The law of laws; the overshadowing power of God ...

Contents

PREFATORY LETTER Page VII

Chapter I. God

Origin and development of the idea of God.— The Law discovered which makes it possible for the nature and method of God to be clearly presented and understood. — The inner meaning of the Bible and its application to the present stage of mental unfoldment. — The roots of all Hebrew words define quality and action, process and condition, made known in the working of the Creative Power in obedience to natural laws.— Thus, in its highest sense, the Bible is in harmony with all scientific truth.— Seed-sowing and the insertion of shoots from a Higher Order of Existence into a prepared lower state, the Universal Method ot Creation, the knowledge of which reveals the missing link in every line of development. — The nature of God as shown from the radical meaning of the Hebrew words Elohim, Jehovah and El Shaddai. — The doctrine of the Trinity explained as symbolizing a philosophical and scientific truth, which is made plain by an analysis of the words, Father, Spirit, Son Page 1

Chapter II. Adam, The Garden Of Eden, Eve

The First Day or Age of Creation in the commencement and progressive development of human consciousness.

Adam not the name of an individual, but of a species, and descriptive of the dual nature of man, also of the method of his gradual creation from a lower to a higher state. — The supposed perfection of the first man a prophecy of what was realized in Christ and is to be in all mankind. — The Garden of Eden, representative of the prepared animal soul and form, with all its faculties, functions and members, in association with which the soul of man was placed as a higher germ of existence.— The allegorical account of the making of woman from the rib of man describes a new state reached in his unfoldment.— Eve, Woman, Female, Help-Meet, Wife, different terms used to designate and personify the receptive state of the soul of man, which makes it possible for him to be Overshadowed by a Higher Power, and through which all increase in mentality has come.— Marriage as a sacrament, why its highest ideal, as typified in Adam and Eve, has not been realized, and how it is to be Page 9

Chapter III

The First Day or Age of Man's Creation. — Continued.

evil: its' origin, nature, purpose.

As shown in all departments of the universe and by the real significance of the words of Genesis in reference to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Serpent, and the Temptation and Fall of Man; all of which are shown to refer to physiological and psychological processes and conditions through which the human soul was of necessity compelled to pass. — The driving of man from the Garden of Eden, a process of Evolution from his primitive animal condition. — The Cherubim and the Tree of Life interpreted Page 19

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Chapter IV. Cain, Abel, Seth

Conclusion of the first day or age of creation in the commencement and progessive development of human consciousness.

The story of Cain and Abel a personification of the eternal conflict between spirit and matter, heaven and earth, the human and the animal.— It is representative of what transpires in every soul when the lower natures predominates over the higher and deprives it of its life and power.— The Line of Cain, and the Line of Seth, explained historically and psychologically.— The Genesaical account of the First Day of Creation interpreted etymologieally and shown to be descriptive of the unfoldment of the soul of man from the state of consciousness marked by Adam to that represented by Noah Page 32

Chapter V. The Noachian Age, — The Second Dat Of Creation

The repentance of Jehovah shown to be a creative action to bring about through Noah, a state reached by the soul, a Flood or downpouring of power to cause a change and advancement in human mentality.— Shem, Ham and Japhet represent the Spiritual, Physical and Intellectual natures of Man, as shown by their names and by the history of their descendants in Judsea, Egypt and Greece.— The Ark, a symbol of the microcosm, the human mind, into which enters the essential nature of all things.— Babel represents the principle of race-mixture, •which, acts in conjunction with the Law of Overshadowing for the development of man.— Intepretation of the account of the second day of creation and its application to the cycle 01 the soul's unfoldment that is marked by Noah and his sons Page 37

Chapter VI. The Age Of Abraham, — The Third Day Of Creation

Faith, the typical characteristic of the Abrahamic era.— True faith is not emotion or belief, but an organic consciousnes, perception and understanding, which unites the soul with the realm of causation.— It is the/oundation of all growth into higher knowledge and power. — The life of Abraham is the record of the experience of every soul in the development of the faculty or attribute which he personified.— The Genesaical account of the third day's creation shown to be descriptive of the sonl's unfoldment in the Abrahamic age Page 43

Chapter VII. The Fourth Day Of Creation, The Age Of Jacob, Or Israel

Brain-structure, progressively created by the Overshadowing Power of God, is the body through which the soul makes known its powers.— Change in quality as well as size and shape of cerebral substance as man is developed in the orders of physical, intellectual and spiritual growth.— Jacob or Israel represents prophetically the perfected Mental Principle, as shown by the meaning of the names.— The twelve Sons ot Jacob, or twelve Tribes of Israel, represent the twelve fundamental faculties of the mind, as demonstrated by the etymological signification of each. — The fourth day of creation interpreted.— The lights and stars placed as faculties in the firmament of the mind. — The constellations of the starry heavens archetypes of the localized luminaries of the mental world Page 47

Chapter VIII

THE AGE OF MOSES AND THE LAW, — THE - FIFTH DAY OF CREATION.

Significance of the Egyptian bondage of the Israelites.— The fifth day of creation, when the waters are caused to bring forth life, descriptive of the mental unfoldment in the age typed by Moses, whose name indicates a state of the soul drawn from the waters of transition to inspire the Law.— The travail of every soul pictured in the deliverance of the children of Israel from the rule of Pharaoh. — Law defined.— Interpretation of the one commandment which includes all others. — Typical import of the Jewish ceremonial. — Elucidation of the truth conveyed by the account of the stopping of the sun and moon in their course by the command of Joshua.— The fifth day of creation interpreted Page 54

Chapter IX

THE FINISHING OF THE TEMPLE, — THE SIXTH DAY OR AGE IN THE CREATION OF MAN.

The Temple a Type of Man Perfected.— Interpretation of its symbols.— David and Solomon the typical characters of this epoch in the Jewish Line. — The dispersion of the ten tribes and captivity of the two tribes, in obedience to the universal plan of unfoldment.— The purpose of the conquests by Cyrus, Darius and Alexander, as a preparation for the coming of Christ.- The typical expansion of the intellect in Greece the fulfillment of the prophecy, I will enlarge Japhet.— The work accomplished by the universal domination of the Roman Empire; of what it was symbolic— Union of physical, intellectual and spiritual states preparatory to the Overshadowing of the Most High.— Joseph and Mary represent the physiological preparation that had been made for the begetting of Christ.- His conception and birth took place in obedience to the Law of Laws, and all other laws.— The work of creation completed individually in Jesus as the type of the universal perfection of humanity. — Etymological and psychological interpretation of the account of the sixth day of creation, in which man is finished in the image of God Page 62

Chapter X

JESUS THE CHRIST. THE BIRTH AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY,

PREPARATORY TO A SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS.

The New Testament of the same two-fold nature as the Old. — Interpretation of the subjective and objective import of the leading events in the life of Jesus. — Thirty years preparation.— Fasting and temptation.- Sermon on the Mount.— The Lord's Prayer. — Choosing of the disciples. — Simon Peter, the rock of reason and understanding, the only foundation for the real church of Christ. — Orderly preparation in humanity for the second coming of Christ, in the souls of men. — The miracles, or signs of power; their real nature and highest significance Page 73

CHAPTER XL

THE TRUE ATONEMENT FOR SIN AND DISEASE.

Sacrifice, typical and real. — The shedding of blood, atonement, pardon, remission and sin defined. — Sin shown to be an organic lack of understanding of law and obedience to it.— Atonement a creative process acting in obedience to the laws of life and mind.— Interpretation of the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, —Origin and nature of disease.— The law of polarity explained. — Its operation in the physical system. — The universal principle of cure. — True Christian Science and Metaphysical Healing, contrasted with that which is so-called. — Vital correspondence of mental faculties with bodily organs.— Physiological regeneration explained Page 86

Chapter XII

THE PRESENT CONDITION REACHED, AND THE FUTURE PROSPECT, IN man's PROGRESSIVE CREATION.

The outlook over the world to-day.— Organic status of the savage and the negro.— Degree of development reached by the Hindus and Chinese.— Condition of Mohammedan countries.— Three stages in the unfoldment of Christianity, physical, intellectual, spiritual.— Its physical and intellectual degrees represented by Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.— Its spirit and truth yet to be made known.— Preparation in the United States for a higher order of life.— Signs and forms perfected, but no spirituality as yet.— The abstract principles set forth in this work are being rendered concrete.— How, and by whom.— Interpretation of the symbolisms of the book of Revelation.— Hell and Heaven defined as subjective states of consciousness of embodied or disembodied souls. — The plan and practical utility of this work in the establishment of a new order of life, in which health, wisdom and goodness shall prevail Page 102

Single copies of this work, The Law of Laws, containing the ten parts of the New Life Journal as originally designed, sent to any address, post-paid, for $1.00. With chart and plates, $1 50. When several copies are desired, a reduction will be made.

The Overshadowing Power of God, containing a fuller statement of the principles outlined in this pamphlet, and a history of the experience which led to the apprehension of the Law of Laws, in one volume, octavo, 550 pages, elegantly bound, written in verse, with map and illustrations, post-paid, $2.50.

Prefatory Letter.

We are not unmindful of the many difficulties that arise to prevent a proper understanding of the Principles presented in this work. It commences where 'all other advanced lines of thought terminate. It complements and is a vital part of all known truth ; and yet it is unencumbered by references to or citations from any human authority, (with the exception of giving from the best lexicographers the etymologies of the original Hebrew and Greek words) because in its scientific and historical aspect, the patient student can readily verify its statements and conclusions for himself. Whereas, concerning its higher application, in the analysis of the condition of the human soul, past, present and future, the standard to judge it by is the consciousness of each one to whose knowledge it is brought ; and for him there can be no other criteria of its truth. It makes no difference if one has never before heard anything pertaining to these subjects, or however humble and obscure may have been his life, or active and renowned, of whatever nationality or belief ; the causation has been in the past, and the only question is. Has the soul in its travail down the ages had sufficient organic preparation in signs, symbols, and forms, so that at some period in the process of its coming forth, the Power of the Most High has placed within it that germ which enables it to breathe, and feel, and see, and think and do, in a new and higher life. If so, it is prepared to perceive the relations of things as they are, which is to know the truth. This necessitates always the knowledge of Law, some fundamental principle whose operation is fixed, orderly and enduring.

When we call to mind the ages man lived upon this planet, and delved into the earth, before he was able to read the record written in the rocks by the finger of the Almighty, telling of the gradual processes employed, and the immense periods of time required, in its formation, it no longer seems incredible, as otherwise it might, that learned theologians and philologists should have critically analyzed and compared every word and letter in the original Scriptures, and yet never caught a glimpse of the real significance of those root etymologies which in this work are shown to reveal the same orderly method of creation in the domain of mind that Geology unfolds in the realm of matter. The heavens have been searched,

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and the component forces and factors of earth and air and sea, closely investigated and carefully classified, disclosing the many and mighty fixed principles operating through nature in all its forms. For the performance of this work, grand and necessary as it has been, intellectual perception is all that has been required ; but for the discovery and apprehension of the Law of Laws, a spiritual perception is essential.

In elucidating the Law of Laws, the great mysteries and mooted questions of the religious and scientific world are solved and settled. The origin of man, and his evolution ; the reason of the differences of races, languages and religions ; the true nature of the new birth and redemption ; the condition of the disembodied soul ; heaven, hell, and probation after death, are presented so that the method of God in the progressive creation of man is as easily understood as the first principles of any science. The difficulties that have attended the Healing Art are also explained, and the way opened not only for the curing of disease, but for the avoidance of it, with the surety of transmitting to the offspring freedom from it ; and virtue instead of sin be propagated from generation to generation in the coming age.

The birth, nature, and mission of Christ are demonstrated to be the fulfillment of all natural law. The action of the Overshadowing Power of God is made plain as the missing Causative Link, which makes Science religious and Religion scientific. All the labor and striving of men and nations in the past, as portrayed in every department of human history, are shown as an outwrought expression of the inworking of the Divine Power, preparing the foundation, broad and strong, in the physical, intellectual and moral natures of man, for that glorious superstructure, the Spiritual, which in the coming age is to be formed.

The present oncoming of the Universal Christ, in the souls of men, is shown as the way of the ultimate redemption of the race from the still unfinished state which is expressed in the sickness and sin, poverty, crime and tribulation of mankind. And the reason why the name of Christ is given a more prominent position than that of Buddha, Confucius or Socrates, is not to further the idolatrous worship of the individual Jesus, but to demonstrate the nature and method of that Creative Wisdom and Power of which he was the exponent iii an order and degree not made known by any other soul. The characters deified by the ancients, and those reverenced as incarnate gods by millions of human beings to-day, were prepared to convey intellectual and moral truth and power to the world ; and nobly they performed their work. But the ordained

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mission of Christ was to reveal the laws of another and still higher kingdom, — the Spiritual, — differing in kind from all other states of consciousness. What have heretofore been considered the mysteries of this kingdom are in the present work treated as we would deal with a problem in mathematics, mechanics, or chemistry, where the relations of things are numbered and definite, and the results sure and unchangeable.

The mere philosphy of the system we would deem of little value, were it not for the possibility, nay, certainty^ which it affords, of a practical, orderly, scientific realization of the highest ideals that have been entertained in the past. Therefore we invite especial, attention to the concluding chapter, in which the principles of a New Life are set forth in their application to the present and the future.

Coupled with the blessings promised unto those who should seek first a higher kingdom, Christ declared \\i2X persecution should attend their path. In the blood of crucifixion and martyrdom the history of the planting of his church was written. Famished in the desert, frozen in caves, burnt at the stake, and torn to pieces by wild beasts on the floor of the amphitheater, its early apostles and founders paid with their lives the price of exemption from like torment for the generations then unborn. But as organic changes in nature are only wrought by centuries of gradual growth, the nominal adherents to the different phases of Christianity vied with each other in the punishment of those deemed heretics and innovators, while at the same time waging wars, bitter, deadly and prolonged, among themselves; until, through the refining process of the ages, the scene of action and place of combat has been transferred from the objective field of battle to the inner plane of thought. And in the coming forth of that nature within us which understands and loves spiritual things, we are made to realize such opposition as we have never conceived of before, making known the hatred and animosity of the natural man, and his aversion to regeneration and judgment. If we did not apprehend this, we would be unfitted to contend with that enemy which is designated, in symbolic language, as the adversary of the Creator himself, and which expresses its serpent-like venomous nature, in every manner of persecution and slander, using as its instrumentalities all undeveloped souls it can move upon and cause to think that they are doing God's service by seeking in every possible way to prevent the establishment of a higher order.

We have continual evidence that the same spirit which actuated those who maligned and persecuted the primitive Christians, is rife to-day. The highest inspirations of the first followers of Christ were deemed insanity, their noblest motives misinterpreted and made to appear mercenary, and their purest purpose vile; their most sacred rites were likened unto idolatrous orgies, and their love-feast and commemorative supper was called a bacchanalian revel. So is it at the present time; but now, as then, the truth is its own sufficient justification to those who have eyes to see and ears to understand it.

Although the work of pioneering has been so arduous and painful, it has been well performed, and no one else will need to undergo the fearful contest in mentality and suffering of the soul, through which we have been called to pass, in order that there might be a death of old conditions and relations, and from that death the resurrection of a New Life, with blessings to be given to others, of wisdom, health and happiness.

Therefore we here repeat the call put forth in the concluding part of this work, to those who are or may become vitally interested in the attainment of a spiritual state, with its concomitants of physical health, mental vigor, soul unfoldment, and provisions in every department worthy of children of God, — Come where the Power that has caused this to be written can freely bestow upon you its bounties. Come and assist, in whatever way God has given you power, in perfecting the organization of a New Order of Life, in which the loftiest ideals of purity, goodness and truth, shall be actualized, and opportunity afforded for the harmonious development and exercise of every department of science and art, knowledge and industry. Come and take part in framing a constitution suitable for the government of a colony to be established in the best locality, under the most favorable conditions, for the bringing forth and perpetuity of a higher physical and mental state, in which the manworship and fanatacism, selfishness and disorder, sickness and sin, that have entered into all other communities, shall have no place. For it is to perfect the highest states already attained in political, social and moral unfoldment; and only those can enter it who have been true and faithful, upright and orderly, in every relation in which they have been placed, but have been unable to actualize their highest ideals, and are sick of sin and its attendants. There are many such already waiting, whose hearts are willing and whose hands are strong, to labor for humanity in this vineyard which we trust will soon be planted, where each one shall have spiritualized the gift that God has given him.

The past unfoldment of the human mind has been toward its organization in physical, iiitellectual and moral states; and the method of God in its creation thus far has been expressed in the aggregation and increase of material wealth and mental power,

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outwardly manifesting the inward growth of the soul in its earthlyrelations. But as this accumulation of wordly riches has gone on, there has also been induced upon the mind, the imagery, in signs and forms, of a Kingdom differing in kind from all that has been before it, which instead of gathering to itself, shall exist for the purpose of giving. Whatever the riches or power possessed by the soul endowed with this nature, it must exercise its life, by giving without stint as its God shall furnish it opportunity, and in wisdom direct it. The highest forms of benevolence existing to-day are but feeble symbols, preparatory to this kingdom of the Spiritual. The imagery of the signs and forms of this nature has brought the race up from barbarism to the civilization of to-day ; and now, in the coming forth of the truth itself, no strength can accrue only as it is actualized in deeds.

Therefore, we call upon all who have a consciousness of the truths set forth in this work, to unite with us in furthering the cause it advocates, by helping to sustain the Institution for healing and instruction, and to secure a tract of land where, on a larger scale, provision may be made for co-operative labor and unfoldment.

The power of God must be make known by those who till the ground, perfect the vegetable, grain and fruit, and care for and improve the different kinds of stock. Science and art must contribute all their forces for the furtherance of happiness in every branch of material life, in obedience to the will and laws of Him who placed us in these relations. He who delves in the earth and causes it to yield a choicer product of nutrition, adapted in quality and kind to meet the needs of a purified physical state, performs as sacred an office, and one as worthy of respect, as he who labors mentally and gives forth law and truth for others' needs. The duties of the work-shop and the kitchen, the garden and the nursery, must, in the new life colony, be performed by those whose cunning skill, faithful industry, and patient wisdom, manifest God's incarnation as fully as the toil of those who in study, school-room, and lecture-hall, elucidate His laws. That Kingdom is to commence, in its infancy, in which equity, wisdom and virtue shall be as sure and indispensable as are sunlight and air.

As we have the abiding evidence that we were prepared to discover and systematize the abstract principles outlined in these pages, and to become the living demonstration of their truth, with power to give to others the healing and instruction we have ourselves received ; so do we also feel assured that there are those, many in number, both men and women, whom the All-wise Father has en-

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trusted with possessions of silver and gold, houses and lands, to aid in founding a colony whose government, society and religion, based on the laws written in the book of nature, in the constitution of man, and in the word of God, shall endure as long as this planet is inhabitable. It is to these that we send special greeting, with desire that they shall give the subject a careful personal investigation, that all matters of detail connected with it may be ascertained, and, with their aid and supervision, the most feasible plan adopted and pursued. From those who cannot soon convene with us, we solicit correspondence, and shall hold ourselves in readiness to answer fully any and all questions that may be asked.

At our Institution we shall continue to prove that all curable cases of disease are more speedily and thoroughly restored to health under our system of treatment than by any other, while very many deemed incurable, are made well. Our charges for the same will be in no case sufficient to debar any one who needs and desires our assistance, from receiving it. This Institution has been established for the treatment and cure of all forms of nervous and chronic diseases, and for the elucidation of the laws and principles governing the nature and action of the mind. It presents features which render it positively unique, without a competiter, as to the combination of factors that are successfully brought to bear in the cure of disease. No labor has been spared that its inmates shall have greater home comforts and better facilities in every way for getting well than can be obtained anywhere else. Special arrangements will be made with those who come only for instruction, while at all times we will ©heerfully welcome and entertain those who wish to see what God has wrought with us, and through us can . perform.

Address all communications to

The Remedial Institute,

537 Broadway,

Quincy, Illinois.

THE OVERSHADOWING POWER OF GOD.

Chapter I. God

Origin and development of the idea of God.— The Law discovered which makes it possible for the nature and methodj^of God to be clearly presented and understood. — The inner meaning of the Bible and its application to the present stage of mental unfoldment. — The roots of all Hebrew wor.ds de^neZ, quality and action, process and condition, made known in the working of the Creative Power in obedience to natural laws. — Thus, in its highest sense, the Bible is in harmony with all scientific truth.— Seed-sowing and the insertion of Shoots from a Higher Order of Existence into a prepared lower state, the Universal Method of Creation, the knowledge of which reveals the missing link in every line of development.— The nature of God as shown from the radical meaning of the Hebrew words Elohim, Jehovah and El Shaddai.— The doctrine of the Trinity explained as symbolizing a philosophical and scientific truth, which is made plain by an analysis of the words, Father, Spirit, Son.

1. Some degree of consciousness of the existence of a Supreme Being is an innate property of the human soul.

2. As the development of man has gone on from age to age, the nature of the God-idea has advanced from the simple fetichism of a barbarous people to the elaborate theology of Christendom.

3. Nor has this progress been the product of what is called natural evolution. Each step in the enlargement of the conception of the Divine has been the legitimate fruit of a new graft inserted into the Tree of Life.

4. All the transplanting, the budding and the pruning, of which the mind of man has been recipient in the ages past, has brought it to-day where for the first time the Nature of God, and His Orderly Method in Creation, can be as positively presented and as clearly understood as anything in the domain of exact science, because of the discovery and generalization of the Law of Overshadowing, which is as fundamental in the realm of mind as is the principle of Gravitation in the domain of matter, and which is declared and corroborated by the Bible, by all human history, and by every world, kingdom and order of the created universe.

5. As in the past, whenever new truth has come to the world in reference to those things called spiritual, the agency of an Intelligence beyond the finite mind has been acknowledged and its work termed revelation, so now again is there apparent that Fatherhood of God which always makes provision for His child as fast as its soul-growth demands.

6. Feeble symbolism and formal abstractions can no longer satisfy the cravings of the most unfolded minds. Although unvoiced, the prayer from many a soul goes forth for knowl-

THE LAW OF LAWS.

edge concerning that which hitherto has been unknown.

I. In answer to this call the literal veil is being lifted that the spirit and the truth may shine forth from every word of that matchless book, the Bible.

8. Those Scriptures, given so long ago in Hebrew and in Greek, have thus far done most perfectly the work for which they were intended. But being the provision of an Almighty God for the eternal nurture of a progressive creature it follows of necesssity that as man develops mentally the Bible must continue to present more and more the proofs of its Divine authorship.

9 . Hence at the present time,when man has descended into the earth, fathomed the sea and explored the heavens, finding everywhere the manifestations of Order and of Law, if any written record is still to be accepted by him as the workmanship of the same Power and Wisdom that caused the worlds above to course their spheres, and that brought forth and sustains the myriad forms of life upon the earth, that record must present to him the working of unchanging laws.