Immortality triumphant. The existence of a God and human immortality philosophically considered, and the truth of divine revelation substained

Front matter

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IMMORTALITY TRIUMPHANT.

THE EXISTENCE OE A GOD

Chapter I. General Causes Of Infidelity 13-23

The general course pursued by clergymen in regard to new discoveries in science — Their fears that something in nature will contradict the Bible — Some noble exceptions to this course among them — In this they are perhaps honest — Too many have entered the ministry unqualified as to scientific attainments — Are ignorant of the volume of Nature, which is elder Scripture — It embraces the Old and New Testaments — It is a boundless Revelation, a Bible with Bible inclosed — It arms man with divinity — He who contemns it is a blasphemer — There is a handwriting on the rock — There is a voice in storms, thunders, earthquakes — Science and Christianity should be united in wedlock — The momentary existence of man on earth — We should speak our convictions fearlessly — General ideas of a future existence — But few philosophical • works against or in defense of human immortality — A growing skepticism in the public mind — The causes of skepticism fully stated.

Chapter II

DR. PALEY'S ARGUMENT ON THE BEING OF A GOD, REFUTED = 24-38

Dr. Paley's argument has been generally adopted, that design proves intelligence and art — So far as it applies to a watch or machinery, it is correct ; applied to animal life, it fails — He has refuted his own argument — To what Atheism owes its existence in Christian lands — It is principally to some absurd ideas held by Christians, such as spirit being an immateriality; that all things were created out of nothing; annihilation of matter, and of all creatures, except man — The absurdity of all these considered and proved — Objections of the Atheist answered, as to the brain producing thought — The Bible rejects the idea of creating all things out of nothing — Not a particle more of matter now than there ever was, and never will be a particle less — There can be but one infinity of absolute perfection in existence— Annihilation is an absurdity.

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Chapter III

THE ARGUMENT OX HUMAN IMMORTALITY AXD THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD COMMENCED. THE POIXTS TO BE ARGUED 39-46

The terras life, mind, or spirit defined — Vegetable life a species of mind — All life exists in God. from the highest intelligence down to the lowest vegetable life — These combined constitute perfect mind in Deity — The position assumed by the Atheist, that mind is the result of an organized brain, even as motion is the result of a well-finished watch — Proof that mind exists independent of a brain — Two grand objects in nature, mind and matter — The two defined — Vegetable life exists independent of vegetable organism — A field of wheat — The rose and its bush — The oak, all came from the life of the seed — All life is organism, and all inert matter is spherical — All life develops matter into organism.

Chapter IV. Developmexts Of Life Coxsidered 47-59

What the vegetable life is to the production of the plant, the mind of man is to the production of the brain, and both as developing causes must have existed previous to the plant and brain, which are effects they produced — The Atheistic view of this subject — " Vestiges of Creation'* gives a statement of Mr. Crosse having produced animal life by galvanism — This statement fully met, and its claims to philosophy considered — Advice to Mr. Crosse — Let him produce vegetable life by galvanism — Mind as an organized substance cannot be annihilated.

Chapter V. Proof Of Ax Ixfixite Mixd, Axd The Use Of His Existence 59-69

Insensibility of mind in death is no proof of its annihilation — Like begets like in organism — Moses is correct — All finites refer to the infinite ; finite mind to infinite mind : finite matter to infinite matter — Figure of stamp developing itself in wax— Life and mind are the prototypes of all vegetable and animal forms — Objections of the Atheist considered.

Chapter VI. The Laws Of Nature Defixed— Possess Xo Power —are Xot Causes 70-80

Queries presented to the Atheist — The inconsistency of law producing results — Laws are not things, but modes of action — Example of a watch considered — Noah, Moses, Solomon ^

CONTENTS. Vll and Cesar had no watches — Law of inert matter is eternal — Its inertia proved — Cause of motion considered — It exists in mind.

Chapter VII. Immortality Triumphant In The Whole Animal And Vegetable Chain 81-91

Electricity has no self-motion, even though it is the agent that , moves the universe — It is the agent of mind ; mind has self-motion, and is the primal cause of all other motion, which is but secondary — Each organ performs but one function — Motion pertains to but one substance — There is in all substances, as we rise in the scale of matter, an approximation toward motion — The simplicity of the subject, when condensed, presents but two objects in nature, which are mind and matter, and but two forms, which are organism and sphere — Definition of mind in full — All mind is in God — Man a microcosm of the universe — The whole animal and vegetable chain considered — The Hebrew text breathed the breath of lives — Proof of the existence of God concluded — Proof of the immortality of all animal and vegetable life concluded — Human immortality proved — Immortality triumphant in the future, > endless existence of the whole chain of life and being — Endless progression of the whole intellectual throng.

Chapter VIII. Truth Of Divine Revelation Considered.... 92-101

Philosophical Axiom the plan of the argument — The various attacks of Atheists and Deists on the Bible — Volney as a writer, and his mode of attack — Paine as a writer, and his mode of attack ; both considered — The condensed form of the whole argument — Refutation of the positions of both Volney and Paine — Volney is candid — Paine is not candid — The high-toned honor and candor of the Scripture writers — The barbarity of nations when Moses wrote — The divine writers will stand forever in their own greatness.

Chapter IX. Volumes Of Nature And Revelation Com- Pared : ---- 102-107

Apparent contradictions in the volume of Revelation prove nothing — The same apparent contradictions in Nature prove nothing — If contradictions in Revelation prove the Bible false, then contradictions in Nature prove her book false — Instances of apparent contradiction in Nature's book pointed out — Poisons and wholesome fruits— Storms and calms — Chemical non-affinities and affinities— Oil and water— Two

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positive electric currents — Nature's laboratory — The position of Paine and his imitators — To prove the truth of divine Revelation, does not require an extended argument — It must be proved by a philosophical Axiom.

Chapter X. The Position Taken, And The Argument Open- Ed 108-118

The philosophical Axiom is the lion and his natural food, and the sheep and his food — The food of each reversed — They sicken, and feel pain — The human mind, and truth its food — Mind is fed by impressions — It requires its mental and moral sustenance to expand its powers, and make it happy, as the body does its food — Natural and moral right, and natural and moral wrong considered — The intellectual powers, and moral powers, and the office of each — Natural and moral right may act separately, or in conjunction — Examples given in the Heathen mother sacrificing her infant, and the Hindoo widow offering herself upon the funeral pyre — The doctrines of each brought to the test of the Axiom, and proved false, they are not the true food of the soul as they give pain, and do not unite duty and happiness in one — The Heathen religions considered as corruptions of that of Noah, Moses, and Christ — Philosophies of Greece and Rome prove insufficient to satisfy man.

CHAPTER XL

CHARACTER OF CHRIST— HIS DOCTRINE AND HIS PHILOSOPHICAL AXIOM 119-127

Born and brought up a Jew, yet was devoid of national peculiarities — His greatness — His philanthropy — His humility — Moved alone to set up a kingdom, and a doctrine as its law — His uniform confidence of success — No power could demolish either — He retained his confidence in the ultimate success of his doctrine through life, and in the agonies of death pronounced it finished — His obscure origin — The power of his eloquence — His doctrine yet stands, while those of Greece and Rome are gone — He lays down his own philosophical Axiom by which his doctrine may be tested — No other arguments are of any use to prove his doctrine true — We must not go our of the Bible to prove its truth, any more than out of nature to prove the truth of her book — The truths of both volumes are self-evident.

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Chapter XII. Christ Only Has Revealed God's Paternal Character 128-133

The importance of his own Axiom as one of moral philosophy, and by which truth and falsehood may be detected in any doctrine, whether Heathen or Christian — To prove the truth of his doctrine as a divine Revelation, there is no occasion of noticing all the moral precepts in the Old and New Testaments — The Old Testament writers do not call God Father in the sense the Son revealed Him— The Son only has given Him that name— Moses has not — The prophets have not — The name father, in the Old Testament, considered from Genesis to Malachi — Was not known to them as belonging of right to God only— The Old Testament as a consistent introduction to the New — Its progressive light — Malachi stood between the two, look back to the Old, and forward to the sun of righteousness in the New.

Chapter XIII

CHRIST'S REVELATION OF THE PATERNAL CHARAC- TER AND GOVERNMENT OF GOD, AND HIS DOC- TRINE OF HUMAN DESTINY 134-142

The Old Testament names of God — Christ in the New, names Him the Father of himself and all mankind, exercising ever them a paternal government — Rewards and punishments are rendered in parental mercy as a law of our being — The resurrection of the dead, and human destiny — The Father is unchangeable in all His perfections — The resurrection suc-^ cessive in an electrical body — Call no man Father — Say, our Father, which art in heaven — Old Testament writers and Heathens failed to discover the paternal character of God — It is glorious beyond conception of men or angels, as Christ revealed it.

Chapter XIV

WHY SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION EXTEND NO FAR- THER THAN THE BIBLE HAS THROWN ITS BEAMS 143-150

The Heathen have a god for every thing ; a god of wind, water, fire, thunder, war, etc. — Homer, Cicero, Virgil, believed in thirty thousand gods — Why are Atheists and Deists learned and moral — They were born in Christian lands — This would not have been the case, had they been born in heathen countries.

Chapter XV. Language Is A Divine Revelation From God

Idea of one God, if not recorded, will be lost, and many gods

CONTENTS, substituted — All languages are derived from one language ; all gods are derived from the idea of one God — all Heathen religions are corruptions of the religion of Noah, Moses, or Christ — The Hebrew is the language of heaven — The challenge to skeptics — The teachings of Christ in relation to the government of the Father, and our duty to Him and one another.

Chapter XVI

PRECEPTS OF THE MASTER AND HIS COMPANIONS. 161-169 Passages of Scripture — On our domestic duties — Character of public teachers and religious bodies — On our political duties — On promiscuous duties we owe to God, ourselves, and all mankind — The beatitudes — Charity.

Chapter XVII. The Effect His Doctrine Is Destined To Achieve 170-177

Recapitulation of principal points — Rich exhibition of divine exuberance — He fulfills his own precepts in life, and his most difficult one for us to observe he fulfilled on the cross, by loving and forgiving his enemies, yes, his murderers — Sun of Righteousness compared with the natural sun.

Chapter XVIII. Christ's Doctrine Stands The Test Of His Own Golden Axiom 178-185

What a happy world, if Christ's precepts were obeyed ! — Human governments would be lost in his kingdom of love in the soul — Love would be the supreme enthroned king — Appeal to the skeptic — The two scrolls — His doctrine unites duty and happiness in one — It is the true food of the soul — Bread and water sent me when dying with hunger or thirst — Immaterial from whom the doctrine came, an Indian or a Hottentot, it is still of God — Whether the Bible, as a divine Revelation, is proved, is submitted to the judgment of Christians and skeptics.

Chapter XIX

THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST CONTRASTED WITH HEA- THEN PHILOSOPHY— HIS DEATH COMPARED WITH THAT OF SOCRATES 186-199

The benevolence, love, and true magnanimity of the Master — His perfect knowledge of man and his wants.

Chapter XX

A BRIEF NOTICE OF A PUBLISHED CORRESPOND- ENCE BETWEEN MISS MARTINEAU AND MR. AT- KINSON, BOTH OF ENGLAND— IN ITS CHARACTER ATHEISTIC 200

Introduction

In the first seven chapters of this volume I have briefly investigated, and independently discussed, the Existence of a God, as the intelligent Creator and Governor of the universe ; the Immortality of man in a future state of being, and the relation in which animal, and vegetable life stand to both God and man. In the last thirteen chapters I have, as I conceive, clearly and irresistibly proved the truth of divine Revelation by a Philosophical Axiom furnished us in the New Testament by our Saviour, and in the last chapter of the book I have bestowed a passing notice on the published letters of Miss Martineau and Mr. Atkinson, both of England.

The above four great and interesting subjects, that I have philosophically considered, embrace matter sufficient for at least four volumes of three hundred pages each, and hence I have been compelled to study condensation as well as brevity throughout, and in several instances to classify the materials of my subject in order to effect this end. Sensible of the solemnity and vast importance of my subject to man, and of the deep and thrilling interest that every reflecting mind must naturally feel in regard to its present happiness and future destiny, it should be read and understood by all. And as voluminous works are owned and read by comparatively but few individuals, not only on account of their price, but the discouraging thought of wading through an ocean of words, often of extraneous matter, to gain the desired information, so I have labored to obviate these objections, by presenting the great and important points of the subject in a small volume, which is offered as a cheap Pocket Companion to the Christian community.

It may be called " A Short and Easy Way with Atheists and Deists." I have candid! v endeavored to meet

XII INTRODUCTION,

them on their own ground, and to dispute it with them inch by inch ; and whether they are uttterly refuted or not, is submitted to the impartial tribunal of public opinion. I have grappled only with the great and important positions of my opposers, and brought in array against them all the important points involved in the interesting subjects I have treated, and passed over those of minor consideration, many of which would have been, no doubt, not only interesting but valuable to the reader. And to make myself entirely intelligible to the humblest capacity, and to benefit the rising generation, I have studied plainness of speech, and even presented each great truth in various forms of argument, so as by this mode of repetition to make the impression deep and lasting by a single perusal. Notwithstanding the condensed and brief form of the argument, this repetition I found to be indispensably necessary in order to produce the desired result, which is impression.

In my Sixth and Seventh Lectures on the " Philosophy of Electrical Psychology," I attempt to prove the existence of an intelligent Creator from Motion, and also speak of the successive order in which the vegetable and animal creation were produced, and there state that they were all immortal. Several distinguished gentlemen who had perused the above work, have written me from various sections of the United States — some requesting me to write a work exclusively on the being of a God — some urging a work on human Immortality — some on the truth of divine Revelation, and one of my learned friends wrote desiring to know what evidence I could produce that the human race would exist in a future, immortal state of being, if the whole animal creation were to be annihilated ! These communications, in connection with the urgent verbal requests of several of my literary friends, have induced me to present my views in. this brief form upon the various subjects of inquiry. Finally, that they may convey consolation to the bereaved, and hope and joy to the dying, is the sincere desire and praver of the Author.

J. B. DODS.

New York, Jan. 1 } 1852.

Chapter I

It is a circumstance deeply to be regretted, that clergymen have, in all ages since the Christian era, so managed as to give the general impression, that they were fearful that some greater light might lie concealed in the Book of Nature that would, when discovered, at least eclipse, if not extinguish, the undying light of Revelation. Hence they have opposed and resisted each rising science in its turn, as it was struggling into life, and have exerted every effort to blast it in the bud of its being ; or if suddenly born into existence, they have labored to crush it in the cradle of its infancy. To this course of procedure, there have been, and still are, some proud exceptions standing out against the tide of sectarian party, firm, like some verdant, rock-bound island in the bosom of the ocean, unshaken by its waves — unmoved by its storms ! In their opposition to each rising science, I have no question of their sincerity and candor, as they were fearful it might clash with the teachings of divine Revelation. But their " zeal was not according to knowledge" when kindled in such a cause, and moving them to exert their powers and direct their influence to such an unworthy end.

It is, indeed, a humiliating consideration, that too many have entered the ministry who, though they possessed every necessary moral and religious qualification for their profession, were nevertheless utterly ignorant of the sciences spread out above, around, and beneath them in the great Book of Nature written by the hand of the Eternal, and on whose sacred pages are no human interpolations. It bears the impress of Divinity on its front, and the truth of Inspiration in the majesty of its being. They have no philosophy to perceive that our globe, planets, central sun, and those starry worlds that mantle the bosom of night, are but the books that make up the Old Testament of Nature, and contain the types and shadows, the earthly forms and ceremonies, and the letter of the law written for the perusal of all, and which past generations have contemplated with wonder — have studied with awe! And much less are they able to perceive, that electricity, a universal and invisible agent, and all the unseen powers, energies, and forces by which all worlds in immensity are moved, and all the multifarious operations in their mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms are carried on, are but the New Testament books of Nature now being revealed to our world. These subtile, unseen agents constitute the last Revelation of God to men, and will seal up the vision and the prophecy in relation to human knowledge, human perfection, and human destiny. The contemplation of these open pages, written in characters of brilliant suns and countless worlds, moving through immensity with the rapidity of the lightning's blaze, forces upon the mind those amazing conceptions of the oppressive grandeur of the subject that cause it to struggle ! but it is a struggle of never-ceasing delight. It is worthy the loftiest thought ! It is the starry diadem of Jehovah's glory !

In this all-perfect and boundless Revelation we see Bible with Bible inclosed ! — a wheel within a wheel ! Read our globe and all its visible wonders, and then read the invisible agents that move it and carry on all its operations, and you read the whole boundless Book of Nature's Old and New Testaments, the letter and its spirit in this microcosm abridgment. The clergyman, who stands in the pulpit as a divine instructor, ignorant of this Book, is not qualified for his station. He lacks that which arms man with divinity. And he, who stands there, however learned he may be, and opposes any science that the Book of Nature unfolds, through the medium of some master mind, is a bold blasphemer, and unfit for his office. He stands there in self-complacency cursing his Creator by contemning the Book of Nature, which is elder Scripture written by God's own hand.

There is an original and unmistakable handwriting on the rugged rock — in the lofty mountain — in the flowery field — in the shady grove — in the basined ocean — and in the deep strata of the globe. There, in defiance of the sneering bigot and the scoffer of science, it has stood in bold and indelible characters, for ages on ages, and there it will stand forever. And who can have the impiety to refuse to read the handwriting of his God spread out before him in the volume of nature? Not only is this handwriting seen, but there is a voice heard in the breathing wind — in the rushing storm — in the roaring ocean — in the rumbling earthquake — and in the bursting thunder, speaking, free and unchained, the sentiments of nature, and imparting lessons of freedom to men. And who is so abject and cowardly a slave to the impulse of popular opinion and prejudice, that he dare not respond to the free, universal voice of nature, and speak openly and boldly the true sentiments of his heart? The freedom of the human soul, in the pursuit of science and truth, should be encouraged and rewarded, rather than opposed and denounced, so that man might be elevated to the highest dignity and grandeur of his nature. This work should be commenced in the pulpit, so that the spirit of free inquiry might be the more speedily impressed upon the great mass of mind, and by making Science go hand-in-hand with Christianity, as the Master and His inspired servants intended, a new and glorious reformation would dawn upon the world, and be hailed by every true philanthropist with joy.

Our present existence is momentary, and we should spend it in seeking for human happiness. " Life is but a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away." The younger are crowding the next older off the stage of action, as though each were anxious to exhibit his part in the strange and everchangeful drama of life. Not a solitary individual re-enters the world's theater. All take their exit, and are known no more beneath the sun forever. Go to yonder graveyard, and there learn the only language of the tomb, the epitaph declaring that they once lived. Lettered stones and monuments are more instructive than the once living thousands whose memories they preserve from oblivion. All, except these, is speechless as the chambers of eternal silence ! No lingering spirits hover around their mouldering relics, whispering any intelligence of their present existence. The eternal country for which they seemed to embark returns us no intelligence of their safe arrival. We stand around the dying bed — follow them to the verge of time, and, standing on the shore of a vast ocean, we gaze with exquisite anxiety till the last dreadful struggle is over, and we see them sink in the fathomless abyss ! We feel our own feet slide from the precarious brink on which we stand, and but few suns more, and we, too, shall be whelmed 'mid death's awful waves.

Such is the fate of man ! but aside from Revelation, is there no hope beyond this closing scene ? Is there no power in the arm of philosophy, Nature's eldestborn daughter, to snatch man from final death, and to sustain his faith and hope, by furnishing the proof of the being of a God, and his own consequent immortality? These, and also the truth of divine Revelation, are the interesting points to be argued. In accomplishing this task, I shall speak freely and fearlessly the unchained convictions of my own mind, regardless of the opinions of men, and shall hold no one responsible for what I may utter. I believe, that there are those among Atheists and Deists as honest and sincere in their convictions as there are among Christians who are honest and sincere in theirs. Denunciation does not become the scholar, the gentleman, and much less the Christian. All are brethren, having a common origin, a common interest, and a common destination. I shall therefore treat them with Christian courtesy and respect, and my whole aim shall be to shed light upon a subject so full of deep and thrilling interest to us all.

A future state of conscious existence for man, after he shall have passed the ordeal of death, has been the belief and cherished hope of all nations from the earliest periods of history down to the present day. To this, indeed, there are some exceptions now, and, for aught we know to the contrary, there may have been exceptions to this general belief through the long lapse of these intervening ages. The hope of a future existence, having been so generally entertained and cherished by mankind in all ages of the world, seems to be innate in, the human bosom, and by many it has been, and still is, regarded in this light.

The direct attacks upon the doctrine of human immortality, by any philosophical, ingenious, and wellwritten essay, have been few and far between. And this may be a principal reason why so few, if any, have, on the other hand, been published by the clergy in its defense. It has, however, been again and again indirectly assailed in various forms by different individuals through books and pamphlets, and their arguments have been, in some instances at least, enforced by an ingenious display of talent, and a force of eloquence, that have not only startled the public mind as with an electric shock, but have shipwrecked the faith and blasted the hope of many a parent and child of meeting again beyond the grave. When I say that this faith has been indirectly assailed, I mean by arguments intended to disprove the truth and sanctity of divine Revelation. So far as the faith and confidence of the community in the sacred Scriptures are shaken, so far are they likewise shaken in the truth of a future state of existence. But according to the rules of logic this should not be so, because to disprove the truth of divine Revelation most conclusively could not in the least affect the truth of human immortality. This might still be true, independent of any divine revelation concerning it being made to men.

There are also arguments published intended to disprove the being of a God as an intelligent Spirit. And here I would remark, that both reason and philosophy most clearly teach, that if the existence of a Supreme Being could be conclusively disproved, this alone would overthrow not only divine revelation, but also the doctrine of a future existence, and prove our faith and hope in it to be a mere reverie of fancy — a bright but visionary dream ! Let the skeptic then gird himself to the herculean task, and call into action all his mental energies — let him for once put forth his proudest thought — grasp the subject with a giant arm, and disprove the existence of an infinite Intelligence, and his work is done. He buries divine Revelation, human hope, and human immortality, all in one common grave ! But if philosophy refuses to lend her aid, as she uniformly has and ever must, to controvert successfully the existence of God, then there is no argument within the grasp of human power to disprove the existence of our race in a future world — none to prove that death is the end of man, where the bright intellect shall be extinguished, and its affections forever cease to burn ! If there is a God who exists immortal, so shall his offspring, man, even though revelation were proved false as the baseless fabric of a visionary dream. ...

It is a consideration, deeply to be regretted, that no publications, containing philosophical arguments in proof of the being of a God and human immortality are, in these days, placed in the hands of the public by those who stand at the sacred altar. The necessities of the age demand it, and it is the duty of divines to meet this demand. Their profession fits them for the task, inasmuch as it involves them in the constant contemplation of this sublime and interesting theme. Improvements in machinery, and in the arts and sciences, are advancing with a speed unparalleled in the annals of history, and new light in various departments is continually breaking on the world. They, too, should call the arm of philosophy and science to their aid, and shed their light and power upon the nature of spirit and the destiny of man, and meet the skeptic in the open fields of nature.

There is evidently a secret and growing skepticism in the public mind in relation to a future state of existence, and also the being of a God ; and though it may not, as a matter of policy, openly manifest itself, for fear of popular opinion, yet it is none the less clearly perceived in the frequent expression of doubts, not only by some of those in the common walks of life, but by some of the most intelligent and highly cultivated minds among the business community, and even among the learned professions. And yet many of these, as a matter of popularity > are constant in their attendance at the most fashionable churches in our cities and villages, and pay liberally toward the support of a clergyman.