
They  are  my  neighbors — under  the  aegis  of  the  second 
commandment.  If  I  love  them  as  I  love  myself 
could  I  fail  to  help  them?     You  have,    I   understand, 

I,    James  z\  15, 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  387 

an  elegant  family — a  wife  and  five  children — and  of 
course  you  love  them.  Could  you  leave  them  down 
on  Water  street  with  a  tithe  of  the  needs  of  this 
family,  and  go  on  with  your  own  abundance  and  com- 
fort and  Christian  duties,  as  you  do  now?  We  know 
full  well  that  you  would  sink  yourself  to  their  lowest 
level,  if  it  were  necessary,  to  rescue  them  from  such 
a  condition  of  poverty  and  want. 

Are  you,  to  be  frank  about  it,  quite  sure  that  you 
really  love  '^your  neighbor  as  yourself,"  and  are, 
therefore,  entitled  to  be  called  a  Christian?  Are  we 
to  understand  that  what  370U  did  for  that  poor  family 
is  the  measure  of  your  love  for  them?  You  give 
proof  that  you  love  your  wife  and  children.  You 
■  divide  with  them  and  would  share  fortune  with  them, 
whatever  might  happen.  Where  is  the  proof  that 
you  love  these  neighbors  of  yours  down  on  Water 
street  as  you  love  yourself?     Love  levels  things. 

It  holds  all  your  children  on  the  same  level  before 
you.  You  could  not  bribe  a  mother  to  conscious 
partiality  with  millions.  It  brought  the  early  Chris- 
tians to  a  level,  insomuch,  that  for  awhile  they  had 
'^all  things  common. '^  In  the  mind  of  Jesus  it 
brought  Jew  and  Gentile,  Pharisee  and  Publican  to 
the  same  level.  Paul  felt  he  owed  the  same  debt  to 
Greek  and  Roman,  to  Barbarian  and  Scythian,  to 
bond  and  free.  Love  levels  things  and  makes  com- 
mon cause,  and  if  your  love  don't  level  you  down  to 
something  like  equality  in  matters  essential  to  happi- 
nessp  there  must  be  something  wrong.      Love  hardly 


388  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

stops  with  equality.  The  big  boy  always  gives  the 
better  half  to  his  little  sister,  and  the  little  sister, 
in  return,  reciprocates  her  brother's  generosity.  And 
this  overplus  of  giving  is  the  dictate  of  true  love  the 
world  over.  But  you  seem  to  be  able  to  stop  at  an 
infinite  distance  short  of  equality.  I  repeat,  are  we 
to  understand  that  what  you  did  for  the  poor  family 
on  Water  street  is  the  measure  of  your  brotherly  love? 
Is  the  love  that  sits  blissfully  in  the  lap  of  wealth — 
dresses  in  silks,  wears  diamonds  and  fares  sump- 
tuously every  day  in  the  midst  of  ghastly  want — is 
this  kind  of  love,  in  your  estimate  of  things.  Christian 
love? 

There  are  certain  things  which  we  all  must  have  or 
suffer,  and  to  which,  under  the  Christian  regime,  all 
have  an  equal  right,  among  which  our  fathers  named 
'^life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.''  We 
may  add,  all  must  have  food  and  raiment,  and  some- 
thing of  physical  comfort,  of  fellowship  and  of  good 
cheer.  Having  these,  all  may  be  happy.  Without 
them,  none  can  be  happy.  True  love  will  not — can- 
not stop  short  of  making  common  cause  in  the  essen- 
tials of  human  happiness.  It  will  not  permit  suf- 
fering, if  it  be  possible  to  prevent  it,  cost  what  it 
may.  But  love,  less  embarrassed  than  state  legisla- 
tion for  the  poor,  is  not,  as  you  say,  indiscriminate  in 
the  use  of  means. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  divide  out  your 
property  with  those  who  have  but  a  fraction  of  your 
prudence  and  wisdom   in  conserving  and  controlling 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  389 

it.  If  you  use  judgment  you  will  not  '^cast  your 
pearls  before  swine,"  nor  be  at  a  loss  to  find  genuine 
cases  of  dire  want  in  which  your  help  is  sorely  needed. 
Our  visit  to  Water  street  must  have  convinced  us  of 
this. 

That  Water  street  family  has  as  much  right  to  be 
fed  and  clothed  and  made  comfortable  as  I  have; 
and  if  I  have  the  virtue  of  the  second  commandment, 
and  the  means,  I  will  not  stop  short  of  feeding  and 
clothing  them  till  they  are  as  comfortable.  This,  of 
course,  does  not  mean  that  I  shall  proceed  to  divide 
up  all  I  may  have  left.  We  must  be  prudent,  I  grant 
— be  careful  to  make  good  investments,  but  a  genuine 
Christian  socialism  demands  that  these  helpful  bene- 
factions shall  be  continued  until,  in  matters  essential, 
all,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  are  brought  to  a  common 
level. 

A.  But  my  good  fellow,  what  can  you  hope?  How 
much  would  it  take  to  put  good  shoes  and  clothes  on 
all  the  ragged  poor  of  this  one  city?  How  much  to 
put  them  into  comfortable  houses?  How  much  to 
supply  their  tables  as  yours  is  supplied?  What  folly 
to  think  of  doing  any  such  thing! 

And  then,  too,  how  soon  would  all  this  expenditure 
of  means  disappear!  You  would  scarcely  be  buried 
out  of  sight  till  the  old  want  and  squalor  would  come 
again,  and  repossess  all  the  fields  you  had  won  to 
comfort.  If  the  second  commandment  implies  any 
such  thing  in  practice,  we  must,  with  all  the  infidels, 
write  it  down  impracticable. 


390  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

B.  Does  the  mere  magnitude  of  the  work  paralyze 
you?  Would  you  raise  this  question  against  your 
family  whom  you  love?  Would  you  not  do  what  you 
could  till  you  exhaust  your  means?  Why  then  raise 
it  against  God's  poor,  whom  you  also  love,  if  you  are 
a  Christian? 

A.  But  who  are  one's  neighbors?  There  is  fallacy 
somewhere.  Perhaps  it  is  in  the  misunderstanding 
of  terms. 

B.  In  the  case  given  by  the  Master  the  man  who 
fell  among  thieves  was  neighbor  to  the  good  Samari- 
tan— a  fellow-being  that  had  come  to  his  notice  in  a 
state  of  helpless  suffering  and  need.  Our  neighbors 
are  those  whom  we  see  and  know,  or  whom,  at 
least,  we  can  see  and  know — those  who,  in  the  busi- 
ness of  life,  come  within  the  range  of  our  knowledge 
— these  in  preference  to  those  beyond  the  range  of 
our  observation  and  knowledge. 

You  are  not  to  love  those  over  the  mountains  and 
across  the  seas  whom  you  have  never  seen  or  know^n, 
and  never  can,  as  you  love  yourself.  This  were,  per- 
haps, impossible  to  human  nature.  It  is  your  neigh- 
bor whom  you  know,  or  can  know  and  see,  that  you 
are  to  love  as  yourself,  and  treat  accordingly.  Love 
demands  nothing  impossible.  Attempting  too  much 
you  would  accomplish  nothing.  You  know  how 
leaven  works — the  leaven  that  is  ^^to  leaven  the  whole 
lump."  It  works  from  a  living  germ  within,  out 
and  out,  till  it  reaches  the  circumference.  It  skips 
no  spaces — leaps  no  gulfs. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  39I 

Your  love  would  not,  I  hope,  shut  its  eyes  against 
the  want  that  stares  you  in  the  face,  to  open  them 
beyond  the  ocean. 

And  then,  too,  helping  your  neighbor  thus,  you  will 
soon  be  able  to  know  whether  your  benefactions  are 
helping  or  hurting — whether  you  are  making  a  mis- 
take and  helping  the  deviPs  poor  instead  of  God's 
poor. 

But,  in  any  case,  large  sums  would  indeed  be 
needed.  There  are  many  poor.  ^  About  one-fourth  of 
the  world's  population  are  paupers.  And  the  condi- 
tion of  some  of  them  is  distressing  enough  to  touch 
the  hardest  heart.  The  following  case  is  just  this 
moment  reported.  A  sewing  woman  in  an  Eastern 
state  writes  to  a  sister  in  the  West:^  'T  am  dying  of 
destitution.  My  children  are  starving,  husband  dead, 
ceaseless  toil  takes  all  my  strength,  and  that  for  a 
mere  sustenance  of  life.  It  has  blighted  every  hope 
of  the  future.  O^  sister!  is  God  dead?  Has  humanity 
left  the  earth?  This  life  is  too  long  for  the  misery 
that  is  in  it.  Why  am  I  kept  alive  with  my  joy 
blotted  out?  Why  the  sinless  ones  doomed  to  this 
lingering  death?  But  for  them  I  would  kill  myself. 
*     "^     Sixteen  hours  a   day  to  get   sufficient  to   keep 

1.  In  1880  there  were  largely  more  than  a  million  of  children 
in  the  U.  S.  under  the  age  of  fifteen — their  ages  ranging  from  five 
to  fifteen — working  to  support  themselves  and  families,  instead 
of  being  in  school.  And  what  does  such  a  fact  signify?— See 
Arena  for  April,  'go. 

2.  Statesman  for  June,  '90. 


392  THE  New  religion. 

this  miserable  life.  I  die  of  want. ' '  And  God  only 
knows  how  many  of  such  and  similar  cases  in  this 
great  Christian  city. 

But  if  all  cannot  be  helped  many  can  be,  and  this 
fact  the  Christian  must  recognize.  If  we  suppose 
that  5  per  cent,  of  the  families  in  this  city  consist  of 
widows  and  orphans,  and  are  in  actual  need  of  help, 
and  this  cannot  be  very  far  from  the  fact,  there  is  one 
man  in  this  same  city,  who  could  build  a  home  worth 
^i,ooo  for  every  one  of  these  families,  and  settle  upon 
it  an  annual  income  of  ^450  a  year,  and  yet  have 
enough  left  to  make  himself  and  his  family  amply 
comfortable  for  the  rest  of  life.  Four  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  a  year  would  be  all  that  the  husband, 
were  he  living,  and  working  as  a  common  laborer, 
could  earn  during  the  year.  One  man  then  in  this 
city  could  thus  practically,  as  far  as  support  is  con- 
cerned, restore  the  husband  to  every  such  family, 
and  put  it  into  a  comfortable  home.  Besides,  this 
grand  patrimony  could  run  on  and  on,  and  bless  suc- 
cessive generations. 

Six  men  in  this  country  could  be  named  who  could 
endow  every  needy  family  in  the  United  States  with  a 
little  home  worth  $1000,  and  place  to  its  credit  ^1000, 
to  be  put  at  interest  or  drawn  upon  for  imperative 
needs. 

One  church  in  New  York  is  worth  ^150,000,000.^ 
I.     See  Fortwi,  November,  i88q. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  393 

The  Presbyterians  in  Chicago  hold  ^300,000,000 
worth  of  property.^ 

There  is  property  enough  held  by  church  communi- 
cants to  banish  cold  and  hunger  and  thirst  and  naked- 
ness from  every  family  on  earth,  enough  to  put  every 
sick  sufferer  upon  a  clean  and  comfortable  bed  in  a 
comfortable  home.  Enough  to  take  all  children,  too 
young  to  work,  out  of  factories,  and  put  them  in 
schools,  dressed  in  good  clothes  and  with  good  shoes 
on  their  feet. 

So  you  perceive  that  there  are  ample  means  for 
helping  the  needy  and  enough  left  for  building  all 
needed  and  more  permanent  benevolences  besides, 
if  men  would  but  consent  to  disburse  it. 

There  is  destitution  because  the  wealth  of  the  world 
is  not  distributed.  There  is  no  scarcity,  none  what- 
ever, but  the  scarcity  of  love — the  virtue  of  the  second 
commandment.  And  the  selfishness  and  avarice  which 
hoards  millions  will  infallibly  curse  its  possessors. 
This  is  the  judgment  of  history.  It  is  marvelous  that 
men  do  not  see  it.  There  is  no  surer  way  to  damn  a 
family  than  to  damn  it  with  wealth. 

A.  But  no  one  has  a  right  to  live  alone  for  one's 
neighbors — not  even  for  one's  country  nor  one's  age, 
for  that  matter.  The  ages  to  come  have  a  claim  upon 
the  present  age  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  present  to 
bequeath  something  to  the  future.  We  must  have 
institutions  that  will  live  after  us.  You  could  invest 
your  means  with  hope  of  more  permanent  results. 

I.     Moderator's  address  before  Pres.  Gen.  Assembly,   1890. 


394  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

B.  Yes,  I  could  build  a  college  or  a  church;  but 
there  would  be  no  gilt-edged  security  that  it  would 
not  after  awhile  be  abandoned  and  pulled  down,  as 
they  are  at  this  moment  pulling  down  the  Chicago 
University — an  institution  built  a  few  years  ago  by 
your  prudent,  far-seeing  charity.  1  happen  to  know, 
myself,  that  not  a  few  churches  built  by  the  sweat  and 
blood  of  well  meaning  charity  have  been  quite  aban- 
doned. There  are  better  things  than  colleges  and 
churches  in  the  form  of  piles  of  brick  and  mortar. 
Granite  and  marble  are  not  the  best  contributions  one 
age  can  make  to  another.  There  are  ^  ^monuments 
more  durable  than  brass."  Bring  in  the  reign  of 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men;  bequeath  the 
Christ-spirit  and  the  Christ-life  to  all  lands,  and 
establish  a  genuine  Christian  socialism  in  the  earth 
and  the  future  will  take  care  of  itself.  The  human 
soul  and  goodness  and  God — -these  survive. 

Besides,  Would  you  allow  your  children  to  suffer 
to  provide  for  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  your 
grandchildren?  Are  you  so  much  interested  in  the 
unborn  that  you  cannot  help  those  poor  sufferers  on 
Water  street?  If  you  love  not  your  brother  whom 
you  have  seen,  how  can  you  so  love  the  brother 
whom  you  have  not  seen  and  never  can  see? 

There  is  enough  within  your  reach — enough  of  sin 
and  suffering  to  exhaust  all  your  means,  enough  of 
crime  and  degradation  to  fill  your  hands  and  heart. 
If  you  are  a  Christian,  3^ou  have  been  commissioned  to 
help  save  men,  following  in  foot-steps  of  the  Master. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  395 

The  pass-port  into  the  higher  nature  is  through  the 
lower  nature,  and  the  humble  ministers  of  love  as 
they  appear  in  sympathy  and  companionship — in  the 
divided  loaf  and  cup  of  cold  water,  will  climb  into  the 
higher  nature  more  quickly  and  awake  its  best  powers 
more  certainly,  than  all  the  ex-cathedra  deliverances 
of  pope  and  priest-hood. 

Jesus  evidently  thought  so,  since  he  did  not  seek  to 
ground  his  cause  in  chartered  institutions  or  enshrine 
it  in  marble.  He,  as  no  other  reformer  ever  did, 
had  faith  and  hope  in  the  power  of  a  good  example 
as  the  light  of  the  world — as  the  power  that  should 
win  men  and  cause  them  to  glorify  the  Father  in 
heaven. 

At  any  rate,  of  one  thing  I  am  certain.  While  I  know 
I  have  been  spending  my  means,  as  you  think  indis- 
creetly— frittering  them  away  upon  short-lived  chari- 
ties, yet  I  have  not,  in  my  way,  served  God  for  nought. 
I  have  seen  not  a  few  lifted  out  of  squalor  and  dire 
need.  I  have  seen  them  made  glad  and  grateful.  I 
have  seen  them  taking  on  new  strength,  and  starting 
forward  again  on  life's  journey  with  renewed  reso- 
lution and  hope.  In  placing  one  unfortunate  father 
upon  his  feet,  you  sometimes  save  a  whole  family 
to  virtue.  In  waking  a  poor  mother's  love  and  grati- 
tude you  kindle  the  fires  of  love  in  a  whole  family  of 
sympathetic  children,  and  possibly  the  magic  touches 
of  your  unselfish  love  will  unlock  forces  that  will  avail 
to  redeem  a  whole  community,  and  bring  in  a  dis- 
pensation of  peace  and  good  will  that  will  widen  with 


396  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

the  coming  years  and  bring  multitudes  of  prodigals 
back  to  the  Father's  house.  I  have  helped  a  few.  I 
have  heard  them  thank  God  for  human  sympathy  and 
human  help.  Instinctively  they  were  borne  upward. 
Irresistibly  they  were  swept  into  the  holy  of  holies, 
and  I  have  proved,  O,  how  often,  thank  God,  that  it  is 
indeed  '^more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'*  I 
have  been  feeding  on  the  manna  of  heaven.  I  have 
been  drinking  the  nectar  of  the  gods. 

I  have  no  large  fortune  left;  but  my  heart  and  my 
hand  are  still  open,  and  the  blessed  light  that  sheds 
its  radiance  upon  my  daily  life  is  already  throwing  its 
beams  across  the  borders,  and  I  am  content. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  Ministry  of  Love. 

A  newsboy  took  the  Sixth  Avenue  elevated  car  at 
Park  Place  at  noon  on  Thanksgiving  day,  and,  slid- 
ing into  one  of  the  cross  seats,  fell  asleep.  At  Grand 
street  two  young  women  got  on  and  took  seats  oppo- 
site the  lad.  His  feet  were  bare,  and  his  hat  had 
fallen  off.  Presently  the  young  girl  leaned  over 
and  placed  her  muff  under  the  little  fellow's  head. 
An  old  gentleman  in  the  next  seat  smiled  at  the  act, 
and  without  saying  anything  held  out  a  quarter  with 
a  nod  toward  the  boy.  The  girl  hesitated  for  a 
moment  and  then  reached  for  it.  The  next  man  just 
as  silently  offered  a  dime,  a  woman  across  the  aisle 
held  out  some  pennies,  and  before  she  knew  it  the 
girl,  with  flaming  cheeks,  had  collected  money  from 
every  passenger  in  that  end  of  the  car.  She  quickly 
slid  the  amount  into  the  sleeping  boy's  pocket, 
removed  the  muff  from  under  his  head  without  arous- 
ing him,  and  got  off  at  Twenty-third  street,  including 
all  the  passengers  in  a  pretty  little  inclination  of  the 
head  that  seemed  full  of  thanks  and  a  common  secret.^ 
Love  begets  love.      Goodness  is  catching.      Love  and 

I,      Union  Sig.,  Jan.,  '89. 


398  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

goodness    put   a  charm   upon   men  from  which  they 
cannot  escape. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  note  the  passion 
of  love  as  a  human  sensibility  and  to  consider  it  as 
concreted  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  In  conclusion  we  note 
it  as  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  powerful  to  save  from  sin. 

Love  has  been  the  theme  of  the  poet  in  all  ages, 
and  literature  abounds  with  beautiful  illustrations  of 
its  power  to  sway  the  will  and  reform  the  life. 

Love  is  a  passion  native  to  the  human  soul.  He  is 
most  depraved  who  can  most  habitually  and  effectually 
resist  its  power.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  its  out- 
cropping in  all  the  walks  of  life.  Cyrus,  having 
entered  Armenia  and  taken  the  king  and  all  his  family 
captive,  ordered  them  before  him.  ^^Arminius/' 
said  he,  ^^go,  you  are  free,  for  you  are  sensible  of 
your  error;  and  what  will  you  give  me  if  I  restore 
your  wife  to  you?"  ^^All  that  I  am  able."  ^^And 
what  if  I  restore  your  children?"  ^^All  that  I  am 
able."  ^^And  you,  Tigranes,"  turning  to  the  son, 
^'what  will  you  do  to  save  your  wife  from  servitude?" 
'^I  would  lay  down  my  own  life,"  said  the  love-bound 
Tigranes.  *^Let  each  have  his  own  again,"  said 
Cyrus,  and  departed. 

Then  one  spoke  of  his  clemency,  another  of  his 
valor,  another  of  his  beauty  and  grace  of  person. 
**Do  you  think  him  handsome?"  said  Tigranes  to  his 
young  wife.  ^^Really,"  said  she,  ^T  did  not  look  at 
him."  ^^At  whom  did  you  look?"  ^^At  him  who  offered 
to  lay  down  his  life  for  nip," 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION,  399 

The  story  of  Damon  and  Pythias  has  been  often 
told.  Though  somewhat  legendary  it  is  true  to  human 
nature.  Pythias  was  condemned  to  death  by  the 
wanton  tyrant,  Dionysius.  He  wanted  to  return 
home  and  arrange  matters  for  his  family.  Damon 
proposes  to  take  his  place,  under  sentence  of  death, 
and  allow  Pythias  to  return  to  his  family  with  the 
understanding  that  he  should  make  haste  and  return 
if  possible  before  the  day  of  execution  and  relieve  his 
good  friend  Damon.  He  returns  just  in  time  to 
save  Damon's  life,  and  you  have  noticed  how  such 
love  and  fidelity  affected  the  tyrant — affected  him 
more  powerfully  than  the  great  Plato  could  when 
presenting  to  him  his  ideal  ^'Republic."  *^My  good 
fellows,  you  are  both  free.''  The  cold  iron  of  his 
nature  yielded  as  it  had  never  done  before — *^You  are 
both  free.  I  should  like  to  be  a  sharer  with  you  in 
that  love  which  makes  such  generous  conduct 
possible." 

The  same  strain  of  nobilit}^  ran  in  the  blood  of  the 
men  that  made  Rome  master  of  the  world. 

Regulus  being  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Carthagenians,  was  deputed  to  the  Roman  Senate  as 
the  one  man  who  could  most  influence  that  body. 
*'Go,"  said  Carthage,  ^^and  secure  the  terms  we  pro- 
pose and  you  are  free.  But  fail  and  you  perish  as 
the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Carthagenians."  Regulus 
went  on  parole  to  Rome,  and,  entering  the  Senate,  he 
insisted  that  the  terms  were  dishonorable  to  his  coun- 
try and  prevented  their  acceptance.     Bound   by  his 


400  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

honor  he  returns  to  Carthage  to  be  put  to  death  as  he 
knew  he  would  be,  with  horrible  torture.  Most  noble 
Regulus,  what  charm  was  upon  thee!  What  the 
secret  of  such  nobility!  Whence  such  inflexible  devo- 
tion to  the  ideal  right!  The  world  delights  to  honor 
^hee!     Love  is  the  mother  ot  heroism. 

Let  the  fire  fiend  sweep  over  Chicago,  or  the  angry 
flood  overwhelm  and  destroy  Johnstown,  or  the 
earthquake  bury  Charleston,  or  the  plague  smite  the 
Southland, and  what  do  we  see!  We  say  God  was  in 
the  proffered  bounty  because  love  was  in  it. 

An  humble,  obscure  peasant  woman  of  my  intimate 
acquaintance  goes  down  into  a  protracted  struggle 
with  the  powers  of  darkness  and  a  deep  sense  oi  sin 
before  God,  but  she  emerges  into  a  life  of  light  and 
love  to  become  a  ^  ^burning  and  shining  light. '*  She 
marries,  and  though  poor,  she  adopts  successively 
five  orphan  children,  graded  in  age,  a  la  mode,  and 
trains  them  up  with  a  mother's  tenderness  and  solicitude 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  Not  by 
might  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  spirit — the  divine 
passion.  Such  are  the  possibilities  of  ordinary 
human  nature  under  the  reign  of  love.  No  other 
passion  can  be  enlisted  for  purposes  so  holy;  none  so 
strong  to  achieve  the  ransom  of  the  soul  from  sin  and 
bear  it  away  into  all  helpfulness. 

A  young  woman  in  Scotland  left  her  home  and 
^^went  to  the  bad."  Her  mother  sought  her  far  and 
wide  in  vain.  Chancing  one  day  to  see  her  mother's 
picture,  she  sank  down  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  4OI 

sin.  She  was  the  prodigal  daughter.  The  memory 
of  her  mother's  love  swept  over  her,  and,  like  her 
older  brother,  she  came  to  herself  and  resolved  to 
abandon  her  sinful  life  and  return  to  her  mother — for 
she  knew  that  she  would  forgive  her.  She  was  saved 
— by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord. 

The  most  orthodox  Nicenist  will  concede  that  the 
intermediary  suffering  and  sacrifice  of  the  ^^Lamb  of 
God"  are  available  only  on  certain  conditions.  A  man 
becomes  a  Christian  by  accepting  Christ  as  his  savior 
only,  when  the  needful  moral  influences  have  reached 
him;  and  this  is  true  whatever  view  of  the  atonement 
is  adopted. 

Let  us  not  doubt  the  potency  of  the  cross  to  appeal 
to  the  heart  and  to  stir  the  soul  to  its  depths.  Christ 
and  him  crucified  was  the  theme  of  Paul's  preaching 
throughout  his  great  mission,  as  it  must  be  that  of 
every  successful  preacher  of  the  Christian  gospel. 
But  Paul  wrote  the  13th  chapter  of  ist  Corinth- 
ians, *^If  I  have  not  charity  I  am  as  sounding  brass,  or 
a  tinkling  cymbal.  A  certain  subjective  moral  con- 
dition is  imperatively  necessary  to  true  happiness, 
whatever  may  be  the  involved  conditions  or  the 
environment.  It  is  not  the  sacrifice  and  death  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  such — but  the  engendered  love — 
the  love  which  such  an  exhibition  of  personal  sym- 
pathy awakens  in  the  soul,  that  saves  men.  During 
his  life  he  appealed  to  the  hearts  of  men,  not  so  much 
by  parading  the  fact  that  he  was  to  be  offered  up  as  a 


402  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

sacrifice  to  appease  offended  justice,  as  he  did  by 
other  means. 

The  fact  is,  it  may  be  fairly  questioned  whether  he 
ever  alluded  to  such  a  denouement  of  his  commission. 
The  passages  claimed  and  relied  upon  for  setting  up 
this  view  are  ominously  few  in  number  and  withal 
admit  of  a  very  different  and  more  rational  interpre- 
tation; nor  does  such  interpretation  detract  from  or 
weaken  the  power  of  his  life  to  stir  the  soul  to  its 
depths   and  awaken  the  better  nature. 

That  the  Heavenly  Father  must  be  propitiated; 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  must  be  offered  up  as  bulls  and 
goats  are  offered,  and  that  blood  can  wash  away  sin, 
are  gross  conceptions  that  have  come  down  to  us  from 
Paganism  and  old  Judaism,  and  are  becoming  more 
and  more  repulsive  to  Christian  thought.  Nothing 
can  be  clearer  from  the  evangelistic  point  of  view  than 
that  love  dominated  the  Heavenly  Father  in  sending 
the  only  begotten  Son,  that  love  dominated  the  Son 
in  the  fulfillment  of  his  mission,  and  that  love  must 
come  to  dominate  the  alien  child  and  bring  him  back, 
prodigal-like,  to  the  Heavenly  Father,  if  he  is  to  be 
saved. 

If  his  salvation  is  made  to  turn  upon  any  specific 
objective  means  or  conditions,  it  is  inevitably  certain, 
such  is  human  nature,  that  he  will  soon  come  to  trust 
too  much  to  such  means,  and  fall  away  into  a  formal 
and  dead  or  half  dead  externalism.  This  tendenc}^ 
and  this  result  is  palpably  evident  in  the  worship  of  the 
cld  Roman  and  Greek  churches,  and  traces  of  it  may 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  403 

be  found  even  among  the  best  forms  of  Protestant 
orthodox}^  In  the  literature  and  hymnology  of  the 
churches  the  ^^cross,"  and  the  ^ ^cleansing  blood"  are 
constantly  paraded  as  the  Christian's  hope,  and  sine 
qua  non.  %  %  % 

"Then  if  thou  bid'st  me  pray  or  go 

Unto  the  prison,  I'U  say  no; 
Christ  having  paid,  I  nothing  owe; 

For  this  is  sure,  the  debt  is  dead 
By  law,  the  bond  is  cancelled." 


-Robert  Herrick. 


'It  is  the  old  cross  still, 


On  which  the  living  one 
Did  for  man's  sins  atone. 

Old  cross,  on  thee  I  lean. 

Old  and  yet  ever  new 
I  glory  still  in  you. 

Hallelujah! 
It  shall  stand  forever." 

— Bonar. 

Poetic  symbolism  you  say.  Yes,  but  a  symbolism 
which  among  the  ignorant  masses  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  churches  has  already  prostituted  Christian 
worship  to  the  verge  of  fetichism. 

A  consistent  example,  radiant  with  the  graces  which 
love  engenders,  is  precisely  what  is  most  needed  every- 
where in  this  alienated  and  misguided  world.  Few 
men  will  resist  or  care  to  resist  the  overtures  of  love. 
To  capture  men  and  bind  them   to  you  with  cords  of 


404  THE    NFAV    RELIGION. 

steel  you  must  banish  selfishness  and  make  such 
common  cause  with  them  as  love  requires. 

The  power  of  a  pure  love  to  sway  the  heart  and 
rule  the  life  is  well  known — nothing  is  better  certified 
to  our  knowledge.  It  is  the  great  factor  of  goodness; 
and  goodness  is  the  only  hope.  But  goodness  implies 
consent,  reciprocity.  God  does  not  appear  in  human 
consciousness  as  a  factor  of  personal  goodness.  He 
does  not  compel  us  to  be  good.  Indeed,  we  know 
that  we  could  not  be  compelled  by  any  might  or 
power  to  be  good.  Love  comes  and  captures  con- 
sent, cuts  away  selfishness,  sweetens  life,  brings  in 
peace  and  good-will — develops  goodness. 

Love  as  manifested  in  the  Heavenly  Father,  as 
seen  in  the  blessed  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  revealed  in 
in  the  lives  of  the  pure  and  good  whose  lives  are  the 
light  of  the  world,  this  is  the  inspiration  and  the 
source  of  all  goodness. 

"Love  strong  as  death — nay  stronger, 
Love  mightier  than  the  grave, 

Broad  as  the  earth  and  longer 
Than  ocean's  widest  wave: 

This  is  the  love  that  sought  us. 

This  is  the  love  that  bought  us, 

This  is  the  love  that  brought  us 
To  gladdest  day  from  night, 
From  deepest  shame  to  glory  bright, 
From  depths  of  death  to  life's  fair  height. 
From  darkness  to  the  joy  of  light." 

— Bonar, 


CHAPTER  XXXVIL 

The  Ministry  of  the  Spirit. 

The  universe  has  proceeded  from  a  power  which  is 
not  only  an  enduring  power  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness, as  Mathew  Arnold  has  said,  but  a  power 
which,  with  equal  certainty,  makes  for  paternal  love 
and  providence. 

If  this  postulate  could  not  be  maintained  from 
nature,  it  is,  at  least,  very  clearly  set  forth  by  the 
Founder  of  the  New  Religion. 

Starting  with  this  conception  of  the  Divine  Being, 
the  most  skeptical  could  hardly  doubt  that  intercom- 
munication between  the  All  Father  and  his  children 
must  in  some  way  be  not  only  possible,  but  frequent 
and  easy;  and  this  precisely  is  what  Jesus  assumed 
to  be  true. 

This  thought  of  the  Father's  vigilant  care  over  all 
his  creatures  pervades  the  teaching  of  the  Founder 
of  the  Christian  system.  But  how  is  this  care  mani- 
fested— how  for  the  birds  and  for  men?  Not  wholly 
by  visible  agencies,  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  dispense 
with  the  individual's  activity,  or  to  interfere  with  his 
autonom}^  He  has  made  both  birds  and  men  with 
such  adaptations  to  their  environment,  and  endowed 
them  with  such   capacities   and   instincts  that,    while 


4o6  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

they  remain  obedient  to  the  laws  of  their  being,  they 
will  infallibly  be  fed  and  clothed.  The  divine  provi- 
dence and  sympathy  extend  to  every  form  of  life, 
and  the  law  that  governs  all,  it  seems  more  and  more 
plain,  is  characteristically  the  law  of  love. 

The  part  which  we  play  in  the  drama  of  life  is  com- 
paratively small,  and  mostly  visible,  but  the  part 
played  for  us,  though  invisible,  is  great,  and  instantly 
and  imperatively  needful. 

Do  you  say  we  sow  and  reap,  and  supply  our 
wants?  Yes — but  whence  come  the  germ  and  the 
fostering  influences  out  of  which  come  the  grain  and 
the  bread?  Whence  come  tlie  thousand  beautiful 
adaptations  of  light  and  warmth  and  air  and  moisture 
which  develop  the  germ — whence  the  appetite  and 
taste  that  select  and  measure  our  food  to  us — whence 
the  digestive  fluids,  the  blood  currents  and  heart- 
beats and  oxygen  that  instantly  sustain  the  manifold 
processes  of  nutrition?  Who,  sleeping  or  waking, 
runs  the  complex  machinery  of  your  life?  Surrender- 
ing, as  we  so  habitually  do,  to  mere  sense,  we  fail  to 
apprehend  the  immanence  and  the  reality  of  spirit 
existence  and  spirit  power. 

All  power  is  predicable,  not  of  matter,  which  can 
neither  move  itself,  nor  stop  itself  when  moved,  but 
of  spirit.  And  the  fact  brought  out  by  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  the  fact  never  to  be  forgotten,  is,  that  this 
all-power  spirit  makes  for  paternal  care  and  provi- 
dence, and  is,  or  at  least  seeks  to  be,  in  constant 
rapport  with  the   spirit   of  man.      We   hardly  realize 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  407 

how  closely  we  stand  to  great  physical  and  spiritual 
forces — physical  and  spiritual,  if  such  a  distinction 
may  yet  be  made.  Our  senses  are  so  ^  ^cabined  and 
cribbed,"  so  dull  and  feeble,  that  our  own  world  is 
really  very  small.  We  see  wonders  in  suggestive 
outcrops,  but  only  in  outcrops. 

We  strike  the  chords  of  some  crude,  heavy-going 
musical  instrument — this  has  been  our  only  privi- 
lege. We  may,  if  we  have  an  appreciative  ear,  detect 
intimations  of  fine  melodies — hints  of  musical  power 
and  realization.  The  Cleremont  of  Fulton  was  a  hint 
of  the  Great  Eastern,  and  her  five  miles  an  hour  a 
foregleam  of  a  trip  across  the  Atlantic  in  five  days. 
Franklin's  kite,  evincing  the  most  brilliant  conception 
of  that  age,  was  a  prophecy  of  annihilated  space,  and 
the  construction  of  a  whispering  gallery  25,000  miles 
in  circumference.  Morse  and  Edison  and  others 
helping  us,  we  have  taken  a  long  step  into  the  hith- 
erto unseen,  and  the  rifts  in  our  material  encasing 
have  allowed  us  to  catch  other  gleams  that  glint  and 
flash  from  the  realms  of  light.  What  in  the  way  of 
spirit  manifestation  and  revelation  of  power  awaits 
the  next  step,  and  the  next,  and  the  next? 

We  can  see  farther  now  and  hear  better.  The 
improvement  has  been  along  the  line  of  sense-per- 
ception, and  immediately  related  to  our  higher  nature. 
In  the  sphere  of  mere  animal  life  we  have  hardly 
improved  upon  our  ancestors  of  long  ago.  But  in 
the  domain  of  art,  of  science,  of  morals  and  religion 
we  have  improved. 


4o8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

^*The  whole  movement  of  history,"  says  Rev. 
Joseph  Parker,  ^*in  all  that  is  vital  and  permanent,  is 
a  movement  from  the  outward  visible  to  the  inward 
spiritual."  I  would  put  it  differently.  I  would  pre- 
fer to  say,  the  movement  is  from  within.  Matter, 
organic  and  inorganic,  is  the  mother  condition  of 
germinal  life,  and  the  processes  of  life  are  develop- 
mental— expansive — from  within  outward.  But  of 
the  moveme7it^  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Mr.  Parker 
continues:  ^'From  the  minuteness  of  microscopic 
by-laws,  men  have  passed  to  a  spiritual  sense  of  moral 
distinctions.  The  great  tables  of  b3^-laws  have  been 
taken  down,  because  the  spirit  of  order,  of  truth,  has 
been  given.  What  is  true  of  law  is  equally  true  of 
institutionalism;  its  progress  is  from  a  crude  outline 
toward  completeness  of  purpose  and  critical  accuracy 
of  statement.''^ 

The  thought  of  Mr.  Parker  will  bear  expansion.  In 
the  earlier  stages  of  religious  development  the 
dependence  upon  material  symbols  is  all  but  absolute. 

There  have  been,  and  there  must  have  been,  in  all 
lands,  offered  sacrifices  and  burnt  incense,  altars  and 
officiating  priests,  to  give  expression  to  instinctive 
religious  wants,  and  the  religious  sense,  because  of  a 
conscious  dependence  upon  externalities  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God.  Our  knowledge  of  the  Jewish  people, 
their  religion  and  worship,  is  more  full  and  accurate 
than  that  of  any  other  people,  and  may  be  considered 

I.     Apostolic  Life, 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  409 

representative.  Thirty-four  centuries  ago  Moses,  versed 
in  all  the  learning  of  the  Egyptians — then  the  most 
highly  cultivated  people  of  the  world,  was  delivering 
the  law  from  Mt.  Sinai,  and  organizing  an  elaborate 
system  of  worship.  It  was  thoroughly  external — ritual- 
istic. It  consisted  of  sacrifices  and  ceremony.  It 
required  altars  and  incense  and  officiating  priests — 
hecatombs  of  slaughtered  victims.  A  visible  angel  of 
the  Lord  went  before  them  to  show  them  the  way. 
All  of  which  was  provisional,  educational,  mediatorial, 
and  designed  to  help  them  toward  the  spiritual, 
whether  Moses  so  understood  it  or  not. 

Five  hundred  years  later  the  question  was  raised, 
''Hath  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt  offerings 
and  sacrifices,  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord. 
Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken 
better  than  the  fat  of  rams.''  i  Sam.  15:  22.  The 
thought  of  the  old  seer  was  a  brilliant  one,  and  opened 
up  a  new  world. 

During  the  next  one  hundred  years  a  great  advance 
was  made,  and  we  hear  the  Psalmist,  as  God's  mes- 
senger, crying  out  to  his  people,  ''Hear  O  Israel,  I 
will  tak6  no  bullock  out  of  the  house,  nor  he  goat  out 
ot  thy  field,  for  every  beast  of  the  forest  is  mine,  and 
the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  I  know  all  the  fowls 
ot  the  mountains,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  fields  are 
mine.  Will  I  eat  the  flesh  of  bulls  or  drink  the  blood 
o'  goacs?  Ojftr  ttnto  God  thanksgiving  and  pay  thy 
vows  unto  the  Most   High."     Psa.  50:  7-14.      A  more 


4IO  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

spiritual  worship  is  dawning  upon  the  masters  of 
thought  in  that  early  age. 

Three  hundred  years  later,  the  question  is  raised, — 
'^Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow 
myself  before  the  High  God?  Shall  I  come  before 
him  with  burnt-offering — with  calves  of  a  year  old? 
Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rivers  of 
oil?  Shall  I  give  my  first  born  for  my  transgression — 
the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul?  He  hath 
showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good, — and  what  doth 
the  Lord  require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly  and  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God.''  Micah 
6:  6.  A  great  move  forward  certainly  from  Mt. 
Sinai. 

Amid  the  vast  reverses  that  befell  that  highly 
favored,  but  unfortunate,  people,  the  movement  seems 
to  have  been  somewhat  retarded  and  the  advance- 
ment toward  a  true  conception  of  God  and  his  wor- 
ship is  less  pronounced,  but  there  was  progress 
nevertheless. 

The  religion  of  Micah  had  gone  to  the  other 
extreme.  It  had  become  mere  morality.  The  ideal 
divine  government  or  kingdom  of  heaven  had  not 
come  to  light.  Worship  by  means  of  slaughtered 
victims  and  shed  blood  was  felt  more  and  more  to  be 
deficient  and  imperfect,  and  Micah  could  see  nothing 
in  it.  But  there  remained  a  conscious  want  of  har- 
mony between  the  sinful  soul  and  the  ^^Moral  Order.'' 

Six  hundred  years  later  the  cry  was  heard  in  the 
Judean  deserts — the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilder- 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  4II 

ness  ^^make  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord" — a  voice 
which  with  impassioned  fervor  called  men  to  repent- 
ance as  a  preparation  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

A  long  stride  has  been  made  during  these  1500 
years  from  Mount  Sinai  to  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 
The  passage  from  the  external  to  the  internal  has 
been  effected,  and  a  new  era  in  religion  dawns.  The 
light  already  gilds  the  tops  of  the  mountains. 

The  Samaritan  woman  at  the  well  of  Jacob,  repre- 
senting the  average  worshiper,  raises  this  question — 
the  last  in  the  category  of  materialism — (9?/r  fathers 
worshiped  in  this  mountain,  but  the  Jews  say  that 
in  Jerusalem  is  the  place  to  worship — where  is  the 
place  to  worship?  '^The  fulness  of  the  times  had  come" 
for  the  announcement  of  a  pure  spiritual  worship — 
for  independence  of  the  soul  upon  shrine  and  symbol. 
The  goal  is  reached.  ^ ''Woman,  believe  me,''  said 
the  Son  of  God;  ^*the  time  cometh,  and  now  is,  when 
neither  in  this  mountain  nor  in  Jerusalem  shall  ye 
worship  the  Father.  The  true  worshiper,  worships 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  him  must  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
Jno.  4:  21-24. 

There  is  wide  complaint  among  the  churches, 
especially  in  the  older  communities,  that  the  public 
worship  of  God  is  neglected.  And  as  a  matter  of 
fact  there  are  very  man}^  who  care  little  for  the  ritual 
and  ceremony  of  public  worship.  Several  factors  no 
doubt  unite  in  producing  this  result.  But,  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted;  that  many  have  ceased  to  feel  the 


412  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

need  of  such  external  appliances  to  aid  them  in  the 
worship  of  God.  They  are  approaching  a  degree  of 
intelligence  and  spirituality  which  enables  them  to 
apprehend  God  as  a  spirit,  to  be  worshiped  as  such, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

With  advancing  life,  if  one  use  and  cultivate  his 
powers  properly,  the  spiritual  becomes  more  and  more 
immanent  and  realistic.  Any  proper  use  and  cultiva- 
tion of  one's  powers  must,  of  course,  include  his 
moral  nature.  Mr.  Fisher  and  the  authors  of  the 
Unseen  Universe  have  convinced  us,  that  what  we  see 
of  the  physical  universe,  is  little  more  than  an  infini- 
tesimal part  of  it.^  But  what  we  care  just  now  to 
study  is,  not  the  boundless  extension  of  the  physical, — 
its  latitude  and  longitude, — but  the  immanence  of  the 
spiritual,  in  its  relation  to  human  possibilities. 

Within  this  field  of  inquiry  there  cannot  be  a  doubt 
that  Jesus,  the  Christ  and  Son  of  God,  is  the  world's 
greatest  teacher.  If  indeed  he  be  the  Son  of  God,  as 
represented  by  his  biographers,  this  were  an  a  priori 
expectation.  No  one  could  doubt  his  capabilities  as 
a  teacher  of  things  unknown  to  ordinary  men,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  few,  I  think,  will  question  the  value 
of  his  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  spirit  and 
spirit  existence. 

The  movement  from  the  material  to  the  spiritual 
noticed  by  Mr.  Parker,  is  due  more  to  him  than  to  all 
philosophers  and  scholars   besides.      If  true,  and  we 

J.     See  Atlantic  Monthly^  1889. 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  413 

have  no  good  reason  for  questioning  the  historical  fact, 
those  were  strange  and  significant  rifts  in  the  over- 
arching material — that  voice  from  heaven — that  scene 
on  the  mount  of  transfiguration,  the  touch  of  healing, 
the  resurrection,  the  ascension.  Nothing  like  them 
in  the  world's  history — flashes  from  the  world  of 
light  streaming  away  across  the  bosom  of  night,  into 
the  dark  and  distant  horizon. ' 

^^I  have  many  things  to  say  to  you,"  he  said  to  his 
disciples,  ^ 'but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.''  He  was 
constantly  making  revelations  to  his  disciples  which 
on  account  of  their  gross  preconceptions — their  ina- 
bility to  rise  out  of  the  organic  material,  they  did  not 
and  could  not  grasp,  but,  going  beyond  all  these,  he 
could  scarcely  restrain  himself  from  other  revelations, 
yet  more  difficult  to  comprehend  and  wonderful.  ^'I 
have  many  things  to  say,"  but  ^'ye  cannot  bear  them 
now."  ^'Howbeit  when  the  spirit  of  truth  is  come  he 
shall  guide  you  into  all  truth."     Jno.  16:12. 

Blessed  spirit  of  truth,  come.  Thou  art  our  great 
hope.     Come  and  guide  us  into  all  truth! 

To  educate  men  and  thus  lift  them  into  higher 
spheres  of  life  and  light,  is  a  slow  and  difficult  work. 
The  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  stood  over  the  altar  for 
hundreds  of  years,  before  even  the  favorite  children 
of  God,  and  this,  too,  under  the  inspired  teaching  of 
seer  and  prophet,  could  get  away  from  visible  symbols 
and  worship  God  with  any  intelligence.  What  heca- 
tombs of  slaughtered  victims — ' 'firstlings  of  the  flock" 
^— did  it  require  to  make  the  people  realise  that  ''God 


414  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  look  upon  sin,"  and  how  did 
the  Son  of  God  labor  and  wait  to  impart  a  true  con- 
ception of  his  purpose  and  mission  to  the  world? 

But  as  the  movement  from  the  material  to  the  spir- 
itual was  forward  from  Moses  to  Micah,  and  from 
Micah  to  John,  under  this  teacher  ^'come  from  God" 
it  has  been  forward  from  John  to  the  present  da}^ 
Grant,  if  you  please,  the  movement  has  not  been 
steadily  forward.  Christianity  suffered  so  much  in  its 
conflict  with  paganism — came  so  near  being  utterly 
absorbed  by  it,  that  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  again 
stood  still  for  a  thousand  years.  But  thank  God,  the 
day  dawned  on  this  long,  dark  night,  the  spirit  of 
truth  guiding  into  truth — and  the  Renaissance  opened 
the  world  to  freer  thinking.  Christ  with  his  blessed 
gospel  came  to  the  rescue,  and  we  find  ourselves  at  an 
immense  remove  from  the  Baptist  preacher  in  Judea 
—  *^He  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater 
than  he."  Much  that  was  difficult  at  the  dawn  of 
Christianity  is  easy  now.  The  impossible  then,  has 
been  achieved.  With  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed,  the  sycamine  tree  has  been  plucked  up — the 
mountain  removed  into  the  sea,  and  we  have  almost 
ceased  saying  with  Nicodemus,  ^^how  can  these  things 
be?" 

The  Son  of  Man  sought  to  open  up  a  vast  realm 
hitherto  unknown  to  seer  or  prophet.  The  teaching 
of  the  sermon  on  the  mount  assumes  that  there  is  such 
a  realm.  There  is  a  kingdom  in  which  the  poor  in 
spirit,  and  those  who    mourn,  and    those  who  hunger 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  4x5 

and  thirst  after  righteousness,  and  the  merciful,  and 
the  pure  in  heart  are  blessed.  It  is  a  kingdom  that 
Cometh  not  with  observation.  How  he  sought  to  im- 
part a  true  conception  of  this  kingdom!  To  this 
kingdom  how  he  sought  instantly  and  anxiously  to 
bear  away  the  thought  and  the  hope  of  the  world! 
In  his  own  experience  the  mere  physical  and  sensu- 
ous sink  more  and  more  out  of  sight.  The  spiritual 
becomes  more  and  more  immanent  and  obvious.  On 
the  low  ground  of  the  visible,  death  ends  all;  but 
upon  the  high  ground  upon  which  he  stood,  and  upon 
which  he  would  have  the  world  stand,  death  does  not 
end  all.  In  his  thought  death  is  little  more  than  an 
incident,  soon  to  become  a  mere  reminiscence — a  half- 
forgotten  memory.  ^^Touch  me  not,"  said  he  to  Mary, 
after  the  resurrection.  ^'I  am  quitting  this  sensuous 
state  of  being;  touch  me  not,  I  ascend  to  my  Father." 
The  pulses  of  his  life  were  already  beating  across  the 
chasm.  Unseen  realities  already  outweigh  all  that  is 
visible.  This  was  his  assumption  from  the  first;  and 
to  this  height  he  would  lift  men. 

Shall  we  say  that  the  scene  on  the  mount  of  trans- 
figuration was  a  revelation  of  the  personnel  of  the 
future  state  of  being,  seen  in  Moses  and  Elias,  one 
now  dead  1500  and  the  other  800  years? 

Shall  we  say  that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  demon- 
strates the  fact,  so  earnestly  sought  for  through  the 
ages,  that  ^^If  a  man  die  he  shall  \\w^  again."  Why 
not? 

Shall  we  say  tha,t    the  resurrected  Son  of  Man 


4l6  •  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

lingered  for  forty  days  as  one  treading  the  outmost 
limits  of  the  visible,  ready  to  pass  out  of  these  time 
and  sense  relations,  and,  both  by  his  manner  of  life 
and  by  his  teaching,  sought  in  ways  wonderful,  but 
adapted  to  their  purpose,  to  lift  the  human  soul  out  of 
and  above  its  mere  sensuous  experience,  and  to  take  it 
with  him  into  the  inexplicate  realities  upon  which  he 
is  entering  in  advance?  Did  he  thus  seek  to  span  the 
chasm  between  man  and  his  maker.  Is  he  the  ladder 
which  Jacob  in  the  olden  time  saw  in  his  vision  rest- 
ing upon  the  earth  and  reaching  to  heaven — the  angels 
passing  and  repassing? 

Shall  we  regard  his  ascension  as  the  complement  of 
his  ministry  and  mediatorial  mission  as  the  world's 
Savior,  in  reference  to  which  he  said,  ^^And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me?'' 

If  we  should  answer  all  these  questions  in  the 
affirmative  we  should  probably  not  be  far  from  the 
truth. 

But  if  these  things  be  so  what  is  the  extent  and 
fullness  of  these  spirit  manifestations  as  compared 
with  all  that  the  world  had  ever  known  or  imagined? 
Whatever  else  may  be  true  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
this  wonderful  Son  of  Man,  though  confessedly  but 
imperfectly  understood  even  yet,  is  the  world's  great 
teacher  in  regard  to  matters  spiritual. 

Having  prepared  his  disciples  as  best  he  could  for  the 
coming  of  a  larger  spirituallife,  he  makes  known  to  them 
the  fact  that  a  fuller  and  more  direct  manifestation 
of  the  spirit  i?  at  hand.     Behold,  I  gend  the  promi§^ 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION,  417 

of  the  Father  upon  you — even  the  spirit  which  pro- 
ceedeth  from  the  Father — Tarry  ye  in  Jerusalem  until 
endued  with  power  from  on  high. 

And  now  he  breaks  to  them  the  sad  intelligence 
that,  in  order  to  do  this,  he  must  depart  out  of  this 
world — intelligence  which  filled  them  with  sorrow. 
^^If  I  go  not  away  the  Spirit — ho  Parakletos — will  not 
come.'*  You  so  habitually  lean  upon  the  visible — - 
upon  sense,  it  will  be  impossible  for  you  to  realize 
your  capacities  as  spirits  independent  of  the  material 
organism  while  I  remain  among  you.  But,  if  I  go 
away,  I  will  send  him  unto  you.  Then,  on  thinking 
of  me  you  will  be  able  to  realize  that,  though  unseen, 
I  am  present  with  you,  and  you  shall  be  able  to  live 
over  again  and  perpetuate  in  larger  development  the 
experience  we  have  had  together,  and  our  intercourse 
thenceforth  will  be  more  constant  and  intimate  and 
less  embarrassed  than  it  could  be  if  I  were  to  remain 
in  the  flesh  with  you.  In  the  body  gravity  interferes 
— locomotion  is  hindered.  You  must  scatter  abroad. 
In  the  body  it  would  be  difficult — impossible  for  me 
to  follow  you  and  be  with  you.  In  the  body  we  step 
forward  only  on  and  on.  In  the  spirit  we  can  return 
to  the  past — to  the  sermon  on  the  mount — to  Bethany 
and  Jerusalem — to  the  mount  of  transfiguration — to 
Gethsemane  and  the  Cross,  and  so,  returning  with  me 
in  spirit,  you  will  listen  again  to  my  words,  and  you 
will  get  their  meaning  as  you  never  got  it  before — 
you  will  come  to  understand  my  mission  and  work 
whigh  you  did  not, '  at  the  time,  half  understand,  and 


41 8  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

you  will  begin  to  realize,  as  you  can  never  otherwise 
do,  what  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  really  is.  '^I  tell 
you  the  truth,  it  is  expedient  that  I  go  away."  In 
this  way  only  can  the  necessary  progress  in  this  move- 
ment toward  the  spiritual  be  accomplished. 

Withdrawing  from  their  sight  and  hearing  he  took 
away  their  dependence  upon  his  visible  presence  and 
threw  them  upon  their  memories  and  meditations. 
He  turned  them  from  the  outward  to  the  inward — 
from  the  material  to  the  spiritual.  The  evidence 
which  completed  the  demonstration  of  his  Messiah- 
ship  and  the  truth  of  what  he  had  taught  had  now 
been  furnished — furnished  in  his  arrest  and  trial,  his 
condemnation,  his  crucifixion,  his  resurrection,  all  of 
which  he  had  foretold.  In  the  light  of  this  evidence 
the  past  is  to  be  re-read. 

Some  of  us  yet  lean  heavily  upon  the  visible  and 
sensuous.  We  want  a  visible  Christ.  We  think  if 
he  were  but  present  as  he  was  to  the  apostles,  how 
easy  it  would  be  to  understand,  to  accept  and  follow 
him;  and  we  can  hardly  see  why  the  benevolent 
Father  did  not  give  to  every  age  its  visible  Christ  and 
to  our  own  as  well. 

But  as  it  was  expedient  that  he  then  should  with- 
draw himself  from  sight,  it  is  expedient  still  that  he 
remain  unseen.  The  tendency  to  localize  and  enshrine 
the  object  of  worship  is  yet  very  strong,  even  among 
Christians.  It  is  seen  most  among  the  more  ignorant 
and  less  developed  classes.  You  see  it  in  the  Roman 
|nd  Greek  churches.     If  a  little  critical  you  will  detect 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  4ig 

it  also  in  Protestant  churches,  especially  in  the 
dedicatory  services  of  churches  and  temples.  It  is 
expedient  for  j^'^^  that  I  go  away. 

When  the  Holy  Spirit — to  pneuma  agion — has  come 
he  shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine  and 
shall  show  them  unto  you.      Jno.  i6:  14. 

The  relations  which  the  Holy  Spirit  that  proceedeth 
from  the  Father  sustains  to  the  Messiah  are  close  and 
intimate.  The  circumstances  changed,  the  minds  of 
men  better  prepared,  the  development  more  complete, 
the  divine  spirit  will  reproduce  and  emphasize  the 
teachings  and  the  life  of  the  Son  of  God  and  make 
them  more  real — more  powerful  to  save. 

Besides,  much  of  this  teaching  was  but  a  planting 
in  the  soil  of  humanity.  After  all,  the  disciples  had 
only  caught  hints  and  glints  of  the  truth.  The  oak 
was  yet  in  the  acorn — its  potencies  not  half  compre- 
hended. As  the  acorn  needs  the  fostering  light, 
germinal  truth  also  needs  the  fostering  light  of  the 
spirit  that  proceedeth  from  the  Father.  ^^He  shall 
take  the  things  of  mine  and  show  them  unto  you  and 
shall  bring  all  things  to  remembrance  whatsoever  I 
have  said."  As  the  truth  opens  up  to  you  more  and 
more  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this 
doctrine — my  former  teaching — and  that  revelation 
will  come  trooping  back  into  memory  and  stand  forth 
in  living  light. 

When  the  Comforter — no  Pa7'akletos\  the  Holy 
Spirit — to  pneuma  agion\  whom  the  Father  will  send 
in  my  name,  is   come,  he  will   reprove   or  convict  the 


420  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

world — elexi  ton  kosmon\  of  sin — peri  amartias,  and  of 
righteousness — pert  dikaiosunes^^xidi  of  judgment — peri 
kriseos.      Jno.  i6:  7,  8. 

How  shall  he  do  this? 

In  the  process  of  time,  in  the  light  of  accumulating 
truth  the  hearts  of  men  will  be  touched  by  the  Spirit 
of  truth,  not  all  at  once,  nor  as  to  all  men  in  the 
present  age,  but  in  the  ages  to  come,  and  they  will 
be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  my  pretensions.  Poster- 
ity will  reverse  the  judgment  of  the  Sanhedrim.  The 
Holy  Spirit  of  truth  will  lay  the  sin  upon  those  who 
condemned  me.  It  will  vindicate  my  character,  and 
the  Tightness  of  my  cause;  it  will  vindicate  me  as  the 
Son  of  God  sent  on  a  special  mission  to  the  world, 
which  now,  to  seeming,  is  ended  because  I  go  to  the 
Father.  And  this  vindication  made,  the  prince  of 
this  world  stands  condemned.  All  that  hinder  the 
truth  and  the  right  must  share  in  the  condemnation 
which  awaits  iniquity  and  sin.  When  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  is  come,  he  will 
convict  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of 
judgment. 

We  have  noticed  in  former  pages  how  men,  under 
the  influence  of  inordinate  passion,  have  fallen  into 
error.  The  Son  of  God  here  lifts  the  veil  and  makes 
known  to  them  how  they  may  avoid  error  and  be  led 
into  truth.  The  spirit  of  truth  and  candor  must 
come  and  possess  them.  They  must  covet  it  as  God's 
best  gift.  They  must  with  earnest  prayer  and  yearn- 
ing put  themselves  in  rapport   with   it.     The   differ- 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  42I 

ence  between  truth  and  error  will  become  more  evi- 
dent.  The  truth  will  become  more  precious.  It  will 
appear  where  it  had  never  been  seen  before.  It  will 
be  found  in  all  religions — in  all  philosophies.  If  the 
Holy  Spirit  shall  so  reveal  the  divine  presence  as  to 
subordinate  disturbing  passions  and  thus  clear  the 
sky  of  reason,  it  will  save  from  error — it  will  help  the 
discovery  of  truth. 

When  the  spirit  of  truth — to  Pneuma  Aletheias — is 
to  come  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  and  show  you 
things  to  come.     Jno.  i6;   13. 

There  are  things  to  come  which  we  very  much  want 
to  know,  but  which  we  cannot  find  out  with  all  the 
picks  and  hammers  of  our  speculative  thinking. 
What  mean  mesmeric  and  clairvoyant  phenomena? 
What  various  healing  phenomena,  conditioned,  shall 
we  say,  on  certain  mental  states?  What  the  teaching 
of  that  hour  of  prayer  in  solitude,  when  the  soul, 
seeking  to  strip  itself  of  things  earthly,  essays  to 
climb  up  to  heaven?  What  the  significance  of 
thwarted  purposes  and  well-meant  endeavors?  What 
the  meaning  of  life  cut  down  in  youth  and  prime,  of 
the  wide  inequality  of  human  conditions,  of  gross  and 
sickening  wrongs  and  injustice  seemingly  unpunished? 
What  the  meaning  of  the  sobs  and  heart-breaks  at  the 
grave  of  our  dead,  of  blighted  hopes  and  wide-spread 
suffering? — We  know  but  in  part.  Sorrow  breaks 
upon  joy  and  joy  upon  sorrow — the  night  and  the  day 
of  the  soul — this  play  and  counter  play,  what  of  it? 
Spirit-ward  there  are  things  to  come. 


422  THE    NEW    RELIGION. 

At  Pentecost  they,  for  the  first  time,  found  it  possi 
ble  to  comprehend  in  any  clear  light  the  scheme  of 
human  redemption — to  realize  the  great  salvation. 
When  the  spirit  of  truth  had  come,  the  beautiful  life 
they  had  witnessed  in  the  Son  of  Man,  his  death  and 
passion,  his  dying  prayer,  his  resurrection  and  forty 
days  of  sojourn  among  them,  during  which  it  seemed 
he  would  almost  lift  them  bodily  into  the  spirit 
world,  and  finally  his  ascension,  conspire — tout  ensem- 
ble— to  sweep  them  outward  into  broader  fields  and 
higher  life — into  his  own  kingdom,  which  is  not  of 
this  world. — They  began  to  see  ^ ^things  to  come." 

The  Christian  is  favored  with  peculiar  manifesta- 
tions of  spirit  influence.  He  has  come  into  recipro- 
cal relations  with  the  beloved  Son  and  with  the 
Father,  and  within  these  relations  he  becomes  the 
subject  of  other  experiences — other  charisms. 

Once  appetitive  indulgence,  money,  power,  fame, 
display — these  filled  the  horoscope,  these  charmed 
and  swayed  the  life.  But  the  shadow  of  death  hung 
over  them.  In  his  new  relation  to  the  Father,  love, 
gratitude,  truth,  right,  mercy,  sympathy,  the  ideal 
perfections  of  an  ideal  Savior — these  make  up  the 
enchanting  camera-lucida.  Appetitive  indulgence  and 
fleeting  pleasures  -are  subordinate — thought  is  wont 
to  range  above  them.  These  eternal  verities  are  his, 
and  no  shadow  of  death  hangs  over  them. 

But  what  of  those  who  have  not  been  favored  with 
the  special  teaching  of  the  Messiah? 

It  is  very  plain  from    our  point   of  view   that   they 


THE    CHRIST    MISSION.  423 

have  suffered  loss.  The  spirit  which  proceedeth  from 
the  Father  could  not  bring  to  their  remembrance 
things  they  had  never  heard  or  known,  or  teach  them 
what  they  were  not  prepared  to  learn. 

But  many  good  things  had  been  done,  many  noble 
precepts  formulated,  many  life-inspiring  and  life-sav- 
ing things  had  been  said  and  done  by  the  Old  Masters 
of  thought — the  Messiahs  of  pagan  and  heathen  lands. 
Their  love  for  humanity,  the  sacrifices  they  made,  the 
truth  they  discovered,  the  blessings  they  conferred, 
must  not  be  lost  upon  the  world.  They  shall  not  be. 
The  Hol}^  Spirit  will  reproduce  them  for  the  ages, 
write  them  in  the  memories  and  burn  them  into  the 
hearts  of  the  successive  generations.  They  shall  be 
conserved  and  shall  conspire  to  aid  in  the  uplift  and 
salvation  of  the  world.  Thou  blessed  Holy  Spirit, 
thou  Light  of  the  World,  show  all  peoples  the  things 
that  have  been  and  ^'things  to  come/^ 


Finis. 


INDEX. 


Analysis,  Psychological,  needed 17 

Appetite,  Uses  of 37 

Asceticism 148 

Asceticism,  a  form  of  selfishness 156 

Avarice 43 

Birth,  The  new = 317 

Character,  Transformation  of  rapid 317 

Christ,  The Q.ij  et  seq. 

Christ,  The,  A  revelation ; 266 

Christ  Character,  The 203 

Christ  Teaching,  The,  difficulty  of  understanding.    275 

Christian  Canon,  The , 212 

Christian,  The,  a  Supplementary  Christ 358 

Christ  Mission,  The,  outlined 259 

Christ  Mission,  The,  set  forth  by  the  Evangelists.    259 
Christ  Mission,  The,  as  understood  by  himself..    261 

Christianity,  Contents  of 210 

Christianity,  As  understood  by  J.  S.  Mill 352 

'^Conversion,"  Cases  of 215 

''Conversion,"    Peter 318 

"Conversion,"  Paul 320 

"Conversion,"  Justyn  Martyr 323 


426  INDEX. 

^'Conversion/'  Jerry  McAuley 326 

'Conversion,"   Others 333 

Creeds,  not  changed  by  the  Reformation 215 

Depravity,  Different  views  of 11 

Depravity,  Ethical  difficulties,    as  stated  by  Dr. 

Wardlaw 13 

Depravity,  Ethical  desiderata. 15 

Design,  as  seen  in  nature 19 

Dialogue,  on  the  duties  and  the  privileges  of  the 

Christian 378 

Doctrine,  The,  Ministry  of 275 

Education,  More  Greek  than  Christian 65 

Education,  Course  of  study 67 

Error  of  Old  Religions 168 

Evil,  General  considerations i 

'  Evil,    Compensations 4 

Evil,  Exaggerated 2 

Evil  for  evil 277 

Faith,  a  belief 340 

Faith,  a  trust 345 

God,  Service  of 381 

Gospel,  Powerless,  why 385 

Heathens  and  the  Holy  Spirit 422 

Individual,  The,  in  Christianity 364 

Inspiration,  Plenary 191 

Intellect,  The 57 

Intellect,  The,  Infirmity  of 57 

Intention,  not  the  rule  of  judgment 361 

Jesus,  Evangelistic  account  of 217 

Jesus,  Biographers  of 205 


INDEX.  427 

Jesus,  Genesis  of  miraculous 186 

Jesus,  Sui  Generis , 234 

Jesus    an  Exemplar 235 

Jesus  a  Philanthropist 246 

Jesus  as  a  Philanthropist,  compared  with  Moses.  252 

Jesus,  Compared  with  Sakya  Mouni 255 

Jesus,  Compared  with  Socrates 249 

Jesus    as  a  Teacher 239 

Jesus,  His  reliance  upon  example 354 

Judgment,  The   last 376 

Knowledge,  Virtue  of 120 

Life  immortal,   The 109 

Longevity 27 

LovCj  The  chief   affection 80 

Love,  Christian,   levels  things 387 

Love,  Sexual,   uses  of 49 

Love,  Sexual,   abuses  of 54 

Love,  Sexual,  has  relation  only  to   present   state 

of  being 55 

Man,  The   ideal  and  the  real 7 

Man,  of   two  natures 23 

Men,  different  orders  of 187 

Ministry    of  doctrine,  The,  Peace 311 

Ministry   of  doctrine,  The,  Prayer 301 

Ministry   of  doctrine.  The,  Regeneration 295 

Ministry    of  doctrine.  The,   Repentance 285 

Ministry  of   Love,  The 397 

Miracles 185,  193 

Miracles,  Hume's  argument 185 

l^orals,  Egyptiaii  cQ4e  ^ ,.,.,,,,,  ^ ,,..,,,,,,. ,  12^ 


428  INDEX. 

Morals,  The  Brahmin  code 127 

Morals,  The  Buddhist   code 128 

Morals,  other  codes 130 

Nature,  The  lower 27 

Nature,  The  lower,    how  improved 32 

Organization,  a  ^^craze" 372 

Organization  in  religion 364 

Organization,   danger   of 371 

Optimism 5 

Parker,  Rev.  J 408 

Peace  and  good  will 311 

Plato  and   Paul 202 

Prayer 301 

Property,  desire  for 41 

Property,  uses  of 42 

Property,  a  competency 43 

Property,  passion  for  gratified  in  the  present  life . .  44 

Punishment,  not  reformatory 166 

Purpose  of  the  Creator  must  be  followed.  ......  19 

Quid    credendum 340  to  345 

Quid  fidendum 345  to  351 

Regeneration,  nature  and  extent  of 295 

Regeneration,   law  of 291 

Regeneration,    necessity  of 294 

Religions,  The  Old,  their  merits  considered 117 

Religions,  supernatural 181 

Religion,  The  New 203 

Religion   among  pagans  and  heathens 135 

Religion,  Aryan 140 

Religion,  Egyptian , , , , ,,..,,.,.,.,  137 


INDEX. 


429 


Religion,  Persian , 140 

Religion,  progress  of 408 

Repentance 285 

Repentance,  stoicism  in  regard  to 289 

Sensibilities,  prevalence  of 74 

Sensibilities,   classification  of 77 

Socialism,  Christian 387 

Spirit,  separate  from  matter loi 

Study,  course  of 67 

Supernatural,    The 178 

Sympathy,  want  of  in  the  Old  Religions 169 

Sympathy,  all  men  need 172 

Taste,  uses  of 37 

Treasure  in  Heaven 280 

Will,  The 85 

Will,    function  of o  , . .  .  87 

Will,  freedom  of , 89 

Will,    disorder  of 97 

Will,  weak  and  strong 96 

Woman,  rights  of 278 

Works,    ministry  of 352 

World-life,  The,  fulfills  its  destiny  in  the  present 

state  of  being 109 

Yearning,  the  prophesy  of  gratification 112 


Deacidified  using  the  Bookkeeper  process 
Neutralizing  agent:  Magnesium  Oxide 
Treatment  Date:  April  2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A  WORLD  LEADER  IN  PAPER  PRESERVATION 

1 1 1  Thomson  Park  Drive 
Cranberry  Township,  PA  16066 
(724)779-2111 


LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS 


0  014  087  807  8 


m 


Wmm 


m 


I 

.ill 


:H^^iKt) 


11 


W 


>tP.'ii! 


it 


t^ISi'-!?