Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: Lesson ll Seguinte: Lesson IV
(p. 34)
LESSON III
THE
DIVINITY OF CHRIST, THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD –
THE
ESSENTIAL AND THE HISTORICAL CHRIST CONTRASTED
IF OUR conceptions of the Christ do not
harmonize with the theological opinions of any persons who peruse this volume,
they will please to remember that we do not consider the holding of our views
upon the divinity of Christ as necessary to anyone’s salvation, and therefore if
you entertain views different from ours, according to the spiritual philosophy
we are endeavoring to inculcate, you stand as good a chance of salvation, both
in this world and in that which is to come, as though your views were precisely
the same as ours. Now, belief rests upon evidence; no intelligent person can
believe anything without sufficient evidence. If you believe in the presence of
any material object it is because you rely upon the evidence of your bodily
senses; and before you believe in the truth of any doctrine, it must be
submitted to your intellect for consideration. Spiritual truth appeals to your
conscience or moral sense and thus summons as its witness the
divinest element of your being. When conclusions are arrived at by any
speaker, writer, philosopher, or school of thought which are at variance with truth as it appeals to your
individual
(p. 35)
mind, you are not only not bound to agree with such
teaching, but you are bound in duty, reason, and justice to disagree; we may,
however, agree to disagree, or, more properly, to differ. Now, we regard all
phases of human thought and feeling as natural expressions of human
intelligence, and as doctrines concerning Deity, the divinity of Christ, the
personality of the Holy Spirit, trinity in unity and unity in trinity, besides
other kindred theological themes, too numerous to mention, may be justly
catalogued among the most difficult problems which can be presented to the human
mind for solution, the wonder is rather that there are comparatively so few
differences in the world, than that there are so many; the wonder is that there
are so few sects in Christendom rather than that there are so many; for though
there are perhaps three hundred distinct Christian sects, the majority of the
sects are, broadly speaking, orthodox, as they agree to accept the divinity of
Jesus, and the Trinity or tri-personality of God, even though all contend also
for the divine unity.
Universalists, and particularly Unitarians, have departed
from the orthodox standard of Christendom by positively affirming that Jesus,
though possibly superior to all other men, was still only a man, and though the
son of God, in the sense of being peculiarly divine through the nobility and
purity of his nature, is not God the Son. If you are acquainted with church
history you are well aware that Servetus was put to
death at the instigation of Calvin, because he would not acknowledge the
incarnation of God in Jesus and persisted that Jesus was only the son of God
while Calvin insisted that Jesus was God the Son; when
(p. 36)
preparation was complete for the burning of that
noble martyr, Calvin stood ready to doom his soul and body to everlasting flames
because of this difference in theological opinion. The friends who gathered
around Servetus urged him to confess that Jesus was
God the Son, but he consistently prayed, “Jesus, thou son of the living God,
have mercy upon me.” That prayer, he knew, would not suffice, to save him from a
terrible martyrdom; he must say “Jesus, thou Son of the living God,” no longer,
but “Jesus, the living God,” or there could be no salvation for him, either in
this world or any other. He expired refusing to comply, and thus allowed himself
to be offered as a holocaust to theological intolerance.
Now, as the doctrine of the absolute deity of Jesus is entirely distinct from
the simple doctrine of his divinity, many people declare their belief in the
divinity of mankind, in the divinity of natural law, and yet do not mean that
they believe in the deity of man or of natural law; the word divine does not
necessarily mean deific, “deific,” being a very much higher word in theological
parlance than “divine.” The divine soul in man is shared by all humanity, almost
all philosophers believe in a divine human soul. Esoteric Buddhists call it Atma, and designate it the seventh
principle. The divine soul is superior to the spiritual soul, and again the
human soul is superior to the animal soul, in Buddhistic
theosophy. In the first chapter of the fourth Gospel, we are introduced to a
learned dissertation upon the Logos or divine Word; the Gnostics of the early Christian Church declared the
Logos to be the indwelling word, revealing the will or law of God in
(p. 37)
every human heart. Now it is quite possible to
interpret the divine sonship of Jesus in such a light
as to include the divine sonship of all humanity. And
while departing from the ordinary theological standards and rejecting the canons
of interpretation which are regarded as alone sound in the orthodox Christian
world, we may profitably interpret the Gospel of John as a spiritual
disquisition concerning the spiritual nature of the universe and man, rather
than as a historical narrative. Let us remove this subject entirely out of that
petty, arbitrary and quarrelsome realm, to which, unfortunately, it is so often
degraded, and from the noble height of spiritual contemplation see Jesus
standing before us not as a mythical personage, or a solar myth, nor as a man
mysteriously endowed with a nature foreign to that of all other human beings,
but as one who has run the race which we are now engaged in running, won the
prize for which we are now fighting, already wearing the crown which shall
forever rest upon the brow of each of you when you have accomplished your
spiritual warfare as he long ago accomplished his.
Jesus in history represents whoever has overcome the world; he says to his
disciples, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” If he has overcome the
world you also will overcome, because he has overcome it; because he lives you
will live also; because he has entered into the heavens you will also enter
into them; because he has ascended to his Father, who is also your Father,
therefore you will also ascend.
Thus in the true light in which the New Testament story presents Jesus to
mankind, he does not sand to us in the relation of an incarnate deity, a super
angelic
(p. 38)
personage, or one belonging to a divine order of
beings altogether separated from humanity, but he appears simply in the light of
one who has graduated with the highest honors from the school of earthly
discipline, one who has learned every lesson that can be learned on this planet,
one who has completed the circle of embodiments on tins orb, one who has passed
beyond the need of further discipline, and has therefore entered that realm of
absolute spiritual being which is the true home of every soul.
Now, many say, is it not strange that out of the records of past history you
should be able to gather sufficient materials for an ideal character? Is not our
ideal in the future rather than in the past? Is not the glorious Eden-time in
advance instead of in the rear? Is it not true that to-morrow will surpass
to-day in spiritual advancement? Is not to-day in advance of yesterday? In
affirming that one who lived 1,800 or 1,900 years ago had already attained to
spiritual perfection, are you not denying evolution, which demonstrates an
incessant improvement of species and progress of mankind?
We answer, we are not denying advancement in any sense; but the progress of
universal mankind has certainly been indicated or outlined by the special
attainments of exceptional Messiahs or Avatars who have blessed the world in
ancient days, souls who have periodically visited like spiritual comets
different nations of earth, wandering like spiritual stars over the spiritual
firmament of many climes, in many ages, prophesying of universal human
attainment.
Occasionally upon the tree of human life a fruit has
(p. 39)
appeared fully ripened; that thoroughly
ripened specimen has been gathered into the celestial kingdom; the remainder of
the fruit is yet green. Here and there in life’s harvest field a golden sheaf
has fully ripened, and that sheaf has been gathered in. These ripened sheaves
are first fruits, which have already been waved in the temple as an earnest of
the abundant harvests which are to follow.
Jesus attained to perfection; he expired physically upon the cross with the
words upon his lips, “It is finished;” and you realize that the majority of
human beings pass away with the thought in their minds, “my work is unfinished,”
they feeling almost invariably that there is much work for them still to do, and
if they could only live their life over they could improve that life in every
respect. A great deal of the fear of death, of reluctance or unwillingness to
take the step into the unseen state is occasioned by a feeling that earthly
tasks are not finished, duties appear unfulfilled, conquests yet need to be won,
many talents have not been utilized. In contrast to all this, can you not
imagine something of the glory of a soul that can pass front earth exclaiming,
“My work is finished?” Not finished for eternity, but finished for time; not
finished with regard to all the blazing worlds in space, but finished with
regard to this planet; not finished in regard to my total spiritual mission,
which will occupy me throughout eternity, but perfectly finished with regard to
this planet. Jesus is reported to have said, “For a certain cause
came
I into the world.” He declared he could not leave the world until this work was
done. He stands before us all in history as a perfect representation of human
perfection.
(p. 40)
You who have studied The Light of Asia as interpreted to English speaking readers by
Edwin Arnold in his charming poem bearing this title, or “the Great
Renunciation,” will remember that Buddha attained to Nirvana, or the state of
absolute spiritual blessedness (perfect oneness with Deity) before he quitted
the material forth. This leads us to ask, Is
it not possible in this earthly school that once in a while a scholar should
graduate with highest possible honors? That once in a while we should behold a foregleam of the utmost possibilities of humanity? Is it not
possible that here and there some great and regal spirit should appear before
you and willingly take upon himself all material discipline in order that
humanity may be uplifted, and then discover at last that there is no vicarious
atonement in the orthodox sense of the term, but that every one who willingly
lays down his life for another’s good lays it down for himself as well as for
others? The greatest difficulty which has ever beset theological
controversialists is the difficulty of vicarious suffering. Now we all see that
there is much vicarious suffering in the world. Manny suffer for the good of
others. Martyrs have been put to death and many future generations have been
benefited by their martyrdom. Warriors and soldiers have willingly shed the last
drop of their life blood for their countrymen, and their patriotism has been
rewarded in the salvation of the nation for which they died. But if you follow
such into spiritual life you will find that no deed of heroism, no act of
patriotism, no willingness to suffer for the sake of humanity has ever left the
sufferers unrewarded. Each soul has suffered for its own advancement,
(p. 41)
even though unacknowledged, as well as for
others; and in enduring suffering with no thought of self, heroes have reached
the sublimest heights of unselfishness and are thereby
placed above all need for further encounter with difficulty for the last demon
you have to conquer is selfishness; the last enemy you must put under your feet
is the devil of personal pride and human ambition; the last sin that is finally
dislodged from the human breast is the love of one’s self more than one’s
neighbor. When divine love for humanity is fully manifest in my individual, when
any are willing to lay down their life for the world regardless of consequences
to themselves, not looking for happiness hereafter or thinking anything about
reward, but only desiring to work for humanity, demanding no recompense, doing
good for the love of it – when any soul reaches such a point in its advancement,
we care not whether the man or woman is an avowed atheist or theist, whether the
mind is spiritualistic or materialistic in its external proclivities, we care
not whether such are members of any church or advocates of any religious system
they may worship in a cathedral or in the open air, or they may not recognize
that there is an need for outward worship in the universe; we care not whether
such individuals sat on thrones on earth or begged bread from door to door, in
such do we behold a true manifestation of divine life.
True spirituality is not a question of head, brain or intellect, neither is it
one of theology, or of belief in a life to come. It is altogether a question of
being so truly imbued with divine life that you love a million of your neighbors
a million times better than you love yourself.
(p. 42)
If you love each of your neighbors as well as
you love yourself, you must love two neighbors twice as well as yourself, and
the great bulk of humanity as many times better than you love yourself, as the
mass contains more units than one.
As the bulk of humanity is composed of units, each one must be as valuable as
yourself in the sight of the Eternal and you are not established fully in truth
till you look at humanity from the divine standpoint.
There is certainly in history an ideal life, and we do not hesitate to affirm
that no one could ever have written the life of a nobler man than ever lived,
for had there been no materials to furnish the story there could have been no record. You can not portray a character nobler than your
own conception of it. You can not paint a picture beyond your highest conception
of art. You can not compose music transcending your highest genius. If there is
a lack anywhere it is always in the outward form, for this can not surpass what
is in the author’s mind. The author’s mind is, however, frequently above the
book he writes. Therefore if an author presents you with a hero who dazzles you
by the splendor of his soul, that hero whose life is written is not so great a
hero as the hero who was an actual reality to the author. If anyone sings a song
ever so divinely, that song is not so divine in its rendition as it is in the spirit that is
beyond all outward interpretation.
So, when, after reading a life of Buddha or of Jesus the Christ, you have asked,
“But did such a man as Buddha ever exist? Was there ever anyone on earth so good as he? Anyone who voluntarily gave up all the
(p. 43)
splendors of an empire to identify himself
with suffering humanity? Was there ever anyone so pure
as Jesus of Nazareth?”
The answer is emphatically yes. The theory that Jesus is a solar myth and the
twelve apostles twelve signs of the zodiac, is utterly
inadequate to account for the moral and spiritual side of the narrative as all
reasonable people must be well aware. We admit that in ancient days the sun was
the chosen symbol of divine life and light; but when the Egyptians paid
adoration to the god of day they did not according to esoteric teachings, bow
before the material orb we call the sun, but before the mighty angel Osiris, who dwelt in the sun. And when they turned their
eyes in worship to Alcyone the center of the Pleiades
they declared that central orb in the universe to be the abode of the highest
intelligence which could be made manifest to human comprehension.
Solar worship was not idolatry, not materialism, but sprang from recognition of
every world in space being the result of spiritual laws and operations. When you
turn your eyes to the spheres above you, contemplate the stars, and strive to
number the constellated worlds shining in the midnight heavens, each star a sun
blazing forth in glory with planets and satellites revolving around it in the
depths of space, remember that this is not the only inhabited world; we are not
the only conscious intelligent beings looking out upon the glorious night. Every
star and every sun is, was, or will be inhabited, every satellite bears some
form of life, and according to the grandeur of the sun, the majesty of the
planet, or the development of the satellite is the developed life thereon.
(p. 44)
When the old system of solar worship, which a large number of people are to-day
bringing forward as proof that there was no personal Christ, no personal Buddha,
no personal Osiris, no living Messiahs and Avatars in
ancient days is understood and interpreted in the light of the spirit, it will
be found to mean next to nothing of what it is supposed to mean by the school of
Dupuis and others who declare it to be nothing beyond external worship of
celestial orbs. Every world is a manifestation of mind. In a higher stage of the
world’s development men will be able to navigate the air, and eventually on
wings of spirit to pass from planet to planet. Observatories will some day be
erected upon earth’s hilltops, and there, by means of powerful instruments of
observation, entirely unknown to you and impossible in your present state of
development, you will behold the condition of other worlds and know absolutely
of this earth’s relation to other realms in space; you will at length perceive
those who at the close of any cycle have passed on (numbering 144,000, in
mystical Apocalyptic numeration), have passed from the earth to the next planet.
It is to the planet Mars that you must turn to day for illumination from those
who have graduated from the earth and have passed to comparatively celestial
states.
We introduce these remarks into this lesson because of the opportunity they
afford for reconciling what a great many people imagine to be irreconcilable
statements concerning the rise and fall of nations. We tell you the very ground
upon which you now tread was once occupied by intellectual giants in comparison
to which you are pigmies; that the civilization of pre-historic
(p. 45)
California was far beyond its civilization
to-day, and that when through natural changes wrought by upheavals on the
Pacific Slope, ancient centers of civilization were entombed, the immortalized
inhabitants having developed out of material conditions passed on to the next
planet, and now shine down upon you from the sphere of Mars.
Whenever one cycle of advancement is completed anywhere a new era commences. The
future of this world will witness the absolute spiritualization of the entire
earth. The future golden age will include in its blessings every human being.
The culminations of the most exalted prophesy, will be seen in the perfection of
the entire planet and all upon it. In the past, here and there, there have been
seen expressions of what the World and humanity will at length attain to, and
these expressions have been the essential Christ within humanity revealing
itself externally. Many persons constantly use the word God in reading the Bible
as though there were only one original equivalent for God, whereas every one who
can interpret Scripture with the light thrown upon it by an accurate knowledge
of Hebrew, understands that the word God is used in three if not more senses.
You are told that no man hath seen God at any tine. God in
this place means the Eternal One, the Infinite Being who is utterly invisible
and beyond all outward recognition. You are told in the first and second
commandments of the decalogue
that there is no form known to man which may be termed the form of God, you
conclude then, God is not in human form, because if God were in human form then
the form of God would be known. God the
(p. 46)
Eternal, self-existent Being
has never been seen by man, the form of God is not known. Madam Blavatsky in her Isis
Unveiled comes
much nearer to a correct interpretation of the highest thought concerning Deity
than do those whose theology is portrayed by Gustave Doré in his celebrated picture of the Trinity, which
represents God as an older man, a younger man and a dove. The older man is
called the Father, the younger man the Son, and the dove the Holy Spirit. In an
eternal trinity there can be no senior and junior persons, but there can be an
older and a newer manifestation of God; thus in a secondary sense a conception
of God in human form is not inaccurate as the Infinite Being is revealed to man
through humanity and can be revealed in no other manner.
In an inferior sense the word God has been used to signify a mighty angel, the
ruler of the planet. Therefore though God the Eternal has never been seen by
man, the representative or messenger of Deity, the special angel who reveals God
to the world has been seen. In a third and yet lower sense of the word God, you
read in the New Testament that they were called gods upon whom the spirit of God
came; in ancient days they were also called sons of God and sons of God were
often called gods. In early chapters of the Bible you are told that sons of God
inter-married with daughters of men. Who were these sons of God? They were
members of those ancient orders at the head of which stood the order of Melchisidec, sons of light, or sons of the sun, they were called in ancient
(p. 47)
purpose of spiritually refining them but for
purposes of material gratification, those who belonged to the higher orders in
spirit degraded themselves without elevating those with whom they became united.
The fallen angels of theology are only those who were appointed to a higher
mission, but fell through false ambition, while the unfallen
are those commissioned with a divine and glorious authority
who
have been faithful to their trust and never diverged in the slightest degree
from that high and holy mission appointed them.
Two
(p. 48)
exclaims, “It is finished,” and he is
identified with the second Adam, he represents the soul that has finished its
earthly course, having put matter with all its temptations forever beneath his
feet. The soul which has vanquished every earthly trial and arisen victorious on
the wings of spiritual effort and self sacrifice is above the need of painful
discipline forever after.
The Christ of history and theology is more than the personal Jesus, being the
representative of idealized and glorified humanity. What Jesus has already
become you will all in future ages attain unto.
The divine Logos or Word is “The light that enlighteneth
every man that cometh into the world,” and is therefore not a person but the
spiritual principle in humanity which personality must at length make manifest.
Now, if the divine Word were confined to the personal Jesus, how could it
illumine every man that cometh into the world? If salvation depended upon
knowledge of a personal Christ, since Jesus was on earth but thirty-three years
at one period in the world’s history, it would be utterly impossible for
hundreds of millions of human beings to be saved, because they could have no
opportunity of knowing that such a person as Jesus ever lived. Bishop Thomas, an
eminent Methodist, has declared that he does not believe in the necessary
damnation of the heathen, and says he could not carry any Christianity to the
heathen if he felt that Christianity compelled him to teach such an infamous
doctrine as the damnation of the heathen, who had no opportunity to be saved.
This view may be regarded as representative
(p. 49)
of all enlightened Christian teaching, which is to
the effect that only willful rejection of truth is an unpardonable offense.
But if belief in an individual Christ is not necessary to the redemption of the
world, if heathens mid Jews can be saved as well as Christians, if Mohammedans
and Buddhists can go into the Kingdom of Heaven together, then what is essential
to salvation?
The essential Christ is the divine life within you, your own divine soul, which
is the candle of the Lord burning upon the candlestick of your moral nature;
and, as salvation does not depend upon belief in historical records, neither
upon trust in a person, it does depend upon following this divine light. And, as
salvation depends entirely upon following the divine light, you can readily
understand how Jesus taught a gospel totally distinct from that gospel in which
his name has been disfigured instead of glorified by popular Christianity. Jesus
said. Many shall say to him at the judgment, “Lord, Lord,” who
will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The only passport into the
The way of salvation laid down by the gospel proves that a true following of
Christ signifies becoming imbued
(p. 50)
with the spirit of truth in love. It is utterly
apart from theological controversy, and depends solely on following the divine
voice within the soul.
We declare there is no one upon earth who has not the divine candle within; no
one who has not heard the voice of the true Christ; no one who has not been
appealed to by the angel side of his own nature; no one who is not invited to
become a member of the body of Christ. When Paul said there are many members but
one body, and even so is the Christ, did he not say that the Christ was the
compact body, the spiritual organization of true, tried and faithful souls?
Jesus may have represented the head to Paul, Buddha representing the head to
many Asiatics; Osiris may have
represented the head to the ancient Egyptians in some older dispensation
scarcely known to history; other lights whose names are unrecorded may have
represented the Christ to those who lived in pre-historic antiquity; still the
Christ ever represents the sphere of perfected souls, and the light shines down
from the celestial heavens pulsing ever earthward until it reaches to the
outermost boundaries of human perception. The Christ of antiquity, the
spiritually endowed, the truth-bringer, the truth-teller is not confined to
person or to age but is the one divine life made manifest to all humanity.
We do not urge upon any one to accept a historical manifestation of Christ if
they have difficulty in doing so on account of the paucity of evidence. No one
should be required to accept anything as spiritual truth which his own soul is
not capable of discovering for itself, External authority must be displaced in
favor of interior conviction.
(p. 51)
We are often asked concerning the position of Jesus in the spiritual world. We
state that it has been given to earth on the testimony of the most exalted
intelligences who have ever communicated with man, that Jesus occupies, as an
individual soul, a place of peculiar exaltation in the spiritual heavens
overshadowing the earth. If many do not know of Jesus in spirit life, they are
simply in ignorance concerning him. But we would urge upon you all when dealing
with communications of a negative character, no matter where they come from, to
remember that negative testimony is not accepted in any court of law, only
affirmative testimony is considered of value. If one honorable, upright person
whose word need not be doubted, goes into court and states that he knows such
and such a thing to be true, the testimony of that one person is considered of
infinitely more value than the negative utterance of a million persons, who know
nothing whatever of the matter under consideration, If one person, whose
veracity is unquestioned positively affirms anything, his testimony is accepted
and from it jury and judge alike consider and decide. So it is ever with regard
to spiritual truth and the higher aspects of spiritual teaching; not what the
majority do not know, but what the minority know and are able to impart
intelligently is the measure of spiritual truth favorably considered by an
intelligent community.
We have encountered many – yes, we say “many” advisedly – who have absolute
knowledge that Jesus now exists in the spiritual world and that he
is an exalted being, We can not then be so foolish as to say that he does not
exist, which would be equivalent to putting
(p. 52)
out our own spiritual eyes because somebody else
can not see, or destroying our own spiritual ears because some body else can not
hear.
True charity demands no false compromises. We cannot depend for evidence upon
what is not known or not revealed; but all should be ever on the alert at all
times and everywhere to receive the very utmost that can be received from the
spiritual heavens within and without man on earth.
The gospel of Jesus stands, however, without reference to his personality as the
very highest truth ever embodied in literature. We can surely all maintain that
if we live in accordance with that gospel, obey those precepts, and conduct
commercial transactions in harmony with the Golden Rule, the world will soon
become a paradise. We would rejoice to see merchants put it to the test, and
then give an opinion. The trouble between labor and capital is all because the
Golden Rule is not obeyed. There can be no settlement in case of strikes and
other labor agitation favorable to both sides and to all humanity until the
Golden Rule solves the problem of labor and its relation to capital.
The deepest significance of the Golden Rule is, that you feel toward others as
you would have others feel toward you, but there are unfortunately a large
number of people who are willing to let their religion lie in the realm of
sentiment without putting it into practice such people will readily say, “Oh,
yes, you should feel kindly toward everyone,” but while they accept truth,
theoretically, they are not willing to translate it into action. Jesus found
this condition among the people whom he distinctly
taught that sentiment was not sufficient,
(p. 53)
religion must be taken out of the realm of
sentiment and become a part of every-day life, the highest spiritual convictions
are useless until practiced. Jesus practically interpreted convictions in this
life, and thus earned immortal qualities.
Because Jesus is the son of God is no proof that others are not sons of God.
Because light shone in Palestine 2,000 years ago is no proof that there can not
be a spiritual revelation in this day or in future times.
We maintain that the teachings attributed to Jesus are intrinsically valuable.
We do not care whether they were uttered by him in Palestine 2,000 years ago or
in an ante-deluvian country 20,000 years ago. If the
teachings now on record are put in practice the world will be saved and
redeemed, and if those teachings are not practiced all the belief in the world,
all the baptism in the world, all the reception of sacraments, all the preaching
possible will fail to redeem humanity. You must eat and drink spiritual truth.
You must eat the flesh and drink the blood – that is, your daily life must
become one with that spirit of truth which was made specially manifest in the higher teachers of humanity.
Jesus as an historical personage we decidedly believe in as one who lived in
harmony with the highest law; and the same highest law is now in existence – the
law of love. The highest teachings now given to the world,
are in response to human needs. Let there be no hostility between Jew and
gentile; no dispute as to whether Moses or Jesus are personages, the teaching is
true in principle, in spirit it is now here and can stand upon its merit.
Whatever has demerit must fall, because
(p. 54)
of inherent imperfection and from no other cause.
Carping critics who can not interpret the beauty and sublimity of the gospel
would pick flaws in the character of an angel far more quickly than in an
ordinary mortal, because angelical dispositions are not so much in harmony with
their affections. Every one admires most whatever is most in accord with his own
standard of excellence; and as every one has a standard of his own you must
perceive the highest standard in order to truly admire the highest teachings.
Therefore it is a compliment to Jesus, to the gospel and to all highest
expressions of spiritual truth when sensual people throw dust and discredit upon
them. Was there ever a martyr or reformer, man or woman, who stood above the
age, who was not persecuted by those who could not comprehend them? They who
have lived in advance of their time have ever been termed in league with Satan.
Because Jesus proclaimed the higher truth he was said to be under the influence
of Beelzebub, the prince of Devils. Later on Galileo and Copernicus were called
fools and fanatics, so with all great reformers and inventors; until the world
has grown up to their plane of thought it reviles them. Spiritual truths are
often under a ban, but truth must conquer, and that perfect light which is in
each one, the ideal life will eventually include in its embrace the entire
family of man. Then will the great body of the Christ be revealed. Then will all
be one in spirit and at length visibly constitute one great united family.
Personalities will no longer be objects of worship, but the perfection of spirit
made manifest through all mankind will constitute the perfect coming of the
Christ in the ultimation of God’s kingdom upon earth.
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