Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate/Volume 3/Number 5/The Philosophy of Religion

THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

The objects of human knowledge may be reduced to two classes-the relations of matter and the relations of mind; or, in other words, the material and the intellectual universe. Of these two departments of science, the intellectual universe is, in many respects, the most interesting and important.-For, in so far as our knowledge and researches extend, it appears highly probable, if not absolutely certain, that the material universe exists solely for the sake of sentient and intelligent beings-in order to afford a sensible manifestation of the great First Cause, and to serve as a vehicle of thought and a medium of enjoyment to subordinate intelligences. So intimately related, however, are these two objects of human investigation, that a knowledge of the one cannot be obtained but through the medium of the other. The operations of mind cannot be carried on without the intervention of external objects; for if the material universe had never existed, we could never have prosecuted a train of thought; and the beauties and sublimities of external nature can be perceived only by thinking beings, without the existence of which, the material universe would remain like a mighty blank, and might be said to have been created in vain. Hence it appears, that, previous to our inquiries into the nature and relations of mind, it is necessary, in the first place, to study the phenomena of the material world, and the external actions of all those precipient beings with which it is peopled; for the knowledge of the facts we acquire in relation to those objects must form the ground-work of all our investigations.

We are surrounded, on every hand, with minds of various descriptions, which evince the faculties of which they are possessed, by the various senses and active powers with which they are furnished. These minds are various, in point of intellectual capacity and acumen, from man downwards through all the animated tribes which traverse the regions of earth, air, and sea. We have the strongest reason to believe, that the distant regions of the material world are also replenished with intellectual beings, of various orders, in which there may be a gradation upwards, in the scale of intellect above that of a man, as diversified as that which we perceive in the descending scale, from man downwards to the immaterial principle which animates a muscle, a snail, or a microscopic animalcula. When we consider the variety of original forms and of intellectual capacities which abounds in our terrestrial system, and that there is an infinite gap in the scale of being between the human mind and the Supreme Intelligence, it appears quite conformable to the magnificent harmony of the universe, and to the wisdom and benevolence of its Almighty Author, to suppose that there are beings within the range of his dominions as far superior to man in the comprehension and extent of mental and corporeal powers, as man is, in these respects, superior to the most despicable insect: and that these beings, in point of number, may exceed all human calculation and comprehension. This idea is corroborated by several intimations contained in the records of revelation, where we have presented to our view a class of intelligences endowed with physical energies, powers of rapid motion, and a grasp of intellect, incomparably superior to those which are possessed by any of the beings which belong to our sublunary system.

To contemplate the various orders of intelligences which people the material universe, and the relations which subsist among them-the arrangements of the different worlds to which they respectively belong-the corporeal vehicles by which they hold a correspondence with the material system-the relation in which they stand to other worlds and beings, from which they are separated by the voids of space-and the excursions they occasionally make to different regions of that vast empire of which they form a part-to trace the superior intellectual faculties and the sensitive organs with which they are endowed-the profound investigations they have made into the economy of the universe-the trains of thought which they pursue, and the magnificent objects on which their faculties are employed-the emotions with which they view the scenes and transactions of such a world as ours-the means by which they have been carried in the career of moral and intellectual improvement-the history of their transactions since the period at which they were brought into existence-the peculiar dispensations of the Creator, and the revolutions that may have taken place among them-the progressions they have made from one state of improvement to another-the views they have acquired of the perfections and the plans of their Almighty Sovereign-the transporting emotions of delight which pervade all their faculties-and the sublime adorations they offer up to the Fountain of all their felicity-would constitute a source of the most exquisite gratification to every holy, intelligent, and inquiring mind. But, since we are at present confined to a small corner of the universe of God, and surrounded by immeasurable voids of space, which intervene between our habitation and the celestial worlds, through which no human power can enable us to penetrate, we must remain ignorant of the nature and economy of those intellectual beings, till our souls take their flight from these "tabernacles of clay," to join their kindred spirits in the invisible world. While we remain in our sublunary mansion, our investigations into the world of mind, must, therefore, of necessity, be confined to the nature and attributes of the Uncreated Spirit, and to the faculties of our own minds and those of the sensitive beings with which we are surrounded. These faculties, as they constitute the instruments by which all our knowledge, both human and divine, is acquired, have employed the attention of philosophers in every age, and have been the theme of many subtle and ingenuous speculations; and they, doubtless, form an interesting subject of investigation to the student of intellectual science.

But, of all the views we can take of the world of mind, the moral relations of intelligent beings, and the laws founded on these relations, are topics by far the most interesting and important.-This subject may be treated in a more definite and tangible manner than the theories which have been formed respecting the nature and operations of the intellectual powers. Illustrations level to every capacity, and which come home to every one's bosom, may be derived both from reason and experience, from the annals of history, and the records of revelation. It is not involved in the same difficulties and obscurity which have perplexed the philosophy of the intellect; and there are certain principles which may be traced in relation to this subject, which apply to all the rational intelligences that God has formed, however diversified in respect of the regions of the universe which they occupy, and in the extent of their intellectual powers. Above all, the subject is more intimately connected with the present and future happiness of man than any other which comes within the range of human investigation; and therefore, forms a prominent and legitimate branch of what may be termed "The Philosophy of Religion."

That the moral relations of intelligent minds, and the temper and conduct corresponding with these relations, are essentially connected with the happiness of every rational agent, might be made to appear from a variety of cases, in which the reversing of certain moral laws or principles would inevitably lead to disorder and misery. I shall content myself with stating the following illustration:-We dwell in an obscure corner of God's empire; but the light of modern science has shown us, that worlds, a thousand times larger than ours, and adorned with more refulgent splendors, exist within the range of that system of which we form a part.

It has also unfolded to our view other systems dispersed throughout the voids of space, at immeasurable distances, and in such vast profusion, that our minds are unable to grasp their number and their magnitude. Reason and revelation lead us to conclude, that all these worlds and systems are adorned with displays of divine wisdom, and peopled with myriads of rational inhabitants. The human mind, after it has received notices of such stupendous scenes, naturally longs for a nearer and more intimate inspection of the grandeur and economy of those distant provinces of the Creator's empire; and is apt to imagine that it would never weary, but would feel unmingled enjoyment, while it winged its flight from one magnificent scene of creation to another. But although an inhabitant of our world were divested of the quality of gravitation, endowed with powers of rapid motion adequate to carry him along "to the suburbs of creation," and permitted by his Creator to survey all the wonders of the universe, if a principle of love and kindly affection towards fellow intelligences did not animate his mind, if rage and revenge, pride and ambition, hatred and envy, were incessantly rankling in his breast, he could feel no transporting emotions, nor taste the sweets of true enjoyment. The vast universe, through which he roamed, would be transformed into a spacious hell; it beauties and sublimities could not prevent misery from taking possession of his soul; and, at every stage of his excursion, he could not fail to meet with the indications of his Creator's frown. For there appears, from reason and experience, as well as from the dictates of revelation, an absolute impossibility of enjoying happiness so long as malevolent affections retain their ascendancy in the heart of a moral intelligence, in whatever region of universal nature his residence may be found.

Hence we may learn, that the highest attainments in science to which any one can arrive, though they may expand the range of his intellectual views, will not ensure to their possessor substantial and unmingled enjoyment, while his heart is devoid of benevolent affections, and he is subjected to the influence of degrading and immoral passions. If it be possible that any one now exists in the literary world, who has devoted his life to the sublimest investigations of science, and has taken the most extensive views of the arrangements of the material world, and yet who remains doubtful as to the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, and of an eternal state of destination; who is elated with pride at the splendor of his scientific acquirements; who treats his equals with a spirit of arrogance; who looks down with a haughty and sullen scowl on the inferior ranks of his fellow men; who is haughty, overbearing, and revengeful in his general deportment, and who is altogether indifferent as to the moral principles he displays,-I would envy neither his happiness nor his intellectual attainments. He can enjoy none of those delightful emotions which flow from the exercise of Christian benevolence, nor any of those consolations which the good man feels amidst the various ills of life; and, beyond the short span of mortal existence, he can look forward to no brighter displays of the grandeur of the material and intellectual universe, but to an eternal deprivation of his powers of intelligence in the shades of annihilation.

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