Christianity

Front matter

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I i

IIP-

Chap. I. Source of Certainty - - - 1

II. Tendencies of Man - - - 3

III. Notions of the Ideal - - - 3

IV. Action of the Will upon the Tendencies - - 5 V. The objective of our Tendencies - 8

VI. Law of Differences and of Reciprocity - - 12

VII. Of Language - - - - - 13

VIII. Refutation of three great Errors - - 16

IX. Notion of God - - - - - 19

X. Idea, End, and Model of Creation - - 21

XL Mystery of Free Will - - - - 23

XII. Mystery in general - - - - 27

XIII. Of the Will and of Progress - - - 30

XIV. Universality of Progress - - - 34 XV. Of the Phases of Progress - - - 35

XVI. Immortality and Spiritualism - - - 38

XVII. Existence and Nature of Animals - - 39

XVIII. Continuity of Activity - - - - 46

Notes to Book I. - - - - 49 BOOK II.

EXAMINATION OF THE PRINCIPAL PROBLEMS OF THE HUMAN MIND.

XIX. Space, Time, Nature, Cosmogony, Chaos - - 78

XX. Eden, the Fall, Original Sin - - 80

XXL Physical Evil 81

XXII. Eternal Punishments - - - - 84

XXIII. Birth, Life, Infancy, Death, Resurrection - 86 xlvi CONTENTS.

Chap. XXIV. End of the World - - - - i

XXV. Of Prayer 90

XXVI. Phenomena of Sleep - - - 97

XXVII. Effects of Distraction of Mind - - 100

XXVIII. Ecstasy and Poesy - - - - 101

BOOK III. problem or redemption.

XXIX. Man out of his sphere - - - 127

XXX. Solution of the Problem of Redemption - 129

XXXI. Necessity and Nature of a Redeemer - 134

XXXII. Certainty suitable to a Redemption - 137

XXXIII. Human Forms of Redemption - - 140

XXXIV. Choice of the Period of Redemption - 142 XXXV. The Redeemer recognised by the Period of

His coming - - - - 144

XXXVI. Polygamist and Monogamist Peoples - 147

XXXVIL Effects of this Difference - - -152

XXXVIII. Consideration of Idolatry - - - 152

XXXIX. Choice of the Division of the Globe in which

Redemption was effected - - 156

XL. Selection of the Hebrew People, as Witnesses of Redemption and Guardians of Revelation ---_. 157

BOOK IV.

THEORY OF REDEMPTION.

XLI. Revelation a History of true Religion - 197

XLII. Divine and Human Elements in Revelation - 200

XLIII. Of Inspiration - 202

XLIV. Of the Modes of Inspiration - - 204

XL V. Free Will the first Limit of Inspiration - 206

XLVI. Reason the second Limit of Inspiration - 208

XL VII. Language the third Limit of Inspiration - 211

CONTENTS. xlvii

Page

Chap. XL VIII. Nature of the Proofs of Inspiration - 216

XLIX. Appreciation of Prophecy - - 219

L. Theory of Miracles - 225

LI. Redemption accomplished by a human

BOOK V.

METHOD OF REVELATION.

LII. Christianity not a System of Instruction - 281 LIIL Truths determined by Facts in the Gospel - 284 LIV. Truths taken for granted in the Gospel - 288 LV. Truths put forth as Axioms in the Gospel - 289 LVI. Truths reserved in the Gospel - - 295 LVII. Development and Limit of Revelation - 300 LVIII. Critical Application of the Proofs of Revelation - - - - - 303 LIX. Peculiarity of the Old Testament - - 307 * Summary and Conclusion on Revelation - 310

BOOK VI.

THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY IN TIME AND BEYOND TIME.

LXI. Perpetuity of Christianity. First Guarantee :

its Independence - 339

LXII. Second Guarantee : its Accord with our Tendencies ----- 347 LXIII. Direct and indirect Utility of Christianity - 349 LXIV. Future Universality of Christianity - 352

LXV. Gradual Emancipation of Christianity - 356

LXVI. 1 . Emancipation from Discipline - - 357

LXVII. 2. Emancipation from a Clerical Hierarchy 362 LXVIII. 3. Emancipation from Authority - - 368

LXIX. 4. Emancipation from Forms - - 376

LXX. 5. Emancipation from the Letter of Revelation - - - - 382

* The number of this Chapter has, by some oversight, been omitted.

xlviii

CONTENTS.

Page

Chap. LXXI. 6. Emancipation from Dogmas - - 384

LXXII. Progress of Pure Faith insured by Printing - 392

LXXHL

LXXIV.

LXXV.

LXXVI.

LXXVIL

Christianity freed from Time and Space Heaven and Hell considered as within us The Coming of Christ according to True Faith Christianity in the future Life Expectation of Universal Restoration

Xotes to Book VI. -

395 396 398 400 406

ITS PERFECT ADAPTATION,

BOOK I.

MAN, GOD, AND CREATION.

L'idee de Dieu est dans la notre par le suppression des limites de nos perfections. — Leibnitz, Rem. sur le Livre de V Origine du Mai, § 4.

Chapter I. Source Op Certainty

Man has a consciousness of his own existence.

The source of certainty consists in the fact of existence, and the consciousness which we have of that fact.(l)

The existence of man is individual. Each is one. The first notions which man forms of himself lead him to individualise ; pantheism comes by reflection only, and too late. Man, in the simplicity of the consciousness of himself, feels himself dependent, hut distinct

2 SOURCE OF CERTAINTY.

from all that surrounds and presses upon him. In this individualism, he says : I am myself alone, nothing more, nothing less, but connected with all. In pantheism, he says : I am myself, more, the whole ; I am a fragment, not an individual.

Individualism makes man that eagle which you see braving the sun ; it is an eagle, in every point of its body, in every look of its eyes, in relation to the earth which it has just left, the air in which it hovers, the sun on which it gazes .... pantheism makes man a polypus.

Consciousness of existence is accompanied by two corollary notions, which are inseparable from it :

1. This consciousness of being has not always existed ; it has had a beginning ; if my existence had not begun, I should know it, since I know my existence. I find myself in the present ; in the past I do not find myself.

An existence unknown to him who possesses it, is not an existence, properly so called ; it reckons for nothing, or, more correctly speaking, it is to be reckoned otherwise. (See Book I. Chap, xvii., and Book II. Chap, xxiii.)

2. In this existence, of which he is conscious, man feels that his will or his power has had no part : he does not preserve it, and if it is not he who maintains it, it is not he who has conferred it. He would employ for its maintenance, the power displayed to possess it. (2)

Whatever may be the cause of the existence of man it is something foreign to himself; it is apart from and without him. Life, that phenomenon which the human mind has never succeeded in defining, has not its source in life.

NOTIONS OF THE IDEAL. 6

Chap. II. Tendencies Of Man

On the second glance, which he casts upon himself, man discovers in his being powers or tendencies :

Intellectual power, the object of which is truth, knowledge ; in other words, an acquaintance with that which exists ; (3)

Moral power, whose object is holiness or good ; we may also say, order ; (4)

The power of the affections, whose object is relations, union (5), and of which goodness is merely an application : to do good is to love ; (6)

The power whose object is enjoyment*, happiness ; (7)

The religious power, whose object is relation with a being, who realises the ideal of these elements of our nature, and who, in order to satisfy them, must be infinite in knowledge, in holiness, in love, and in happiness. (8)

Chap. III. Notions Op The Ideal

The ideal (of which it is important here to form a correct notion) is that which is given by the con-

* La force sensible. It is impossible to translate this phrase into English. Our language does not possess any adjective,, by which sensible can be appropriately rendered. It may be regarded as legitimate selfishness; when it occurs in the subsequent pages to avoid a paraphrase, the word sensitiveness will be used. — Trans.

b 2

4 NOTIONS OF THE IDEAL*

ception of intelligence alone, and of which there exists no measure or standard.

Thus, by what shall we measure the ideal of the just, the good, the beautiful, of happiness ? or what is the outward sign of its recognition ? How shall we be able to determine its limits ? It is the product and the conception of our minds alone.

Thus, again, which of us will furnish the ideal of human nature ? A perfect man is the mere abstraction of our minds ; a perfect man is determined only by intelligence.

The ideal, which cannot be measured, on the other hand serves as a measure ; it is the model, the original par excellence, by which we measure the value of that of which the ideal expresses or represents the supreme perfection.

Thus in order to determine the merit of a good man, or of a man of genius, we compare him with the perfect man, with the ideal of human perfection which our reason has formed, and we appreciate the individual in proportion to the near or nearer resemblance which he presents to this ideal.

The ideal is then a measure indispensable to our judgments, the only means we possess of determining the degree of imperfection in every thing which is not perfect.

All our appreciations are founded upon the measure of the ideal.

We measure degrees of knowledge by our ideal of infinite knowledge ;

Degrees of love by our ideal of love ;

Degrees of happiness by our ideal of happiness ; and we never judge or determine otherwise,

Thus, the notion of the ideal, as the sole standard of

ACTION OF THE WILL UPON THE TENDENCIES, O

our judgments, is found in every human mind, obscure and confused in those which are rude and uncultivated, clear and distinct in those which are delicate and refined.

This examination proves that the ideal cannot be a mere abstraction, and that it is right to assign it a value not only subjective but objective ; that is to say, that the ideal is not only a notion of our minds, a fancy of our imagination, a suggestion of our feelings, but that it is realised without us; that it exists; that it is a fact. If it was not so, all our judgments would have no other foundation than a non-entity, which implies a contradiction.

Chap. IV. Action Op The Will Upon The Tendencies

These powers, these tendencies in man, are in no case a matter of choice, or the product of his will ; his will is utterly powerless as to their existence. He is as he is, independently of himself, and he feels forcibly that he cannot make himself other than he is. As he does not preserve his existence, he is equally incapable of modifying or recasting it. " How," says Nicodemus to Jesus, " can a man enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" These elements of our being are then inherent in our nature ; these powers are innate ; these tendencies are foreign and anterior to the will, since they exist without its participation. (9)

The easy discovery, that the powers and tendencies of man are not the result of his will, leads us to determine the nature of the dominion which the will exercises over them. The power of the will here touches upon

6 ACTION OF THE WILL UPON THE TENDENCIES.

its powerlessness. It proves powerless, if the object be to withdraw from man that which it has not given him, to efface from his being an impress which it has not made, to destroy in him his natural tendencies and to renew his being, whilst it is powerful in the employment of his faculties, and in the direction of his tendencies. It is nothing as to the simple fact of the existence of these attributes ; in their multifarious and varied employment, it is every thing ; this is its domain. In other words, man disposes of himself ; he is not what he is, because he wills it, but he does what he wills ; he is compelled to be intellectual, moral, affectionate, susceptible of happiness, and religious ; but he is so, as it pleases him ; his will is free ; man is a free agent. (10)

This will, this power, this freedom of man (for freedom is only power), which cannot go so far as to rob him of the elements of his nature, does go so far as to disturb their equilibrium, to lead him to prefer and cultivate one faculty to the detriment of others, and even so far as to subject the religious to the inferior tendencies, though its province is to rule, because it is that which most nearly approximates the infinite. It is obvious that the liberty of a being, whatever it may be, consists precisely in the free use of the faculties inherent in its nature and of all its faculties or powers without exception. There is no question of more or less free ; freedom exists or it does not. Imagine the smallest hindrance ; freedom exists no more ; it is only possible on condition of being complete ; it is only real

on condition of being absolute If I carry the

slightest fragment, the smallest grain of shot, I march perhaps, but I do not march unimpeded, and wherever freedom appears suspended or violated by outward facts,

ACTION OF THE WILL UPON THE TENDENCIES. 7

if man thinks he acts, he is under the influence of an illusion ; he does not perform acts ; he only makes novements.

The preferences shown by our freedom or our will in favour of this or that faculty is explained by the fact, that these faculties or powers are distinct. There may /xist among them equilibrium, harmony, reciprocal assistance, there is never either natural confusion or artificial fusion. The search after truth, the practice of goodness, love, sensitiveness, and religiousness are all different tendencies : and when these tendencies of our being act in concert, the will is always able to deal with them, as science deals with light ; it presents the prism, resolves the luminous pencil, refracts the rays, and exhibits the splendid fragments at pleasure.

This distinction, this innate and fundamental separation, which makes our powers and tendencies co-existent elements, but neither confounded nor amalgamated, explains the fact, so indisputable and frequent as not to escape the most superficial observation, that in the cases of individuals, sometimes the one and sometimes the other predominates. One man possesses a powerful and active intelligence whilst his morality or his religiousness is very inert ; a second is moral without being religious ; whilst a third manifests a very high degree of religious feeling, and is at the same time very indulgent in his morality : one loves ardently, but at hazard and without rule, without modesty, without measure ; another is disinterested and generous, but his only merit is that of being serviceable to others. It is conceivable that all possible combinations of the five natural powers may be realised ; it frequently happens that different combinations are formed in the course of a single human life,

B 4

8 THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR TENDENCIES.

and hence the amazing variety of characters which the race of man affords and presents. (11)

Hence too all our faults ; these result from deficiencies of equilibrium alone; they spring from the usurped predominance of one or more of our tendencies over the rest, and sometimes of a single one. For, the slightest disturbance in the equilibrium of the balance leads in time to the decided preponderance of the scale.

Chap. V. The Objective Of Our Tendencies

The subjective or interior elements of man are opposed to the .objective or exterior, which correspond thereto ; or, in other words, if man considered as a subject is naturally endowed with such powers and tendencies, it follows of necessity, that there exist without his being, and within his reach, objects, which engage his powers, and excite his tendencies. It would be a contradiction to suppose that powers were exercised in a void and in relation to nothing ; it would be a contradiction to imagine that tendencies tended towards that which had no existence.

Gravitation is only possible on condition of being universal : the magnet cannot be single ; two, at least, are necessary ; there could be no attraction, if there was nothing which attracted.

The intellectual power of man proves that there must be an object for its exercise and study — knowledge : truth is something real ; it consists in the exact appreciation of things which exist. (12)

The moral faculty of man proves the existence of a rule, a law, by which his will ousrht to be governed.(13)

THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR TENDENCIES. V

The duty of man is something positive. If his will were his law, if his will was not subject to a rule which it never made, his will would never experience either struggle or regret. But it often struggles against the deed before its perpetration (14) ; it often feels affliction and regret after its completion : there is therefore a law.

Remorse — that mysterious impression which in its very essence is involuntary — remorse, the natural mourning of virtue, the forced vexation at successful evil, furnishes a demonstration of the law ; all sadness is involuntary.

The existence of the affections proves the existence of beings which excite and stimulate them. The necessity of loving supposes objects to love, and from this faculty results the great and holy law of mutuality, of reciprocity. Beings endowed with passions and affections are necessarily dependant upon and responsible to one another. (15) Family life, social spirit, municipal rights, patriotism, universal brotherhood, hereditary ties, or by whatever name this reciprocity may be designated, all spring from the existence of our affections, which indissolubly bind our fates to those of our fellow-men. Intellectual, or moral, or religious solitude is no less impossible than that of the affections, and we shall see how pregnant this idea is.

These remarks are sufficient to destroy all that superstitious admiration which is felt for the life of anchorites, and to prove how contrary to nature it is. Hermits are monsters. (16)

The existence of sensitiveness proves the possibility, the lawfulness of happiness ; man would be content to be, if well being appeared to him, something which implied a contradiction ; despair would be his portion) and

B 5

10 THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR TENDENCIES.

not enjoyment ; he would regard misery as his natural condition.

The impression of the beautiful, one of the sources of happiness in man, is nothing but the harmonious product of his powers, the satisfaction of his tendencies in their equilibrium. The beautiful increases or decreases, and pleases, all things being equal, precisely in proportion to the number of those tendencies which find a simultaneous satisfaction.

Thus the Apollo Belvidere possesses a very high degree of beauty, because it represents, in perfect harmony, the satisfaction of the sensitive and the moral power ; it is the type of humanity taken in a moment of moral repose and of sublime happiness.

The certain existence of self and of the powers and tendencies which animate it prove the existence of not-self ; the subjective proves the reality of the objective, because our tendencies aim at objects without us, and seek their aliment, their means and their gratification, in something exterior to ourselves. It is certain they cannot tend towards anything except realities. (17)

Does it not seem indisputable, that the phenomena or appearances which present themselves to us, and which bring all our tendencies into play, suppose something which appears, something which exists, presents itself to us in a certain manner, and under another aspect doubtless to beings differently organised. It by no means follows that we are certain of knowing the essence, the real nature of those objects whose appearances strike us, whose attractions engage and stimulate us ; the only result is the reality of their existence. (18)

Hence the double aspect under which the not-self presents itself; hence its double use; it is a means (19),

THE OBJECTIVE OF OUR TENDENCIES. .11

an instrument, and often an obstacle which promotes or stops our progress on the way towards the infinite. And the manner in which the not-self so frequently becomes an obstacle instead of always being a means, and is opposed rather than administers to the normal satisfaction of our tendencies, is a great mystery, which will be elucidated in the subsequent part of these inquiries.

The easy discovery, that the not-self becomes an obstacle to self is moreover a proof of the reality of not-self; for all that operates as a hinder ance to me is not of me.

This remark tends to make us think, that our own bodies are comprehended in this not-self, (see Book I. Chap, xvi.), for our bodies often present obstacles, and in time will fail us ; they often frustrate intentions the most energetically resolved, betray our activity, so to speak, at the most critical moments, and badly accord with the aspirations of our thoughts.

We are displeased that the not-self should present obstacles, and it is in this feeling, which man always experiences, even without analysing it, and sometimes without even being aware of it, that is to be found the explanation of that love of the marvellous, so powerful, so credulous, and so general. The marvellous is nothingmore than the fancied conquest of self over not-self— the imaginary empire which self assumes" over the world, of which it is not master.

And it may be said, that all knowledge consists in the just distinction between self and not-self, which explains to us the manner in which the realities of knowledge dissipate the chimaeras of the marvellous.

In this not-self the whole of humanity is comprised except self and the proof of the reality of not-self deduced from the tendencies of self towards what is

12 LAW OF DIFFERENCES AND OF RECIPROCITY.

without, and of the fact that these tendencies meet there either a hindrance or a means, applies with still more precision to the existence of mankind. It is towards mankind principally, that our affections tend, which they

could not do, if humanity did not exist Pleasant

and affecting thought ! I am sure of the existence of my fellow-men, because I love them.

Chap. VI. Law Of Differences And Of Reciprocity

In humanity every thing which is true of the individual is true of the race, and in like manner, what is true of all, is true of each. Our fellow -men are our fellow-men in all respects ; the true knowledge of human nature admits of no privileges.

Individual differences in capacity, temperament, health, lot, length of life, and manner of death are necessary to the common destiny ; but these differences do not raise or degrade any man above or below the level of those principles which regulate our existence.

If, in this book, we write not fables, but a history, it is the history of every individual.

All men are men ; but all men are different (20), and these natural differences are also as old as humanity ; history represents Cain and Abel, the two first-born of men, as different.

The outward fact of the existence of mankind modifies the inward condition of each man, and modifies the whole of that condition from the cradle to the grave, and even beyond, in immortality. (21) It is only by abstraction, or hypothesis, that a man can be regarded as the sole existing being of his kind. Man in or* language:. 13

a state of absolute solitude would be no longer man ; for to exist as a man is to exist among mankind, is to have fellow-men ; it is to be one amongst many. An isolated human life would no longer be a human life.

From this double existence, both individual and collective, which man possesses, there results the law of reciprocity, already recognised. (22)

This law is nothing but the expression of the established fact, that all mankind react upon the individual, and the individual upon the whole race.

The law of reciprocity is either simultaneous and contemporaneous, or hereditary and successive.

Men form members of this social union during their lives and beyond ; during their lives with the whole of their generation, and beyond it with all their posterity. (23)

All of us hold in our hands the same thread to guide us ; it winds across and around the whole globe, and stretches throughout all ages.

Chap. VII. Op Language

The simultaneous existence of the human self and not-self, or, in other words, of the individual and the race, necessitates a means of relation, of communication between the faculties and tendencies of the various individuals ; there was needed an electric chain, always ready, responsive to every spark.

The tendencies of beings endowed with affections cannot be conceived without a means of communication.

The means of establishing this relation is language.

Without the faculty of speech, man is possible; man-

14 OF LANGUAGE.

kind is not. To suppose the whole family of man deaf and dumb would be the mere play of an unsound imagination.

All our powers or tendencies, except religiousness, require this faculty; but it is more necessary to some than to others.

Language is indispensable, in the highest degree, to the intellectual faculty ; it is that one of our powers which makes the greatest and the most fruitful use of speech.

It is indispensable, too, to the gratification of our emotions ; that mutual silence, which the strongest feelings sometimes impose, is only a momentary powerlessness which will afterwards be explained.

It is less needful to our sensitiveness ; great joys and pure gratifications do not seek for expansion without, at least in the first moments of enjoyment ; deep grief is also silent; it is silent sometimes even to falling asleep. According to the beautiful expression of the sacred historian, the Apostles fell asleep for sorrow, under the olive trees of Gethsemane.

The moral tendency has still less need of the gift of language ; well-doing does not consist in words.

The religious tendency alone makes no demand upon this faculty ; man without it would be a religious being ; it is not by speaking that he aspires towards the infinite.

It will be thus seen to what extent religion is spiritual, inasmuch as the most spiritual means of communication is useless to it.

Mental prayers are the best.

Language is of the earth ; religion is from heaven.

To regard acts of worship as an objection against this exalted privilege of religion, which places it above the

OF LANGUAGE. 15

need of language, would be to confound religion and worship, that is to say, the essence and the form. In acts of worship the affections avail themselves of the use of speech ; and it is only by the instrumentality of language that social worship becomes possible.

Language, destined to serve as the dragoman or interpreter of human tendencies, is a perpetual demonstration of the existence of not-self.

The principal advantage of this employment of language is to carry the power of the affections to the extent of social union. (24)

The first province in which the affections are displayed, is the family ;

The second, society.

Language renders society possible. (25)

Here one of our preceding ideas again finds a place ; religion has no need of speech, but language renders worship possible, which is merely religion in its social form.

Language could not serve for these purposes, except it was as little material as possible, if the expression may be allowed. The powers themselves being spiritual, it was necessary that their means of communication should be as conformable as possible to their nature ; and, in fact, of all material things with which we are acquainted, language is the most spiritual.

As regards sound, it belongs to the material ; as respects language, to the mind.

Language is sound become intellectual ; it is utterance rendered significant. (26)

Words are at the same time sounds and ideas.

Listen to an unknown tongue : the sound alone reaches the ear. (27)

Listen to a language understood : the sound reaches

16 REFUTATION OF THREE GREAT ERRORS.

the ear, and the idea with it, inseparable from one another*

It does not depend upon ourselves to separate them, and to receive the sound without the idea, or the idea without the sound.

Considered in this point of view, language is a perpetual demonstration of spiritualism ; it is placed on the unappreciable limits of the two worlds — the physical and intellectual ; it binds the subjective to the objective ; intellectual and simple within us, material or multiform or complex without ; for, several words combine to form a single idea.

And this admirable means of communication, so simple, so easy, so pregnant, so rapid — which is one of the conditions of social union, and insures for ever the transition from the intellectual to the material world — this bond between self and not-self depends upon the play of a few organs, and the emission of a little air !

Finally, the difference of language serves to maintain the division of mankind into nations, — a division still for a long time indispensable to the destinies of our race. (28)

Chap. VIII. Refutation Of Three Great Errors

The simple investigation of man, which we have just made, will suffice to remove from our path three great errors, which obstruct many minds in their progress on the way of truth : —