Chapter IV: Introduction (3)

This monstrous wrong is regarded by some as having unconsciously completed the salvation of the race; because of the consummation of sacrifice, and because of the suffering of the innocent, which it involved. The Jewish sacrificial system, and the priestly ceremony of the scapegoat, seem to lead up to that idea; which was elaborated by St. Paul with immense genius, and taught by S. Augustine.

Others attach more saving efficacy to the life, the example, and the teachings, as recorded in the Gospels; and all agree that they are important.

But in fact the whole is important: and at the foot of the Cross there has been a perennial experience of relief and renovation. Sin being the sense of imperfection, disunion, lack of harmony, the struggle among the members that St. Paul for all time expressed;—there is usually associated with it a sense of impotence, a recognition of the impossibility of achieving peace and unity in one’s own person, a feeling that aid must be forthcoming from a higher source. It is this feeling which enables the spectacle of any noble self-sacrificing human action to have an elevating effect, it is this which gropes after the possibilities of the highest in human nature, it is a feeling which for large tracts of this planet has found its highest stimulus and completest satisfaction in the life and death of Christ.

The willingness of such a Being to share our nature, to live the life of a peasant, and to face the horrible certainty of execution by torture, in order personally to help those whom he was pleased to call his brethren, is a race-asset which, however masked and overlaid with foreign growths, yet gleams through every covering and suffuses the details of common life with fragrance.

This conspicuously has been a redeeming, or rather a regenerating, agency;—for by filling the soul with love and adoration and fellow-feeling for the Highest, the old cravings have often been almost hypnotically rendered distasteful and repellent, the bondage of sin has been loosened from many a spirit, the lower entangled self has been helped from the slough of despond and raised to the shores of a larger hope, whence it can gradually attain to harmony and peace.

The invitation to the troubled soul—“Come, and find rest”—has reference, not to relief from sin alone, but to all restlessness and lack of trust. The Atonement removes the feeling of dislocation; it induces a tranquil sense of security and harmony,—an assurance of union with the Divine will.

Every form of Christianity aims at salvation for the race and for each individual, both soul and body; but different versions differ as to the means most efficient to this end. Varieties of Christianity can be grouped under the symbolic names, Paul, James, Peter, and John; with the dominating ideas of vicarious sacrifice, human effort, Church ordinance, and loving-kindness, respectively.

In the coldest system of nomenclature these four chief varieties may be styled, _legal_, _ethical_, _ecclesiastical_, and _emotional_, respectively. More favourably regarded, the dominating ideas may be classified thus:—

1. Faith in a divine scheme of redemption.

2. Simple life, social service, honesty, and virtue.

3. Spiritual sustenance by utilisation of means of
grace.

4. Obedience, unworldliness, trust, and love.

With the treatment of these great themes, sectarian differences begin: differences which seem beyond our power to reconcile. We need not dwell on the differences, we would rather emphasise the mass of agreement. Probably there is an element of truth in every view that has long been held and found helpful by human beings, however overlaid with superstition it may in some cases have become; and probably also the truth is far from exhausted by any one estimate of the essential feature of a Life which most of us can agree to recognise as a revelation of the high-water-mark of manhood, and a manifestation of the human attributes of God.

None of the above partially overlapping subdivisions of Christianity equals in importance the overshadowing and dominating theory emphasised in the above creed: namely, the idea of a veritable incarnation of Divine Spirit—a visible manifestation of Deity immanent in humanity. The facts of the life, testified to by witnesses and idealised by philosophers and saints, have been transmitted down the centuries by a continuous Church; though with a mingling of superstition and error.

At present the process of interpretation has been accompanied by a sad amount of discord and hostility, to the scandal of the Church; but the future of religion shall not always be endangered by suspicion and intolerance and narrowness among professed disciples of truth. There must come a time when first a nation, and afterwards the civilised world, shall awake and glory in the light of the risen sun:—

“—A sun but dimly seen
Here, till the mortal morning mists of earth
Fade in the noon of heaven, when creed and race
Shall bear false witness, each of each, no more,
But find their limits by that larger light,
And overstep them, moving easily
Thro’ after-ages in the love of Truth,
The truth of Love.”

The emphasis laid by the above explanation on the conception of the human nature incorporated into Godhead, is appropriate to this country and to the Western World generally; but we thereby imply no abuse of the religions of the East, in their proper place, any more than of the religions of other planets. Silence concerning them is not disrespectful. It is not to be supposed that any one world has a monopoly of the Grace of God; nor does it exhaust every plan of salvation. In estimating the value of another dispensation, or of any ill-understood religion (and no one can perfectly understand and appreciate more than one religion, if that, to the full), the old test is the only valid one: Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?

* * * * *

The third paragraph speaks of our progress along the Way of Truth to goodness and beauty of Life, and of the assistance constantly vouchsafed to our own efforts in that direction. It is not by our own efforts alone that we can succeed, for we cannot tell what lies before us, and we lack wisdom to foresee the consequences of alternative courses of action,—one of which nevertheless we instinctively feel to be right. Acts of self-will, and fanatical determination, and impatience, may operate in the wrong direction altogether; and effort so expended may be worse than wasted. But if we submit ourselves wholly to a beneficent Power, and seek not our own ends but the ends of the Guiding Spirit of all things, we shall obtain peace in ourselves, and may hope to be used for purposes beyond what we can ask or think. This kind of service is what, in its several degrees, will be recognised by the Master as “faithful”; and it is by being faithful in a few things that hereafter we shall be found worthy of many things, and shall enter into the joy of our Lord.

By the Holy Spirit is meant the living and immanent Deity at work in the consciousness and experience of mankind,—the guider of human history, the comforter of human sorrow, the revealer of truth, the inspirer of faith and hope and love, the producer of life and joy and beauty, the sustainer and enricher of existence, the Impersonation of the Grace of God.

This mighty theme has been treated, in an initial manner, in connexion with Clause XIII.

Supplementary questions will be asked concerning other terms in the third paragraph; but as to the phrase with which the Creed concludes—the Peace of God,—its meaning, we are well assured, surpasses understanding, and can be felt only by experience; hence no supplementary question is asked concerning that phrase.

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XVI

THE LIFE ETERNAL

_Q. 16. What do you mean by the Life Eternal?_

_A._ I mean that, whereas our terrestrial existence is
temporary, our real existence continues without ceasing, in
either a higher or a lower form, according to our use of
opportunities and means of grace; and that the fulness of
Life ultimately attainable represents a growing perfection
at present inconceivable by us.

* * * * *

CLAUSE XVI

Continuity of existence, without break or interruption, is the fundamental idea that needs inculcation, not only among children but among ignorant people generally. And the survival, from savage times, of an inclination to associate a full measure of departed personality with the discarded and decomposing bodily remnant,—under the impression that it will awake and live again at some future day,—should be steadily discouraged. The idea of bodily resurrection, in this physical sense, is responsible for much superstition and for some ecclesiastical abuses.

A nearer approach to the truth may be expressed thus:—

Terrestrial existence is dependent for its continuance on a certain arrangement of material particles belonging to the earth, which are gradually collected and built up into the complex and constantly changing structure called a body. The correspondence or connection between matter and spirit, as thus exhibited, is common to every form of life in some degree, and is probably a symbol or sample of something permanently true; so that a double aspect of every fundamental existence is likely always to continue. But identity of person in no way depends upon identity of particles: the particles are frequently changed and the old ones discarded.

The term “body” should be explained and emphasised, as connoting anything which is able to manifest feelings, emotions, and thoughts, and at the same time to operate efficiently on its environment. The temporary character of the present human body should be admitted for purposes of religion; it usefully and truthfully displays the incarnate part of us during the brief episode of terrestrial life, and when it has served its turn it is left behind, its particles being discarded and dispersed. Hereafter—we are taught—an equally efficient vehicle of manifestation, similarly appropriate to our new environment, will not be lacking; this at present unknown and hypothetical entity is spoken of as “a spiritual body,” and represents the serious idea underlying crude popular notions about bodily resurrection.

The _ego_ has been likened to a ripple raised by wind upon water, displaying in visible form the motion and influence of the operating breath, without being permanently differentiated from the vast whole, of which each ripple is a temporarily individualised portion: individualised, yet not isolated from others, but connected with them by the ocean, of whose immensity it may be supposed for poetic purposes gradually to become aware:—

“But that one ripple on the boundless deep
Feels that the deep is boundless, and itself
For ever changing form, but evermore
One with the boundless motion of the deep.”

There is much to be said for some form of doctrine of a common psychological basis or union of minds—some kind of Anima Mundi, some World-Mind, of which we are all fragments, and to which all knowledge is in a manner accessible; but the analogy of ocean ripples or icebergs need not be pressed to support the idea of a cessation of individual existence, when a given ripple or a given iceberg subsides. All analogies fail at some point. The ocean analogy happens to suggest indistinguishable absorption, or Nirvana, but others do not. The parts of a jelly are linked together and vibrate as a whole, but each little sac of fluid is partitioned off as an individual entity; in touch with all the rest, but with a texture and a colour of its own.

Continued personality, persistent individual existence, cannot be predicated of things which do not possess personality or individuality or character: but, to things which do possess these attributes, continuity and persistence not only may, but must, apply; unless we are to suppose that actual existence suddenly ceases. There must be a conservation of character; notwithstanding the admitted return of the individual to a central store or larger self, from which a portion was differentiated and individualised for the brief period during which the planet performs some seventy of its innumerable journeys round the sun. Absorption in original source may mask, but need not destroy, identity.

Even so a villager, picked out as a recruit and sent to the seat of war, may serve his country, may gain experience, acquire a soul and a width of horizon such as he had not dreamt of; and when he returns, after the war is over, may be merged as before in his native village. But the village is the richer for his presence, and his individuality or personality is not really lost; though to the eye of the world, which has no further need for it, it has practically ceased to be.

The character and experience gained by us during our brief association with the matter of this planet, become our possession henceforth for ever. We cannot shake ourselves free of them, even if we would: the enlargement of ideas, the growth in knowledge, the acquisition of friendships, the skill and power and serviceableness attained by us through this strange experience of incarnation, all persist as part and parcel of our larger self; and so do the memories of failure, of shame, of cruelty, of sin, which we have acquired here. To glory in these last things is damnation: the best that they can bring to us is pain and undying remorse—their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. There is no way out, save by the way of mercy and grace; whereby we are assured that at last, in the long last, we may ultimately attain to pardon and peace.

The class of things which is certainly not persistent, but must indubitably be left behind us for ever, is the weird collection of treasures for which most of us work so hard: scorning delights and living laborious days for their acquisition.

In this blind and mistaken struggle—a struggle which in the present condition of society seems so unavoidable, even so meritorious, but which in a reformed society will be looked back upon as at something akin to lunacy—we do not even make to ourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Its mottoes are “each for himself” and “væ victis.” Fortunately very few of the human race wholly succumb to this temptation; nearly all reserve great regions of their lives where kindness and friendliness and affection reign, and try to check the evil results of their worser or self-directed efforts by charitable doles.

In a more ideal state of society there would be no need either of the poison or of its antidote.

To bring about such an ideal state of society is the end and aim of Politics, and of all movements for social reform. Efforts in these directions are the most serious things in life, and may be the most fruitful in vital results: since few individuals are strong enough to withstand the pressure and tendency of their social surroundings. Only a few can rise superior to them, only a few sink far beneath them; the majority drift with the crowd and become—too many at present—irretrievably injured by the base and ugly conditions among which their lives are cast.

At present, for the majority of Englishmen, life is liable to be damaging and deleterious: initial weakness of character, so far from being strengthened and helped by the combined force of society, is hindered and enfeebled thereby,—a disastrous and disquieting condition of things. But when the efforts of self-sacrificing and laborious statesmen, Ministers in the highest sense (Mark x. 43),—when these efforts at cultivation bear fruit,—then, notwithstanding individual lapses here and there, society at large will be indistinguishable from a human branch of the Communion of Saints. Then will feeble impulses towards virtue be fostered and encouraged; the bruised reed will no longer be broken and trampled in the mire.

The Life Eternal in its fullest sense must be entered upon here and now. The emphasis is on the word _Life_, without reference to time. “I am come that ye might have Life.” Life of a far higher kind than any we yet know is attainable by the human race on this planet. It rests largely with ourselves. The outlook was never brighter than it is to-day; many workers and thinkers are making ready the way for a Second Advent,—a reincarnation of the Logos in the heart of all men; the heralds are already attuning their songs for a reign of brotherly love; already there are “signs of his coming and sounds of his feet”; and upon our terrestrial activity the date of this Advent depends.

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XVII

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

_Q. 17. What is the significance of the “Communion of
Saints”?_

_A._ Higher and holier beings must possess, in fuller
fruition, those privileges of communion which are already
foreshadowed by our own faculties of language, of sympathy,
and of mutual aid; and as we find that man’s power of
friendly help is not confined to his fellows, but extends to
other animals, so may we conceive ourselves part of a mighty
Fellowship of love and service.

* * * * *

CLAUSE XVII

Here is opened up a great subject on which much remains to be discovered. It is probable that the action of the Deity throughout the Universe is always conducted through intermediaries and agents. In all cases that we can examine, it is so; and this is one of the many meanings of “Immanence.”

Humanity is the most prominent, to us, among Divine agencies, and though it is probably only an infinitesimal fraction of the whole, yet it can be studied as a sample. Experience shows us that human beings have feelings of sympathy, pity, and love, and can be moved to act in certain ways by persistent urging and by definite requests. There is no reason to suppose that this faculty of hearing and answering is limited to our own comparatively lowly stage of existence. Man may be regarded as a germ or indication of far more powerful agencies, of which at present we know very little.

The faculty of communion familiarly possessed by man is not likely to be exhaustive of all possible methods of mental and spiritual intercourse; and, in the undeveloped power of telepathy, we have an indication of a mode apparently not dependent on the machinery of physical processes, and not necessarily limited to intelligences inhabiting the surface of a planet. Why associate mind only with the surface of a mass of matter? Enthusiasts hope some day to be able to communicate with people on Mars, but there may be intelligences far more accessible to us than those remote and hypothetical denizens of another world. The immanent Spirit of nature is likely to individualise and personify itself in ways mysterious and unknown: all manner of possibilities lie open to our study and examination; and—until we have scrutinised the evidence, and thought long and deeply on the subject—our negative opinion, based upon long habit and tradition, must not be allowed undue weight. It must be remembered that the above is speculation, not knowledge; yet something like it has received the sanction of great philosophers. Here is an exclamation of Hegel:—

“We do not mean to be behind; our watchword shall be Reason and Freedom, and our rallying ground the Invisible Church.”

So far our eyes are open to perceive only the assiduous operations of man; and any supposed influence of other agencies we regard with suspicion and mistrust. Some are inclined to think that man is solitary in the universe, the highest of created things; without equal, without superior, without companionship; alone with his indomitable soul amid scenes of unspeakable grandeur and awe; alone with his brethren in a universe wherein no spark of feeling, no gleam of intelligence, can be aroused by his unuttered longings, no echo of sympathy can respond to his bewildered need.

Yet that is not the feeling which arises during spells of lonely communion with nature, on rock or sea or trackless waste. At these moments comes a sense of Presence, such as Wordsworth felt at Tintern, or Byron when he wrote:

“Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt
In solitude, where we are _least_ alone.”

Until our senses are opened more widely, scepticism concerning spiritual beings, as intermediate links with absolute Deity, may be our safest attitude, for ignorance is better than superstition; but the seers of the human race have surmised that as denizens of a higher universe we are far from lonely, that it is only our limited perception that is at fault, and that to clearer eyes the whole of nature is transfused with spirit: ἡ φυχὴ τῷ ὅλῳ μέμιϰται,

“Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.”

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XVIII

MYSTIC COMMUNION OR PRAYER

_Q. 18. What do you understand by prayer?_

_A._ I understand that when our spirits are attuned to the
Spirit of Righteousness, our hopes and aspirations exert an
influence far beyond their conscious range, and in a true
sense bring us into communion with our Heavenly Father. This
power of filial communion is called prayer; it is an
attitude of mingled worship and supplication; we offer
petitions in a spirit of trust and submission, and endeavour
to realise the Divine attributes, with the help and example
of Christ.

* * * * *

CLAUSE XVIII

In prayer we come into close communion with a Higher than we know, and seek to contemplate Divine perfection. Its climax and consummation is attained when we realise the universal Permeance, the entire Goodness, and the Fatherly Love, of the Divine Being. Through prayer we admit our dependence on a Higher Power, for existence and health and everything we possess; we are encouraged to ask for whatever we need, as children ask parents; and we inevitably cry for mercy and comfort in times of tribulation and anguish.

The spirit of simple supplication may desire chiefly—

1. Insight and receptiveness to truth and knowledge.

2. Help and guidance in the practical management of
life.

3. Ability and willingness to follow the light
whithersoever it leads.

But provided we ask in a right spirit, it is not necessary to be specially careful concerning the kind of things asked for; nor need we in all cases attempt to decide how far their attainment is possible or not. In such matters we may admit our ignorance. What is important is that we should apply our own efforts towards the fulfilment of our petition, and not be satisfied with wishes alone. Everything accomplished has to be done by actual work and activity of some kind, and it is unreasonable to expect the rest of the universe to take trouble on our behalf while we ourselves are supine. Certain material means are within our control: these should be fully employed, in the light of the best knowledge of the time.

The highest type of prayer has for its object not any material benefit, beyond those necessary for our activity and usefulness, but the enlightenment and amendment of our wills, the elevation of all humanity, and the coming of the Kingdom.

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XIX

THE LORD’S PRAYER

_Q._ _Rehearse the prayer taught us by Jesus._

_A._

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN,
HALLOWED BE THY NAME.
THY KINGDOM COME.
THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES,
AS WE FORGIVE THEM THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US.
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION; BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL:
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM,
AND THE POWER,
AND THE GLORY,
FOR EVER.

* * * * *

CLAUSE XIX

_Q. 19. Explain the purport of this prayer._

_A._ We first attune our spirit to consciousness of the
Divine Fatherhood; trying to realise His infinite holiness
as well as His loving-kindness, desiring that everything
alien to His will should cease in our hearts and in the
world, and longing for the establishment of the Kingdom of
Heaven. Then we ask for the supply of the ordinary needs
of existence, and for the forgiveness of our sins and
shortcomings as we pardon those who have hurt us. We pray
to be kept from evil influences, and to be protected when
they attack us. Finally, we repose in the might, majesty,
and dominion of the Eternal Goodness.

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XX

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

_Q. 20. What is meant by the Kingdom of Heaven?_

_A._ The Kingdom of Heaven is the central feature of
practical Christianity. It represents a harmonious condition
in which the Divine Will is perfectly obeyed; it signifies
the highest state of existence, both individual and social,
which we can conceive. Our whole effort should, directly or
indirectly, make ready its way,—in our hearts, in our lives,
and in the lives of others. It is the ideal state of society
towards which Reformers are striving; it is the ideal of
conscious existence towards which Saints aim.

* * * * *

CLAUSE XX

This mighty ideal has many aspects. It has been typified as the pearl of great price, for which all other possessions may well be sacrificed: in germ it is as leaven, or as growing seed. It will come sooner than is expected, though for a time longer there must be tares among the wheat: for a time longer there shall be last and first, and a striving to be greatest, and a laying up of earthly treasure, and wars and divisions; but only for a time,—the spirit of service is growing, and the childlike spirit will overcome:

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

When realised, it will conduce to universal love and brotherhood; it is the reign of Christ’s spirit in the hearts of all men; it is accordingly spoken of as the second Advent, and its herald song is still, Peace on earth, goodwill among men. Wherever perfect love and willing service exist, there already is the Kingdom.

We have to realise that the Will of God is to be done on earth, that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be a present Kingdom, here and now, not relegated indefinitely to the future. Our life is not in the future, but in the present, and it will always be in the present: it is in our life that we have to apply our beliefs, utilise our talents, and bring forth fruit. The Kingdom of Heaven is not only at hand, it is potentially in our midst, and may be actually within us. These are its two chief aspects, the social, and the individual. The ideal is to be made real, in each and in all: nothing is too good to be true: each soul is to attain its highest aim: the world is to be transfigured and transformed.

The above formula must not be supposed to exhaust the meaning of the great Phrase, which many parables have still only partially explained, but it is a part of its meaning. And the strange thing is that the world, with all its competition, wrestling and contending amid unheeded calls to order, is really working towards that goal. No other ending is possible in the long run, though it has been long delayed. It is the condition towards which the whole of humanity, each individual man, as well as the race, is blindly and unconsciously struggling;

“Their prejudice and fears and cares and doubts
All with a touch of nobleness; despite
Their error, upward tending all, though weak,
Like plants in mines which never saw the sun,
But dream of him and guess where he may be,
And do their best to climb and get to him.”

The daily toil, in city office, in factory, in ship, in mine, in home, is really a struggle for Life, for freedom, for joy, for something wider and better than we at present know, for pleasures that satisfy and do not pall. We needs must love the highest when we see it, but as yet we do not see it: so we are working in the dark, and the best of us try hard to do our duty. The end is unrecognised, the means may be mistaken, but the energy is there; and the race as well as the individual is instinctively working out its destiny;—thwarting itself constantly by misdirected endeavour, yet constantly striving for self-development and enlargement, for progress and happiness. And this is true even when the main idea of enlargement is the amassing of money in unwieldy heaps, when happiness is sought in an exaltation of imagination by deleterious drugs, or when progress is thought to consist in the slaughter and impoverishment of opponents who might be our auxiliaries and allies.

If our vision could be cleared, and the aim of human effort could be changed, the earth would put on a new complexion; we should no longer be tempted to think of humanity as of an ancient and effete and played-out product of evolution,—we the latest-born and most youthful of all the creatures on the planet,—but should regard everything with the eye of hope, as of one new born, with senses quickened to perceive joys and beauties hitherto undreamt of.

That is the meaning of Regeneration or new birth: it must be like an awakening out of trance. At present we are as if subject to a dream illusion, in a slumber which we are unable to throw off. Revelation after revelation has come to us, but our senses are deadened and we will not hear, our hands are full of clay, we have no grasp for ideals, we are mistaking appearance for reality. But the time for awakening must be drawing nigh—the time when again it may be said: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Meanwhile our seers depict man’s half-hoping half-despairing attitude, not so much as a striving, as a waiting:—the striving is obvious, but the unconscious waiting is what they detect—waiting as it were for the arrival of a new sense, a new perception of the value of life:—

“And we, the poor earth’s dying race, and yet
No phantoms, watching from a phantom shore
Await the last and largest sense to make
The phantom walls of this illusion fade,
And show us that the world is wholly fair.”

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THE CLAUSES OF THE CATECHISM REPEATED

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THE CATECHISM

_Q. 1. What are you?_

_A._ I am a being alive and conscious upon this earth, a descendant of ancestors who rose by gradual processes from lower forms of animal life, and with struggle and suffering became man.

_Q. 2. What, then, may be meant by the Fall of man?_

_A._ At a certain stage of development man became conscious of a difference between right and wrong, so that thereafter, when his actions fell below a normal standard of conduct, he felt ashamed and sinful. He thus lost his animal innocency, and entered on a long period of human effort and failure; nevertheless, the consciousness of degradation marked a rise in the scale of existence.

_Q. 3. What is the distinctive character of manhood?_

_A._ The distinctive character of man is that he has a sense of responsibility for his acts, having acquired the power of choosing between good and evil, with freedom to obey one motive rather than another. Creatures far below the human level are irresponsible; they feel no shame and suffer no remorse; they are said to have no conscience.

_Q. 4. What is the duty of man?_

_A._ To assist his fellows, to develop his own higher self, to strive towards good in every way open to his powers, and generally to seek to know the laws of Nature and to obey the will of God; in whose service alone can be found that harmonious exercise of the faculties which is identical with perfect freedom.

_Q. 5. What is meant by good and evil?_

_A._ Good is that which promotes development, and is in harmony with the will of God. It is akin to health and beauty and happiness.

Evil is that which retards or frustrates development, and injures some part of the universe. It is akin to disease and ugliness and misery.

_Q. 6. How does man know good from evil?_

_A._ His own nature, when uncorrupted by greed, is sufficiently in harmony with the rest of the universe to enable him to be well aware in general of what is a help or a hindrance to the guiding Spirit, of which he himself is a real and effective portion.

_Q. 7. How comes it that evil exists?_

_A._ Evil is not an absolute thing, but has reference to a standard of attainment. The possibility of evil is the necessary consequence of a rise in the scale of moral existence; just as an organism whose normal temperature is far above “absolute zero” is necessarily liable to damaging and deadly cold. But cold is not in itself a positive or created thing.

_Q. 8. What is sin?_

_A._ Sin is the deliberate and wilful act of a free agent who sees the better and chooses the worse, and thereby acts injuriously to himself and others. The root sin is selfishness, whereby needless trouble and pain are inflicted on others; when fully developed it involves moral suicide.

_Q. 9. Are there beings lower in the scale of existence than man?_

_A._ Yes, multitudes. In every part of the earth where life is possible, there we find it developed. Life exists in every variety of animal, in earth and air and sea, and in every species of plant.

_Q. 10. Are there any beings higher in the scale of existence than man?_

_A._ Man is the highest of the dwellers on the planet earth, but the earth is only one of many planets warmed by the sun, and the sun is only one of a myriad of similar suns, which are so far off that we barely see them and group them indiscriminately as “stars.” We may reasonably conjecture that in some of the innumerable worlds circling round those distant suns there must be beings far higher in the scale of existence than ourselves; indeed, we have no knowledge which enables us to assert the absence of intelligence anywhere.

_Q. 11. What caused and what maintains existence?_

_A._ Of our own knowledge we are unable to realise the meaning of origination or of maintenance; all that we ourselves can accomplish in the physical world is to move things into desired positions, and leave them to act on each other. Nevertheless our effective movements are inspired by thought, and so we conceive that Intelligence is immanent in all the processes of nature; for they are not random and purposeless, but organised and beautiful.

_Q. 12. What is to be said of man’s higher faculties?_

_A._ The faculties and achievements of the highest among mankind—in Art, in Science, in Philosophy, and in Religion—are not explicable as an outcome of a struggle for existence. Something more than mere life is possessed by us—something represented by the words “mind” and “soul” and “spirit.” On one side we are members of the animal kingdom; on another we are associates in a loftier type of existence, and are linked with the Divine.

_Q. 13. Is man helped in his struggle upward?_

_A._ There is a Power in the Universe vastly beyond our comprehension; and we trust and believe that it is a Good and Loving Power, able and willing to help us and all creatures, and to guide us wisely, without detriment to our incipient freedom. This Loving-kindness continually surrounds us; in it we live and have our real being; it is the mainspring of joy and love and beauty, and we call it the Grace of God. It sustains and enriches all worlds, and may take a multiplicity of forms, but it was specially manifested to dwellers on this planet in the Life of Jesus Christ, through whose spirit and living influence the race of man may hope to rise to heights at present inaccessible.

_Q. 14. How may we become informed concerning things too high for our own knowledge?_

_A._ We should strive to learn from the great teachers, the prophets and poets and saints of the human race, and should seek to know and to interpret their inspired writings.

_Q. 15. What, then, do you reverently believe can be deduced from a study of the records and traditions of the past in the light of the present?_

_A._ I believe in one Infinite and Eternal Being, a guiding and loving Father, in whom all things consist.

I believe that the Divine Nature is specially revealed to man through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lived and taught and suffered in Palestine 1900 years ago, and has since been worshipped by the Christian Church as the immortal Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is ever ready to help us along the Way towards Goodness and Truth; that prayer is a means of communion between man and God; and that it is our privilege through faithful service to enter into the Life Eternal, the Communion of Saints, and the Peace of God.

_Q. 16. What do you mean by the Life Eternal?_

_A._ I mean that whereas our terrestrial existence is temporary, our real existence continues without ceasing, in either a higher or a lower form, according to our use of opportunities and means of grace; and that the fulness of Life ultimately attainable represents a growing perfection at present inconceivable by us.

_Q. 17. What is the significance of “the Communion of Saints”?_

_A._ Higher and holier beings must possess, in fuller fruition, those privileges of communion which are already foreshadowed by our own faculties of language, of sympathy, and of mutual aid; and as we know that man’s power of friendly help is not confined to his fellows, but extends to other animals, so may we conceive ourselves part of a mighty Fellowship of love and service.

_Q. 18. What do you understand by prayer?_

_A._ I understand that when our spirits are attuned to the Spirit of Righteousness, our hopes and aspirations exert an influence far beyond their conscious range, and in a true sense bring us into communion with our Heavenly Father. This power of filial communion is called prayer; it is an attitude of mingled worship and supplication; we offer petitions in a spirit of trust and submission, and endeavour to realise the Divine attributes, with the help and example of Christ.

_Q. Rehearse the prayer taught us by Jesus._

_A._ Our Father, etc.

_Q. 19. Explain the clauses of this prayer._

_A._ We first attune our spirit to consciousness of the Divine Fatherhood; trying to realise His infinite holiness as well as His loving-kindness, desiring that everything alien to His will should cease in our hearts and in the world, and longing for the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then we ask for the supply of the ordinary needs of existence, and for the forgiveness of our sins and shortcomings as we pardon those who have hurt us. We pray to be kept from evil influences, and to be protected when they attack us. Finally, we repose in the might, majesty, and dominion of the Eternal Goodness.

_Q. 20. What is meant by the Kingdom of Heaven?_

_A._ The Kingdom of Heaven is the central feature of practical Christianity. It represents a harmonious condition in which the Divine Will is perfectly obeyed; it signifies the highest state of existence, both individual and social, which we can conceive. Our whole effort should, directly or indirectly, make ready its way,—in our hearts, in our lives, and in the lives of others. It is the ideal state of society towards which Reformers are striving; it is the ideal of conscious existence towards which Saints aim.

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_Printed by_
MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED
_Edinburgh_

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Works by Sir Oliver Lodge

ELEMENTARY MECHANICS
A text-book for Schools and Matriculation Candidates.
(Chambers.) 4s. 6d. Net price, 3s. 5d.

MODERN VIEWS OF ELECTRICITY
A well-known exposition of fundamental electrical principles.
New Edition, 1907. (Macmillan.) 6s.

LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS AND LIGHTNING GUARDS
A technical treatise on electric waves and discharges generally,
for Architects, Electrical Engineers, and Physicists. 1892.
(Whittaker & Co.) 15s. Net price, 11s. 3d.

SIGNALLING THROUGH SPACE WITHOUT WIRES
First published in 1894 under the title “The Work of Hertz
and his Successors”; being a pioneer treatise on what has
become Wireless Telegraphy. (Electrician Co.) 5s. net.

PIONEERS OF SCIENCE
A course of popular lectures on Astronomical biography,
being sketches of the lives of the famous Astronomers and
their work, with numerous illustrations.
(Macmillan.) 6s. Net price, 4s. 6d.

SCHOOL TEACHING AND SCHOOL REFORM
A course of lectures delivered in Birmingham to Teachers.
1905. (Williams & Norgate.) 3s. Net price, 2s. 3d.

EASY MATHEMATICS; CHIEFLY ARITHMETIC
Being a collection of hints to teachers, parents, self-taught
students, and adults, and containing a summary or indication
of most things in Elementary Mathematics useful to be known.
1905. (Macmillan.) 4s. 6d. Net price, 3s. 5d.

LIFE AND MATTER
A discussion of the scientific foundations of religion; being
an answer to Haeckel, and a speculation concerning the
meaning of Life. 1905. (Williams & Norgate.) 2s. 6d. net.

MODERN VIEWS ON MATTER
Being the Romanes Lecture to the University of Oxford,
delivered in 1903, on the new discoveries in electricity in
connection with Radium and other such phenomena. A
pamphlet. (Clarendon Press.) (_Third Edition_) 1s. net.

ELECTRONS, or the nature and properties of Negative Electricity.
A treatise on the most recent discoveries in the pure science
of Electricity. 1906. (George Bell & Sons.) 6s. net.

THE SUBSTANCE OF FAITH ALLIED WITH SCIENCE
A Catechism for Parents and Teachers. (Methuen & Co.)
1907. 2s. net.

MINOR PUBLICATIONS

COMPETITION _VERSUS_ CO-OPERATION
Fly-sheet of a Discourse delivered in Liverpool about 1890.
(Fabian Soc.) One Penny.

MACEDONIA AND THE PROBLEM OF THE NEAR EAST
(Published by Cornish Brothers, 1903)
An Address at a Birmingham Town’s Meeting. Sixpence.

PUBLIC SERVICE VERSUS PRIVATE EXPENDITURE
A pamphlet reporting an Address to the Order of Foresters,
given in Birmingham Town Hall on Sunday, 9th October
1904. (Printed by Fabian Soc.) One Penny.

SCIENCE AND RELIGION
A shorthand report or a Discourse given to young men in the City
Temple. 1905. (Christian Commonwealth Co.) Threepence.

SOME SOCIAL REFORMS.
A Presidential Address to the Social and Political Education
League, at Univ. Coll., London. May 1905. (Murby & Co.)
Threepence.

WORK AND LIFE. An Address to the Workers’ Educational Association.
Sept. 1906. (H. Marshall & Son.) One Penny.

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A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS
PUBLISHED BY METHUEN
AND COMPANY: LONDON
36 ESSEX STREET
W.C.

CONTENTS

PAGE
General Literature, II-XX
Ancient Cities, XX
Antiquary’s Books, XX
Arden Shakespeare, XX
Beginner’s Books, XXI
Business Books, XXI
Byzantine Texts, XXI
Churchman’s Bible, XXII
Churchman’s Library, XXII
Classical Translations, XXII
Classics of Art, XXIII
Commercial Series, XXIII
Connoisseur’s Library, XXIII
Library of Devotion, XXIII
Illustrated Pocket Library of Plain and Coloured Books, XXIV
Junior Examination Series, XXV
Junior School-Books, XXVI
Leaders of Religion, XXVI
Little Blue Books, XXVI
Little Books on Art, XXVI
Little Galleries, XXVII
Little Guides, XXVII
Little Library, XXVII
Little Quarto Shakespeare, XXIX
Miniature Library, XXIX
Oxford Biographies, XXIX
School Examination Series, XXIX
School Histories, XXX
Textbooks of Science, XXX
Simplified French Texts, XXX
Standard Library, XXX
Textbooks of Technology, XXXI
Handbooks of Theology, XXXI
Westminster Commentaries, XXXII

Fiction, XXXII-XXXVII
The Shilling Novels, XXXVII
Books for Boys and Girls, XXXIX
Novels of Alexandre Dumas, XXXIX
Methuen’s Sixpenny Books, XXXIX

MARCH 1907

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A CATALOGUE OF
MESSRS. METHUEN’S
PUBLICATIONS

Colonial Editions are published of all Messrs. METHUEN’S
Novels at a price above 2_s._ 6_d._, and similar editions
are General Literature. These are marked in the Catalogue.
Colonial editions are only for circulation in the British
Colonies and India.

I.P.L. represents Illustrated Pocket Library.