NEW YORK
THE NEW-CHURCH BOARD OF PUBLICATION 3 West Twenty-Ninth Street
Copyright, 1906, by George Henry Dole.
PRESS OF J. B. Lippincott Company PHILADELPHIA
Dedication
TO MY FATHER
HENRY CLINTON DOLE
WHO TAUGHT ME AS A CHILD THAT THE LORD IS GOD AND THAT HIS WORD IS DIVINE
PREFACE
If it is thought that religion is dogmatic, and for want of reason is unscientific, yet it is equally true that science in attempting to explain natural phenomena apart from God is equally irreligious.
Religionists have argued that we must have faith to believe, because we do not know; while Scientists have asserted that we must know in order to believe. The two are not in agreement.
It is the purpose of this treatise to outline briefly the fundamental principles of a philosophy that, when introduced into our forms of thought, will harmonize science and religion, and open the way to progressive thought and intelligent investigation of superior causes. It is not presumed that this argument will compel belief. To do this is neither desirable nor possible. Sufficient if it is helpful, or gives to the willing a defense against falsities. It is both proper and possible for the believing to be provided with an invulnerable system of philosophy.
Each thought suggested would admit of protracted development and extended corroboration; but in view of the ability to think for oneself, which the diffusion of education has made quite general, it has seemed best to avoid protracted discussion by presenting as brief an outline as can well stand alone.
As far as possible I have avoided the use of technical words and terms, that the subject may be easily understood by all. I have tried to place before the reader the facts and conclusions briefly, and in as logical an order as the extent and the nature of the subject will permit. This I have done without fear of the objections of the Materialists and Sensists, which are too much regarded, yet with an effort to consider sufficiently fair objection and reasonable inquiry. We should not fear to assert the truth because Sensists regard as unworthy of notice what can not be perceived by the corporeal senses. Let us remember that truth has power in itself to accomplish its own mission, and that the bare assertion of truth is an enlightening power. Rather than weary the perceptive reader with what might seem protracted or unnecessary argument, I have frequently trusted to this fact, and have left many points unconfirmed; and in other cases the argument is briefly generalized to avoid lengthy discussions of details. Yet I have endeavored to substantiate fully the fundamental essentials of the system of philosophy. In such a work as this the application of the principles to extended details must necessarily be left to the specialists in their respective departments. In a human being reason and perception are added to the bodily senses. They are better and surer guides than sensuous impressions, and I have ventured to put in them the confidence that they deserve, believing that superior truths when once revealed can be supported by reason, and that it is possible to comprehend intellectually the first causes in science and all the essentials of religion.
It is well known that materialism and all systems of thought that endeavor to build up a philosophy without the knowledge and the acknowledgment of God and apart from Him, lead into uncertainty and consequent doubt, into confusion of ideas, and to the final denial of the possibility of knowing first causes or anything about the Creator; and consequently they lead into agnosticism of such a character that no progress in supernatural or supersensual things is possible. If a tree may be known by its fruits, any system of thought that leads to general agnosticism is thereby proved to be false; for agnosticism, as we shall observe, is the mental darkness of error.
It has been quite popular to receive with unquestioning faith any thing that bears the seal of modern science; but there is a general feeling that materialistic and sensuous science, once so replete with promise, and with which we have been satiated to the full, is not able to formulate an intelligent or a helpful philosophy.
In following materialistic reasoning we are brought to a line that, we are told, we can not pass over. Beyond it is the everlasting unknown, and no further advance in that direction is possible. This is a proof not of inability to advance to a knowledge of higher causes, but of the error and inadequacy of the system of reasoning that has been followed. With a true system of philosophy we can advance in height to a knowledge of the Creator, and progress laterally without limit. The further we proceed with a false philosophy, the less progress appears possible, and the more uncertain is each step; but the more progress made by a true philosophy, the greater is the possibility of further advance, and the more certain is the knowledge acquired.
Organic Life had no Absolute Commencement—Organic Life originated solely in Chemical Changes due to External Conditions—Evolution is essentially Agnostic and Infidel—The Use of the Theory of Evolution.
The Distinction between Science and Philosophy—Science will be transferred from the Materialists to those who believe in God—Science and Religion are fundamentally a Unit—Creation by Correspondence.
Revelation is Necessary because Spiritual Things, wherein are Causes, are above the Plane of Science and of the Senses—The Truths Fundamental to Science are revealed in the Letter of the Word—Civilization has ever been Dependent upon Revelation—Revelation is addressed to Spiritual Faculties—The Idolatrous and False Religions and Superstitions of Ancient Times were not the Beginning of Religion, but the Perversion of Previous Revelations—The Christian Religion is from a Revelation of God Himself in Jesus Christ—How the Word is God—The Word is the Product of Growth, and is formed to contain Infinite Truth and Love—God must be Acknowledged not as the Discovery of Science, but as the Object of Revelation—The Philosophy of Swedenborg.
Creation necessitates a Creator—Law is in the Creator—Quality is in the Creator—The Creator is not an Unembodied Force—The Creator is a Substance—Intelligence is in the Creator—Life is in the Creator—Affection and Thought constitute Human Life, and are in the Creator—1. Life is a Form of Activity—2. Affection and Thought constitute the Life of the Brain, and consequently of the Whole Body—3. In Affection and Thought originates the Life of the Whole Body—4. Life is the Activity of Love—5. Love is a Substance—The Creator is Person, Human, and Man—The Creator is Eternal—The Creator is Infinite—The Creator is Omnipotent—The Creator is Omniscient and Omnipresent—The Creator is Self-Existing—The Creator is very Person, the Divine Human, and God–Man—An Adequate Idea of God necessitates that He be conceived of as interiorly in the Human Form—The Human Form and Shape should be attributed to the Creator.
Without Knowledge of Degrees Causes cannot be understood—Continuous Degrees and Discrete Degrees—Homogeneous Degrees and Heterogeneous Degrees—Discrete Degrees in Successive Order and in Simultaneous Order—The End terminates in the Effect and there resides in Fulness and in Power—Correspondence—The Natural World is composed of Discrete Degrees—Nature's Forces are derived from the Spiritual World—The Spiritual World, like the Natural World, is composed of an Ordinated Series of Discrete Degrees of Substance—All Activity is derived from the Creator by Correspondence—The Quality of Influx is determined by the Receiving Form—The Maximus Homo or Grand Man.
The Soul is Substantial and an Organized Form—Spiritual Forms are illustrated by Natural Forms—The Natural Body and Nature are composed of Like Discrete Degrees, in Similar Successive Order—Nature and the Body receive Activity in a Similar Manner—Functional Powers of the Body originate in the Affections of the Mind—The Soul is animated from the Creator—A Diagram of the Natural and Spiritual Universe illustrating their General Similarity of Form—The Creator is Present in the Soul not Bodily, but by Influx—The Universal Creation is sustained by Influx from the Creator into and through Discrete Degrees—The Unity of Plan is Universal.
The Soul is the Formative Element in the Natural Body, and is a Complex Spiritual Structure—The Spiritual Mind is developed in the Same Manner that the Natural Mind is—The Inmost is the Most Interior Structure of the Human Organization, and as Such it is the First to receive Influx from the Creator—The Limbus—The Successive Planes of the Body are formed from the Coincident Planes of Material Substances—The Successive Planes of the Soul are formed from the Coincident Planes of Spiritual Substances—The Life of an Individual determines the Particular Form or Internal Structure of the Planes of his Being—The Universality of the Unity of Plan accommodates Man to the Reception of Influx from the Creator through the Coincident Planes of the Universe—There are Two Forms of Influx, from within and from without—The Manner in which Activity passes from the Sun to the Earth exemplifies in Detail the Process by which Vitality passes from the Creator into the Soul—Each Plane of an Organism and of the Universe, receiving Influx, appropriates Power from the Influx and acts as of itself.
Sensation is a Faculty of the Soul, and is produced by Influx through the Soul into the Favorably Disposed Form of the External Organism—The Seat of Sensation is in the Soul.
The Character of Natural Forces is Unknown, and Substances are confounded with their Properties, because there is no Knowledge of Discrete Degrees—Heat is a Form of Activity—The Origin of Heat is the Activity of an Atmosphere Interior to the Grosser Forms of Matter—The Sun's Heat is due to Influx from the Spiritual World—Light—Sight is from Mental Light inflowing and meeting the Impressions made upon the Eye by the Activity of Ether—Radiation—Conductors and Non-Conductors—Color—Space and Time are Attributes of Matter, but they are not Matter itself—Motion—Force—Natural Forces are derived from the Creator by the Transformation of Divine Force, in passing through Successive Discrete Degrees of Substance—Gravity is the Activity of the Aura—Attraction—Chemical Affinity—Atomicity—Capillarity—Cohesion—Adhesion—Osmosis—Electricity is an Activity of the Ether—Magnetism—Spiritual Force is within Natural Force.
The Different Kinds of Forces are but Varied Manifestations of One Force, which, in its Origin, is Spiritual—Transference, Transformation, and Generation of Force distinguished generally—When Transformation of Force takes Place—Transference of Force illustrated—What Generation of Force is—The Existence of Force in Nature is momentarily Dependent upon Influx from the Spiritual World, and primarily from the Creator—The Forces of the Body are from the Forces of Affection and Thought—Voluntary and Involuntary Forces
The Spiritual World is the Soul of the Natural World—Every Material Object has an Internal Spiritual Counterpart, or Soul, that is Analogous to the Material Form—Every Thing must in Proportion to the Degree of its Life reach up by its Organization to the Plane from which its Life is Derived, and wherein reside the Causes of its Organization—The Organic Difference between Animal and Man is primarily due to the Superior Degree in the Human Form, called the Inmost, and to the Internal Mind—Animals have Souls, or Spiritual Correlatives of the Natural Body—Plants have Corresponding Correlative Spiritual Forms.
Essentials for the Creation of First Living Forms—The Laws of Creation are now Active on the Planes of Organized Living Forms—The First Living Forms were created by the Laws that are still Operative—Spontaneous Creation—Divine Volition is not Contrary to Natural Law—Variety of Forms originates in the Infinite Potencies of the Divine—The Order of Creation was that of Use, which is Reflected in Both the Human and the Divine Form—The Internal Force develops the External Body into a Form in Correspondence with itself—All Things were created through the Law of Correspondence, whereby Each is, in a Degree, an Image of the Others and of the Creator—Reproduction is from the Constancy of the Creative Force—The Possibilities of a Form are Fixed and Determined by the Potencies in the Seed.
The Particular Constitution of the Human Form and its Relation to Creation show that Man is created to live Forever—The Three Degrees of the Natural Body—The Two Degrees of the Spiritual Body—Three Degrees of the Natural Mind—The Three Degrees of the Spiritual or Internal Mind—The Inmost—The Creator—The Grand Divisions of the Human Organism—The Hells are formed from those who fail to fulfil in any Degree the Purposes of Life—The Hells, which are Three, are governed by the Lord—The Intermediate World—The Purpose of Creation and the Destiny of Man—Man is so created that he can be separated from the Material Body.
The Spiritual Part of Man in its Entirety is derived from the Father; The Material Part is from the Mother—The Crossing of Varieties, and Sterility—The Multiplication of Animals by Offshoots—The Cause of Birthmarks—Why the Human Body in its Development resembles the Lower Animals—Miracles.
Freedom of Choice is an Essential of the Human Form—The True Development of Man is the Attainment of Divine Love from God—The First Civilization was effected through a Knowledge of Spiritual Things, and from a Desire to attain the Image and Likeness of God, the Creator.
By Means of the Incarnation, God, the Creator, took upon Himself the Discrete Degrees of Creation that He had put forth beneath Himself—By the Glorification the Creator provided Himself with a Divine Human, having in it Each Degree of Created Life in its Infinitude—The Holy Spirit is the Influx of Life from the Creator through the Divine Human provided by the Glorification—The Trinity is the Creator from Eternity, the Divine Human taken on by Glorification, and the Holy Spirit—The Glorification of the Human is the Perfect Example of Man's Regeneration—The Glorification of the Lord effected Man's Redemption—The Word is perpetually enlightening and ennobling Humanity—The Sole Object of Life in the World is to accomplish Regeneration for the Perfection of the Love of Use and its Blessings.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 81 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
