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The Law of Human 
 Life 
 
 The Scriptures in the Light of the Science of 
 Psychology 
 
 By 
 Elijah V, Brookshire 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 New York and London 
 
 Zbc f:nfcf:crbocfter press 
 
 1916 
 
 5 
 

 Copyright, 1916 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIJAH V. BROOKSHIRE 
 
 Ube ftnfchevfcocliet pcese, Hew Motli 
 
this book is 
 
 affectionately dedicated to 
 
 the memory of my deceased mother, 
 
 who faithfully did what she could to make me 
 
 a good cod-fearing boy and man. 
 
 The Author, 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. — The Allegory of Adam, Eve, and the 
 Serpent 
 
 I. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, 
 Principles Inherent in the Soul 
 
 OF Man 
 
 11. Cain, Abel, and Seth 
 
 III. The Book of the Generations of 
 Adam: The Book of Real Men 
 
 II. — Noah, his Ark, and the Flood . 
 
 III. — ^Abraham, the Hebrew . 
 
 IV. — Isaac: The Story of the Ideal Father, 
 Mother, and Child 
 
 PAGB 
 
 V 
 
 V. — ^Jacob 
 VI. — ^Joseph . 
 yil, — Moses 
 VIIL— Elijah . 
 IX. — ^JoNAH THE Prophet 
 X. — ^John the Baptist , 
 XI. — ^Jesus of Nazareth 
 XII.— Paul 
 
 3 
 20 
 
 34 
 44 
 75 
 
 114 
 
 145 
 191 
 229 
 
 296 
 
 330 
 350 
 370 
 433 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The historical method of interpreting the Scrip- 
 tures is discredited. This book submits a psycho- 
 logical interpretation. Emerson evidently stated an 
 axiom in science, when he said: "Whenever a true 
 theory appears, it will be its own evidence. Its test 
 is that it will explain aU phenomena." It stands to 
 reason that no truth, no principle, in the vmiverse of 
 God, is at war with any other; all truths coalesce; all 
 truths exist in unity. To deny this is to deny the 
 divine order that is so manifest in aU the works of 
 nature; and of which science. fiu^ishes abundant proof. 
 Of course, it is entirely possible to conceive how texts 
 of Scripture might be incorrectly interpreted, though 
 the theory of interpretation was correct; but it would 
 be difficult indeed to conceive how passages of it could 
 be correctly interpreted if the theory of interpreta- 
 tion be erroneous. To illustrate, it is entirely possible 
 to understand how an astronomer might err in the solv- 
 ing of problems when following the Heliocentric theory ; 
 but it would be difficult to conceive how one could 
 correctly solve astronomical problems when acting in 
 obedience to the Ptolemaic theory. It, therefore, fol- 
 lows that, if the Scriptures are to yield their content, 
 and are to be relied upon as pointing the way of human 
 salvation, they should be interpreted in the light of a 
 true theory. 
 
 Then the question: Do the Scriptures describe and 
 
vi Introduction 
 
 explain the nature of the human soul, and the Law of 
 its orderly evolution? We affirm tmqualifiedly that 
 they do; and that religion, therefore, is not founded 
 upon any form of abstract metaphysical dogma, but 
 upon principles that have relation to the nature of the 
 htiman soul itself. Scientifically speaking, it may be 
 said that religion announces certain postulates of belief, 
 that may be realized in consciousness, to wit: that God 
 is; that the human soul is; that the human soul has 
 its Law; and that this Law is susceptible of fulfilment; 
 and that there is a spiritual kingdom that transcends 
 the sensuous animal kingdom of the world. 
 
 It is certainly true that religious and political thought 
 is now in a state of great confusion and disorder. This 
 tmsettled state of thought is evidently pronounced and 
 wide-spread; and is most in evidence in those cotmtries 
 where scientific institutions are most prevalent and 
 influential. Colossal armies of many powerful nations 
 are now in a death grapple on the continent of Europe 
 to eliminate and destroy, the power and influence of 
 effete ideas and institutions ; and let us hope that on the 
 ruins of a passing civilization there will be builded 
 a new and better. Perhaps the conflict in Europe, 
 appalling as it is, will have a powerful influence in 
 transforming a socialism, which rests on the basis of 
 conflicting beliefs and interests, represented by the 
 sensuous animal world, into a socialism which rests on 
 the belief, on the consciousness, of a Spiritual kingdom, 
 the kingdom that represents the Fatherhood of God, 
 and the brotherhood of man, "My kingdom is not 
 of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants fight" (John 18:36). "Have we 
 not all One Father? Has not One God created us all?" 
 (Mai. 2: 10). 
 
Introduction vii 
 
 War, like all overt acts of violence, is but an tiltima- 
 tion of the evil and inharmony which exist in the souls 
 of men; this evil and wickedness when ultimated makes 
 warfare possible and actual. George Fox, the fotmder 
 of the Society of Friends (Quakers), when tirged to 
 enter the army writes in his journal: "I told them I 
 knew whence all wars arose, even from the lusts, ac- 
 cording to James's doctrine; and that I lived in the 
 virtue of that life and power that took away the occa- 
 sion of all wars. . . . They said I should go for a 
 soldier; but I told them I was dead to it." 
 
 As long as the great mass of mankind in the several 
 races and nations of the world do not "live in the vir- 
 tue of that life and power that takes away the occasion 
 of wars," there will be violence and war in families, 
 and between the people of the same nation, and among 
 people of different nations. Lectures and sermons on 
 peace and 'good- will among men fall on deaf ears as 
 long as the people cultivate in their hearts the worldly 
 spirit which discloses itself in malice, hate, revenge, 
 lust, hypocrisy, greed, Hes, and murder. They who 
 sow the seed of Satan are destined to reap what they 
 sow. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for what- 
 soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 
 6:7). It stands to reason, that all races and nations 
 of men must come to believe and acquiesce in one 
 common form of religious belief, one "common faith" 
 (Titus 1:4), one "common salvation " Qude 3), before 
 there can be a real unity and brotherhood among the 
 people of the several races and nations of the world. 
 In a word, religion will not attain to its own tmtil it 
 presents a theory entirely scientific; and which leads 
 men to believe, and to realize in consciousness, the 
 Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. 
 
• ■ • 
 
 viii Introduction 
 
 "The ftuidamental unity of men in the family of God 
 is the one enduring reality." This was the affirmation 
 of the Friends (Quakers) in England at the beginning 
 of the war, in August, 1914, between the people of their 
 country and those of Germany. Thou art "the God 
 of Peace who lovest Thy creatures." 
 
 In a book recently published (19 14), entitled The 
 Churchy the People, and the Age, edited by Robert Scott 
 and George W. Gilmore, are contributions from one 
 htmdred and five teachers and writers, many of whom 
 stand in the very forefront in the Western world as 
 teachers of philosophy and of reUgion. The contribu- 
 tions of these famous scholars and teachers found in this 
 composite book are directed in the main to answering 
 questions like the following: Why so many people do 
 not go to church? Do the creeds debar men from 
 Christianity? Where shall we look for a fimdamental 
 theology? Perhaps the tone of this book of so many 
 famous authors may be summed up in two sentences 
 taken from the contributions of Dr. Rudolf C. Eucken, 
 Professor of Philosophy in the University of Jena, 
 Germany; and of Professor Chamberlain of Worcester, 
 Mass. The first essay in this book, which is denomi- 
 nated the Introduction, is by Dr. Eucken, and his first 
 sentence, which seems so expressive of the contents of 
 the volume, is as follows: "There can be no doubt that 
 the churches of to-day do not satisfy the religious needs 
 of mankind." Professor Chamberlain speaks in accord 
 with the general tone of the book, when he says: "The 
 idea that 'something is wrong with the Church' is 
 in the air, and nothing that the Church has done in 
 recent years seems to have met the situation." No- 
 thing, it would seem, could more perfectly demon- 
 strate the utter confusion of religious thought in the 
 
Introduction ix 
 
 Western world, than the opinions expressed in this 
 book. 
 
 The loss of influence by the churches is not recent, 
 nor spasmodic, nor can it be attributed to superficial 
 causes. The power and influence of the churches are 
 waning because their creeds, their alleged doctrines, do 
 not appeal to philosophic minds; and since the churches 
 assume to teach the plan of salvation announced in 
 the Scriptures, the loss of confidence in the churches 
 has in many instances caused a loss of confidence in 
 the Scriptures. The loss of influence of the churches, 
 especially in the Western world, is measured by 
 the broadening and on-sweeping currents of scientific 
 thought. That old forms of religious thought were 
 at war with scientific knowledge, and were growing 
 weaker, was observed by many philosophic minds more 
 than fifty years ago ; and there were a few rare souls, like 
 William Ellery Channing, who had the genius to see 
 the degraded state of religious knowledge even one 
 hundred years ago. 
 
 Dr. Channing, in a discotirse delivered in 1829, on 
 The Character and Writings of FSnelon, when describing 
 what he called "the degraded state of religion," said: 
 
 Religion is thought a mystery, which, far from coalescing, 
 wars with other knowledge. It is never ranked with the 
 sciences which expand and adorn the mind. It is regarded 
 as a method of escaping future ruin, not as a vivifying truth 
 through which the intellect and the heart are alike to be 
 invigorated and enlarged. Its bearing on the great objects 
 of thought and the great interests of Kfe is hardly suspected. 
 This degradation of religion into a technical study, this 
 disjunction of it from morals, from philosophy, from the 
 various objects of liberal research, has done it infinite injury, 
 has checked its progress, has perpetuated errors which 
 
X Introduction 
 
 gathered around it in times of barbarism and ignorance, 
 has made it a mark for the sophistry and ridicule of the 
 licentious, and has infused a lurking scepticism into many 
 powerful understandings. . . . Religion, if it be true, is 
 central truth, and all knowledge which is not gathered 
 roimd it, and quickened and illumined by it, is hardly 
 worthy the name. To this great theme we would summon 
 all orders of mind, the scholar, the statesman, the student 
 of nature, and the observer of life. 
 
 Prof. John M. Coulter, of the University of Chicago, 
 a man deservedly famous for his scientific attainments, 
 in his contribution to the book, The Church, the People, 
 and the Age, said: "It is obvious that if Jesus is to 
 be taken as the embodiment of religion — certainly he 
 could not be as the embodiment of dogmatic theology — 
 the association of reason and religion is to be insisted 
 upon. According to him we are to use the mind as 
 well as the heart in the service of God and our neighbor. 
 This means that religion cannot include anything 
 that reason rejects; that all of the triumphs of reason 
 must be consistent with religion." There seems to be 
 a marked similarity between the views of Dr. Charming 
 of 1829, and those of Professor Coulter of 1914. They 
 both insist that the mind as well as the heart is to find 
 a free and full expression in religion. In a word, that 
 all the constituent powers of the 'soul of regenerate 
 man must find a free and full expression. This is self- 
 evident; for the end and aim of religion is the perfection 
 of the soul of man. Philosophic minds, like those of Dr. 
 Channing and Professor Coulter, have greatly increased 
 in number and influence during the past hundred years; 
 and their dissent from what we may call the "theologi- 
 cal method " of teaching religion has well-nigh destroyed 
 
Introduction xi 
 
 the influence of the Church with those who are enam- 
 ored of the scientific method of thought. 
 
 John Stuart Mill,. in his Autobiography^ written about 
 the year 1861, said; 
 
 I am now convinced, that no great improvements in the 
 lot of mankind are possible, until a great change takes 
 place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of 
 thought. The old opinions in religion, morals, and politics, 
 are so much discredited in the more intellectual minds as 
 to have Ipst the greater part of their efficacy for good, while 
 they still have life enough in them to be a powerful obstacle 
 to the growth of any better opinions on these subjects. 
 When the philosophic minds of the world can no longer 
 believe in its religion, or can only believe it with modifica- 
 tions amounting to an essential change of its character, a 
 transitional period commences, of weak convictions, para- 
 lyzed intellects, and a growing laxity of principle, which 
 cannot terminate until a renovation has been effected in 
 the basis of their belief leading to the evolution of some 
 faith, whether religious or merely human, which they can 
 really believe. And when things are in this state, all think- 
 ing or writing which does not tend to promote such reno- 
 vation, is of very little value beyond the moment. Since 
 there is little in the apparent condition of the public mind, 
 indicative of any tendency in this direction, my views of 
 the immediate prospects of human improvement were not 
 sanguine. More recently a spirit of free speculation has 
 sprung up, giving a more encouraging prospect of the 
 gradual mental emancipation of England; and concurring 
 with the renewal under better aspects, of the movement for 
 political freedom in the rest of Europe has given to the 
 present condition of affairs a more hopeful aspect. 
 
 Science has multiplied its converts, and enlarged 
 its field of operations enormously during the last fifty 
 
xii Introduction 
 
 years, or since Mr. Mill wrote his autobiography. 
 People who are enamored of scientific knowledge 
 comprehend principles in a more or less distinct way, 
 and are not satisfied to rest their beliefs, in matters of 
 serious concern, on what others may say or believe. 
 They are not satisfied with religious authority; they 
 are not disposed to believe in the Scriptures, because 
 they are told that they were given to the people of the 
 world by this or that person, or because they have 
 been approved by this or that man, or body of men, or 
 institution. Such minds do not find pleasure aild edifi- 
 cation in the Scriptures because of their legendary, 
 historic, and personal features; but many such do find 
 inex;pressible comfort and edification in the Scriptures 
 because they behold in them ideas and principles essen- 
 tially scientific and glorious, principles that bespeak 
 the immortality of the hviman soul. 
 
 The mental attitude of those who dissent from the 
 historical method of interpreting the Scriptures is, per- 
 haps, fairly stated in a remark attributed to the late 
 Theodore Parker, of New England: ''It seems difficult 
 to conceive any reason why moral and religious truths 
 should rest for their support on the authority of their 
 revealer any more than the truths of science on that 
 of him who makes them known first or most clearly." 
 They of the school of science insist that nothing is to 
 be accepted as true that contradicts reason; and that 
 no science is, or can be founded upon historical events 
 and incidents. History deals with events in time, 
 science with principles. Principles exist above time 
 and place; they have no anniversary; they are eternal; 
 they are, therefore, not dependent upon the local, 
 the passing, and the temporary. If the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures are to siuvive the mutations of time, it must be 
 
Introduction xiii 
 
 for the reason that they announce principles. "Know 
 this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any 
 private interpretation" (2 Peter i : 20). 
 
 The author of this book submits a psychological 
 interpretation of the Scriptures; and so denominates 
 his interpretation, because the Scriptures in their essen- 
 tial nature are psychological, and not historic. The 
 Scriptures assttme to teach the nature of the human 
 soul and the mode and manner of its orderly evolution. 
 Buckle, in his very estimable work. The History of 
 Civilization in England (vol. i., chap. 8), when reviewing 
 the philosophy of Descartes, said: "The theological 
 method rests on ancient records, on tradition, on the 
 voice of antiqtiity. The method of Descartes rests 
 solely on the consciousness each man has of the opera- 
 tions of his own mind." Thus it will be observed that 
 what Buckle calls the "theological method" is identi- 
 cal with what we are pleased to call the historic method- 
 The theological or historic method attaches great im- 
 portance to events in time, and tends toward an idol- 
 atrous exaltation of individuals. The scientific method 
 or what is the same, the psychological, is not specially 
 concerned with events in time, nor does it tend to the 
 adoration of the individual, but its work and office is 
 the ascertainment of principles. It is forever asking 
 the questions: What is the Law? What is the divine 
 order revealed in the object investigated? This method 
 when applied to the Scriptures asks questions like the 
 following: Is man a living sotd? Do the Scriptures 
 teach the nature of the human soul, and the mode and 
 manner of its orderly evolution? Jesus, when he 
 spoke of the great master, Moses, honored him as the 
 giver of the Law. "Did not Moses give you the Law, 
 and yet none of you keepeth the Law? Why go ye 
 
xiv Introduction 
 
 about to kill me?" (John 7: 19). The Law inhibits 
 murder, and all manner of evil. Jesus like all the 
 great was not specially concerned with the personal, 
 the passing, and the local. "Master, we know that 
 thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, 
 neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest 
 not the person of men" (Matt. 22: 16). Jesus Christ 
 stood for principles. "Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, but my words shall not pass away ' ' (Mark 13:31). 
 If religion is founded upon principles inherent in the 
 human soul, then all forms of religion founded upon 
 metaphysical abstractions and historical data are 
 doomed. Dr. Channing said again and again: "We 
 must start in religion from our own souls. In these is 
 the fotmdation of all divine truth." This idea, so 
 much in evidence in his sermons, lectures, and letters 
 to friends, is perhaps the reason for numerous utter- 
 ances like the following: 
 
 The time is, perhaps, coming, when all our present sects 
 will live only in history. . . . We profess to believe that 
 candid and impartial research will guide mankind to a 
 purer system of Christianity than is now to be found in any 
 church or country under heaven, . . . Every church in 
 Christendom has its errors and perhaps errors which to 
 future ages may seem as gross as many earlier superstitions 
 appear to the present generation. ... I apprehend that 
 there is but one way of putting an end to our dissensions; 
 and that is, not by the triumph of any existing system over 
 all others, but the acquisition of something better than the 
 best we now have. The way to reconcile men who are 
 quarreling in a fog is, to let in some new and brighter light. 
 It seems to me that we are fighting in a low, misty valley. 
 A man who should gain some elevated position, overlooking 
 our imagined heights of thought, and wotdd lead us after 
 
Introduction xv 
 
 him, would set us all right in a short time. ... I have for 
 many years had a deep feeling of the present degraded 
 state of moral and religious science. ... I hope nothing 
 from increased zeal in urging an imperfect, decaying form 
 of Christianity. One higher, clearer view of religion rising 
 on a single mind encourages me more than the organization 
 of millions to repeat what has been repeated for ages with 
 little effect. . . . 
 
 These utterances of Dr. Channing are taken from 
 his Memoirs. They were published during the active 
 years of his ministry extending from 1810 to 1842, the 
 year of his death; and they represent, as we believe, 
 a fair sample of the views of this chaste and illustrious 
 clergyman (Channing's Memoirs, vol. i., pp. 314, 396, 
 416; vol. ii., pp. 281, 327, 395). 
 
 Moreover it seems fit to recall the name of John 
 Robinson, a name to be held in everlasting remem- 
 brance, and his exhortation to his people when tak- 
 ing leave of them, in July, 1620. He admonished his 
 people to live worthy of the truth, and thus be prepared 
 to receive a higher revelation; for he expressed the 
 confident belief that the Lord had more truth yet to 
 break forth out of His holy Word. Less than a century 
 after the passing of Robinson, that princely man of 
 reason, Joseph Butler, whose writings still stand as a 
 model to students of logic and pure reason, was born. 
 It seemed that this rare genius entertained views like 
 those of the prophetic Robinson; for in his Analogy of 
 Religion^ Natural and Revealed published in 1736 (Part 
 ii., chap. 3) is the following suggestive observation: 
 
 And as it is owned that the whole scheme of Scripture is 
 not yet understood, so, if it ever come to be understood, 
 before the restitution of all things (Acts 3: 21) and without 
 
xvi Introduction 
 
 miractilous interpositions, it must be in the same way as 
 natural knowledge is come at; by the continuance and pro- 
 gress of learning and of liberty, and by peculiar persons, 
 attending to, comparing and ptirsuing, intimations scat- 
 tered up and down it, which are overlooked and disregarded 
 by the generality of the world. For this is the way in which 
 improvements are made; by thoughtful men tracing on 
 obscure hints, as it were, dropped us by nature accidentally, 
 or which seem to come into our minds by chance. Nor is 
 it at all incredible, that a book, which has been so long in 
 the possession of mankind, should contain many truths as 
 yet undiscovered. 
 
 Scholars enamored of social science are quite aware 
 of the opinions of philosophers and sociologists like 
 John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer, Spencer, who 
 has been called the chief founder of the science of 
 Sociology, had the genius to see, as did Mr. Mill and 
 Dr. Channing, that old forms of religious thought were 
 breaking up; this is apparent from numerous utter- 
 ances of his like the following: 
 
 In the presence of the theological thaw going on so fast 
 on all sides, there is on the part of many the fear, and 
 on the part of some the hope, that nothing will remain. 
 But the hopes and the fears are alike grotmdless; and must 
 be dissipated before balanced judgments in social science 
 can be formed. Like the transformations that have suc- 
 ceeded one another hitherto, the transformation now in pro- 
 gress is but an advance from a lower form, no longer fit, to 
 a higher and fitter form. {The Study of Sociology, chap. 12.) 
 
 Let us now pass from the consideration of the waning 
 influence of the churches to a consideration of the 
 Scriptures themselves. Some have expressed the be- 
 lief that the Scriptures do not fully meet the religious 
 
Introduction xvii 
 
 needs of mankind; and have intimated that they may 
 be supplanted by the message of a coming teacher. 
 They of this beUef are no doubt fittingly represented 
 by our bold and illustrious Emerson. 
 
 The Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures [said the sage of 
 Concord] contain immortal sentences that have been the 
 bread of life to millions. But they have no special in- 
 tegrity; are fragmentary; are not shown in their order to the 
 intellect. I look for a Teacher that shall follow so far these 
 shining laws, that he shall see them come full circle; shiall 
 see the World to be the mirror of the Soul; shall see the 
 identity of the Law of gravitation with purity of heart; 
 and shall show that the Ought, that Duty, is one thing with 
 Beauty, with Science, with Joy. 
 
 The author of this book entertains very great respect 
 for Emerson and what he wrote, as our numerous quota- 
 tions from his writings testify; but if he were to venture 
 a criticism of Emerson's contribution to literature, it 
 would very much resemble what Emerson himself 
 has said about the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. He 
 would say that Emerson has written immortal sen- 
 tences that have given, and will give, pleasure and edi- 
 fication to millions, but that his writings are without 
 system; are fragmentary; and do not in the main 
 present truth to the intellect in any approximation to 
 scientific order. 
 
 If the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures describe and 
 explain the nature of the htiman soul, and the mode and 
 manner of its orderly evolution; and if the principles 
 thus described and explained constitute the fixed, and 
 the knowable, and the eternal in religion, is there any 
 reason why another Moses should again announce the 
 Law of Human Life to the people of this world? It is 
 
xviii Introduction 
 
 said that Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravita- 
 tion; and demonstrated mathematically the truth of 
 his discovery. Is it necessary that another Newton 
 should again discover and explain this law? Moses, 
 the servant of God, the giver of the Law (Mai, 4:4), 
 was evidently one of the greatest that has ever lived 
 upon this earth, and is deserving of the love and admi- 
 ration of every rational being; and Jesus of Nazareth, 
 who lived and demonstrated the Law (Matt. 5: I7~i9)> 
 is also equally deserving of the love and admiration of 
 mankind. "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet 
 none of you keepeth the Law " (John 7: 19). This 
 shining Law, like the law of gravitation, has evidently 
 existed through all eternity; it was not made by Moses, 
 or Jesus, or any other human being; it is of God; it is 
 "the Law of Jehovah" (Ex. 13: 9; Ps. i : 2). It comes 
 from the Mind and Heart of Being, from the common 
 source of all. As to this self-evident truth, science in 
 recent times has come to concur with the Scriptures. 
 "All things proceed from One Eternal Energy," said 
 Herbert Spencer. 
 
 "What is now called Christian religion," said St. 
 Augustine, "was in existence also among men of old 
 times, and has never been lacking since the beginning 
 of the htunan race, till Christ himself appeai-ed in the 
 flesh. Since that time the true religion has begun to 
 be called the Christian religion." 
 
 Man attains to a knowledge of the Eternal by living 
 superior to the temptations and passing shows of the 
 sensuous world. There have been at all times of which 
 we have knowledge a few who have sought to live 
 worthy of the privileges of life; and they of this high 
 and holy fraternity are the moral and religious teachers 
 of mankind. Law, or what is the same, Order, reigns 
 
Introduction xix 
 
 supreme in the universe of God; and when the soul of 
 man is attuned to the divine order, then it is the organ 
 of the Holy Ghost. '*The Comforter shall teach you 
 all things, and bring all things to your remembrance" 
 Qohn 14:26). 
 
 "The truth has long ago been found, 
 Has lofty minds together bound; 
 The ancient truth — Now seize it fast!" 
 
 William Henry Green, Professor of Oriental and Old 
 Testament Literature in the Princeton Theological 
 Seminary, in his book, General Introduction to the Old 
 Testament^ said: 
 
 Nothing is plainer on the very face of the Old Testament 
 from first to last, than the recognized fact that Jehovah 
 was the God of Israel and that Israel was his people. Now 
 the Law of Moses claims in all of its parts to be the 
 Law of Jehovah given through Moses. . . . The prophets 
 throughout claim to speak in the name of Jehovah and by 
 His authority, and to declare His will. What they utter 
 is aflSrmed to be the Word of Jehovah; their standing 
 formula is, "Thus saith Jehovah." 
 
 Since the Christian era, it has been affirmed by those 
 who founded their religion mainly on the ideas and 
 doctrines of the New Testament, that the teachings of 
 Jesus in some measure supplanted the doctrines of the 
 Old Testament Scriptures; but this insistence seems to 
 have lost its force in recent times. Dr. Herman Schultz, 
 Professor of Theology in the University of Gottingen, 
 in his recent work, Old Testament Theology j says : " There 
 is positively not one New Testament idea that cannot 
 be conclusively shown to be a healthy and natural pro- 
 duct of some Old Testament germ, nor truly any Old 
 
XX Introduction 
 
 Testament idea which did not instinctively press towards 
 its New Testament fulfilment." In this , connection, 
 Dr. Schultz quotes a statement attributed to St. 
 Augustine: "The Old Testament is patent in the New; 
 the New is latent in the Old." Perhaps it is fair to say 
 that Dr. Schultz has expressed the judgment of a very 
 large number of clergymen denominated Christian 
 who have lived in recent times. 
 
 What is the real cause of this change of belief? Why 
 are modem scholars, who have been taught from their 
 infancy the doctrine of the New Testament, and who 
 are more or less familiar with the scientific method, now 
 affirming that the Old and the New Testament teach 
 the same doctrine? It is because the views of men have 
 broadened; it is because they are less influenced by the 
 historic and passing; and are more given to the contem- 
 plation of principles; it is because the currents of 
 thought in the great educational centres of the world 
 have veered from historic to scientific lines ; in a word, 
 it is the result of the enlargement of man's capacity 
 to think in an orderly and scientific way. If Moses 
 gave to the people of the world the Law of Jehovah, 
 the Law of Human Life, or to speak more definitely, 
 the law governing the mode and manner of the soul's 
 evolution, then it stands to reason that no one could 
 supplant this law. "For truth is the truth to the end 
 of reckoning," as Shakespeare has said. "Think not 
 that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: 
 I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5: 17- 
 19). 
 
 Is it thinkable that any one should discover and de- 
 monstrate a law of falling bodies, and thus supplant 
 the law of gravitation discovered and explained by 
 Isaac Newton? Is that fundamental principle of 
 
Introduction xxi 
 
 mathematics, to wit: that the three interior angles of a 
 triangle are equal to two right angles, only an approxi- 
 mation to the truth? The wisest and the best, the 
 most godlike that have ever been upon this earth, have 
 insisted that knowledge of the truth is of the very first 
 importance. The Scriptures teach that the knowledge 
 of the truth is important above all ; they teach that the 
 knowledge of truth liberates man from the limitations 
 of the sensuous world; and that they alone are free 
 who have overcome the world. "Know the truth, 
 and the truth shall make you free " (John 8 : 32) . Man's 
 mission is to know the truth. "To this end was I born, 
 and for this cause came I into the world, that I might 
 bear witness tmto the truth" (John 18:37). It is 
 affirmed that the All-wise God, who made man in His 
 own image and likeness, made him capable of a knowl- 
 edge of truth; and that in this the wise behold the 
 unspeakable glory of God. 
 
 "Order is Truth," said Thomas Carlyle. The divine 
 order represents the truth, and the whole of the truth; 
 and when the human soul is conformed to the divine 
 order it is divorced from the animal kingdom of the 
 world, and is related to the Kingdom of God, the king- 
 dom of truth and righteousness. Religion is founded 
 upon the idea that there is a Spiritual Kingdom which 
 transcends the animal kingdom of the world. "My 
 kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of 
 this world, then would my servants fight " Qohn 18 : 36). 
 Abraham, and Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus are the 
 names of some of them who have overcome the world; 
 and who were consciously related to the kingdom of 
 God while living in the world. Jesus said of his dis- 
 ciples: "They are not of the world, even as I am not 
 of the world" (John 17: 14-16), 
 
xxii Introduction 
 
 When the Hebrew Scriptures are interpreted psycho- 
 logically, they are shown to be orderly and scientific. 
 The evolution of the master is told in the story of 
 Abraham. He attained to -^e day of liberation; ''he 
 saw my day, and rejoiced" (John 8: 56). "The land 
 of Egypt" is a phrase often used in the Scriptures to 
 describe the sensuous state of man; and thus it is that 
 God is said to lead his own out of Egypt. Joseph "ruled 
 over all the land of Egypt"; he overcame the world; 
 all were required to do obeisance to him (Gen. 41 : 43). 
 The life of Joseph teaches the way of the Master. " Can 
 we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit 
 of God is?" (Gen. 41 : 38). Moses and Jesus were and 
 are great masters; the masters are they that constitute 
 the order of Melchisedec, "an unchangeable priesthood, 
 consecrated forevermore" (Heb. 7: 11, 24, 28). They 
 of this order are the great religious teachers of mankind; 
 they are the sons of God; they belong to the same 
 brotherhood; they are related to the same kingdom; 
 they are the organs of the Holy Spirit; they teach 
 the same doctrine; or rather, the Holy Spirit speaks 
 the truth through them. Goi hath spoken the truth 
 through "His holy prophets, which have been since 
 the world began" (Luke i : 70; Neh. 9: 30; Zech. 7: 12; 
 Micah 3:8). "Wisdom maketh all things new; and in 
 all ages entering' into holy souls, she hath made them 
 friends of God, and prophets" (Wisd. of Sol. 7:27). 
 Moses, the giver of the Law, is the central figure of 
 Old Testament literature, as Jesus is of the New. When 
 the teachings of these great masters are examined in the 
 light of psychology, they are seen to be identical. 
 
 The Scriptures teach that all human souls are made 
 after the same divine pattern, "the pattern shown 
 Moses on the mount" (Ex. 25:40). It therefore fol- 
 
Introduction xxiii 
 
 lows that the Law of Moses, and the teachings of the 
 prophets are alike applicable to all human beings; and 
 that every human soul which would attain to perfec- 
 tion must conform to the Law of its own nature, to 
 ''the pattern shown Moses on the mount," and to the 
 teachings of the prophets; for all have taught the same 
 essential truths. In a word, the Scriptures are psycho- 
 logical; they are written concerning your soul, and 
 mine. "All things must be fulfilled, which were writ- 
 ten in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in 
 the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24: 44). 
 
 And thus we have the Fatherhood of God, and the 
 brotherhood of man. "Have we not all One Father? 
 Has not God One created us all?" (Mai. 2: 10). How 
 beautiful, how orderly, how scientific, how unspeakably 
 edifying this is. The hearts of the sages of old were 
 filled with inexpressible joy, when they contemplated 
 Heaven's Law, and its relation to the soul of man. It 
 is the never ending delight of the wise and the just. 
 "His delight is in the Law of the Lord; and in His Law 
 doth he meditate day and night" (Ps. 1:2). John 
 Ruskin, England's famous art critic and social reformer, 
 whose observations on nature and art have instructed 
 and edified the intelligent the world over, said: "And 
 if people would read the text of their Bibles with heartier 
 piurpose of understanding it, instead of superstitiously, 
 they wotild see that throughout the parts which they 
 intend to make most personally their own (the Psalms) 
 it is always the Law which is spoken of with chief joy. 
 . . . David cannot contain himself for joy in thinking 
 of it, — ^he is never weary of its praise: — 'How I love thy 
 Law; it, is my meditation all the day. Thy testimonies 
 are my delight and my cotmseUors. ' " All things are 
 destined to conform to Heaven's Law. "Ehas must 
 
xxiv Introduction 
 
 first come . . . and restore all things" (Matt. 17: 10- 
 11). This is the work that takes precedence of all 
 other. 
 
 There is an internal religion which is One and eternal; 
 it is founded upon the nature of the human soul itself; 
 it is the religion taught of the masters "which have 
 been since the world began" (Luke i : 70). There are 
 nxmierous external forms of religion founded upon this, 
 or that metaphysical doctrine. Moses Mendelssohn, 
 a Jewish philosopher much distinguished in his day 
 because of his wisdom and charitable offices, in a letter 
 to his friend John Caspar Lavater in 1769, said: 
 
 Every one knows that there is an internal as well as an 
 external religion; the former includes no other precepts 
 than those of the religion of nature which we are bound to 
 propagate, and of which I endeavor to spread the knowledge 
 to the best of my power. Our external religion, on the 
 contrary, was not designed to be propagated; as its precepts 
 are limited to a particular race, as well as to special times 
 and circumstances. We undoubtedly regard our religion 
 as the best of all religions, because we believe it to be divine. 
 But it does not hence follow that it is absolutely the best. 
 It is the best for us and our posterity. What external 
 religion may be the best for other nations I cannot know; 
 but this I believe, that no external religion can he universaL 
 By making proselytes to Judaism, therefore, I should be 
 extending the religion of my ancestors beyond the bounda- 
 ries originally prescribed for it. Whoever is not born 
 conformably to our laws has no occasion to live according 
 to them. We alone are bound to acknowledge their author- 
 ity; and this can give no offence to our neighbors. 
 
 Mendelssohn lived in an age of rank religiou^s perse- 
 cutions, in an age when the religion of the Jews was 
 a common object of attack by those who assumed 
 
Introduction xxv 
 
 to represent other forms of religion. Mendelssohn's 
 letter is an ingenious argument in favor of religious 
 toleration; in a way he places his own religion on an 
 eqtiality with other religions; and says: "Our external 
 religion was not designed to be propagated; as its pre- 
 cepts are limited to a particular race, as well as to 
 special times and circumstances." This is a very good 
 description of an historic form of religion. It was a 
 polite way of saying, let the people of each nation at- 
 tend to their own external form of religion and cease 
 from proselyting among, and interfering with the reli- 
 gious affairs of the people of other nations; and, in order 
 to emphasize this idea, Mendelssohn uses this significant 
 language: "What external religion may be best for 
 other nations I cannot know; but this I believe, that no 
 external form of religion can be universal^ Mendels- 
 sohn, though living at the dawn of the great scientific 
 movement of modern times, was philosopher enough 
 to believe that no external or historic form of religion 
 could be universal. 
 
 The confusion which has existed in the minds of men 
 for centuries, and which has resulted in numerous ex- 
 ternal forms of religion, alleged to be founded upon the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, was and is caused, as we believe, by 
 a failure to comprehend the nature of the human soul, 
 and the mode and manner of its orderly evolution. 
 The errors of men in religion have been caused by a 
 failiire to realize the nature of the Law. This Law 
 which points the way of the soul's perfection is some- 
 times called the Law of Jehovah; again, the Law of 
 God, and also the Law of Moses. "Remember ye the 
 Law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto 
 him in Horeb for all Israel, with statutes and judgments " 
 (M'al. 4:4). The Law, God's Law, describes a process. 
 
xxvi Introduction 
 
 "The statutes and judgments" represent precepts, — 
 commands and inhibitions. What is it that represents 
 the fulfillment of the Law? It is the perfection of the 
 soul of man. 
 
 This book submits an interpretation of the process, 
 the method, the Law, whereby the soul of man is made 
 perfect; therefore, it is denominated the Law of Human 
 Life. This evolutionary process, or story of the human 
 soul, is told again and again in the Scriptures ; and while 
 other and different symbols are used as often as the 
 process is described; yet the several stories, in their 
 essential nature, are identical. The story is several 
 times told in the Pentateuch, to wit: in the allegory of 
 Adam; in the story of Noah; and in the life story of 
 each of the patriarchs: Abraham, IsaEic, Jacob, and 
 Joseph; also in the life of Moses, and in the Book of 
 Exodus, with much elaboration; it is described and 
 illustrated in the life and in the teachings of Jesus, as 
 well as in the epistles and life of Paul. The Law of 
 Moses is the central idea of the Hebrew Scripttu'es. 
 The story of the lives of the patriarchs, ^nd of Moses, 
 and of Jesus, are evidently presented in a psychological 
 way, for the purpose of describing and explaining the 
 Law, and the mode and manner of its fulfillment. All 
 the great persons, whether patriarchs or masters, whose 
 names appear in the Scriptures are represented as living 
 in obedience to the Law. The patriarchs who lived 
 before the time of the coming of Moses, the giver of 
 the Law, are said to have lived in a manner agreeable 
 to the Law. Paul speaks of Gentiles "which have not 
 the Law, who do by nature the things contained in the 
 Law" (Rom. 2:14), Of course, it stands to reason 
 that all persons who live orderly and justly do in a 
 substantial measure conform to the Law, The story 
 
Introduction xxvii 
 
 of Jonah, the prophet, when viewed as history, is fool- 
 ish and inconsistent; but when viewed as an allegory 
 in the light of psychology, it is seen to describe and 
 explain the process whereby the soul of man is made 
 perfect; and thus it is that no prophet has ever given 
 to the people of the world any other sign, than the 
 sign of Jonah, the sign that unerringly attends the 
 fulfillment of the Law. "No sign shall be given, but 
 the sign of the prophet Jonas" (Matt. 12: 39). 
 
 The Scriptures contain many precepts, — commands 
 and inhibitions; but these do not constitute the higher 
 Law, the Law of Moses. They are subsidiary to the 
 higher, and are given to lead man to a knowledge of it. 
 '* Remember ye the Law of Moses, my servant, with 
 statutes and judgments." The higher Law, the Law 
 of the mind, represents the divine order within the soul 
 of man. Man is governed by precepts from without, 
 before he is governed by the Spirit and its Law from 
 within. As long as man lives unmindful of the Law of 
 his own nature, it is necessary to confront him with 
 commands and inhibitions. Reason itself is spiritual; 
 its office is to govern; and it should act in perfect accord 
 with conscience, the Spirit of God within the soul. "I 
 will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which 
 thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be not 
 as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understand- 
 ing: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle 
 lest they come near unto thee" (Ps. 32: 8, 9). They 
 that are governed of precepts are as the horse and the 
 mule that are held in with bit and bridle. 
 
 In the Scriptures attributed to Patd, it is written 
 that "the Law is holy, that the Law is spiritual; nay, 
 I had not known sin, but by the Law" (Rom. 7: 7, 12, 
 14)- It is the Law that reveals sin; the Law represents 
 
xxviii Introduction 
 
 if 
 
 the divine order ; and thus it is holy. " Order is Truth. 
 Evil represents disorder, confusion, deformity. "The 
 Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testi- 
 mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" 
 (Ps. 19:7). The soul itself must in some measure be 
 attuned to the divine order before man is capable of 
 comprehending the nature of sin. Therefore, it is the 
 Law that discovers sin; and thus it is spiritual. All 
 men* are under the Law; for all human souls are made 
 after the same divine pattern. Man must conform 
 to the divine order, or suffer the consequences which 
 attend its violation. "Be not deceived; God is not 
 mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap" (Gal, 6:7). 
 
 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye 
 are not under the Law, but under grace" (Rom. 6: 14). 
 This we would construe as follows: Ye are not under 
 precepts, ye are not governed by commands and inhibi- 
 tions, ye are not governed from without, but from with- 
 in; ye are faithful to reason; ye are self-governing. 
 This seems a fair interpretation, since law, or laws, are 
 often used as being synonymous with precepts. Sin 
 does not have dominion over them who live and act 
 ' in obedience to reason and conscience, the divine within 
 the soul of man. "The law is not made for a righteous 
 man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly 
 and for sinners" (i Tim. 1:9). Does any one believe 
 that the word law as here used has reference to an inner 
 law? Is it not apparent that it refers to commands and 
 inhibitions imposed on evil doers from without? Pre- 
 cepts are not made for a righteous man, but for the 
 lawless and disobedient. The righteous man is self- 
 governing; in a true sense, he is immune from the 
 operation of commands and inhibitions which are 
 
Introduction xxix 
 
 made for the guidance and restraint of the lawless 
 and ungodly. 
 
 It would seem that, in every instance where Paxil 
 is represented as using the word law in an tmquaHfied 
 way, he used the word in the sense of precepts. The 
 thought that Paul intended to convey and to empha- 
 size when he uses the word law unqualifiedly is, that 
 man should not be governed from without by precepts, 
 that he should not be "held in with bit and bridle," as 
 the horse or mule; but that he shotild be governed 
 by reason and conscience. This interpretation makes 
 Paul's teachings consistent with all other Scripture. 
 When Paul uses the word Law in another sense than 
 the unqualified, he does not leave his meaning in uncer- 
 tainty, as the following passage proves: "For I delight 
 in the Law^of God after the inward man " (Rom. 7 : 22). 
 This we would interpret: I delight in God's Law of the 
 Mind and Soul. I delight in that Divine Law, that 
 inner Law, that Law of the Mind which points the way 
 of human perfection. The Law of God and the Law 
 of Moses are One. Man may escape gtiidance by 
 precepts, and become self-governing, but no philo- 
 sophic mind can beUeve that man wiU ever escape from 
 the operation of the Law of his own nature. It is the 
 duty of man to live in obedience to the higher Law. 
 For if we are faithful, if we faint not, "though the 
 outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed 
 day by day" (2 Cor. 4: 16). In the third chapter of 
 Galatians, Paul speaks of the "works of the Law," 
 and says; "The Law was our schoolmaster to bring us 
 to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." This 
 is the precise office of the precepts. Their office is to 
 bring man to a realization of individual self-govern- 
 ment, and to a faith in God. 
 
XXX Introduction 
 
 Jesus Christ, like Moses and all the great of Israel, 
 represents the fulfillment of the Law, human and divine. 
 Jesus, like Moses, is the Law and the Testimony. The 
 lives of those who have fulfilled the Law demonstrate 
 the way of salvation. "I am the way, the truth, and 
 the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me" 
 (John 14: 6). No man cometh to a knowledge of God, 
 but by the fulfillment of the Law. Paul believed that 
 Jesus represented the fulfillment of the Law; conse- 
 quently the following and like expressions: "The Law 
 [precepts] was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ," 
 to a knowledge of the higher Law, and its fulfillment, 
 "that we might be justified by faith." All who fulfill 
 the divine Law, the Law of the Soul are justified by 
 faith- "The Law is not of faith: but the man that 
 doeth'them shall live in them" (Gal. 3: 12). The pre- 
 cepts are not of faith; but the higher Law evidently 
 is; for it is spiritual and holy. 
 
 Paul calls the Galatians (4: 19) "my little children" 
 and also tells how he is in travail, that he must labor 
 hard and painfully, "until Christ be formed in them." 
 The Galatians are denominated "little children" be- 
 cause they are governed of precepts, and not of the 
 Spirit, because they are governed from without and 
 not from within. In a word, they make the labors of 
 Paul hard and painful to bear because they have to be 
 governed like little children by commands and inhibi- 
 tions, and because they are slow to develop an indi- 
 vidual capacity for self-government; and thus we ought 
 to have some conception of what it is to have "Christ 
 formed in us," what it is that attunes the soul to the 
 higher Law. The salvation of man involves a psycho- 
 logical and orderly process as we are told again and 
 again both in the Old and New Testament Scripttires. 
 
Introduction xxxi 
 
 But if we are faithftd to the inner Law, and faint not, 
 "though the outer man perish, yet the inner man is 
 renewed day by day." This process of orderly growth 
 within the soul of man described by Paul recalls the 
 words of Charles Darwin who, though a secularist, 
 rendered the cause of true religion an invaluable service. 
 Evolution, said Darwin, proceeds by "numerous, 
 successive, and slight modifications." To quote again 
 the words of Patil, the perfection of the soul of man 
 proceeds "from character to character." Channing in 
 his famous discourse on "Penelon," said: "No man, it 
 is believed, tmderstands the wild and irregular motions 
 of the mind, like him in whom a principle of divine 
 order has begun to establish peace. No man knows the 
 horror of thick darkness which gathers over the slaves 
 of vehement passion, like him who is rising into the 
 light and liberty of virtue." 
 
 Paul feared lest the Corinthians "should be cor- 
 rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 
 11:3). The simplicity of Christ is represented in a 
 life governed by reason and by conscience; the reverse 
 of this is a life governed by malice, greed, envy, lust, 
 hypocrisy, revenge, conceit, superstition, and tyranny; 
 these are a few of the obsessing devils that prevent 
 countless millions from abiding in the simplicity of 
 Christ. How simple and scientific the Scriptures be- 
 come when we rise above the passing and historic, 
 and view them in the light of psychology. Science is 
 orderly knowledge; and all science, like religion, tends 
 to unity and simplicity. 
 
 Jesus Christ, like Moses and all the great, taught a 
 life. "I am the way, the truth, and the Life." The 
 fulfillment of the Law represents the love and coopera- 
 tion of the individual life with the Universal Life. "I 
 
xxxii Introduction 
 
 and my Father are One" (John 10:30). There are 
 many like expressions in the Old Testament. "Enoch 
 walked with God." ''Noah walked with God." And 
 of Abraham it is written: "I am the Almighty God; 
 walk before me, and be thou perfect " (Gen. 17:1); and 
 of Egypt's master: "Can we find such a one as this is, 
 a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Gen. 41:38). 
 "Master, which is the great commandment of the 
 Law?" (Matt. 22: 36-39). Jesus' answer to this ques- 
 tion is in the precise language of the Old Testament 
 Scriptttres (Deut. 6:5; Levit. 19:18). They that 
 truly love God and man, they that walk with God, 
 they in whom the Spirit of God is, are not governed of 
 precepts; they are governed of the Spirit from within. 
 The mission of man is the fulfillment of the Law; he 
 that is faithful to the higher Law is "strengthened with 
 might by the Spirit of God in the inner man" (Eph. 
 3:16). 
 
 The insistence of the author of this book is, that 
 religion is not founded primarily upon precepts, or a 
 creed, or any metaphysical thesis, but upon a Law which 
 is revealed in the nature of the himian soul itself. If 
 this be true, then religion is not a matter of spectilation. 
 Nothing is a matter of speculation that is teachable 
 and demonstrable. It is affirmed that Almighty God 
 who made man in His own image and likeness has given 
 to him for his guidance a Law which is perfect (Ps. 
 1.9:7); and that the true mission of man is the ful- 
 fillment of this high and holy Law. Abraham, and 
 Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus, are the names of some 
 in whom the fulfillment of the Law was demonstrated. 
 " The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made 
 me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). 
 This we would interpret: "The Law of the Spirit," the 
 
Introduction xxxiii 
 
 Law of God, which was fulfilled and demonstrated in the 
 life of Jesus Christ, hath made me free from precepts, 
 that are made for the restraint and guidance of the 
 lawless and the ungodly. 
 
 It may be said that science stands for certain doc- 
 trines, to wit: "that all things proceed from One 
 Eternal Energy," that every principle, or truth is and 
 must be consistent with every other, that there is a 
 natural and orderly development in all the kingdoms: 
 mineral, vegetable, animal, and human, and that this 
 orderly process is denominated the Law of Evolution. 
 Then the question, Do the Hebrew Scripttires announce 
 principles in harmony with the declared principles of 
 science? We affirm that they do; and that they teach 
 the highest conceivable science. The doctrines of re- 
 ligion may be thus stated: that there is One Almighty 
 God from whom all Reality proceeds; that man is pos- 
 sessed of a soul; that there is a Law of Human Life 
 that points the way of the soul's perfection; and that 
 there is a Spiritual Kingdom that transcends the animal 
 kingdom of the world. It is affirmed that these reli- 
 gious doctrines are both reasonable and scientific, and 
 are realizable in consciousness. The principal office 
 of science is to discover the orderly processes of nature. 
 Now, if it be true that Moses proclaimed the Law of 
 Human Life, the Law that points the way of human 
 salvation, then it must be admitted that this consti- 
 tutes the highest and most glorious contribution to 
 science in the course of all time. But from the view- 
 point of science, it must be admitted also that the con- 
 tribution would be just as great and consequential had 
 it been given through the instrumentality of another. 
 Every rational being is, or ought to be, profoundly 
 concerned in knowing if there be a Law of Human Life; 
 
xxxlv Introduction 
 
 but every such being is only incidentally concerned in 
 knowing the name of the person through whom it was 
 given. 
 
 The fulfilling of the Law is personal ; it fixes a respon- 
 sibility as high as heaven upon every rational being; 
 and they who have fulfilled the Law have done for 
 mankind, as well as for themselves, the best and great- 
 est service. They represent "an unchangeable priest- 
 hood consecrated forevermore." They of this high 
 and holy order, "the order of Melchisedec," are above 
 all, our masters, otu* teachers; they are the great ones 
 sent of God, that have appeared among men from time 
 to time, "since the world began" (Luke 1:70; Neh. 
 9: 30). The masters are the organs of~the Holy Spirit, 
 ' ' in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowl- 
 edge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile 
 you with enticing words" (Col. 2: 3, 4). The story of 
 the prophet's life is the story of the Law's fulfillment. 
 "No sign shall be given, but the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas," the sign that unerringly attends the fulfillment 
 of the Law. Therefore, all should honor and respect 
 the greatest of mankind; they who live in obedience 
 to Heaven's Law; they who alone represent the ideal 
 human life; they who declare the glad tidings of the 
 kingdom of God; they who point the way of salvation. 
 But the author of this book must again repeat with all 
 emphasis and seriousness of statement, that in propor- 
 tion as mankind has lost sight of the Law, the Law of 
 God, the Law of the Soul, the great central principle 
 of religion, they have drifted away from the worship 
 of God the One Almighty Spiritual Being from whom 
 all power and virtue proceeds, and have become the 
 superstitious worshippers of persons, times, and places. 
 
 William Ellery Channing in a letter written in 1836, 
 
Introduction xxxv 
 
 said: "Preaching is becoming less and less efficacious." 
 Why is this true? It is because people capable of 
 orderly thought are not satisfied with sermons that 
 are destitute of scientific method. Dr. Channing saw 
 this long prior to 1836, but in this letter he uses the 
 following expressive language: 
 
 It is melancholy to think how little clear knowledge on 
 the subject of duty and religion, is communicated by the 
 pulpit, and how often the emotions which it excites, for 
 want of clear views, for want of wisdom, nms into morbid- 
 ness or excess. No art, no science is taught so vaguely as 
 religion from the pulpit. No book is read or expounded 
 as the Bible is, that is, in minute fragments, and without 
 those helps of method, by which all other branches are 
 taught. 
 
 The day is at hand when religion will again be taught 
 after the manner of the Law, when it will again be 
 presented in a way to challenge the respect, the admira- 
 tion, aye, to aWaken the unspeakable joy of the noblest, 
 the best, and the wisest. 
 
 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is identical with the Law 
 of Moses. "It is the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth" (Rom. 1:16). They that 
 believe in the Law, and live worthy of it are the just 
 of whom Paul here speaks. "But we preach Christ 
 crucified, unto the Jews a sttunbling block, and unto 
 the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, 
 both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and 
 the wisdom of God (i Cor. i : 23, 24). They that have 
 fulfilled the Law make manifest the power of God and 
 the wisdom of God. "That which may be known of 
 God is made manifest in the lives of the just" (Rom. 
 i: 19). Religion is founded upon the idea that there 
 
xxxvi Introduction 
 
 is a Spiritual Kingdom which transcends the animal 
 kingdom of the world; that man must conquer and 
 crucify his animal nattu-e before he is born into the 
 higher kingdom. This is a stumblingblock and fool- 
 ishness to every sensualist. This language is only 
 intelligible '*unto them which are called," unto them 
 which are resurrected out of a. state of carnality and 
 death. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is 
 the kingdom of heaven" (Matt, 5:3). This we would 
 interpret: Blessed are they that are depleted of the 
 spirit of the world; blessed are they that have crucified 
 the flesh; for their inheritance is the kingdom of heaven. 
 '*He that hath suffered in the flesh [and is dead to the 
 spirit of the sensuous world] hath ceased from sin" 
 (i Peter 4:1). The rise of man out of a sensuous carnal 
 state into a truly human and spiritual state represents 
 the "fulfillment of the Law," the attunement of the soul 
 to the divine order. The first step necessary to the 
 salvation of mankind is the restoration of the Law. 
 "Elias must first come and restore all things." When 
 the soul of man is attuned to the divine order, then it is 
 that he manifests "the power of God, and the wisdom 
 of God." 
 
 The author of this book insists and affirms that the 
 salvation of man does not consist in consenting to pre- 
 cepts, or to a. creed, or to any form of metaphysical 
 theses, except in an outward and superficial sense; but 
 that the salvation of man does consist in bringing the 
 three constituent principles of the soul, often described 
 and explained in the Scriptures, into perfect unity and 
 harmony. Plato in his dialogue, The Republic, likens 
 the three constituent principles of the human soul to 
 the "higher, lower, and the middle notes of the scale" 
 of music; and he tells how they may "become one 
 
Introduction xxxvii 
 
 entirely temperate and perfectly adjusted nature." 
 What Plato calls a "perfectly adjusted nature" is 
 synon3maous, we believe, with what Jesus calls the 
 ''fulfilhnent of the Law." 
 
 If Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his life 
 the same doctrine concerning the soul of man, and the 
 mode and manner of its orderly evolution that was 
 proclaimed by Moses, then it may be asked in what 
 regard the dispensation of Jesus differed from the dis- 
 pensation of Moses. The answer to this is: Moses 
 taught a people, the congregation of Israel, and such as 
 saw fit to conform to the requirements of the Law. 
 Jesus sought to communicate the religion of Israel to 
 all the people of the world without reference to race or 
 previous condition. Paul, like his illustrious master, 
 evidently believed that the age in which he lived was in 
 some degree auspicious for the dispensation of the 
 religion of Israel to all mankind. ''And at the time of 
 this ignorance God winked: but now cometh all men 
 everywhere to repent" (Acts 17: 30; 14: 16). 
 
 Edward J. Hamilton, D.D., of Plainfield, N. J., in 
 his contribution to the book, The Church, the People, 
 and the Age, said: 
 
 Truth is 'not revealed to the human mind in abstract and 
 systematic form, but in the separate concrete manifesta- 
 tions of creation. It is the office of the analjrtic and syn- 
 thetic power of reason to ascertain and coordinate the laws 
 of nature and of the divine government. Even the sacred 
 Scriptures do not contain any formal system of theology 
 or ethics, but rather give us facts and examples, rules and 
 laws, which should be carefully studied, compared, and 
 construed together, and upon which we have a right rever^ 
 ently to philosophize. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel McComb, of Boston, Mass., in his 
 
xxxviii Introduction 
 
 contribution to the above-named book, expressed opin- 
 ions substantially as follows: Truth is .unity. Every 
 truth of science is also a truth of religion. Every gene- 
 ralization in regard to the physical world, such as the 
 principle of evolution, is the revelation of divine activ- 
 ity. Every uplifting force in the normal or social order 
 is a sign that the kingdom of God is an ever-present 
 reality. The utterances of Dr. Hamilton and Rev. 
 McComb very much resemble what the illustrious 
 William EUery Channing said again and again during 
 the first and second generations of the nineteenth 
 century; and what Emerson and Theodore Parker and 
 a large number of scientists have said in times more 
 recent. 
 
 Dr. Hamilton evidently expressed an axiom of sci- 
 ence, when he said : ' * Truth is not revealed to the human 
 mind in an abstract way, but in the separate concrete 
 manifestations of creation." All truth that is teach- 
 able and demonstrable has relation to some known 
 object. There is no science of the imconditioned. This 
 is precisely what the Scriptures teach; they teach the 
 nature of the human soul, and the mode and manner 
 of its orderly evolution. ''We must start in religion 
 from our own souls," said Dr. Channing. "In these is 
 the foundation of all divine truth. An outward revela- 
 tion is only possible and intelligible on the ground of 
 conceptions and principles previously furnished by the 
 soul. Here is our primitive teacher and light. Let us 
 not disparage it." The late Horace Bushnell in the 
 introduction to his work Forgiveness and Law, makes 
 the following significant observation: "Is it not time 
 now, after so many centuries gone by, to have it dis- 
 covered, that there is no truth concerning God which is 
 not somehow explicated by truths of our own moral 
 
Introduction xxxix 
 
 consciousness?" And in the first chapter of his book 
 he says : " The fact of which I speak is the grand analogy 
 or almost identity that subsists between our moral 
 nature and that of God." 
 
 Dr. Channing, affectionately called the Socrates of 
 the New England school of Transcendentalists, in his 
 memorable discourse at the ordination of the Rev. F. 
 A. Farley, in 1828, said: "Whence do we derive our 
 knowledge of the attributes and perfections, which 
 constitute the Supreme Being? I answer, we derive 
 them from our own souls. ... In our own souls are 
 the elements of the divinity. God then does not sus- 
 tain a figurative resemblance to man. It is the re- 
 semblance of a parent to a child, the likeness of a kindred 
 nature." Emerson, the Plato of the Western world, 
 gave utterance to many like expressions: "If a man is at 
 heart just, then, in so far, is he God." These remarks 
 are soundly scriptural; for it is certainly evident that 
 all virtue and power is of God. " For what maketh thee 
 to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou 
 didst not receive? " (i Cor. 4:7). " That which may be 
 known of God is made manifest in the lives of the just" 
 (Rom. 1:19). " Can we find such a one. as this is, a man 
 in whom the Spirit of God is? " (Gen. 41 : 38) . "He that 
 hath seen me hath seen the Father" Qohn 14:9). 
 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
 we are the children of God" ; and if children, then heirs 
 of His power and of His righteousness (Rom. 8: 16). 
 
 Rome, the seat of the government of the Caesars is 
 a'name suggestive of marching legions and the conquest 
 of arms. Rome in the time of the Cassars, like Egypt 
 in the days of the Pharaohs, was the home of the proud, 
 the rapacious, and the warlike. For twenty centuries 
 this name in fiction, song, and poesy, like the name 
 
2d Introduction 
 
 Cassar, has spelled worldly pomp and glory. On the 
 other hand, the name Jerusalem suggests the traditions 
 of the Hebrew people, and the power and glory of the 
 spiritual life. In a poetical sense, Jerusalem is the 
 home of the prophet. ''It cannot be that a prophet 
 perish out of Jerusalem" (Luke 13: 33). When we 
 contemplate the appalling havoc of the Caesars on the 
 continent of Europe, the theatre of their unexampled 
 power and glory, and then turn to the spiritual life, 
 we are reminded of the vision of Savonarola, the patriot 
 of Florence, who manifested the power and spirit of 
 Elias: 
 
 I saw two crosses [said the prophet of Florence] whereof 
 the one, which rose from the midst of the city of Rome, and 
 reached even to the sky, was black, and it bore the inscrip- 
 tion Crux IrcB Dei (The Cross of God's Wrath). Imme- 
 diately upon its appearance, I saw the sky dark with 
 scudding clouds and a tempest of wind; lightning, thunder- 
 bolts, hail, fire, and hurtling swords arose, and an immense 
 multitude of men were slain so that only a remnant was 
 left. Thereafter, I saw the sky grow calm and clear, and 
 another cross rose up, from the midst of Jerusalem, not 
 less lofty than the first, but of a splendor so brilliant that it 
 illumined all the world; causing fresh flowers to spring on 
 every side and joy to abound, and it bore the legend. Crux 
 Misericordim Dei (The Cross of God's Mercy). And forth- 
 with all nations of the earth flocked together to adore and 
 embrace it. 
 
 Let us hope that the day is not far distant, when the 
 vision of the patriot of Florence shall be realized in the 
 moral and religious unity of all the nations of the earth. 
 "The fundamental unity of men in the family of God 
 is the one enduring reality." Perhaps the day is not 
 far distant when the religion given to the congregation 
 
Introduction xli 
 
 of Israel by Moses, and taught and demonstrated in the 
 lives of all the truly great, will be taught as a science 
 in every institution of learning worthy of the name 
 the world over; for it is self-evident, that there can be 
 but one religion, that is founded upon human nature, 
 that teaches the identity of all human souls, and the 
 Law of Human Life; and thus scientifically teaches the 
 Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man; that 
 teaches that "Order is Truth," and that righteousness 
 is righteousness because it is natural and in harmony 
 with divine order; and that "evil is evil because it is 
 unnatural." All hail to the Truth, for it is the un- 
 mistakable sign that the kingdom of God is an ever- 
 present Reality, 
 
 "Only the Metaphysical, but in nowise the Histori- 
 cal, ' ' said Fichte, * ' makes our salvation. ' ' This thought 
 we would state differently: Only the Psychological, 
 but in nowise the Historical, makes our salvation. 
 What makes for salvation, according to the Scriptures, 
 is the perfection of the soid of man. "Wisdom mak- 
 eth all things new: and in all ages entering into holy 
 souls hath made them friends of God and prophets" 
 (Wisd. of Sol. 7:27; Job 8:6; Luke 1:70; 7: 16; Neh. 
 9: 30; Gen. 41 : 38). This accords with the thought of 
 Spinoza, the famous Jewish philosopher. Spinoza, in 
 a letter to his friend Henry Oldenburg, said: "I say 
 that it is not at all necessary to salvation to know 
 Christ after the flesh; but of that eternal Son of God, 
 the eternal Wisdom, which has manifested itself in all 
 things, and especially in the human mind, and above all 
 in Christ Jesus, we must have a far different opinion." 
 
 Religion properly speaking has to do with man's 
 relation to his Creator; and is taught in the Law of God, 
 the Law of Human Life; the Law that is revealed in 
 
xlii Introduction 
 
 the nature of the human soul itself. "We should 
 rather point out to objectors that what is revealed is 
 practical, and not speculative; — that what the Scrip- 
 tures are concerned with is, not the philosophy of the 
 Human Mind in itself, nor yet the philosophy of the 
 Divine Nature in Itself, but (that which is property 
 religion), the relation and connection of the two Beings; 
 — ^what God is to us, what He has done and wUl do for 
 us — and what we are to be and to do, in regard to 
 Him." The thought just quoted is attributed to 
 Richard Whately, late Archbishop of Dublin, a man 
 famous in his day as a rationalist and logician. (See 
 Whately 's Sermons , 3d ed., p. 56.) 
 
 If men would live worthy of the privileges of life, if 
 they would live in obedience to the Law of Human Life, 
 proclaimed by Moses, restored by Elias, and demon- 
 strated in some measure by all the virtuous, and espe- 
 cially in the life of Jesus Christ, they -would not be 
 denied an apprehension of God in consciousness. "If 
 thou wert pure and upright; surely now God would 
 awake for thee, and thy soul would prosper, and be an 
 habitation of righteousness" (Job 8:6). "Ye are the 
 temple of the living God; as Go,d hath said, I will dwell 
 in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my 
 people" (2 Cor. 6: 16). Religion is represented in the 
 fulfillment of the Law. Job did the best he could to 
 live the true life, the spiritual life, the life that is at- 
 tuned to conscience and reason. "He is a perfect and 
 upright man, one who feareth God, and escheweth evil, 
 and holdeth fast his integrity." But his comforters, 
 it would seem, "say and do not"; they are inclined to 
 discuss religion, rather than to live it: for it is written 
 that, "God's wrath is kindled against them," but Job 
 is accepted. "Him will I accept" (Job 42:7, 8). 
 
Introduction xliii 
 
 "God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation 
 he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness is 
 accepted" (Acts lo: 34, 35). 
 
 The Law of Human Life is before us; we must live 
 worthy of it, if we would be accepted, and not treat it 
 as a matter of speculation. "The scribes and the 
 Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever 
 they bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not 
 after their works: for they say and do not" (Matt. 
 23: 2, 3). For the reasons stated, it is submitted that 
 the Scripttues constitute a Book of the highest conceiv- 
 able importance. 
 
 "This is the Book of the Commandments of God 
 and the Law that endureth forever: all they that keep it 
 shall come to Life; but such as leave it shall die. T\im 
 thee, Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence 
 of the light thereof, that thou mayst be illumined. . . . 
 O Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to 
 God are made known unto us. Be of good cheer, my 
 people, the memorial of Israel" (Baruch 4: 1-5). 
 
 We believe that it is the consensus of opinion among 
 foremost scientists and philosophers in America and 
 Europe that old forms of religious thought are discred- 
 ited; in any event, it is the general belief that they are 
 so far discredited "as to have lost the greater part of 
 their efficacy for good, while they still' have life enough 
 in them to be a powerful obstacle to the growth of any 
 better opinions." Mr. John Stuart Mill, whom we have 
 quoted at some length in these remarks, affirms that 
 when religious thought is in this condition all thinking 
 and writing that does not tend to the evolution of some 
 faith which philosophic minds can really believe "is of 
 very little value beyond the moment." It therefore 
 follows that if the theory of interpretation laid down 
 
xliv Introduction 
 
 in the twelve chapters of this book does not result in 
 promoting the belief that the Scripttires accord with 
 reason, human experience, and the known truths of 
 science, then it must be admitted that it is destitute of 
 real merit; but on the other hand, if philosophic minds 
 should be convinced that the method of interpretation 
 set forth in this book is approximately sound in prin- 
 ciple, it may be assumed that the labors of the author 
 have resulted in a good and righteous pvirpose; and 
 this, we are constrained to say, is our profotmdest hope. 
 
 E. V. B. 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 January, 1916, 
 
THE 
 LAW OF HUMAN LIFE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ALLEGORY OF ADAM, EVE, AND THE SERPENT 
 
 Philo JuDiEUS, a Jewish philosopher and Platonist, 
 born about 20 B.C., was the author of elaborate com- 
 mentaries on the Old Testament Scriptiures. He did 
 not believe in a literal interpretation of the Scrip- 
 tures; but insisted that there is a marked identity 
 between the teachings of Moses and those of Plato; 
 in a word, that they taught the same fundamental 
 truths concerning human nature. In the second chap- 
 ter of Genesis, it is written that a river went out of 
 Eden to water the garden; and that this river parted 
 and became four rivers: the Pison (the flowing and 
 enlarging stream), the stream that compasseth the 
 whole land of gold, the gold of which is good; the 
 second river, Gihon (the valley of grace, the breast), 
 compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia (the land of 
 heat and passion); and the third river goeth to- 
 ward the east of Assyria. The name Assyria bears 
 a marked resemblance to the Hebrew word, Assir, 
 
2 The Law of Human Life 
 
 that which should be restrained and held captive. 
 The fourth river, Euphrates, is the river that makes 
 fruitful. 
 
 Philo says that this story of the rivers is an allegory 
 descriptive of the four generic virtues : Wisdom, Valor, 
 Temperance, and Justice. Plato speaks of Reason as 
 the golden virtue, the virtue of the head, and says that 
 the virtue of reason is Wisdom. This we may call the 
 flowing and enlarging stream, "the gold of this land 
 is good": Valor, Plato calls the virtue of the heart; 
 it is the seat of liEe, of emotion, and feeling in the valley 
 of grace : Temperance is the virtue by which the sensu- 
 ous and carnal appetites are restrained and conquered; 
 it is the river "which goeth towards the east of Assy- 
 ria; it "compasseth the whole land of heat and desire" ; 
 and Justice is the fruitful virtue, the aU-inclusive virtue, 
 since it represents the poise, the balance, and the per- 
 fection of the human soul; it is the great and" fruitful 
 river that goes forth to bless (Gen. 15:18). Philo 
 would have us know that the Almighty River of 
 Life and of Wisdom and of Righteousness that flows 
 out of Eden, the Paradise of God, is that which 
 works perfection in the soul of man. "If a man 
 love righteousness, her labors are Virtues: for she 
 teacheth Wisdom, Courage, Temperance, and Justice: 
 which are such things, as men can have nothing more 
 profitable in their lives" (Wisd. of Sol. 8:7). The 
 first duty of man is the perfection of his soul, the 
 vineyard of God, to the end that it may bear good 
 fruit, and not a wild variety. "What could have 
 been done more to my vineyard, that I have not 
 done it? wherefore, when I looked that it should 
 bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes" 
 (Isa. 5:4). , 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 3 
 
 I 
 
 ADAM, EVE, AND THE SERPENT, PRINCIPLES INHERENT IN 
 THE SOUL OF MAN 
 
 In the first part of the eighteenth century, Conyers 
 Middleton, D.D., Principal Librarian of the Univer- 
 sity jof Cambridge, England, wrote a letter to Dr. 
 Waterland ( Middleton's Miscellaneous Works, vol. 
 ii., p. 149) criticizing him for insisting upon a literal 
 interpretation of the Scriptures. Dr. Middleton in 
 his letter of criticism said: 
 
 'Tis necessary then, for the satisfaction of our reason, 
 and the quieting of our scruples, to desert the outward 
 letter, and search for the hidden, allegorical sense of the 
 story : I shall not take the trouble of collecting all the fanci- 
 ful and whimsical solutions of the Rabbins and Fathers; 
 but content myself with proffering one, which appears to 
 me the most probable and rational of them all; viz., that 
 by Adam we are to understand reason or the mind of man ; 
 by Eve, the flesh or the outward senses; by the serpent, 
 lust or pleasure : In which allegory we see clearly explained 
 the true 'cause of man's fall and degeneracy; that as soon 
 as his mind, through the weakness and treachery of the 
 senses, became captivated and seduced by the allurements 
 of lust and pleasure, he was driven by God out of Paradise; 
 that is, lost and forfeited the happiness and prosperity 
 which he had enjoyed in his innocence. All this is intel- 
 ligible and rational ; agreeable not only to common notions 
 and traditions of history but to the constant and established 
 method of God's providence, which has wisely constituted 
 misery, sorrow, and the debasement of our nature, to be the 
 natural and necessary effect of vice and sin. 
 
 This interpretation is embraced by several of the ancients ; 
 particularly by St. Augustine; who tells us that "the same 
 thing is acted over again in every one of us, as often as we 
 
4 The Law of Human Life 
 
 fall into sin, that was represented by the serpent, the wo- 
 man, and the man: for there is first," says he, "a suggestion 
 or insinuation; either by a thought or the senses of the body: 
 by which if our inclination is not prevailed with to sin, then, 
 is the subtlety of the serpent baffled and banished; but if it 
 is prevailed with, then we yield, as it were to the persuasions 
 of the woman ; and when our reason has thus consented to 
 execute what our lust had moved, then is man effectually 
 driven out and expelled from all possession of happiness, 
 as from a paradise." 
 
 Now whatever opinion this Father might on other occa- 
 sions declare, yet at the time of writing the book, whence 
 this passage is taken, he was persuaded that in the history 
 of the creation and the fall of man, we could^not avoid ab- 
 surdities and blasphemy toward God, without giving up 
 the literal meaning, and trusting wholly to an allegorical 
 explanation of it. 
 
 If the Scriptures are founded in wisdom, then they 
 must announce principles; and these principles must 
 carry on their face the evidence of their divine origin. 
 The first requisite in the interpretation of the Scrip- 
 tures is to be able to see beyond their historic veil. 
 Paul would have us know that the interpretation of the 
 Scriptures is allied to prophecy. "He that prophe- 
 sieth is greater than he that speaketh with tongues, 
 except that he interpret, that the Church [the people 
 of God] may receive edifying" (i Cor. 14: 5). Peter, 
 in a striking epigram, tells us that the Scriptures pro- 
 claim principles: '*Know this first, that no prophecy 
 of Scripture is of any private interpretation." Jesus 
 insisted that the Pharisees had transgressed and made 
 the Word of God of no effect by their traditions (Matt. 
 15:3,6). 
 
 If every human soul is builded after the same divine 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 5 
 
 pattern, the pattern shown Moses on the mount, then 
 it is fair to say, that there is a Law common to all 
 souls. St. Augustine was justified, therefore, in ssying 
 that "the same thing is acted over again, in every one 
 of us, as often as we fall into sin, that was represented 
 by the serpent, the woman, and the man." Principles 
 have no anniversary; they are above time and place. 
 He speaks with authority who announces and demon- 
 strates principles; for what he says is forever true: 
 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words 
 shall not pass away." 
 
 "I firmly believe," says William Ellery Channing, 
 "that the only truth which is to do men lasting good 
 is that which relates to the soul, which carries them into 
 its depths, which reveals to them its powers and the 
 purposes of its creation. The progress of society is 
 retarded by nothing more, than by the low views which 
 its leaders are accustomed to take of human natiure." 
 Men do not realize the dignity of human nature. It 
 is no exaggeration to say that even intelligent men as 
 the world judges them have no fixed or certain con- 
 ception of htiman nattire. 
 
 In the present state of society, men have no just 
 respect for themselves; and as a consequence, no just 
 respect for others, because of their ignorance concern- 
 ing the nature of man. Men do not think, much less 
 meditate, on the deep things of human life. Ministers 
 and teachers of religion talk of the Fatherhood of God, 
 and the brotherhood of man without ever stating a 
 single well-defined principle in support of what they 
 say. Their discourses are often founded upon some 
 abstract metaphysical idea, entirely divorced from 
 human nature. 
 
 If it be true that Adam is mind; and that man is 
 
6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 man because of his mentality; and that Eve represents 
 the heart, the seat of the emotions and the aflfections; 
 and the serpent the lower or animal principle of the 
 soul, then it is submitted, that we have a fixed and 
 certain basis for believing in the Fatherhood of God, 
 and the brotherhood of man. All human souls are 
 alike in their essential nature, and have One Creator. 
 "Have we not all One Father. Hath not One God 
 created us all?" (Mai. 2 : lo). The office of the 
 mind is to govern; but there is an old adage that 
 suggests much: "All head a tyrant, all heart a 
 fool." A righteous heart is the natural ally of a 
 just mind as the Scriptures teach, and the poets 
 have simg. 
 
 Man for the field, and woman for the hearth; 
 Man for the sword, and for theneedle she: 
 Man with the head, and woman with the heart: 
 Man to command, and woman to obey; 
 All else is confusion. 
 
 Tennyson: The Princess. 
 
 Ancient Wisdom says that there is One Mind that 
 predisposes all things. The Scriptures teach this from 
 first to last. Emerson in his essay on History, says: 
 "There is one mind common to all men. Every man 
 is an inlet to the same and to all of the same." Man 
 is man because of his mentality. A pure mind is the 
 image and glory of God. "The lot [the capacity of 
 choice] is cast into the lap [of man]; but the whole 
 disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. i6: 33). "Not 
 by virtue of material strength and political power shall 
 ye prevail, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 
 4: 6; Job 33: 4; Wisdom 15: 11), Peter says that they 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 7 
 
 who have "escaped the corruptions of the world are 
 partakers of the divine nattire." 
 
 Man has an animal body: "And the Lord God formed 
 the body of man out of the dust of the earth" (Gen. 
 2:7); but within the body of man is a living soul. "And 
 the Lord God took the Man [Adam, reason] and put 
 him into the Garden of Eden [the human soul] to dress 
 it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded 
 Man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayst 
 freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou 
 eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The Lord is here 
 represented as saying that man may feed upon any 
 and all knowledge, no matter upon what tree it grows, 
 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
 The Lord God only inhibits knowledge from one source. 
 Where is this tree of death situate in the Garden of 
 Eden, the garden of Wisdom, "the garden of righteous- 
 ness" (Enoch 32:3, 6). What is this inhibited tree? 
 It is the lower principle of the human soul. What is 
 the fruit of this tree? It is "the works of the flesh" 
 (Gal. 5: 19-21). To eat of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil is to live the sensuous life; to eat of the 
 fruit of "the tree of Life in the midst of the garden" 
 is to live a life of virtue. Man is to look to God for 
 knowledge, and not take cotmsel of his carnal nature. 
 "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and 
 the people shall go out and gather a certain portion 
 every day, that I may prove them, whether they will 
 walk in my Law or no" (Ex. 16: 4). 
 
 In the day that man takes counsel of his carnal ap- 
 petites, he abandons God, the source of truth, life, and 
 wisdom, and unites himself to that principle that coun- 
 sels death. He who is led and urged on by the wiles 
 
8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of his lower natiire is the victim of envy, hate, lust, 
 hypocrisy, falsehood, greed, revenge, malice, and mur- 
 der, the seed of Satan. Mind pure and holy is the 
 image and glory of God; but when dethroned it is 
 the fallen king of Tynis. "Thou hast been in Eden 
 the garden of God; every precious stone was thy cover- 
 ing; thou wast upon the mountain of God; thou hast 
 walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 
 Thou wast perfect in thy way from the day that thou 
 wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Thou 
 hast sinned; therefore, I will cast thee as profane out 
 of the mountain of God" (Ezek. 28: 12-16). 
 [ A righteous human soul is "the garden of God"; 
 and a sinful one resembles "a spacious garden full of 
 flowering weeds." Tennyson, in a paraphrase on his 
 poem. The Palace of Art, said: 
 
 I send you here a sort of allegory — of a soul, 
 A sinful soul, possessed of many gifts, 
 A spacious garden full of flowering weeds, 
 A glorious devil, large in heart and brain, 
 That did love beauty only — beauty seen 
 In all varieties of mould and mind. 
 
 Adam, faithful in the garden of God, is the master of 
 all he surveys; he is admitted to the secrets of heaven; 
 he walks in the midst of the stones of fire; he is above 
 all carnal things, upon the holy mountain of God. The 
 high and holy office of Adam is the perfection of the 
 soul, the Garden of Eden, the paradise of God; he is 
 put into the garden "to dress it and to keep it." But 
 when Adam abandons his high and holy office and 
 throws himself down to the plane of animalism, then 
 is Adam fallen, then is the soul abandoned, then is man 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 9 
 
 driven out of the Garden of Eden, then is paradise 
 lost. 
 
 The Lord God in the infinitude of His wisdom and 
 mercy would ransom and save from death His fallen 
 children. He would have them in his holy motmtain 
 amidst the stones of fire; and to this end His Holy 
 Spirit like a flaming sword turns in every direction that 
 it may point "the way of the tree of Life." Virtue 
 abides in paradise. A virtuous human soul is the par- 
 adise of God, the Garden of Eden. " Do you not know 
 that your body is the temple of the living God?" The 
 Almighty river that "goes out of Eden to water the 
 garden" ; and becomes four rivers of virtue, bears abtm- 
 dant fniit. "Wisdom maketh all things new: and in 
 all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them 
 friends of God, and prophets" (Wisd. of Sol. 7: 27). 
 
 The allegory under consideration brings before the 
 mind's eye the profoundest truths of human nature; it 
 presents them scientifically, and with a brevity unex- 
 ampled in literature; ideas that ordinarily would fill 
 volumes are abridged into a few sentences. The soul 
 of man is first presented to us with its principles in their 
 right order. Adam exercises dominion; he gives names 
 to the animal creation; and Eve, the representative 
 of the heart, is his helpmeet, his ally. A virtuous 
 heart is forever the ally of reason. 
 
 But in the next scene, we view the soul in a state of 
 chaos. The Garden of Eden is desecrated; Eve is 
 debauched, and Adam is fallen. "And they heard the 
 voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 
 cool of the day; and Adam and Eve hid themselves 
 from the presence of the Lord." When the voice of 
 God, the Holy Spirit, walks in His garden, and finds 
 it desecrated, then is there fear and terror. 
 
10 The Law of Human Life 
 
 0, Conscience, into what abyss of fears 
 
 And horrors hast thou driven me ! Out of which 
 
 I find no way; from deep to deeper plunged. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 Adam and Eve desire- above all to hear the Divine 
 Voice as long as they are faithful. Into every righteous 
 soul there comes an inspiration, a joy, a calm that 
 makes all earthly things seem poor and cheap indeed. 
 "If our hearts [our conscience] condemn us not, then 
 have we peace with God." 
 
 ' I feel within me 
 A peace above all earthly dignities — 
 A still and quiet conscience. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said 
 unto him. Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy 
 voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was 
 naked; and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee 
 that thou wast naked?" It is conscience; it is the 
 Holy Spirit within us, that tells us we are naked, and 
 helpless, and deserted. When the mind and heart are 
 corrupted, man is in need of fig leaves. It is the Holy 
 Spirit that tells Adam and Eve they have sacrificed 
 paradise. "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" 
 This recalls a statement in an interesting little book 
 by Caroline E. Stephen: Quaker Strongholds: "Yes, I 
 have been conscious of a power within making mani- 
 fest to me my sins and errors, and I have indeed expe- 
 rienced its healing and emancipating power as well 
 as its fiery ptirgings and bitter condemnations. That 
 which has shown me my fault has healed me; the Light 
 has led and is leading me out of the abyss, nearer and 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent ii 
 
 nearer to its own Eternal Source; and I know that, in 
 so far as I am obedient to It, I am safe." 
 
 Innocence, that as a veil 
 Had shadowed them from knowing ill, was- gone, 
 Just confidence, and native righteousness, 
 And honour from above them, naked, left 
 To guilty shame. 
 
 Milton: Paradise Lost 
 
 The idea that a pure mind is the image and likeness 
 of God, and that the Spirit of God acts directly upon 
 the human Mind and Heart, and that It is paternal is 
 an essential and central thought of religion. This is 
 the most glorious and edifying thought that the mind 
 of man can contemplate. Religion is foimded upon the 
 idea that there is a Spiritual kingdom that transcends 
 the animal kingdom of the world, and that a just and 
 upright human soul is related to this holy kingdom, 
 and is a conscious organ of the Holy Spirit. He who 
 is in this kingdom is "in Eden the Garden of God"; 
 in a virtuous soul; and such a one is said to be on the 
 mountain of God walking up and down "in the midst 
 of the stones of fire. ' ' This world is animal. ' ' A friend 
 of the world is the enemy of God," says James. "My 
 kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of 
 this world, then would my servants fight." Adam 
 and Eve, the mind and the heart, when faithful to God, 
 are related to His kingdom and are in paradise; but 
 when they are seduced by the wiles of the serpent, the 
 representative of the carnal and animal world, then 
 they are of the world, and are at enmity with God. 
 "And the Lord God formed the body of man out of the 
 dust of the earth" (Gen. 2:7). The earth is animal 
 and serpentine. Man has an animal body; and the 
 
12 The Law of Human Life 
 
 lower principle of the human soul relates man to the 
 world; but the mind of man is spiritual, and it relates 
 him to a kingdom that transcends the animal kingdom. 
 A pure mind is the image and glory of God. 
 
 The idea that the lower principle of the human soul 
 relates man to the sensuous animal world is taught in 
 mythology, in Greek philosophy; and it was also taught 
 in a vague way by the Schoolmen in the Middle Ages. 
 Renn D. Hampden in his Bampton Lecttures, 1832, on 
 The Scholastic Philosophy (See Lecture 6), said: "Grace 
 [The Spirit of God in the soiil of man], was the Virtue 
 of Conquest, — that by which the fuel [fomes] of Con- 
 cupiscence — ^the lust of the fiesh — ^was subdued and 
 quenched. For this was the earthly principle, — that 
 which turned away the soul from God; the direct con- 
 trary, therefore, to the principle of Grace, by which the 
 soul is tturned to God. . . . Hence, the rigid rule of a life 
 of celibacy was established, as the perfection of moral- 
 ity." This we may call Dr. Hampden's summing up of 
 the doctrine of the Schoolmen — denominated "Original 
 sin." 
 
 Adam when told of his disloyalty, lays the blame on 
 the woman, on a debauched heart, "And the Lord 
 God said unto the woman. What is this that thou hast 
 done? And the woman said. The serpent beguiled me, 
 and I did eat." This is the ever recurring doctrine of 
 ancient wisdom. Evil has its origin in the lower prin- 
 ciple of the human soul, represented in the Scriptures 
 by several symbols; Egypt, the goat, the serpent, the 
 flesh, and the earth. All the iniquities of man are 
 laid upon the head of the goat. Falsehood, hypocrisy, 
 lust, greed, envy, malice, revenge, and murder are the 
 seed of Satan; they make manifest the traits of animal- 
 ism that still adhere in the souls of tuiregenerate men. 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 13 
 
 These traits represent the animals, that Hercules, 
 the Greek Jesus, utterly destroyed before lie was 
 banqueted by the gods upon Mount Ida. 
 
 The curse of God is laid upon the serpent. "Thou 
 art cursed, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt 
 thou eat all the days of thy life." The animal nature 
 of man has its day, but it is doomed. '*The flesh 
 warreth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the 
 flesh: and these are contrary one to the other" (Gal. 
 5: 17). All glory and honor to the Lord God of Israel; 
 for he promises an heavenly victory to Adam; but let 
 us see how this glorious victory is to be accomplished. 
 
 '*And I will put enmity between thee [the serpent], 
 and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; 
 thy seed shall bruise her head and she shall set her heel 
 upon thee" (Gen. 3:15). "The dragon shalt thou 
 trample under foot." "The head of the woman is the 
 Man," Adam, Reason (i Cor. 11:3). When the wo- 
 man — the affections of the heart — are debauched, then 
 is reason bruised, baffled, and confounded by the seed 
 of the serpent; then is the house divided against itself, 
 then is Adam the victim of heresy and of superstition, 
 then is man importuned to go in every direction except 
 the right one, then is man fallen, then is the curse of 
 heaven upon him. 
 
 Honor and glory to God, for he has planned the way 
 of salvation. In the evolution of the soul of man, en- 
 mity springs up between the seed of the woman, the 
 affections of the heart, and the seed of Satan. This 
 enmity, this hatred of evil, that springs up in the hiunan 
 heart makes the affections the ally of reason. When 
 the affections are allied with right reason, then does the 
 Lord God walk in the Garden of Eden, then is His voice 
 heard, not with fear, but with inexpressible joy, then 
 
14 The Law of Human Life 
 
 is Adam in paradise, then is the king of Tyrus risen, 
 then is the serpent conquered, then does the woman 
 put her heel upon him. "The Lord doth put a differ- 
 ence between the Egyptians and the Israelites" (Ex. 
 11:7). 
 
 This brief yet singidarly inclusive allegory, puts 
 before us the principles inherent in the human soul 
 first in their right order. Adam in paradise is the 
 image of his Creator; he has dominion over the animal 
 world; he gives names to all living creatures. Plato 
 tells us that wisdom gives names to things according 
 to their innermost essence; and that when the character 
 of a thing is changed, then it is to be given a new name 
 to correspond with its new character. In a word, that 
 a fixed analogy exists between the name of a thing and 
 the thing itself; and that language, therefore, is not 
 arbitrary in its origin, but is in harmony with the divine 
 order. "Have regard to thy name, thy character; 
 for that shall continue with thee above a thousand 
 great treasures of gold" (Jesus Son of Sir. 41 : 12). 
 
 The great are they who cultivate the virtues, who 
 seek perfection of character. They who have over- 
 come the temptations of the animal world and are re- 
 lated to the Kingdom of God, are given new names. 
 "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hid- 
 den manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the 
 stone a new name written, which no man knoweth 
 save he that receiveth it" (Rev, 2: 17). Character is 
 hidden, it is in the depths of the soul; it feeds upon the 
 manna of heaven, the highest knowledge, and it is like 
 a pure white stone, that endures forever, and no man 
 knows what it is like, except him "that receiveth it." 
 "The inner man," says Paul, "is renewed from day to 
 day." This is the law of evolution. Charles Darwin 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 15 
 
 made a like remark, when he said: "Evolution proceeds 
 by numerous, successive, and sUght modifications." 
 
 In the Scriptures, we read of many whose names were 
 changed; their names were changed because they had 
 passed "from character to character," and because 
 they had attained to a high degree of perfection, and 
 were related to the Kingdom of God. Abram, when 
 he had overcome the world, is named Abraham, the 
 father of nations, the father of mankind; Sara, when 
 she triumphs over the serpent, and puts her heel upon 
 him, is called Sarah, the princess, the righteous mother. 
 Joseph, the Master, who "ruled over all the land of 
 Egypt," was named (Gen. 41:45) the prince oj life, 
 Jacob, when he had wrestled on the side of virtue and 
 won, is surnamed Israel, he who hath prevailed with God, 
 Jesus is called Christ, the divine Word; and Peter is 
 giv^n a new name by Jesus, Simon Bar-jona, the son 
 of the dove, the son of the Spirit, He who is related to the 
 Kingdom of God is a conscious organ of the Holy 
 Spirit, and is capable of giving names to creatures and 
 things according to their innermost nature. They 
 who are related to the spiritual kingdom affirm the 
 truth; for they are attuned to the truth. "To this 
 end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, 
 that I should bear witness tmto the truth. Every 
 one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Every 
 one that loves the truth knows that I speak it. 
 
 The preceding are the names of some who were 
 drawn out of the water, who were born of water and 
 of the Spirit. They are those upon whom the Holy 
 Spirit descended, symbolized by the dove; like Peter, 
 they are the sons of the dove, the sons of God; they 
 are "teachers come from God"; they "bear witness 
 unto the truth," They are the "blessed." They love 
 
i6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 righteousness, and hate wickedness; they are those 
 whom God hath anointed with the oil of gladness 
 above their fellows (Ps. 45:7). They represent the 
 faith of knowledge, as distinguished from the faith of 
 conjecture. Their faith in God is as firm as the eternal 
 stone, the symbol of true faith. 
 
 Jesus asked his disciples, saying, "Whom do men 
 say that I the son of man am? And they said, Some 
 say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elias; and 
 others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto 
 them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter 
 answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the son of the 
 living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, 
 Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood 
 hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is 
 in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter 
 [the white stone, the symbol of character and of faith], 
 and upon this stone I build my church [the fraternity 
 of the just]; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it. And I will give tmto thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven: whatsoever thou shalt bind on 
 earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou 
 shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 
 16: 14-19). 
 
 The Church, the fraternity of the just, represented 
 by Jesus Christ, and all the righteous, is founded upon 
 character and faith. Man has as much faith in God 
 as he has character, and as much character as faith; 
 so, in essence, faith and character are one and insepar- 
 able, and are represented by the white stone that en- 
 dureth forever; and '*hell shall not prevail against it." 
 The just make manifest the power and Spirit of God. 
 "That which may be known of God is made manifest 
 in the lives of the just" (Rom. i : 19). Jesus said unto 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 17 
 
 Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet 
 hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me 
 hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). "Holy men of 
 God speak as they are moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 
 Peter i : 21). "God hath spoken by the mouth of His 
 holy prophets, which have been since the world began" 
 (Luke 1 : 70). "Wisdom in all ages entering into holy 
 souls hath made them friends of God, and prophets," 
 (Wisd. of Sol. 7 : 27). The just are the organs of truth; 
 they who are disregardful of the truth are bound in 
 heaven and earth, and they who are faithful to it are 
 free in heaven and earth. "Know the truth, and the 
 truth shall make you free" (John 8 : 32). 
 
 The Universal Reason, the Holy Ghost, the Com- 
 forter, the Spirit of Truth, the Divine Word, when it 
 possesses the soid of man, speaks the truth in any pre- 
 sence. "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to 
 answer thee in this matter ... Be it known unto thee, 
 O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship 
 thy golden image which thou hast set up. Then was 
 Nebuchadnezzar full of fury" (Dan. 3: 16-19). When 
 the disciples of Jesus were brought before the Sanhe- 
 drin, they proclaimed themselves the organs of the Holy 
 Ghost. "Then Peter and the other apostles answered 
 and said, We ought to obey God rather than man." 
 They spoke as they did because they were the organs 
 of "the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that 
 obey him" (Acts 5:29, 32). Gamaliel, a famous 
 doctor of the Law, cautioned those of the Sanhedrin, 
 and said: "If this work be of men, it will come to 
 nought; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it" 
 (Acts 5:38, 39). Socrates said to the judges who de- 
 creed his death: "Men of Athens, I honor and love 
 you, but I must obey God rather than you," 
 
1 8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Socrates bade Alcibiades to wait for a teacher who 
 would direct his prayer. "When will that time come," 
 asks Alcibiades, *'and who shall be my teacher?" "It 
 is one who careth for thee," replied the philosopher, 
 "and he shall remove the mist which now envelops 
 your mind, that ye may discern what is good and what 
 is evil" (Plato's Alcibiades, part ii.). "I perceive," 
 says Peter, "that God is no respecter of persons; but 
 in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh right- 
 eousness, is accepted" (Acts 10:34). 
 
 In the allegory of Adam, Eve, and the serpent, the 
 principles of the human soul are first shown in their 
 right order. Adam is at the summit of the temple 
 exercising the dominion given of God over all below 
 him; and Eve is his helpmeet and faithful ally; and 
 thus the soul stands in a right relation to the Kingdom 
 of. God, and is responsive to the will of heaven; and 
 Adam and Eve are in paradise; but in the next scene, 
 the serpent has gained the ascendancy, Eve is de- 
 bauched and Adam is fallen. Paradise is lost, and 
 anarchy, confusion, fear, and death reign. When the 
 divine order within the soul is inverted, it ceases to be 
 the organ of truth. The fallen Adam, the sensual 
 man, the animal man, sacrifices his birthright for pot- 
 tage, he sacrifices all for the gratification of his carnal 
 desires; he lives on that plane of consciousness desig- 
 nated by the sign Scorpio (Hosea 13:13); and his 
 horror and fear of death is measured by his wickedness. 
 
 Tis too horrible; 
 The weariest and most loathed earthly life 
 Which age, ache, penury, and imprisonment 
 Can lay on nature, is a paradise 
 To what we fear of death. 
 
 Measure for Measure, 3:1. 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 19 
 
 When Moses, the master and servant of God, went 
 down into Egypt to lead the children of Israel out of 
 the bondage of carnality, his soul was upright before 
 God; it was the organ of the Holy Spirit, God speaks 
 through Moses (Luke 1:70). ''Thus saith the Lord 
 God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold 
 a feast imto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said. 
 Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let 
 Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let 
 Israel go" (Ex. 5: i, 2), When the lower principle of 
 the soul is in the ascendancy, then is man unregenerate; 
 then is he in bondage; then is he the victim of envy, 
 hypocrisy, superstition, heresy, conceit, falsehood, 
 malice, greed, lust, and revenge; then is he led by these 
 several devils in every direction except the right one; 
 then does he seek to exploit others ; then does he blas- 
 pheme and deny that God is. "Who is the Lord that 
 I should obey his voice?" The carnally minded are 
 incapable of perceiving truth except in its most out- 
 ward form. Emerson in his tribute to Theodore 
 Parker said: "The opinions of men are organic." Men 
 do what they do because they are inwardly what they 
 are. The soul of man is the organ of truth to the ex- 
 tent that it is conformed to the divine order. All 
 things are destined to conform to the divine order. 
 "Elias must first come . . . and restore all things" 
 (Matt. 17:10, 11). "Why do you not understand 
 my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word" 
 (John 8:43). The soul must be atttmed to truth if 
 it would hear it. How much there is in the ani- 
 mal world that tends to the disfiguration of the 
 soul of man; and what infinite beauty there is in 
 the Kingdom of God that points the way of its 
 transfigtu-ation ! 
 
20 The Law of Human Life 
 
 II 
 
 CAIN, ABEL, AND SETH, THE SONS OF ADAM AND EVE 
 
 In the fourth chapter of Genesis, the allegory of 
 Adam and Eve introduces new features; we are now 
 to contemplate some very exact statements concern- 
 ing human nature, and the mode and manner of the 
 soul's evolution. In this chapter Adam and Eve are 
 represented as two individuals, as man and wife. 
 j "And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, 
 and bear Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the 
 Lord." Eve's thought we would express thus: I 
 have gotten from the Lord a potential man. It ap- 
 pears that the names: Cain, Abel, and Seth describe 
 three states of human consciousness, the lower, the 
 intermediary, and the higher. Mankind upon the 
 earth, at any and all times, may be divided into three 
 classes, represented by Cain, Abel, and Seth. Man 
 in his evolution is first a Cain, then an Abel, and lastly 
 a Seth. 
 
 Cain is the first-bom in time; he is the primitive 
 man; he represents man at his nadir. He stands at 
 the foot of the ladder, which he can ascend only by 
 righteous endeavor. "If thou doest well, shal^ thou 
 not be accepted?" (Gen. 4:7). The mind is the man; 
 it is from God. "I have gotten a man from the Lord." 
 The body is animal; it is of the earth. The soul is the 
 intermediary and containing. "The soul makes the 
 body as the snail makes its shell," said Charles Kingsley. 
 
 For, of the sotd, the body form doth take, 
 For the soul is form, and doth the body make. 
 
 Spenser: An Hymne in Honour of Beautie, 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 21 
 
 The soul which has never perceived the truth, says 
 Plato, cannot pass into the human form, and that, 
 nothing is more akin to wisdom than truth. Cain par- 
 takes of the human ; but he is more animal than human. 
 His soul is not upright before God; it is not conformed 
 to the divine order. Thomas Carlyle, when comment- 
 ing on the nature of truth, said: "Order is Truth, — 
 each thing standing on the basis that belongs to it: 
 Order and Falsehood cannot subsist together"; and 
 again he says: "Man is the son of Order, not of Dis- 
 order; his mission is Order." "To this end was I 
 born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I 
 should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that 
 is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18: 37). 
 
 Cain was carnal and sensual. "Cain was a tiller 
 of the earth." The earth is animal and serpentine- 
 Cain worships Mammon, the god of the world; his 
 offering is " the fruit of the ground." Unto Cain and his 
 offering the Lord had no respect; and Cain was very 
 wroth, and his countenance fell. This is the attitude 
 of Cain and of every Cain; he is jealous, malignant, 
 conceited, and tyrannous. The Lord is patient and 
 long-suffering with his animalized ai;id ignorant chil- 
 dren; but they who know the right and yet persist in 
 doing evil, are destined to swift and dreadful punish- 
 ment. The appalling afflictions that fell so thick and 
 fast upon the Israelites were occasioned by the fact 
 that they knew better than they did. There is an 
 unerring wisdom that suffers no wrong to go tmpunished 
 and no virtue unrewarded; this all-knowing presence 
 "tempers the wind to the shorn lamb"; it apportions 
 the punishment according to the knowledge of the 
 delinquent (Luke 12:47, 48). 
 
 "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? 
 
22 The Law of Human Life 
 
 And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doej 
 well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doej 
 not well, sin lieth at the door. Your carnal nature ; 
 subject unto you, and you shall exercise dominion ove 
 it." Cain did not know the exceeding sinfulness < 
 sin, therefore, "sin lieth at the door." Cain is carna 
 sinful; he lives on the plane that originates sin; on tt 
 plane designated by the sign Scorpio (Hosea 13:13' 
 He is the victim of his carnal desires; his animal natui 
 is superior to his will. The Mind is the Man; th 
 Lord of heaven and earth lays an injunction on th 
 Mind of Cain. "Your carnal nature is subject unt 
 you, and you shall exercise dominion over it" (Gei 
 
 4:7)- 
 
 Cain had a younger brother Abel. "And Abel W£ 
 a keeper of sheep." According to the symbolism ( 
 the Scriptures, a keeper of sheep is one who is faithft 
 to reason, who is employed in the cultivation of th 
 virtues. Abel's offering to the Lord was the firstling 
 of his flock, "And the Lord had respect unto Ab( 
 and his offering." Abel's heart was right; he did th 
 best he could; therefore, the Lord had respect for Ab< 
 and his offering. If we would receive -the blessing ( 
 heaven, we must live worthy of it; we must cultivat 
 the human. The blessing of heaven is bestowed upo 
 the human, and not upon the animal nature of mai 
 "Hold fast to the man, and awe the beast," says Emei 
 son. Cain is wroth because the blessing of heaven : 
 given to Abel. "And Cain talked to Abel his brothei 
 and it came to pass, when they were in the field, the 
 Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him." 
 
 In the Scriptures elevations are suggestive of cha: 
 acter. Moses received the Law in the mount; Jest 
 delivered his great sermon in the mount. Fieldi 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 23 
 
 valleys, and plains are referred to as the habitat of the 
 warlike, the sensual, and the degenerate. Cain made 
 his subtle and murderous attack upon his brother, 
 "when they were in the field." The densely populated 
 Egypt from the remotest antiquity was the Valley of 
 the Nile; the luxiirious, the sensuous, the warlike, the 
 proud, the vain, the conceited, the tyrannous who lived 
 in the valley represent the spirit of the animal world; 
 they are said to have been given to animal worship 
 in the days of Moses, In the Scriptures, the Egyp- 
 tians represent the Gentile state of consciousness, the 
 state represented by Cain. The Scriptures are replete 
 with an heaven-born psychology. 
 
 "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy 
 brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's 
 keeper? And the Lord said. What hast thou done? 
 the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from 
 the ground." The voice that crieth unto the Lord 
 from the ground is the voice of God in the soul of Cain. 
 Cain's soul is clothed with an earthly garment; and in 
 the earthly body of Cain the voice of God crieth un- 
 ceasingly. Cain is a liar, and a murderer; and the 
 curse of God is upon him; just as the ciurse of God is 
 upon every liar, hypocrite, and seducer of virtue. 
 "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is 
 greater than I can bear. Behold thou hast driven me 
 out this day." I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond, 
 and everybody shall seek to slay me. The Spirit of 
 God in the soul of man, sometimes called conscience, 
 and again moral reason, suffers no man to find rest 
 and peace untU. his soul is conformed to the divine 
 order. "The moral order of the universe," said Fichte, 
 "is itself God: we need no other, and can comprehend 
 no other." 
 
24 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Trust me, no torture which the poets fein, 
 Can match the fierce, unutterable pain 
 He feels, who, night and day, devoid of rest, 
 Carries his own accuser in his breast. 
 
 Juvenal. 
 
 All mankind are brothers; all human souls are made 
 after the same divine pattern. "Have we not One 
 Father? Has not One God created us all? " (Mai. 2 : lo). 
 Every exploiter of his brother is a Cain, Every one 
 who loves money, power, and fame more than he loves 
 his brother is a Cain. Every one who hoards the things 
 of the world beyond his reasonable needs is a Cain. 
 Every one who accumulates by imposing unjust bur- 
 dens upon others is a Cain. Every cheat is a Cain. 
 Every liar and hypocrite is a Cain. Every seducer of 
 virtue is a Cain. "Am I my brother's keeper?" The 
 curse of heaven is upon him who deliberately wrongs 
 his brother; and the day will come when the exploiter 
 will say in his heart: My punishment is greater than 
 I can bear. I am a vagabond, I am a fugitive, and 
 everybody seeks to slay me. "Conscience doth make 
 cowards of us all." "Be not deceived, God is not 
 mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap." 
 
 "Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken 
 on him sevenfold." Whosoever slayeth his own Cain, 
 whosoever conquers his own animal nature must neces- 
 sarily suffer; and he must suffer as all have suffered 
 who have overcome the world. "He that hath suffered 
 in the flesh [and is dead to the spirit of the world] hath 
 ceased from sin" (i Peter 4: i). Man, would he 
 attain to the spiritual kingdom, must die to the animal; 
 he must sacrifice the "firstlings of his flock"; he must 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 25 
 
 experience the whole agony; he must go to the promised 
 land by the way of the wilderness (Deut. 8:2, 3); he 
 must drink of the cup that Jesus drank of (Matt. 
 20: 22, 23) ; vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. 
 "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding 
 him should slay him." This is a declaration, it would 
 seem, that no soul is to be blotted out. God sets a 
 mark upon every soul; it is His. It is not to be de- 
 stroyed. "Behold, all souls are Mine" (Ezek. 18:4); 
 "But Thou sparest all; for they are Thine, O Lord, 
 Thou lover of souls" (Wisd. of Sol. 11 : 26). "It is not 
 the will of God that any should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Every 
 human soul was, or is a Cain; therefore, eve-y Cain has 
 an equal right to Uve. First, the child of flesh, the 
 unreasoning sensualist, then the child of reason, the 
 child of promise: first the Gentile, then the Israelite. 
 Every Cain is "our kinsman according to the flesh" 
 (Rom. 9:3). Paul tells Titus, To speak evil of no 
 man; for we ourselves were sometimes disobedient and 
 given to lust, and pleasure, and malice, and envy 
 (Titus 3: 2, 3). 
 
 Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all ! 
 Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close. 
 And let us all to meditation. 
 
 Henry VI, , 3:3. 
 
 "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, 
 and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden," 
 Eden is another name for Wisdom. Wisdom is higher 
 than knowledge. Our knowledge is what we certainly 
 know. Wisdom is that illumination and purity of 
 Mind by which we see and know; it is the Light 
 of Heaven in the soul of man; it comes as the reward of 
 
26 The Law of Human Life 
 
 virtue. "He that doeth the truth cometh to the Light." 
 Every just and upright soul is a Garden of Eden, "a 
 garden of righteousness" (Enoch 32: 3, 6). When this 
 garden is harmonious and peaceful, then does God walk 
 in it in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). "That which 
 may be known of God is made manifest in the lives of 
 the just" (Rom. i: 19). 
 
 ' ' Nod ' ' means discord, unrest, mental anguish. 
 Every evil-doer, every one who knowingly violates the 
 duties and privileges of life goes out from the presence 
 of the Lord; he departs from wisdom and from rest and 
 peace, and dwells in discord in the land of Nod. "I 
 shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth," said 
 Cain., Every one who ignores principles, every one 
 who lives in disregard of the moral law, the Law of 
 Human Life, and thus seeks to escape the responsibili- 
 ties of life is a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. 
 "Evil is evil because it is unnatural," Order is Truth. 
 No rational being can offend against the divine order 
 and escape punishment. Truth is the Law of Reason. 
 God's name, God's character is made manifest in reason 
 and justice. "He will not pardon your transgression 
 for My Name is in him" (Ex. 23: 21). God's Name is 
 in the heart of every just person; the just know God 
 because they partake of His name, of His nature. "I 
 am the Lord that do work love, justice, and righteous- 
 ness; for in these things I delight, sayeth the Lord 
 (Jer. 9:24). 
 
 The divine principle of apportioning punishment 
 according to the knowledge of the offender is illustrated 
 in a striking and singular way in the genealogy of Cain. 
 Lamech, it woidd seem, is the seventh generation from 
 Adam. From Adam to the children of Lamech are 
 the seven ascending degrees of the natural man. If 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 2^ 
 
 this be true, then Lamech is the highest type of the 
 natural man. Lamech tells his wives that if he should 
 slay a man, a young man to his own hurt, as did his 
 ancestor Cain, that his punishment would be seventy 
 and sevenfold (Gen. 4:24). He who hiurts another, 
 hurts himself; and the hxirt that he does himself is 
 measured by his knowledge- The higher man rises 
 in the scale of intelligence, the severer the punishment 
 for every infraction of heaven's Law. Symbols and 
 allegories are necessarily used to express knowledge 
 of a psychological and subjective nature. 
 
 According to the symbolism of the Scriptures, the 
 people of Egypt represent the spirit of the world. The 
 habitat of Cain is the valley of the Nile, the land of 
 luxury, of pomp, and of official station. Cain delights 
 in sumptuous living, in carnal pleasures, in gorgeou% 
 surroundings, and in worldly power. This prince of 
 terror, and of war, has ruled the world in all the past, 
 as the armies and the navies, and the statuary upon 
 the boulevards and esplanades in every capital the 
 world over so abundantly testify. The great military 
 or naval chief who has aided in putting to death thou- 
 sands of human beings is still the popular hero; he is 
 still preferred by the great mass of mankind. The 
 men of war were consumed in the wilderness, ''because 
 they obeyed not the voice of the Lord" Qoshua 5:6). 
 "We know that the whole world lieth in wickedness"; 
 and that we still live "in an evil and adulterous genera- 
 tion that seeketh after a sign." Cain, Abel, and Seth 
 represented three states of consciousness, the lower, 
 the intermediary, and the higher, corresponding to 
 Egypt, the desert, and the promised land. 
 
 Abel is the representative of the intermediary state 
 of man; he represents a much smaller number of the 
 
28 The Law of Human Life 
 
 people of the world than does Cain. He is possessed 
 of a kind and tender heart; he is more controlled by 
 his affections and intuitions than by reason; he finds 
 great pleasure in the performance of useful and kindly 
 offices; he hates cruelty and gross sensuality. Abel 
 knows enough to know that he should cultivate virtue, 
 and that he should live in obedience to reason; he is 
 "a keeper of sheep" ; he is superior to the Gentile state, 
 the Egyptian state, represented by Cain. "Every 
 shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians" (Gen. 
 46: 34). Cain is the first born in time; Abel is the last 
 born in time, but the first-born of God; he is the first 
 born of God because he cultivates virtue, and seeks to 
 act in obedience to reason. Cain is a Gentile. Abel 
 is an Israelite. 
 
 "Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are 
 Israelites born shall dwell in booths; that your genera- 
 tions may know that I made the children of Israel to 
 dwell in booths" (Lev. 23:42). The Israelites, when 
 in the wilderness dwelt in booths; they had no fixed 
 abode. The Lord found Jacob in a desert land; He led 
 him about ; He instructed him ; He kept him as the apple 
 of His eye (Deut, 32: 10). The desert life is symbolic; 
 it represents a period of discipline; man is made per- 
 fect by suffering (Deut. 8:2,3). " Israelites shall dwell 
 in booths seven days." Seven days is a figure of 
 speech which represents the whole period of man's 
 discipline and chastening; it represents the period of 
 his reformation. According to the symbolism of the 
 Scripttires, man is disciplined and made perfect in the 
 wilderness. He is made perfect by suffering. None 
 are fit to enter the promised land until they have aban- 
 doned Egypt, and passed by the way of the Red Sea, 
 and been baptized in the cloud and in the sea (i Cor. 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 29 
 
 10:2), and have experienced the baptism with fire 
 in the wilderness. ''Except a man be bom of water 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God" 
 Qohn3:5). 
 
 It is written that Lamech had two wives: Adah, 
 whose name means ornament, and Zillah, shade or 
 shadow. A pure heart is a sacred ornament. "Man, 
 an holy mind, is the image and glory of God; but the 
 woman, a pure heart, is the glory of the man" (i Cor. 
 11: 7). "And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of 
 such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle; and 
 his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of such 
 as handle the harp and the organ." It would seem 
 that the children of Adah are the children of reason 
 and virtue, the children of the head and heart. The 
 true office of music is to calm and harmonize the feel- 
 ings and affections. "Such as have cattle" are shep- 
 herds; they are the friends and teachers of virtue, as 
 are the shepherds of sheep. Joseph tells his brethren 
 what to say to Pharaoh. When Pharaoh shall say, 
 "What is your vocation? Ye shall say. Thy servants' 
 trade hath been about cattle from our youth even imtil 
 now. . . . For every shepherd is an abomination unto 
 the Egyptians" (Gen. 46: 33, 34). 
 
 "And Zillah bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every 
 artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain 
 was Naamah." Tubalcain was the producer of weap- 
 ons as his name implies; and his sister's name spells 
 pleasure. The children of Zillah represent the lower 
 principles of the human soul; they are the children 
 of the flesh (Rom. 9:8). What marvelous lessons in 
 psychology were taught by the wise men of old! 
 
 Cain's wife bare Enoch, "and he buildeda city, and 
 called the name of the city after the name of his son, 
 
30 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Enoch." By this we understand, that Cain's son, 
 Enoch, was faithful to virtue, that he buUded an abiding 
 city; and that his name, his character, was manifest 
 in the life of his son Enoch. Plato tells us that wisdom 
 gives names to persons and things according to their 
 respective natures; and that there is an analogy be- 
 tween a name and its object. It would seem, therefore, 
 that the name of the city that Enoch builded was an- 
 alogous to the name of his son. The name Enoch sug- 
 gests discipline and obedience. He who would build 
 an abiding city, and have it made manifest in the lives 
 and names of his descendants, must suffer a severe 
 discipline; he must learn obedience by the things which 
 he suffers (Heb. 5:8), 
 
 "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, 
 and called his name Seth: For God said she, hath ap- 
 pointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain 
 slew." Seth is the representative of the third and 
 rarest class of mankind. The children of Seth are the 
 children of reason; th^y are the elect of God; they are 
 those that "call upon the name of the Lord" (Gen. 4: 
 26). The story of Cain, Abel, and Seth is the story 
 of the evolution of the human soul. "God hath ap- 
 pointed me another seed." First the carnal seed, 
 then the seed of affection, and lastly the seedrof reason. 
 First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
 in the ear (Mark 4: 28). The seed of Eve, the sons of 
 Eve, represent the sojourn of the soul of man on earth, 
 this sojourn is often spoken of in the Scriptures as 
 three days. "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures 
 to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be 
 perfected" (Luke 13:32). 
 
 The name Seth means substitution. "God hath 
 appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 31 
 
 slew." In the orderly evolution of the human soul, 
 reason supplants the heart, the affections, in its govern- 
 ment; the effeminate gives place to the rule of the mas- 
 culine. Paul explains the idea now tinder consideration 
 in his letter to the Corinthians (i Cor. 11:7-11): 
 "Man is the image and glory of God: but the woman 
 is the glory of the man. . . . Neither was the man 
 created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 
 . . . Nevertheless, neither is the man without the 
 woman, neither the woman without the man, in the 
 Lord." This singula,r language we would interpret 
 as follows: An holy and chaste mind is the image and 
 glory of God; but a pure and virtuous heart is the glory 
 of .the man. Neither was the man created to be gov- 
 erned of his emotions and affections; but they were 
 created to be governed of the Man. Neither is an holy 
 mind without a piu-e heart, neither is a virtuous heart 
 without a just mind, before God. 
 
 "And to Seth was born a son; and he called his name 
 Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the 
 Lord." The son of Man, the mentality of man, must 
 be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- 
 derness. The regnant is above; the subservient is 
 below; reason is the governing principle of the human 
 soul; and the virtue of reason is wisdom. The human 
 soul can alone become the organ of wisdom through 
 virtue, through purity. The name Enos means man, 
 mentality. First the children of the flesh, then the 
 children of feeling and affection; and lastly the children 
 of mentality, the children of reason. The children of 
 Seth are they who "call upon the name of the Lord." 
 "Ye shall call upon me, ye shall pray unto me, and I 
 will hearken unto you" (Jer. 29: 12). "If thou wert 
 pure and upright; surely now God would awake for 
 
32 The Law of Human Life 
 
 thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness 
 [the soul] prosperous. Though thy beginning was 
 small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase" 
 [Job 8:6, 7]. The children of Seth are the children of 
 the head. "And the Lord shall make thee the head, 
 and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and 
 thou shalt not be beneath; if thou hearken to the com- 
 mandments of the Lord thy God" (Deut. 28:13). 
 "The ancient and honourable is the head" (Isa. 9: 15). 
 "Man is the image and glory of God; but the woman 
 is the glory of the man," says Paul. An holy and 
 chaste mind is the image and glory of God; but a pure, 
 virtuous, and affectionate heart is the glory of the Man. 
 Man is first governed of his carnal desires; then he is 
 governed of his heart, of his emotions and affections; 
 and lastly he is governed of reason and of wisdom. In 
 the world are many shrewd and sapient men; they live 
 by their wits; and they generally hold the most lucra- 
 tive and influential positions in the Church and the 
 State. They often attain to wealth and to power by 
 their wiles and subtleties; they believe themselves wise 
 beyond others; and the great mass of mankind accede 
 to this erroneous opinion. Their minds and hearts 
 are wedded to the things of the world ; they love money, 
 power, luxury, and station; and they brook no opposi- 
 tion to their opinions whether religious or secular. 
 They are the children of the bondwoman; they are 
 Ishmaelites, Gentiles; their hands are raised against 
 their brothers; they are the exploiters of men; they are 
 the representatives of bastard reason; they are the 
 last to cast out the bondwoman and her son, they 
 represent the spirit of the world. They are the last 
 to enter into the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of 
 righteousness because of their wiles and conceits. The 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 33 
 
 publicans and harlots attain to the Kingdom of God 
 before these exploiters (Matt. 21 : 31). 
 
 The wily, the conceited, the subtle very often assume 
 to be instructors in religion; they assume to know some- 
 thing of spiritual things. They who love the world; 
 they who live the carnal life do not understand the 
 word of God. The conceited and worldly wise have 
 sought to devise ways and means whereby man may 
 pass to the promised land by other ways than by the 
 way of the Red Sea and Sinai. All who teach that 
 there are other ways to the promised land, than by the 
 way of the wilderness, are the teachers of heresies. 
 Man must go to the promised land by the way of the 
 desert; he must suffer; he must sacrifice his animals; 
 he must overcome his animal nature, if he wotdd be 
 born into that kingdom which transcends the animal 
 kingdom of the world. "Salvation is of the Jews" 
 (John 4:22). Salvation is of them who have passed 
 by the way of the wilderness; salvation is of them who 
 live above the spirit of the sensuous animal world. 
 
 The children of Seth are they who have passed by the 
 way of the desert; they are those who have "dwelt in 
 booths for seven days" (Lev. 23:42); they are those 
 who have cast out the bondwoman and her son; they 
 are the children of the divine Sarah, the free woman. 
 They who attain to the Kingdom of God, the kingdom 
 that transcends the animal kingdom of the world, are 
 those who have abandoned the spirit of the world, 
 represented by the bondwoman and her son. Sarah, 
 the Hebrew Minerva, is imperative; she proclaims the 
 Law of Human Life, the Law of Evolution: "Cast out 
 the bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bond- 
 woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac" 
 (Gen. 21:10). "Blessed are the poor in Spirit; for 
 
34 The Law of Human Life 
 
 they are the heirs of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 
 5:3). Blessed are they who are depleted of the spirit 
 of the world, blessed are they that have abandoned 
 Egypt, and passed by the way of the wilderness to the 
 promised land; for they are the inheritors of the King- 
 dom of God. They that are dead to the carnal world 
 are alive to God; they are the children of Seth that 
 "call upon the name of the Lord," 
 
 III 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ABAM: THE BOOK OF 
 
 REAL MEN 
 
 The fifth chapter of Genesis is a remarkable book; 
 it is a record of "the generations of Adam." The fourtli 
 chapter of Genesis appears to be an allegorical descrip- 
 tion of the generations of the natural man; while the 
 fifth chapter is a description of the generations of the 
 spiritual man, as distinguished from the natural. The 
 growth and development of the soul of man is a slow 
 and orderly process; first in time is the development of 
 the powers of the natural man, and lastly the powers 
 of the Spiritual man. The unfoldment of the soul, as 
 Paul has said, is "from character to character." "The 
 inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4: 16), 
 Charles Darwin also said, that evolution proceeds 
 by "numerous, successive, and slight modifications." 
 The Scriptxires describe and explain the nature of the 
 human soul, and the mode and manner of its orderly 
 evolution; and since this process is subjective and 
 psychological, it is necessarily described and explained 
 in symbols and allegories. 
 
 It is written that God created Man, mental beings, 
 in His Own likeness, male and female, "and blessed 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 35 
 
 them, and called their name Adam" (Gen. 5:2). Since 
 Adam, like Man, means mentality, or reason, it would 
 seem that human kind was given a name suggestive of 
 dominion, "Thou hast made Man to have dominion 
 over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things 
 under his feet" (Ps. 8:6). It is reason that distin- 
 guishes the human from the animal creation; it is 
 reason that renders one capable of acquiring knowledge, 
 and the cultivation of the virtues, and the development 
 of the social and the human. It is reason that leads 
 the way to human felicity here and hereafter. Reason 
 is spiritual; and in its purity is, we believe, the like- 
 ness and image of God Himself. "It is impossible," 
 said Pascal, "that the principle which reasons within 
 us should be other than spiritual." Knowledge comes 
 as the result of thought; thinking is evidently a spir- 
 itual process. The Scriptures were written to teach, 
 and do teach the deep truths of human nature. Knowl- 
 edge of self is primary, and of things secondary. It 
 is the will of Heaven that man should live superior 
 to the things of the sensuous world, that he "put all 
 things under his feet," 
 
 I affirm [said William Ellery Channing] that there is, 
 and can be, no greater work on earth than to purify the 
 soul from evil, and kindle in it new light, life, energy, and 
 love. I maintain that the true measure of the glory of 
 religion is to be found in the spirit and power which it com- 
 municates to its disciples. This is one of the plain teach- 
 ings of reason. The chief blessing to an intelligent being, 
 that which makes all other blessings poor, is the improve- 
 ment of his own mind, Man is glorious and happy, not by 
 what he has, but by what he is. He can receive nothing 
 better or nobler than the unfolding of his own spiritual 
 nature. The highest existence in the universe is Mind : for 
 
36 T'he Law of Human Life 
 
 God is Mind ; and the development of that principle which 
 assimilates us to God must be our supreme good. 
 
 "God is One Mind" (Job 23: 13). The Scriptures 
 teach that mentality is One and indivisible. - Birds 
 are a symbol of mentality. "Abraham divided not 
 the birds" (Gen. 15: 10). "I and my Father are One." 
 
 "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and 
 begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and 
 called his name Seth." It would seem that Adam here 
 represents the spiritual man, as distinguished from 
 the natural. "The first man Adam was made a living 
 soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" 
 (i Cor. 15: 45-48). The first Adam, the natural man, 
 is worldly and sensuous; the last Adam is a spiritual 
 being. The chapter under consideration, the fifth of 
 Genesis, evidently deals with the "last Adam," the 
 spiritual Adam, "the son of God" (Luke 3: 38). While 
 all of the quickened, while all of the resurrected, are 
 the sons of God, this chapter teaches that there are 
 degrees of the spiritual man; for it is said of Enoch, 
 who represents the seventh generation, or the perfected 
 man, that he walked with God. "And Enoch walked 
 with God ; and was not ; for God took him " (Gen. 5 : 24) . 
 The natural man is the first-born in time; but the spir- 
 itual man is the first-born of God. "Israel is my son, 
 even my first born" (Ex. 4: 22). The Scriptures teach 
 that there are varying degrees of greatness among the 
 elect; for we read of those who are "anointed with 
 the oil of gladness [who are receptive of the Holy 
 Spirit], above their fellows" (Ps. 45: 7; Heb. i : 9). It 
 is the Holy Spirit that communicates real joy and glad- 
 ness and peace to the soul of man (Gal, 5: 22; i Thess. 
 1:6). "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 37 
 
 by the Holy Ghost which is ^ven unto us " (Rom. 5:5). 
 "Wisdom in all ages entering into holy souls hath 
 made them friends of God and prophets" (Wisd. of 
 801:7:27). 
 
 Adam, the spiritual man, is here represented as 
 begetting a son "in his own likeness, after his image," 
 when an hundred and thirty years old. The evolution 
 of the human soul is subjective and psychological; 
 this process is ordinarily described and explained in 
 ancient literature in symbols, and allegories, and para- 
 bles. The Scriptures state principles; principles are 
 forever true without reference to time or place; the 
 principal office of history is to deal with events in time. 
 Principles being eternal in their nature, have no anni- 
 versary; for they exist above time. "The roses imder 
 my window," said Emerson, **make no reference to 
 former roses or better ones ; they exist with God to-day. 
 Man cannot be happy and strong until he, too, lives 
 with nature, in the present above time." He lives 
 "above time" whose life is conformed to religious 
 principles; he who lives for eternity is not confounded 
 or overwhelmed by passing events, by events in time. 
 The story of the spiritual race, the generations descend- 
 ing from Adam "the son of God" (Luke 3:38), re- 
 corded in the fifth chapter of Genesis, appears to be an 
 allegorical description of the possibilities of regenerate 
 man. Man as we know him to-day is evidently in the 
 infancy of his development. 
 
 Emerson in his essay on Politics, said: "We think 
 our civilization near its meridian, but we are yet only 
 at the cock-crowing and the morning star. In our 
 barbarous society the influence of character is in its 
 infancy." In his essay on Character, he speaks in like 
 terms: 
 
38 The Law of Human Life 
 
 History has been mean; our nations have been mobs; 
 we have never seen a man; that divine form we do not yet 
 know, but only the dream and prophecy of such : we do not 
 know the majestic manners which belong to him, which 
 appease and exalt the beholder. , . . What greatness has 
 yet appeared is beginnings and encouragements to us in 
 this direction. 
 
 And in his essay on History, we are told, that '*Men 
 and women are only half human." What are the pos- 
 sibilities of the truly human? Is it impossible that 
 there should be a spiritual and holy race of men on 
 earth who. would beget children "in their own likeness, 
 after their image?" Is it impossible that the members 
 of such an holy race should live upon the earth a thou- 
 sand years, and be translated, as was Enoch, into another 
 sphere of being? "The most lamentable scepticism 
 on earth, and incomparably the most common," said 
 William EUery Channing; "is a scepticism as to the 
 greatness, powers, and high destinies of human nature. 
 In this greatness I desire to cherish an unwavering 
 faith." Who have taught the high and holy p6ssibiU- 
 ties of man, but the virtuous and great? Who have 
 denied the divine possibilities of man, but the conceited, 
 the sensuous, and the animalized? 
 
 Every being who is more human than animal; every 
 being who is capable of orderly thought, must believe 
 and know that religion is founded in principle; and 
 that the living of a just and orderly life is of the very 
 first consideration. "Order is Truth," said Thomas 
 Carlyle; and he also said: "Man's mission is Order; 
 every man's is." "Evil is evil because it is unnatvu-al." 
 Righteousness is righteousness because it is natural. 
 The first and highest duty in life is the attunement of 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 39 
 
 the soul to the divine order. To the virtuous this is 
 self-evident. *'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and 
 His righteousness." Be righteous; walk with God as 
 did Enoch. This is the imperative command of heaven. 
 Let no man believe that he can violate the divine order 
 and escape punishment. " It is by your order, Lord," 
 said St. Augustine, " that all irregularity of mind should 
 carry its punishment along with it." Angels are re- 
 ferred to in the Scriptures as executing the divine order. 
 "Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; 
 for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name 
 is in him" (Ex. 23: 21). In the fifth chapter of Genesis 
 is a description of the ideal race of man, " the generations 
 of Adam, the son of God," In this chapter we are 
 told of the high and glorious possibilities which attend 
 him whose life is conformed to the divine order, who 
 "walks with God." 
 
 Nothing, it would seem, more perfectly illustrates 
 the state of man's development, than his attitude to- 
 ward religion. He in whom the animal nature is in 
 the ascendant is the enemy of religion; and he in whom 
 the human is in the ascendant is the friend of religion. 
 Emerson in his tribute to Theodore Parker, said: "The 
 opinions of men are organic." The soul must be at- 
 tuned to the divine order if it would be the organ of 
 truth and justice. There are in the world to-day a 
 vast number of men and women who make no pretense 
 at living an orderly religious life, but on the contrary 
 treat religion with ridicule and contempt. Many of 
 this class boast of their secularism; and insist that no 
 day should be designated and maintained for the con- 
 templation of religious ideas, and the worship of God. 
 They contend that the Sabbath day is a priestly inven- 
 tion arbitrarily established by Moses, or some ancient 
 
40 The Law of. Human Life 
 
 religious guild, and that the keeping of this day for 
 rest and peace and worship is not conducive to the 
 welfare of man and society. It is submitted that 
 nothing could be farther from the truth than this secular 
 contention. 
 
 The Sabbath day, the seventh day, the Lord's day, 
 represents the day of Man's perfection, the seventh 
 generation of the spiritual man, the day of man's trans- 
 figuration. The Adam described in the fifth chapter 
 of Genesis represents the first generation of the spiritual 
 man, and Enoch the seventh- It is written that "God 
 created man [rational beings], male and female," on 
 the sixth day, and that God saw that everything that 
 he had made was good [was perfect] (Gen. 1:27, 31); 
 and that God rested on the seventh day from all his 
 work, and that He blessed the seventh day, and sanc- 
 tified it" (Gen. 2:2, 3). This language describes an 
 evolutionary process; a process essentially psychologi- 
 cal. God is here said to create man in * * his own image ' ' 
 on the sixth day, then does he pronounce his work good 
 and perfect, then does he rest from all his work, then 
 does the perfected man enter into his glory, then does 
 he walk with God. The keeping of the Sabbath is in 
 harmony with the divine order; that which has for its 
 object the perfection of the soul, the permanent, the 
 abiding, and the eternal, represents the farthest re- 
 moved from the arbitrary and the fanciful. The keep- 
 ing of the Sabbath evidences the triumph of the human 
 over the animal nature of man; it is a perpetual cele- 
 bration of the power and glory of God, and the per- 
 fection and glory of man. Enoch, it would seem, 
 represents "the son of man glorified, and God glorified 
 \nhim" (John 13:31)- 
 
 The genesis of Adam, the evolution of Man, is told 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 41 
 
 in the first five chapters of Genesis in the free and 
 impersonal language of allegory. It would seem that 
 every essential step in the evolution of man from his 
 nadir to his zenith is recounted in these chapters. Cain 
 represents man at his nadir, and Enoch man at his 
 zenith. Evidently, the story of the himian soul is 
 told in these chapters, in the way that it is, for the 
 purpose of showing that truth is eternal, and above the 
 limitations of time and place; that truth exists without 
 reference to this or that individual person, or this or 
 that time, or place. 
 
 The man who is capable of orderly thought, the man 
 who seeks scientific knowledge, does not find pleasure 
 and edification in the Scriptures, because history says 
 that they were given to mankind by this or that person, 
 nor because they have received the approval of this 
 or that man or body of men or institution. Such a 
 man finds pleasure and comfort in th6 Scriptiures not 
 because of any historic or authoritative dictum, but 
 because he beholds in them ideas and principles that 
 challenge his admiration and respect. "He that hath 
 my word, let him speak my word faithfully^ What is 
 the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord" Qer. 23:28). 
 The thoughtful man investigates every question that 
 seems vital to him, as though it had never been in- 
 vestigated before ; he discriminates between chaff and 
 wheat; he wants something more than the opinions of 
 other men; he only finds content when his own investi- 
 gations have brought to his mind and heart settled 
 convictions. "Learn what is true," said Thomas H. 
 Huxley, "in order to do what is right, is the stim- 
 ming up of the whole duty of man, for all are unable 
 to satisfy their mental hunger on the east wind of 
 authority." 
 
42 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Since a considerable number of people in the more 
 intelligent nations of the world are only satisfied with 
 scientific knowledge, it is important to know the mental 
 attitude necessary to the acquirement of such knowledge. 
 Huxley spoke upon this subject with his accustomed 
 acumen. 
 
 Science seems to teach in the highest and strongest man- 
 ner the great truth which is embodied in the Christian 
 conception of entire surrender to the Will of God. Sit 
 down before the fact as a little child, be prepared to give 
 up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever 
 and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn 
 nothing. I have only begun to learn content and peace of 
 mind since I have resolved at all risks to do this. 
 
 It will certainly be admitted that an almost countless 
 ntunber of persons of excellent character and fine scien- 
 tific attainments have believed intently in the Scrip- 
 tures. Why has this great number of independent 
 investigators found comfort, and peace, and edification 
 in the study of the Bible? What would seem to be a 
 sufficient answer to this question is found in the words 
 of an old pagan priest who was converted to a belief 
 in the Scriptures, When asked why he beUeved in the 
 Bible, he answered: 
 
 See, I have hinges all over me; if the thought grows in 
 my heart that I want to handle anything, the hinges in 
 my hands enable me to do so. If I want to utter anything, 
 the hinges in my jaws enable me to say it; and if I desire 
 to go anywhere, here are hinges in my legs, to enable me 
 to walk. Now I perceive great wisdom in the adaptation 
 of my body to the various wants of my mind; and when I 
 look into the Bible, and see there the proofs of wisdom which 
 
Adam, Eve, and the Serpent 43 
 
 correspond exactly with those which appear in my frame, 
 I conclude that the Maker of my body is the Author of 
 that book. 
 
 We must remember that the truths of every known 
 science are not man made; they are discovered. "Or- 
 der is Truth." The oflBce of science is the discovery 
 of the divine order. All truth is of God. The truth 
 is the Word of God. Man is godlike to the extent that 
 his soul is attuned to the truth. Jesus, praying for his 
 disciples, said: "Sanctify them through thy truth; 
 thy word is truth" (John 17: 17). Diminution, atro- 
 phy, and death are the result of animal pleasure, in- 
 dulgence, and license. Evil is deformity; it is un- 
 natural. The glory, and power, and freedom, and 
 enlargement of the life of man is represented in the 
 soul's conformity to the divine order. When the soul 
 is made perfect, when it is attuned to heaven's law, 
 it is the organ of truth. "To this end was I bom, and 
 for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear 
 witness unto the truth." It is the duty, the first duty, 
 of every rational being to live worthy of the truth; for 
 this is the true mission of man, and of every man, male 
 and female; for "God created man in His own image 
 . . , male and female." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 NOAH, HIS ARK, AND THE FLOOD 
 
 Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked 
 with God (Gen. 6: 9). 
 
 In the sixth chapter of Genesis it is written, that 
 "Noah was a just man, "and that he had three sons: 
 Shem, Japheth, and Ham, and that the earth was filled 
 with violence. "The end of all flesh is come before 
 God ; for the earth is filled with violence by the children 
 of the flesh; and behold, God will destroy them with 
 the earth" (Gen. 6 : 13). The body of man is animal; 
 it is of the earth; and it is doomed to destruction, 
 "And the Lord God formed the body of man of the 
 dust of the grotmdi " The physical body is not the man ; 
 it is but a garment. The children of the flesh are they 
 who live the animal life. Carnality makes for death; 
 spirituality for life. Religion is founded upon the idea 
 that there is a kingdom of life, intelligence, truth, 
 unity, and justice, a spiritual kingdom, that transcends 
 the animal kingdom of the world. " My kingdom is not 
 of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants fight" (John 18: 36). 
 
 Noah was a just man; he was inspirational; he lived 
 above the spirit of the animal world; and like all the 
 just, he was capable of receiving a message from the 
 spiritual kingdom. "By faith Noah, being warned of 
 
 44 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 45 
 
 things not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of 
 his house, by which he condemned the world, and became 
 heir of the righteousness which is by faith " (Heb. 11:7). 
 Every human soul which is just and upright before 
 God condemns the spirit of the worid; and is the heir 
 of the righteousness which is by faith. When the human 
 soul is perfect it is consciously related to the spiritual 
 kingdom. "But I tell you of a truth, there are some 
 standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they 
 see the Kingdom of God [till they are consciously related 
 to the Kingdom of God] (Luke 9: 27; Matt. 16: 28). 
 "The just shall live by faith. . . , Because that which 
 may be known of God is made manifest in their lives ' ' 
 (Rom. 1 : 17, 19). The just are conscious of the King- 
 dom of God; therefore, "they live by faith." 
 
 "Noah by faith, prepared an ark [his soul] to the 
 saving of his house, being warned of things not seen as 
 yet." Every one who would escape the ftuy of the 
 deluge, that envelops the whole earth, must prepare an 
 ark, he must make perfect his own soul; this is the only 
 ark that will withstand the deluge, that will bring man 
 to an eternal haven of rest and peace. The ark in an 
 outward and physical sense is the human body; in a 
 more inward and psychological sense it is the human 
 soul, and in a still more interior sense it is the human 
 heart. Jesus had a marvelous power of stating the 
 ultimate truths of human nature. "Blessed are the 
 pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5: 8). 
 The heart is the life center of the individual. A man is as 
 good, or as bad as his heart is. "As a man thiiiketh 
 in his heart so is he. " 
 
 "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit 
 shalt finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou 
 make in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third 
 
46 The Law of Human Life 
 
 stories shalt thoumake it" (Gen. 6: i6). The Kingdom 
 of God is the kingdom of Light ; it transcends the animal 
 kingdom. The window of the ark is at the top; the 
 light comes from above. The three stories of the ark — ■ 
 the lower, the second, and the third, like the three sons 
 of Noah: Ham, Japheth, and Shem, represent the three 
 principles of the human soul. "And of every living 
 thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into 
 the ark; they shall be male and female" (Gen. 6: 19). 
 Clean beasts were to be taken by sevens, and beasts 
 tjiat are not clean by two; and fowls of the air are to be 
 taken by sevens (Gen. 7: 2, 3). 
 
 / Seven, like the number three, indicates perfection. It 
 would seem, that the fowls, a symbol of mentality, 
 correspond to the third, or upper story of the ark; the 
 clean beasts, which represent life and purity, corre- 
 spond to the second ; and the unclean beasts to the lower. 
 In a word, the clean fowls and beasts, that are admitted 
 by sevens, correspond to the head and heart, and the 
 unclean beasts, that are admitted by two, to the lower 
 principle of the soul, the seat of the carnal nature of 
 man. Seth and Japheth represent the head and heart, 
 and Ham the carnal nature of man. This allegory, like 
 many others in the Scriptures and in other ancient 
 literature, is intended to tell, and does tell the story of 
 the human soul; it first tells the nature of the soul, 
 and then proceeds to tell the mode and manner of its 
 evolution, 
 
 The soul of man is the permanent, the abiding, the 
 containing self; and it may be made either a garden of 
 virtue, or of vice; it contains the eternal attributes of 
 personality, to wit : reason, self-consciousness, and self- 
 activity; it may exist with or without its body of flesh. 
 The lower principle of the soul relates man to the 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 47 
 
 animal world; the upper principle of the soul, the 
 mental, which Plato calls the directing and measuring 
 principle since its office is to govern the soul, like the 
 middle principle, relates the soul of man to the spiritual 
 kingdom— the kingdom of life, intelligence, truth, unity, 
 and love, the kingdom that transcends the animal 
 kingdom of the world- The son of man, the mind of 
 man when lifted up, when freed from all earthly con- 
 tamination, "partakes of the Divine Nature," and 
 thus attains to a consciousness of the Kingdom of God 
 (2 Peter 1:4). "Man is related to whatever he knows," 
 said Pascal; and Tennyson in his Ulysses sang: "I am 
 part of all that I have met." 
 
 "The soul of Man" contemplates the expression; it 
 "is The Man," the Mind, that governs. "Let us make 
 Man in our own image, after our own likeness, male and 
 female : and let them have dominion over all flesh, over 
 every earthly thing" (Gen. i : 26, 27). "Thou madest 
 him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; 
 thou hast put all things under his feet" (Ps. 8:6). The 
 soul of man is the permanent, the abiding, and the 
 containing; it is an ark that contains something of all 
 that is in heaven and earth; it is the ark that contains 
 something of every living thing; and above all animal 
 life it contains man, the image and glory of God, and 
 over and above all it is the temple of the Holy Spirit 
 (2 Cor, 6: 16). "The roots of all things are in man," 
 says Emerson in his essay on History, 
 
 "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not 
 seen as yet, and fearful of unpreparedness, prepared an 
 ark [his soul], to the saving of his house; by which he 
 condemned the world, and became the heir of righteous- 
 ness which is by faith. " The first duty of Noah, and of 
 every rational being, is the perfection of the soul, the 
 
48 The Law of Human Life 
 
 perfection of the ark. The carnally minded are the 
 helpless victims of every tempest that sweeps over the 
 face of the animal world. Noah, it is said, put every- 
 thing in its right order within the ark preparatory to 
 the coming of the deluge; nothing was left to chance; 
 nothing was left undone which faith and wisdom could 
 anticipate. But finally the hour struck, as it forever 
 will as long as there is a human soul upon this earth, 
 when the tempest had to be breasted. All flesh is 
 doomed; nothing is to be saved, except what is in the 
 ark. Nothing can be saved but that which God has 
 put in the ark; the ark is the abiding. What a mar- 
 velous allegory: First, a description of the soul of man, 
 and then the method of its evolution. 
 
 " Order is Truth. . . . Order and Falsehood cannot 
 subsist together. . . . Man's mission is Order; every 
 man's is," said Thomas Carlyle. Disorder bespeaks 
 falsehood, deformity, anarchy, atrophy, and death. 
 Order makes for cleanliness; disorder for corruption. 
 ''Now ye are clean through the words which I have 
 spoken unto you" (John 15: 3). Order is represented 
 in Life and Good; disorder in evil and death. ''I call 
 heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I 
 set before you life and death, good and evil: therefore, 
 choose Life, choose Good" (Deut. 30: 15, 19). Love the 
 Lord thy God; "for He is thy Life" (Deut. 30 : 20). 
 
 If wrongs be evils, and enforced us kill, 
 What folly 'tis to hazard life for ill. 
 
 Timon of Athens, 
 
 The first duty of man is the making perfect his ark; 
 all righteous things conform to heaven's Law. "Elias 
 must first come . . . and restore all things" (Matt, 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 49 
 
 17: 10, 11). The office of Elias is the restoration of the 
 Law; and it is likewise the office of every man. "Now 
 to thine own house thou son of David" (i Kings 12 : 16). 
 *' Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the 
 coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" 
 (Mai. 4:5). Honor and glory to him who prepares his 
 Ark for the coming of the deluge. 
 
 "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the 
 second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the 
 same day were all the foimtains of the great deep 
 broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 
 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty 
 nights " (Gen. 7:11,12). The sojourn of the soul of man 
 on earth is often spoken of in the Scriptures as "three 
 days," and again it is likened to "seven days." "Be- 
 hold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to- 
 morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 
 13: 32); and again we read of Jesus' transfiguration on 
 the seventh day. It is therefore apparent that the 
 expressions "three days," and "seven days" have the 
 same meaning when used with reference to the evolution 
 of the soul of man. 
 
 The life of Moses fitly illustrates the sojourn of man 
 on earth; he was forty years in Egypt, this was the first 
 day; he was forty years in the wilderness, the second 
 day; and he was forty years the spiritual teacher of his 
 people, the third day; or the life of Moses may be dealt 
 with according to the allegory before us; and we may 
 say that Moses was three days in Egypt, three days in 
 the wilderness, and that he was a great master and 
 law-giver during the last three days of his life on earth. 
 
 Moses was resurrected from the dead at Horeb. 
 "Now that the dead are raised, Moses showed at the 
 bush, at Horeb" (Luke 20: 37). Moses, it would seem, 
 
50 The Law of Human Life 
 
 was resurrected out of a state of carnality and death 
 into a state of spirituality and life at the darkest hour 
 in the morning of the third day, or of the seventh. No 
 man is a master in Israel, until he is resurrected from 
 the dead; no man is a master in Israel until he has 
 abandoned Egypt, "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105: 23), 
 the land of carnality; and has suffered the terrors of the 
 deluge; and is resurrected. " God is not the God of the 
 dead, but of the Hvihg: for all the just live unto God" 
 (Luke 20:38). 
 
 According to this allegory, the days of Noah were 
 nine hundred and fifty years (Gen. 9: 29), At what 
 time in Noah's life were the fountains of the great deep 
 broken up, and the windows of heaven opened? When 
 was it that Noah's soul was resurrected from a state of 
 carnality and death into a state of spirituality and life? 
 When was it that Noah's soul attained to a conscious 
 relation to the Kingdom of God? It was "In the six 
 hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, and 
 the seventeenth day of the month"; it was in the first 
 year of the seventh century of his life; it was the darkest 
 hour of the morning of the "seventh day " ; it was at the 
 very beginning of the third epoch of Noah's life on earth. 
 The reader must remember that this is the story of the 
 htmian soul, and of every righteous human soul. " Noah 
 was a just man." "By faith Noah prepared an ark, 
 he prepared his soul, to the saving of himself and those 
 of his house." 
 
 They who are resurrected from the dead on the 
 morning of the "third day," or the seventh, undergo 
 great suffering; the tempest bears down upon them 
 through many days and many nights. Noah has now 
 entered upon the third epoch of his life; this is the 
 beginning of "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 51 
 
 (Mai. 4:5); Noah is now to be tempted and tried; he is 
 now to be led by "a way which the vulture's eye hath 
 not seen" (Job 28: 7). Baptism, or the deluge, marks 
 the beginning of the third epoch in the evolution of the 
 human soul. Jesus, when baptized of John, went 
 "immediately into the wilderness" (Mark i: 12). 
 This abandonment of Egypt; this overcoming of the 
 world; this breasting of the deluge is attended with 
 great suffering; it is impossible for one to be bom into 
 the Kingdom of God without dying to the animal 
 kingdom of the world. "It is appointed unto men once 
 to die [to the world], but after this the judgment"; 
 the crisis, the temptation (Heb. 9: 27). 
 
 The soul is the abiding, the indestructible; life and 
 death are states of the soul, and not of the body; phy- 
 sical death does not reform the soiol of man; it is the 
 abandonment of carnality; it is the overcoming of the 
 world, that reforms. "For he that hath suffered in 
 the flesh [and is dead to the world] hath ceased from sin " 
 (i Peter 4: i). If man would attain to the resurrection; 
 if he would attain to the Kingdom of God, he must live 
 above the spirit of the world; he must prepare his ark; 
 and his ark must be such as to raise him above the 
 waters of the earth. Water is a symbol of carnal, 
 animalized mind. "The ark went upon the face of the 
 waters" ((Jen, 7: 18). They who Uve above the spirit 
 of the world are hated of the carnally minded. Man, 
 would he attain to greatness, "must suffer many things, 
 and be rejected of his generation, as in the days of 
 Noah" (Luke 17: 25). 
 
 The deluge is said to have lasted "forty days and 
 forty nights." This is a figure of speech; a like figure 
 occurs several times in the Scriptures; it evidently does 
 not mean a fixed time, but a period of disciplining arid 
 
52 The Law of Human Life 
 
 chastening through which the soul of man must pass 
 on its way to perfection. "Whom the Lord loveth He 
 chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he re- 
 ceiveth" (Heb. 12: 6). The sons of God are taught the 
 way of the wilderness (Deut. 8: 2, 3). 
 
 "And God remembered Noah, and every living 
 thing that was with him in the ark . . . and the ark 
 rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of 
 the month, upon the mountains of Ararat" (Gen. 8:1, 
 4). God remembers the abiding; He remembers that 
 which is not to be destroyed; He remembers that which 
 is to be made perfect- The ark is wafted to and fro, 
 through five months^ from the seventeenth day of the 
 second month, to the same day of the seventh, and then 
 it rested upon the mountains. When the brethren of- 
 Joseph were reconciled to him, he presented to each of 
 them change of raiment, "but to Benjamin he gave 
 three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of rai- 
 ment" (Gen. 45: 22). Benjamin was the medium of 
 reconciliation between Joseph and his brethren. The 
 deluge, the suffering, the chastening, which is necessary 
 to reconcile man to his Creator, is here represented as 
 lasting five months; it would seem, therefore, that five 
 represents reconciliation. Man is made perfect by 
 suffering; he is taught obedience by the things which he 
 suffers" (Heb. 5: 8). "Let us labor therefore to enter 
 into rest" (Heb. 4: 9-11). 
 
 And at the end of forty days, Noah opened the 
 window of the ark; and sent forth a raven, which went 
 forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from 
 3ff the earth" (Gen. 8: 6, 7). The raven is the sjmibol 
 of human reason; its true abiding place is at the top of 
 the ark at the window; Noah and his raven are one; 
 bhe mind is the man; the raven was faithful; "for Noah 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 53 
 
 was a just man and perfect in his generations" (Gen. 
 6:9). He is perfect in his generations who does the best 
 he can with the knowledge he has. Reason is spiritual, 
 and we believe it to be the first-bom of God, the only 
 begotten of God. All evil is an offending against 
 reason; it is an offending against God. *'How can I do 
 this great wickedness, and sin against God" (Gen. 39: 
 9). Whosoever is faithful to the mentality that God 
 hath given him is perfect in his generations, and shall 
 have more; but whosoever is unfaithful shall have less 
 (Matt. 13: 12). The soul of man is endowed with 
 reason to the end that he may walk with God, and be 
 perfect in his generations. 
 
 "Noah also sent forth a dove from him, to see if the 
 waters were abated from off the face of the ground" 
 (Gen. 8:8). Noah found this holy messenger when the 
 ark was at rest upon the mountains. The dove was 
 thrice sent forth; she went forth every seven days. 
 The numbers three and seven as here used evidently 
 have nothing to do with time; they are descriptive of 
 the sublimity and perfection of the divine messenger. 
 The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit 
 of God," says the Talmud, "like a dove brooded over 
 the waters" (Gen. 1:2). "The voice of the dove is the 
 voice of the Spirit" (Cant. 2: 12). The dove when first 
 sent out found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she 
 returned unto him into the ark; for the waters were on 
 the face of the whole earth (Gen. 8:9). The waters are 
 the sjmibol of carnality. There is no rest for the dove 
 so long as animalized mind is on the face of the whole 
 earth. There is but one place on earth where the dove 
 can find rest; it is in the heart of a virtuous human 
 soul. "She returned unto him into the ark ... he 
 put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto 
 
54 The Law of Human Life 
 
 him into the ark/' The dove was dear to Noah. " It is 
 the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing" 
 (John 6: 63). "The soul is what we make it ; the Spirit 
 we can neither make nor mar, for It is at once our being 
 and God's. What we are here to do is to grow the soul, 
 that is to manifest the nature of the Spirit, " said R. J. 
 Campbell, Minister of the City Temple, London, in his 
 book, The N&w Theology, He who is wicked neglects 
 his soul; he is at war with the Spirit ; he repels the dove; 
 but he who is just is faithful to his own soiol; he is 
 perfect in his generations; and his hand is forever 
 extended to the dove. "My Spirit shall not always 
 strive with man" (Gen. 6:3). As long as man is wicked 
 and fallen the Spirit- of God strives with him, but when 
 his soul becomes just and upright before God, then is he 
 led and taught of the Spirit; and finds inexpressible 
 joy in the fruit of It (Gal. 5: 22). 
 
 "And the dove came to Noah in the evening; and, 
 lo, in her mouth was an olive branch plucked off: so 
 Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the 
 earth." To be consciously related to the Kingdom of 
 Heaven, to be led and taught of the Holy Spirit is the 
 aim and end of religion. Religion is founded upon the 
 idea that there is a spiritual kingdom which transcends 
 the animal kingdom of the world; and that a perfect 
 human soul is consciously related to this high and holy 
 kingdom. They that entertain the dove are the children 
 of God. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
 spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, " 
 then heirs of his power and righteousness (Rom. 8: 16). 
 Noah's ark rested upon the rnountains; he entertains 
 the dove; he condemns the world; he is an heir of 
 righteousness (Heb. 11 : 7). "And the dove came to 
 Noah in the evening." God walks in his vineyard, in 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 55 
 
 his paradise, "in the cool of the evening" (Gen. 3: 8). 
 The htiman soul when ptire and upright is the paradise 
 of God, the garden of God. ''If thou wert pure and 
 upright; surely now God wotdd awake for thee, and 
 would make thy soul prosperous and an habitation of 
 righteousness" Qob 8: 6). God awakes in the con- 
 sciousness of all the just. 
 
 "And Noah built an altar unto the Lord; and took of 
 every clean beast [the symbol of a pure heart], and of 
 every clean fowl [the symbol of a just mind], and 
 offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Gen. 8: 21). The 
 offerings are btutied ; Noah's mind and heart and soul are 
 unequivocally dedicated to virtue, to the service of the 
 Most High God. "Give unto the Lord the glory due 
 unto his name: bring an offering; worship the Lord in 
 the beauty of holiness" (Ps. 96: 8, 9). This allegory 
 teaches that the soul of man must be purified and 
 consecrated to God, if he wotdd be related to the spirit- 
 ual kingdom, if he would attain to rest and peace. If 
 man would be related to the Kingdom of God, he must 
 live worthy of it. What is it that makes man conscious 
 of the Kingdom of God, but the Spirit of God in his 
 soul? Prayer is the act by which man seeks to raise his 
 mind and soul above the animal sensuous kingdom of 
 the world, and to relate it to the spiritual kingdom. 
 Prayer is the voice of the Creative Spirit in the soul of 
 man (Rom. 8: 15, 26; 5: 5; Gal, 4: 6). "It is the Spirit 
 that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing" (John 
 6: 63). "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 
 by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). 
 
 Noah and his descendants are given dominion over 
 every living thing on the earth and in the sea (Gen. 9:2). 
 The Mind is the image of God ; it is the regnant ; it is not 
 to be cast down and made subservient to the things of 
 
56 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the sensuous and animal world. The son of man, the 
 mind, exercises righteous dominion over the things of 
 the world, when it is faithful to the human soul in 
 which it governs; the office of the mind is the perfection 
 of the htiman soul. "And the Lord God took the Man, 
 and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to 
 keep it" (Gen. 2: 15). '*Evil is evil because it is un- 
 natural. " He who is untrue to his own soul is unfaith- 
 ftd to others ; and he who is true to his soul is faithful 
 to all. The blessing that Polonius gives his son Laertes, 
 when he lays his hand upon his head is true to human 
 nature. 
 
 This above all,— to thine own self be true; 
 And it must follow, as the night the day, 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man. 
 Farewell : my blessing season this in thee ! 
 
 *' Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for 
 you; even as I have given you every herb " (Gen. 9: 3), 
 Every Uving thing that moves on the earth, and every- 
 thing that is fast in the earth is for the use of man. 
 Emerson when discoursing on the possibilities of Man in 
 his essay on Self-Reliance, says: "Let a man then know 
 his worth, and keep things under his feet." This com- 
 prehensive allegory teaches that all things are for the 
 use of man, but that when he ceases to live superior to 
 them, then is he fallen. Men are debauched in mind 
 and heart because of their love of carnal things; and 
 thus it is that men are sold into the service of Satan, 
 the old animal god, the prince of the world. Elijah 
 said to the wicked Mammon worshipping Ahab: "Thou 
 hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord" 
 (i Kings 21 ; 20). Who has not heard the low and vulgar 
 remark: that every man has his price? The Scriptures 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 57 
 
 teach unqualifiedly that it is possible for man to live 
 superior to the temptations of the worid; and that this 
 is the sole condition of human greatness. "Be of good 
 cheer, I have overcome the world." He that lives 
 superior to the spirit of the animal world is destined to 
 undergo a great travail of soul, and to bear the sins of 
 many (Isa. 53: 11; Num. 11: 11; Ezek. 4: 4). They 
 bear our iniquities who rise superior to every tempta- 
 tion, 
 
 God makes a, covenant with Noah; it is "for per- 
 petual generations"; the token of this never-ceasing 
 covenant is "the bow in the cloud" '(Gen. 9: 11-16). 
 According to the symbolism of the Scriptures, things 
 deformed, maimed, unclean, or ill-colored are emblems 
 of vice and depravity, and are displeasing to God; but 
 things clean, odorous, bright, and perfect are emblems 
 of virtue ; and are pleasing to Ck)d. No lame, diseased, 
 deformed, or maimed person was permitted to perform 
 priestly offices (Lev. 21: ,16-24). Unclean birds are a 
 symbol of an impure and carnal mind, and unclean 
 beasts of a corrupt heart. Noah's sacrifice consisted of 
 every clean fowl, the symbol of a pure mind, and of 
 every clean beast, the symbol of a virtuous heart, and 
 when they were burned upon the altar, "the Lord 
 smelled a sweet savor" (Gen. 8: 20, 21). These symbols 
 are intended to teach, and do teach, that the divinity 
 is forever on the side of purity, perfection, and holiness. 
 "I am the Lord that do work Love, Justice, and Right- 
 eousness; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord" 
 (Jer. 9: 24). 
 
 It therefore follows that the covenant that God made 
 with Noah, with Man, "and with every living creature, 
 for perpetual generations, " is the covenant of perfection. 
 Man attains to perfection, he fulfills this covenant, by 
 
58 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the cultivation of the virtues, by living the very best 
 life that he can. "Noah was a just man and perfect in 
 his generations, and Noah walked with God." He is 
 perfect in his generations and walks with God who does 
 the very best he can with the light that he has. "He 
 that doeth the truth cometh to the Light"; he attains 
 to Wisdom. 
 
 The rainbow is a token of purity, and of holiness, and 
 of perfection. 
 
 Of all the gifts to the sight of man [said John Ruskin] 
 color is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn. . . . 
 The purest and most thoughtful minds are those that love 
 color the most. The bow, or color of the cloud, signifies 
 always mercy, the sparing of life; such ministry of the 
 heaven, as shall feed and prolong life. And, as the sunlight, 
 undivided, is the type of the Wisdom and Righteousness -of 
 God, so divided, it is the type of the Wisdom of God, 
 becoming sanctification and redemption. Various in work — 
 various in beauty — various in power. 
 
 In a little volume of poems by Miss Maynard, is one 
 entitled: A Dream of Fair Colors, she tells how the 
 Seven Daughters of Light praise God forever more: 
 
 For still in every land, though to Thy name 
 
 Arose no temple, — still in every age, 
 
 Though heedless man had quite forgot Thy praise, 
 
 We praise Thee ; and at rise and set of sun 
 
 Did we assemble duly, and intone 
 
 A choral hymn that all the lands might hear. 
 
 In heaven, on earth, and in the deep we praised Thee, 
 
 Singly, or mingled in sweet sisterhood, 
 
 But now, acknowledged ministrants, we come, 
 
 Co-worshippers with man in this, Thy house, 
 
 We, the Seven Daughters of the Light, to praise 
 
 Thee, Light of Light! Thee, God of very God! 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 59 
 
 "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he 
 planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and was 
 drunken; and was uncovered within his tent" (Gen. 
 9: 20, 2i). The mind is the man; the vineyard of which 
 Noah is the master, the husbandman, is his own soul; 
 he was put into his vineyard "to dress it and to keep 
 it" (Gen. 2: 15); he is a cultivator of virtue; and the 
 wine that he drank is wisdom; man attains to wisdom 
 by the cultivation of virtue. None but the great are 
 intoxicated with wisdom. "O how great is he that 
 findeth wisdom" (Jesus Son of Sir. 25 : 10). "And Noah 
 was uncovered in his tent. " Wisdom uncovers the deep 
 truths of nature; nothing is hidden from it. Wisdom 
 is more than knowledge; it is illumination; it is the light 
 of heaven in the soul of man; it is the light within his 
 tent by which he sees and knows. Wisdom is the in- 
 heritance of every one who is faithful to his vineyards 
 "Shall I hide from Abraham what I do; knowing that 
 he will do justice and righteousness?" (Gen, 18: 17- 
 19). God did not hide the truth from Abraham; it 
 "was uncovered within his tent." 
 
 And Noah drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he 
 was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of 
 Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two 
 brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, 
 and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward, 
 and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces 
 were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 
 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger 
 son had done unto him. And he said. Cursed be Canaan; a 
 servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he 
 said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall 
 be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall 
 dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 
 
6o The Law of Human Life 
 
 Shem is the representative of reason, the ruling 
 principle within the soul of man; Japheth represents 
 the heart, the seat of life and of the affections and 
 emotions; and Ham, the lower carnal principle of the 
 soul. "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the 
 nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren 
 without"; he told his two brethren who were above 
 him; he told his two brethren who represent planes of 
 consciousness transcending the carnal; and they refused 
 to see the carnal; they "took a garment, and laid it 
 upon both their shoulders and went backward, and 
 covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces 
 were backward, and they saw not their father's naked- 
 ness. " This is a way of saying that the mind and heart 
 of man should rise above the sordid things of the animal 
 world; in short, that the mind and heart should not 
 look upon nor contemplate the sensuous and carnal. 
 Broadly speaking, the mind and heart are the principles 
 within the soul of man by which he sees and hears and 
 knows and feels ; they are the principles which determine 
 his conduct. 
 
 "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his 
 younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed 
 be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his 
 brethren. " Ham is the oldest in time, but the^oungest 
 in power. He is called the younger because he is a child 
 in knowledge. The curse of heaven is laid upon Canaan, 
 the progeny of Ham; it is laid upon him who abides on 
 the carnal, the worldly, the animal plane of conscious- 
 ness; it is laid upon him who abides in Egypt, "the 
 land of Ham" (Ps. 105: 23). The blessing of heaven is 
 bestowed upon Shem. "Blessed be the Lord God of 
 Shem"; blessed be the Lord God of reason, and of 
 wisdom; "and Canaan shall be his servant." God 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 6i 
 
 shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of 
 Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." God shall 
 enlarge the heart. The affections are the allies of 
 reason; they are the daughters of Japheth; they shall 
 dwell in the tents of Shem, in the tents of reason; and 
 Canaan shall be their servant. 
 
 "And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, 
 were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the 
 father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah; 
 and of them was the whole earth overspread" (Gen. 
 9: 18, 19). "And Ham is the father of Canaan." What 
 is the meaning of this singular expression? Every 
 human birth in the world is on the lower, or animal 
 plane of consciousness; the soul of man on earth dwells 
 in an animal body. Flesh and blood are essentially 
 animal; they "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" 
 (i Cor. 15: 50). The soul is the abiding. What a 
 marvelous and unexplored field of psychology is 
 presented in the Hebrew Scriptures, Psychology, said 
 the late Prof. William James, "is the description and 
 explanation of the states of consciousness as such." 
 Psychology is the first science because it has to do with 
 the abiding, with the eternal; and the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures are, therefore, the most profound, instructive, 
 valuable, and edifjdng knowledge ever given to man- 
 kind. 
 
 Shem, Japheth, and Ham "are the three sons of 
 Noah; and of them was the whole earth overspread." 
 Mankind upon the earth at any and all times may 
 properly be divided into three classes, that represent 
 three definable states of consciousness; the higher, the 
 intermediary, and the lower; and these states are 
 represented by Shem, Japheth, and Ham. 
 
 The children of Ham live upon the lowest plane of 
 
62 The Law of Human Life 
 
 human consciousness; they are the carnally minded, the 
 animalized, the sensuous, the pleasure-loving. They 
 are full of idle and vulgar curiosity; they are the 
 children of the flesh (Rom. 9:8). They are the children 
 of envy, falsehood, hypocrisy, superstition, greed, 
 avarice, lust, revenge, war, and murder. Every adul- 
 terer, every liar, every hypocrite, every extortioner, 
 every cheat, every usurer, every lover of war and 
 militarism, every exploiter of man, woman, or child, is 
 a Hamite. In the symbolism of the Scriptures,, they 
 are likened to goats; and all evil is said to originate on 
 this animal plane of consciousness. The goat, like the 
 serpent, is a symbol of the lower animal principle of the 
 human soul; and thus it is that all the iniquities of 
 mankind are laid upon the head of the goat. In a word, 
 all evil is chargeable to the animal nature of man. No 
 one can make the ascent of the spiritual mount until he 
 rises superior to his animal nature. When Moses made 
 the ascent of Sinai, bounds were set to the people, and 
 neither beast nor man was suffered to "touch the 
 border of the mountain" (Ex. 19: 12, 13). It will be 
 recalled that Hercules, the spiritual hero of the Greeks, 
 destroyed his animals before he was banqueted by the 
 gods upon Mount Ida. 
 
 These children of the flesh are fond of war and car- 
 nage; they stand for worldly pomp and glory; they love 
 exploitation, and are fond of militarism; they have 
 decimated tribes and peoples; and have enslaved 
 countless numbers. How low is our boasted civiliza- 
 tion? Human slavery, a relic of barbarism, was abol- 
 ished less than a hundred years ago in one of the leading 
 nations of the world; and its abolition was attended by 
 scenes of carnage and cruelty past description. These 
 conceited children are fond of luxury, wealth, and 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 63 
 
 station; they have been the exploiters of the toiling 
 masses in every country in the world; they have denied 
 them their rights and robbed them of their earnings. 
 They practically control the world to-day as they have 
 controlled it in all the past; they have not only con- 
 trolled its secular affairs; but in the main, they have 
 controlled its religious institutions. It should be re- 
 membered that men do what they do because they 
 are what they are. Small bodies of people at various 
 times have attempted to organize for the purpose of 
 living above the spirit of the world; but every attempt 
 at this has been frustrated by the Hamites. Countless 
 millions of Hamites have pretended to believe in a 
 religion founded upon the Hebrew Scriptures; but the 
 lives they have lived, and the ideas for which they 
 stood, are proof positive that they had not the least 
 conception of the interior meaning of the Scriptures. 
 
 The character, or rather the absence of character, oi 
 this animalized horde is represented in Pharaoh, the 
 King of Egypt; much is said of this haughty, insolent, 
 and imperious king in the book of Exodus. The name 
 of this remarkable book suggests the nature of its 
 contents. Exodus means "the way out," the way out 
 of the carnal and animalized state of consciousness. 
 Perhaps, no book was ever written which so specifically 
 describes the way of salvation ; it is a classic from the 
 standpoint of Professor James's definition of psychology. 
 It is certainly an unique "description and explanation 
 of the states of consciousness as such. " 
 
 This conceited exploiter of men lives and teaches the 
 carnal life; he knows no other; he has no knowledge of 
 that high and holy kingdom that transcends the animal 
 kingdom of the world. "And Pharaoh said, who is the 
 Lord God^ that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? 
 
64 The Law of Human Life 
 
 I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go" (Ex. 
 5:2). He knows nothing of the Lord God of Shem; he 
 knows nothing of the Lord of wisdom, and the God of 
 goodness; he is the king, and the representative of the 
 children of Ham (Ps. 105: 23). This exploiter, this 
 lover of war and conquest, this lover of luxury and 
 pomp, is the representative of primitive man; he is the 
 representative of "our Gentile state." *'Then were 
 we in our Gentile state, fulfilling the desires of the 
 flesh" (Eph. 2:3, 11). 
 
 '*I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and 
 that my name [my character] may be declared through- 
 out all the earth" (Ex. 9: 16). Perhaps nothing in the 
 history of man so declares the power and glory of God, 
 and the weak and transitory nature of worldly pomp and 
 glory as the tragic end of the Pharaoh, the Caesar, 
 and the Napoleon, God smites and cuts off from the 
 earth the exploiters of men (Ex. 9: 15). The hope of 
 man, the salvation of man, consists in the absolute 
 abandonment of the Gentile state of consciousness. 
 The Scriptures point the exodus, *'the way out./' "All 
 the people that were men of war, which came out of 
 Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the 
 voice of the Lord" (Josh. 5: 6). The pompous, the 
 conceited, the luxurious, the selfish, the carnal, the war- 
 like, are destined to destruction. The meek, the self- 
 governing, the just are they who are destined to inherit 
 the earth, as well as the glory of heaven. "Blessed are 
 the meek; for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5). 
 
 The children of Japheth are they who have attained 
 to an intermediary state of consciousness. They are 
 capable of being led and tatight. They are more in- 
 fiuenced by their affections and emotions, than by, 
 reason; they do not know enough to bear suffering with 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 65 
 
 patience; they are effeminate and changeful; they are 
 affectionate and trustful. Because of their unsettled 
 and vibratory state of mind and heart, they are said to 
 abide in booths, and to lead a shifting and nomadic life 
 in a desert, or wilderness land. The desert is inter- 
 mediary between Egypt below, and the promised land 
 above. According to the symbolism of the Scriptures, 
 Egypt, the wilderness, and the promised land are 
 descriptive of states of consciousness. It is purity and 
 virtue in the human heart that is destined to make 
 man's dwelling-place a paradise. To the poetic mind the 
 promised land at once suggests the ideal life, the hfe 
 divine. 
 
 That all the good the past hath had 
 Remains to make our own time glad, 
 Our common, daily life divine, 
 And every land a Palestine. 
 
 Whittier: Old and New, 
 
 "Let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into 
 the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest 
 he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword" 
 (Ex. 5:3). They that abandon Egypt, they that join 
 in the exodus, and are led by the Spirit of God, to find 
 the "way out, " are they that are tired and sick of the 
 lies, and conceits, and persecution, and t3n:anny of the 
 Hamites; they are those who feel in their hearts that 
 "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all 
 ungodliness and tmrighteousness of men, who hold 
 truth and justice in contempt" (Rom. 1:18); they 
 believe that the wicked are doomed to certain and 
 adequate punishment, and this they liken to a pestilence 
 or the violence of the sword. "Be not deceived; God is 
 5 
 
66 The Law of Human Life 
 
 not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap" (Gal. 6:7). 
 
 When the affections of the heart are in harmony with 
 truth, justice, and mercy; when they are in league with 
 reason, then does God enlarge Japheth (Gen. 9: 27); 
 but when they are set upon the things of the world, 
 when they are in league with Satan, the animal God, 
 then is Japheth in a state of diminution and death. 
 As long as the affections are enamored of the things of 
 the world, man is in bondage; he is in Egypt; but as 
 soon as the affections are at enmity with the sensuous 
 life of the world, then is man on his way to the promised 
 land by the way of the desert. "Let us go, we pray 
 thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice 
 unto the Lord our God." When man has gone three 
 days' journey into the desert, he is divorced, he is 
 separated from the Egyptian state of consciousness; he 
 is then prepared to offer a sacrifice unto the Lord his 
 God; he is then on the way to sacrifice his animals, the 
 vestiges of animalism that inhere in the soul of un- 
 regenerate man. 
 
 Why a three days' journey into the desert. Three 
 suggests a perfect change; it means an abvsolute separa- 
 tion from the Egyptian state and the initiation of a 
 new and higher state represented by the desert life; it 
 means that the affections are given a new direction. 
 "Set your affections on things above, not on things on 
 the earth. For when ye are dead to the things of the 
 world, your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3: 2). 
 It is written that the children of Israel after they had 
 abandoned Egypt lapsed into a state of idolatry; that 
 when Moses delayed to come down from the mount 
 the people prevailed with Aaron to make a molten calf, 
 and that they worshipped it (Ex, 32 : i-io). This shows 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 67 
 
 that the people were fitful, and "unstable as water" 
 (Gen. 49: 4) ; that the people as yet had no conception 
 of principles. "Principle, " said Hannah Moore, "is the 
 test of the action." It is submitted that the phrase, 
 "three days' journey into the desert," when contem- 
 plated as a principle, means the abandonment of the 
 Egyptian state of consciousness, and the beginning of 
 the worship of "the God of the Hebrews" (Ex. 5:3). 
 
 Man is taught obedience by the things which he 
 suffers (Heb. 5:8). Every one who goes to the Promised 
 Land must go by the way of the desert. He is destined 
 to have his "forty days'," or "forty years'" experience 
 in the wilderness; he must be taught the whole way 
 (Deut. 8 : 2) ; "He shall indeed drink of my cup" (Matt. 
 20: 23). The expressions: "Forty days," and "forty 
 years," are identical in meaning; they indicate not a 
 fixed period of time, but that epoch in the soul's evolu- 
 tion, when it is disciplined and chastened, and taught' 
 obedience by suffering. "The Lord found Jacob in a 
 desert land, and in a waste howling wilderness; he led 
 him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple 
 of his eye" (Deut. 32: 10). The experience of Jacob is 
 the experience of every regenerate soul; first the Egyp- 
 tian state, the Gentile state, the godless state of the 
 soul of man, and then the desert life. 
 
 Man may experience the horrors of the desert life 
 living in London, provided God has so enlarged his 
 heart that he heartily hates a low and vulgar life, and is 
 willing at any expense to stand for truth and justice. 
 Tolstoy, who lived among the Hamites, was chastened 
 and disciplined; he attained to "the day of temptation 
 in the wilderness" (Ps. 95: 8). "The horror of great 
 darkness that fell upon him" (Gen. 15: 12), the dreadful 
 experience that so changed his name, his character, is 
 
68 The Law of Human Life 
 
 graphically described in My Confession. In his Con- 
 fessionf he tells of his very great suflEering, and how his 
 views of life were changed; in a word, he describes the 
 process by which he was ''turned into another man" 
 (i Sam. 10: 6). It is said that the last writings of this 
 holy man in which he fearlessly and unqualifiedly 
 condemned the wickedness of the ruling class of Russia, 
 both in Church and State, were consigned to the flames 
 by the "Holy Synod" of the Greek Church of Russia. 
 ''O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? 
 shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever?" (Ps. 
 74: 10). But why complain? What godlike man was 
 ever popular with constituted authority? 
 
 "Behold I will allure her [the human soul], and briiig 
 her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto 
 her. And I will give her a vineyard from thence." It 
 is in the wilderness that the children of Japheth attain 
 to "a door of hope," and sing as in the days of their 
 youth. It is there that their names, their characters are 
 changed; it is there that their lives undergo a great and 
 godly reformation. It is in the desert, it is amid trials 
 and temptations, that these children overcome and 
 sacrifice their animal propensities; it is there that God 
 aids them to conquer and to destroy the seed of Satan 
 in their own souls. "And it shall be in that day [the 
 day of reformation], saith the Lord, that thou shalt 
 call me Ishi [Love and Truth, and Righteousness] ; and 
 shalt call me no more Baali [my idol, my tribal god]. 
 For I will take away the names of Baalim [the names 
 of the false gods] out of her mouth, and they shall no 
 more be remembered- ... I will even betroth thee 
 unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord" 
 (Hosea 2: 14-20). 
 
 The children of Japheth are they who have aban- 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 69 
 
 doned the Gentile state; they who have escaped the 
 bondage of their carnal animal appetites; they are 
 Israelites; they are Jews. In the evolution of the soul 
 of man, he is first a Gentile, and then an Israelite, or a 
 Jew. These names are not used in the Scriptures in an 
 arbitrary way, but they are used to describe states of 
 consciousness. He is a Gentile who is the victim of his 
 carnal appetites. He is an Israelite, or a Jew, who lives 
 a life of virtue, who is master of himself. "He is a Jew 
 who is one in his heart" (Rom. 2: 29). "Salvation is 
 of the Jews" (John 4: 22). "Remember that ye were 
 in time past Gentiles in the flesh. ... That at that 
 time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the 
 commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the 
 covenants of promise" (Eph. 2: 11, 12). 
 
 Paul tells how he "came and preached peace to them 
 which were afar off [the Gentiles], and to them that 
 were nigh" [the Jews] (Eph. 2: 17). It is, therefore, 
 apparent that the names : Gentile, and Israelite, or Jew, 
 represent states of consciousness. No man who lives 
 in the Gentile state, no man who lives to gratify his 
 carnal desires, no man who lives on the plane of animal- 
 ism has any conception of God or moral order. "Who 
 are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and 
 the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, 
 and the service of God, and the promise?" (Rom. 9:4). 
 Man honors God, man reveres God, man serves God, 
 who lives a clean, virtuous, and just life; and any other 
 sort of life is a mockery and a pretense. In a word, 
 every unjust person, every unclean person, is a Gentile, 
 and every clean and just person is an Israelite, and this 
 is true without reference to nationality, or race. 
 "There dwelt at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of 
 every nation under heaven" (Acts 2: 5). "God is no 
 
76 The Law of Human Life 
 
 respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth 
 Him and worketh righteousness, is acceptable" (Acts 
 lo: 35). It is the truth that makes clean. "Now ye 
 are clean through the word which I have spoken unto 
 you" (John 15:3)- 
 
 The third and rarest class of mankind are the children 
 of Shem. John Ruskin, when discoursing on the signifi- 
 cance of the rainbow, said: 
 
 In that heavenly circle which binds the statute of color 
 upon the front of the sky, when it became the sign of the 
 covenant of peace, the pure hues of divided light were 
 sanctified to the human heart forever; nor this, it would 
 seem, by mere arbitrary appointment, but in consequence 
 of the foreordained and marvelous constitution of those ^ 
 hues into sevenfold, or, more strictly still, a threefold order, 
 typical of the Divine nature Itself. Observe also, the name 
 Shem, or Splendor, given to the son of Noah in whom this 
 covenant was to be fulfilled. 
 
 It would seem that the seven colors, or rather the three 
 primary colors of the rainbow, prefigure the splendor 
 and glory of regenerate man. What could be more 
 suggestive of purity and splendor than the hues of the 
 rainbow? It may be said that the colors of the rainbow 
 represent the attributes of God, which find expression 
 in human nature. *'I am the Lord that do work love, 
 justice, and righteousness; for in these things I delight, 
 saith the Lord" (Jere. 9: 24). 
 
 The children of Shem are they that manifest in their 
 lives love, justice, and righteousness. The Lord is their 
 inheritance (Deut. 10: 9; Ezek. 44: 28) and they are the 
 inheritance of the Lord (Deut. 32: 9; Ex. 19: 5). The 
 just are they who have escaped the corruptions of the 
 world, and are "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 71 
 
 Peter 1:4). Emerson in a public address said: "If a 
 man is at heart just, then, in so far is he God. The 
 safety of God, the majesty of God, do enter into the 
 mind with justice." And again he said: "Ineffable is 
 the union of man and God in every act of the Soul; 
 the simple person who, in his integrity, worships God, 
 becomes God; yet forever and ever the influx of this 
 better and universal Self is new and tmsearchable. " 
 All virtue, all truth, all justice is of God. "For what 
 maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou 
 that thou didst not receive?" (i Cor. 4:7). "That 
 which may be known of God is made manifest in the 
 lives of the just" (Rom. i : 9). "He that hath seen me 
 hath seen the Father" (John 14: 9). 
 
 The Scriptures teach that man inherits God, and God 
 inherits man. This reciprocity of inheritance is glorious, 
 it is scientific ; it bespeaks the high and holy possibilities 
 of man. To the illumined this idea is the source of 
 indescribable edification. Man is a "partaker of the 
 Divine nature"; this divine relation constitutes the 
 Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. 
 The Hebrew Scriptures teach the dignity of man, and 
 the equality of men before God. "Honor all men" (i 
 Peter 2:17); every man is his brother's keeper. 
 
 In a book entitled Judaism and Its History, contain- 
 ing a series of lectures by Abraham Geiger, late a Rabbi 
 of an Israelite Congregation at Frankfort on the Main, 
 is the following: 
 
 Judaism has not allowed the doctrine of original sin to be 
 grafted into it, though great pains were taken in the attempt 
 to deduce the idea from the Scriptures ; it has not permitted 
 the annihilation of the title of the nobility of mankind, and 
 has clung to the conviction that man has been invested by 
 God with the power of free self-determination and self- 
 
72 The Law of Human Life 
 
 improvement; that despite the sensual propensities innate 
 in man's nature, he is vested with the power of conquering 
 them and of reaching by his own exertions the goal of 
 elation and ennoblement. And precisely because Judaism 
 remained free from the doctrine of original sin and the 
 corruption of human nature, it never had any need or 
 desire for again attaining purification by means of an 
 extraneous redemption. It has never exchanged its Merciful 
 God for the God of that Love which, to satisfy anger, 
 requires a grand, sufficient, vicarious sacrifice. 
 
 The Hebrew Scriptures teach the orderly evolution of 
 the soul; the process is inward, subjective, and psy- 
 chological. God has endowed the human soul with 
 reason "to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2 : 15) ; and it, 
 therefore, follows that the purification and redemption 
 of the human soul is not accomplished by "an extrane- 
 ous redemption." "Blessed be the Lord God of 
 Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant" (Gen, 9: 26); 
 blessed be the Lord God of the wise, the just, and the 
 righteous. Shem represents the Splendor of man, mind 
 lifted up above the things of the sensuous world, "mind, 
 true and free and in harmony with nature." The just 
 are ruled of God; they are related to His kingdom; 
 their souls are attuned to truth; they speak the truth 
 in any presence; and for speaking it they have been 
 maligned, persecuted, poisoned, and crucified the world 
 over by the children of Ham. The just are they that 
 bear the ark of the covenant; the soul of the just man 
 is the ark of the covenant. The children of Shem are 
 they that stand before the Lord, and minister unto Him, 
 and bless in His name (Deut. 10: 8), The blessing of 
 the just is the blessing of God; for His Spirit is in them 
 (Gen. 41: 38). Man is not man until the Spirit and 
 
Noah, his Ark, and the Flood 73 
 
 power of God is made manifest in him. "He that hath 
 seen me hath seen the Father. " 
 
 Progress is the Law of Life, 
 Man is not Man as yet. 
 
 Browning. 
 
 The children of Shem are they that keep the cove- 
 nant of which the rainbow is the token; they are a 
 peculiar treasure unto God above all people; they are a 
 kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Ex. 19: 5, 6). 
 The children of Shem, the children of the regenerate, 
 are "the children of the promise, that are counted for 
 the seed" (Rom. 9:8). The Scriptures teach that the 
 reformation of mankind is to be accomplished through 
 the children of the regenerate. Men and women owe it 
 to God and man to live clean and virtuous lives, that 
 their children may be without blemish in mind, and 
 soul, and body. How few there are who Uve above the 
 spirit of the world, who sincerely and habitually seek 
 to conform their lives to the high and holy ideals of the 
 Scriptures. In a word, how few there are who Hve 
 worthy of parentage; and yet every rational being must 
 know that this is an heaven-imposed duty. 
 
 EgJTpt, "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105: 23), is the home 
 of primitive man; this land like the Egjrptians who 
 abided there in the days of Moses, represents a low 
 carnal state of consciousness. The desert, or wilder- 
 ness, into which Moses led the children of Israel is 
 intermediary between Egypt below and the promised 
 land above, or beyond. The desert, like the children 
 of Israel who were there disciplined, and chastened, 
 represents a state of consciousness above the Egyptian; 
 the desert is the abode of them that dwell in booths. 
 The promised land represents an high and holy state of 
 
74 The Law of Human Life 
 
 consciousness; it is the home of the elect; it is the land of 
 Shem. This land represents that state wherein man 
 "shall not lack anything" (Deut. 8:9). The sons of 
 Noah, who went forth of the ark, represent those who 
 have forever peopled the earth. "These are the sons 
 of Noah; and of them was the whole earth overspread" 
 (Gen. 9: 19). 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE STORY OF ABRAHAM, THE HEBREW 
 
 I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Gen. 
 17: I). 
 
 IN the eleventh chapter of Genesis, it is written, that 
 " Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran ; and Haran 
 begat Lot." It will be observed that Lot is related to 
 Abram, as Canaan was to Shem (Gen. 9: 18), and 
 Abram, like Shem, "holds fast to his integrity" (Job 
 2:3); but Lot is as "unstable as water." States or 
 planes of consciousness are described and explained in 
 the Scriptures, over and over, by contrasting the con- 
 duct and the utterances of individuals. Man does what 
 he does because he is what he is. When man is faithful 
 to reason and conscience his conduct can be predicted; 
 but when he abides on the animal plane of consciousness, 
 when he is the victim of anger, hypocrisy, superstition, 
 falsehood, envy, greed, lust, malice, and revenge, then 
 it is impossible to predict his conduct. 
 
 Abram is self-reliant; he is controlled of reason; he 
 is controlled from withm, and not from without. Lot is 
 the victim of his desires. Desire is the craving of the 
 lower sensuous nature of man for things that offer 
 carnal comfort and pleasure; and Lot, like all the 
 carnally minded, is led hither and yon by those objects 
 ~~' 75 
 
76 The Law of Human Life 
 
 that offer carnal gratification; and it may be said that 
 he is controlled from without, rather than from within. 
 In a word, he who is absolutely faithful to reason walks 
 upright before God and man; but he who is carnally 
 minded disregards reason and is not governed by that 
 which brings him into harmony with the divine order, 
 but he is led in every conceivable direction by objects 
 which promise carnal and sensual pleasure. 
 
 Reason in Man obscured, or not obeyed, 
 Immediately inordinate desires 
 And upstart passions catch the government 
 From Reason, and to servitude reduce 
 Man, till then free. Therefore, since he permits 
 Within himself unworthy powers to reign 
 Over free Reason, God, in judgment just, 
 Subjects him from without to violent lords, 
 Who oft as undeservedly enthral / 
 
 His outward freedom. Tyranny must be. 
 Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse. 
 Yet sometimes nations will decline so low 
 From Virtue, which is Reason, that no wrong, 
 But justice and some fatal curse annexed. 
 Deprives them of their outward liberty, 
 Their inward lost; witness the irreverent son 
 Of him who built the ark, who, for the shame 
 Done to his father, heard this heavy curse, 
 Sefvant of servants, on his vicious race. 
 
 Milton: Paradise Lost, Twelfth Book. 
 
 "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of 
 Haran . . . and they came unto Haran, and dwelt 
 there" (Gen. ii: 31). It will be observed that Terah 
 took Abram and Sarai, the wife of Abram, and Lot, and 
 went forth with them, from Ur of the Chaldees, unto 
 Haran, and that the place to which they migrated 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 11 
 
 bears the name of Terah's son, the father of Lot. 
 "They came imto Haran, and dwelt there"; this 
 language evidently describes a low state of conscious- 
 ness, a state, it would seem, resembling the Egyptian. 
 "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of 
 thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy 
 father's house, "unto a land that I will show thee; and I 
 will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and 
 make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. . . . 
 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; 
 and Lot went with him," This is a splendid figure of 
 speech ; Abram is here represented as abandoning Haran ; 
 he goes forth to find the promised land, "a land that 
 God will show him" (Gen. 12 : i). "And Lot went with 
 Abram." We shall presently see how Lot falls into 
 trouble and how Abram rescues him. He who lives on 
 the higher plane of consciousness rescues him who 
 lives on the lower. "Am I my brother's keeper? " 
 
 Abram abandons Haran; he goes forth to possess the 
 promised land, "a land wherein man shall not lack 
 anything" (Deut. 8:9), the land that is a symbol of the 
 highest state of consciousness of which man in his 
 present state has any knowledge. The Lord's com- 
 mand to Abram to abandon Haran, his country, and 
 his kindred, and his father's house calls to mind that 
 passage of Scripture- which the ignorant and conceited 
 have so often quoted and criticized, "If any man come 
 to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, 
 and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his 
 life also, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14: 26). 
 Abram is here represented as severing every tie that 
 bound him to the carnal state; and Jesus says that no 
 man can be his disciple unless he hates the carnal life, 
 in father, mother, wife, brother, sister, or in himself. 
 
7^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 Man must abandon Haran if he would be a disciple of 
 Jesus; and it is safe to say that no man will abandon the 
 sensuous life, and live above the animal spirit of the 
 world, unless there has sprung up in his heart an enmity, 
 a hatred of the spirit of the world. "God's anointed 
 are they that love righteousness and hate wickedness" 
 (Ps. 45:7). Let the soul of man. the daughter of 
 God, flee the carnal life; for this is the way of sal- 
 vation. ''Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and 
 incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and 
 thy father's house; so shall the king greatly desire thy 
 beauty: for He is thy Lord; and worship thou Him" 
 (Ps.45:io). 
 
 "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
 and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will 
 show thee, " This is the imperative command of 
 Heaven to every rational soul; it points the way of 
 salvation; and there is no other. It is written that 
 Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot, "and the souls that 
 they had gotten in Haran," and went forth into the 
 land of Canaan. The souls that we know in this world 
 are "gotten in Haran." Every human being who is 
 bom into the world is begotten in Haran; Haran repre- 
 sents the carnal world; and every human soul which 
 abides in a body of flesh begins its sojourn on earth in 
 Haran. "The first man [the outer physical man] is of 
 the earth, earthy; the second Man [the inner, the 
 mental, the spiritual Man] is the image of the Lord of 
 heaven" (i Cor. 15: 47). "And Eve bare Cain, and 
 said, I have gotten a man from the Lord" (Gen, 4: i). 
 The Mind is the Man. "As Moses lifted up the serpent 
 in the wilderness, even so must the son of man [the 
 mind of man] be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in 
 him [that whosoever believeth in the high and holy 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 79 
 
 possibilities of man] should not perish, but have eternal 
 life" (John 3: 14). 
 
 It is written that Abram journeyed for a time in 
 Canaan; and that there was a famine in the land: "that 
 Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the 
 famine was grievous in the land"; and that Abram 
 advised Sarai his wife to say to the Egyptians that she 
 was his sister. "Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister." 
 This singular statement is intended to tell, and does 
 tell what the Egyptians represent. According to the 
 symbolism of the Scriptures, they represent the fallen, 
 carnal state of man, his primitive state, the Gentile 
 state (Eph. 2: 3, 11). It will be observed that "Abram 
 went down into Egypt." What sort of famine is this 
 which compels Abram to sojourn for a time in Egypt? 
 Is it a famine of bread, or a famine of virtue? What is 
 it that fills the world with sin and death? What is it 
 that brings plagues upon Pharaoh and his house? It is 
 the absence of virtue. "And the Lord plagued Pharaoh 
 and his house with great plagues because of Sarai 
 Abram's wife." This is the fate of carnality. The 
 curse of heaven is upon it. The blessing which attended 
 Abram is the blessing which forever attends virtue. 
 "I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and 
 thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that 
 bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in 
 thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 
 12:2,3). 
 
 "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, 
 and Lot with him. . . . And he went on his journey 
 from the south even to Bethel^ unto the place where his 
 tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and 
 Hai." Bethel represents an high and holy state of 
 consciousness (Gen. 35: i). Abram's mind and heart 
 
8o The Law of Human Life 
 
 are set upon the promised land; it is there that he 
 builded altars, "and called upon the name of the Lord" 
 (Gen. 12: 7, 8). This land represents a state of con- 
 sciousness far transcending the Egyptian; but Lot is not 
 pleased with the high land, he prefers the low. There 
 wasja strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle 
 and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle; and Abram counseled 
 peace; and there was a division of land between them. 
 Lot chose the low land, the plain of the Jordan, in 
 which were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. * ' Abram 
 dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the 
 cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 
 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before 
 the Lord exceedingly." Our affections determine our 
 associations; men pitch their tents in the direction of 
 what they love. "Their abominations were according 
 as they loved" (Hosea 9; 10). 
 
 ^bmmjsjthe j)0^essor^ J;he_promised land. ' ' Arise, 
 walk through the land in the length of~il and in the 
 breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee" (Gen. 13: 17). 
 He that attains to this land "shall not lack anything" 
 (Deut. 8: 9). Abram's inheritance of this good land 
 recalls what Emerson says in the first portion of his 
 essay on History; '''There is One Mind common to all 
 individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and 
 to all of the same. He that is once admitted to the 
 right of reason is made a freeman of the whole estate. 
 - . . Who hath access to this universal mind, is a 
 party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only 
 and sovereign agent, ... Of the Universal Mind each 
 individual man is one more incarnation. All its prop- 
 erties consist in him." The promise d l and is_the_in- 
 heritance ofeach and all of God's elect. What Emerson 
 has seen fit to amplify in essays is here abridged into a 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 8i 
 
 sentence. What a profound psychology is revealed in 
 the symbolism of the Scriptures. 
 
 In the fourteenth chapter of Genesis is a singular 
 story about five kings waging a battle against four kings. 
 The five kings were joined together in the vale of Siddim, 
 which is the salt sea; they are the kings of the low 
 lands; they represent the carnal appetites. "Twelve 
 years they served Chedorlaomer [the mind — ^that which 
 is destined to glory], and in the thirteenth year they 
 rebelled." Plato in his dialogue Laws speaks of three 
 wants and desires. 
 
 Now these are eating and drinking which begin at birth; 
 every animal has a natural desire for them, and is violently 
 excited, and rebels against him who says he must not satisfy 
 all his pleasures and appetites, and get rid of the corre- 
 sponding pains. And the third and greatest and sharpest 
 want and desire breaks out last, and is the fire of sexual lust, 
 which kindles in men every species of wantonness and mad- 
 ness. And these three disorders we must endeavor to 
 master by the three great principles of fear and law apd 
 right reason. 
 
 Lust is a fierce and fiery king, and his attempted rule 
 begins about the thirteenth year, the age of puberty. 
 
 And Lot, who "pitched his tent toward Sodom, " was 
 captured by the five kings. "And they took Lot, who 
 dwelt in Sodom, and his goods and departed- And 
 there came one that had escaped, and told Abram 
 the Hebrew, . . . And when Abram heard that his 
 brother was taken captive, he armed his trained 
 servants, bom in his own house, three hundred and 
 eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan, And he divided 
 himself against them, and smote them. " The name Dan 
 means judgment or justice; Abram pursued them to 
 
82 The Law of Human Life 
 
 justice. He who would conquer his five kings, or would 
 rescue his brother who is the victim of his five kings, 
 must rely upon "his trained servants, bom in his 
 own house," and these trained servants, the righteous 
 affections of the heart, must act in obedience to their 
 lord and master, Reason. Abram's victory is complete; 
 the power of the five kings is destroyed, and Lot and his 
 goods are restored. Why Abram has just three hundred 
 and eighteen trained servants, who were bom in his 
 own house, is a matter of some mystery. Numbers, 
 when used objectively, ordinarily express quantity; 
 but when used in a subjective or psychological sense, 
 express quality. This number, it would seem, is sugges- 
 tive of unity, and perfection within the soul of Abram. 
 
 When Abram returned from his victorious campaign 
 against the rebellious kings that abided in the low land 
 "full of slime pits," he was banqueted, like all the 
 sons of God who have overcome the world. "Abraham 
 saw my day, and rejoiced" (John 8: 56). "And Mel- 
 chisedec King of Salem brought forth bread and wine: 
 arid he was the priest of the Most High God. And he 
 blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most 
 High God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed 
 be the Most High God, which has delivered thy enemies 
 into thy hand. And Abram gave him tithes of all." 
 Abram is a master in Israel; God girded him with 
 strength whereby he conquered and destroyed his 
 enemies. " I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken 
 them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 
 I have wotmded them that they are not able to rise; 
 they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded 
 me with strength for the battle: thou hast subdued 
 under me those that rose up against me . . . and let 
 the Lord God of my salvation be exalted" (Ps. 18:35- 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 83 
 
 50). Every one who would feed upon the bread and 
 wine, the truth and wisdom of heaven, brought forth 
 by the priest of the Most High God, must conquer and 
 destroy his enemies that counsel rebellion,' that are 
 joined together in the vale of Siddim, the vale of the 
 slime-pits. "But those mine enemies, which would 
 not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and 
 slay them before me" (Luke 19: 27). 
 
 This is the marriage of Cana; it is the celebration of 
 the triumph of man over his enemies, the rebellious 
 kings of lust, greed, malice, envy, and murder. It is the 
 triumph of man over his animal propensities. When 
 this victory is accomplished, then is there harmony and 
 unity within the soul; and this unity between the head 
 and the heart, between wisdom and love, is the mairiage 
 of Cana; and is what Swedenborg called the "Celestial 
 marriage," "And Abram gave the priest of the Most 
 High God tithes of all"; Abram would not receive any 
 reward from the King of Sodom, the king of the world, 
 not even a shoe-latchet, lest the King of Sodom should 
 say, "I have made Abram rich." Abram recognizes 
 God and God alone as the author of his salvation; 
 and he gave tithes of all as an acknowledgment of the 
 mercy, and power, and goodness of God. Abram is 
 resurrected from the dead; he has cast away the grave- 
 clothes that bound him (John 11 : 44). 
 
 The story of the five kings is again told in the tenth 
 chapter of Joshua; he, like Abram, conquers and de- 
 stroys his five rebellious kings; and it is God who gives 
 the victory. "And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear 
 them not; for I have delivered them unto thine hand" 
 Qosh. 10: 8), "Thy carnal nature is subject imto thee, 
 and thou shalt rule over it" (Gen. 4:7). God has put 
 the animal propensities of man within the power of 
 
84 The Law of Human Life 
 
 him who desires to conquer and destroy them. Let no 
 man believe that he can escape the responsibilities of 
 life. Every rational being is charged with heaven- 
 imposed duties. The Mind is the Man. Reason in its 
 purity is divine and godlike. "It is the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the sin of the world" (John i: 29). 
 " Send ye the Lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to 
 the wilderness" (Isa. 16: i). The office of reason is 
 high and holy; and he who prostitutes his mind offends 
 against God. It is true that God gives the increase, 
 but it is equally true that man is charged with the 
 responsibiUty of planting and watering. "Every man 
 shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. 
 For we are laborers together with God" (i Cor. 3: 6-9). 
 
 There are human souls which give no evidence of 
 reason; there are others in which reason is fallen, and 
 debauched. Mentality in its purity we do not know. 
 Plato tells us in his dialogue Laws, that "there is no 
 law or order which is above knowledge, nor can mind 
 without impiety, be deemed the subject or slave of any 
 man, but rather the lord of all. I speak of mind, true 
 and free and in harmony with nature. But^ then there 
 is no such mind anywhere, or at least not much; and 
 therefore we must choose law and order, which are 
 the second best." The law [represented in precepts, 
 commands, and inhibitions] is not made for the righteous 
 man, but for the lawless and the disobedient, for the 
 ungodly and for sinners" (i Tim, 1 1.9), 
 
 Joshua's kings evidently went into rebellion about ^ 
 the thirteenth year; but some time after the thirteenth 
 year, Joshua, like all the great, with the help of God 
 set about to destroy these kings that "would not that 
 he should reign over them." When right reason is 
 aided by the affections of a righteous heart, when the 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 85 
 
 head and heart act in unison, then are the five kings in 
 peril, then is "man divided against them, he and his 
 trained servants" (Gen. 14: 15). It is entirely evident 
 that Joshua divided himself against his five kings, for it 
 is -written that he commanded the sun and moon to 
 stand still "until the people ('his trained servants, 
 bom in his own house') had avenged themselves upon 
 their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? " 
 The book of Jasher is the book of the righteous, of the 
 just. This legend, or a like one, it would seem, was 
 recorded in this ancient and lost book. 
 
 An essential function of the sun and moon is to give 
 light. Joshua would not have wisdom and reason, the 
 Light of the soul, cease their function for an instant, 
 when he was engaged in the battle of his life to over- 
 come the world. Joshua "put on the armour of Light," 
 and maintained it. Heaven values a man as he is 
 faithful to the Light that it has given him. Joshua and 
 his trained servants, the affections of a righteous heart, 
 made an end of his rebellious kings. "Come near put 
 your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came 
 near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. And 
 Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, 
 be strong and of good courage; for thus shall the Lord 
 do all your enemies against whom ye fight." This is 
 evidently an allegory descriptive of the triumph of 
 wisdom, the Light of the soul, aided by the affections of 
 a righteous heart, over all that is false, low, and rebel- 
 lious within the soul of man. 
 
 Joshua before he had attained to the "fullness of the 
 stature of Christ," was called Hoshea, or Oshea (Deut. 
 32: 44; Num. 13: 8, 16); but when he had prevailed 
 with God, when he had destroyed his rebellious kings, 
 there was prefixed to Oshea, the divine name, Jah (Ps. 
 
86 The Law of Human Life 
 
 68: 4); and thus his name became Jehosua, or Joshua, 
 Jehovah's help, a Saviour. Joshua was evidently 
 resurrected from the dead while living in the world; and 
 like all who have overcome the world, he belonged to 
 the "imchangeable priesthood, the priesthood after, the 
 order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 7: 11, 24). Joshua was a 
 master in Israel, a Saviour. It was he who gave the 
 command to cross the Jordan on the third day; it was 
 he who led the children of Israel into their inheritance, 
 '*into the possessions of the Gentiles, whom God drove 
 out before the face of the fathers of Israel " (Acts 7 : 45) . 
 Joshua did what he could to lead his people to find that 
 rest and peace that abideth forever (Heb. 4: 8-1 1). 
 Joshua was faithful to Reason, the Light that God has 
 put into his soul. He believed in his heart that God is, 
 and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
 Him. The light of reason, the light of wisdom, sym- 
 bolized by the sun and moon, never forsakes the just. 
 "Thy sun shaU no more go down, neither shall thy 
 moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine ever- 
 lasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be 
 ended" (Isa. 60: 20). There is a curse pronounced 
 upon those who make a false use of the Light that God 
 has given them. "Night shall be unto you, that ye 
 shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, 
 that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over 
 the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them" 
 (Micah 3: 6). 
 
 Men do themselves indescribable injury by asserting 
 untruths; they destroy the Light within their souls. 
 "He that doeth the truth cometh to the Light," said 
 Jesus; and it follows that he who offends against the 
 truth cometh to darkness. "When the habit of speak- 
 ing the truth is neglected, the capacity for perceiving it 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 87 
 
 is gradually lost." Evil in its every form incapacitates 
 man from loving what is good and perceiving what is 
 true. " False words/' said Socrates, " are not only evil in 
 themselves, but they infect the soul with evil." This 
 has been observed by men far less renowned, than the 
 sage of Athens. Macaulay in his essay entitled: Glad- 
 stone on Church and State, said: 
 
 The keenest and most vigorous mind of every generation, 
 minds often admirably fitted for the investigation of truth, 
 are habitually employed in producing arguments such as no 
 man of sense would ever put into a treatise intended for 
 publication. . . . The habit of discussing questions in this 
 way necessarily reacts on the intellects of our ablest men, 
 particularly of those who are introduced into parliament at 
 an early age. . . . Indeed, we should sooner expect a 
 great original work, for example, as the Wealth of Nations, 
 from an apothecary in a country town, or from a minister 
 in the Hebrides, than from a statesman, who, ever since he 
 was one-and-twenty, had been a distinguished debater in 
 the House of Commons. 
 
 That evil in its every form tends to an atrophy of the 
 mind, and in harmony within the soul, is taught by all 
 the wise. "It is by your order, O Lord, that all irregu- 
 larity of mind," said St. Augustine, "should carry its 
 punishment along with it." When one commits an 
 injustice, there is a reaction upon him; and the injtiry 
 that he does his mind and soul is measured by the wrong 
 he does. That man is destined to reap the fruit of his 
 own thought and conduct is a scriptural axiom. " I will 
 bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their 
 thoughts" (Jer. 6: 19; Prov. i: 31). He that makes a 
 faithful use of heaven's bestowal will be given more, but 
 he that puts it to a false use is destined to lose it (Matt. 
 13: 12). 
 
88 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Recurring again to the fourteenth chapter of Genesis 
 which recounts how Abram destroyed the five rebellious 
 kings, and how he was then entertained by Melchisedec 
 the King of Salem, who brought forth bread and wine, 
 the symbols of truth and wisdom, it is interesting to 
 note what immediately follows in the fifteenth chapter. 
 
 "We have what is called a science of psychology, " said 
 Schopenhauer, "but no psyche." What is the nature 
 of psyche? Do the Scriptures describe the human soul, 
 and the mode and manner of its evolution? The late 
 Prof. William James, who was affectionately spoken of 
 in his day as "the unchallenged veteran leader of 
 American psychology and philosophy," said: "It is 
 indeed strange to hear people talk of the ' New Psy- 
 chology,' and write histories of psychology, when into 
 the real elements and forces which the word covers 
 not the first glimpse of clear insight exists. . . . This 
 is no science, it is only the hope of a science." It is 
 evident that psychology has made little or no progress 
 as a science, because it has to its accotmt no principles 
 which men of science generally acknowledge as true. 
 How is a science to be builded when no two observers 
 start from the same premise? Reason, as the old 
 Greek philosophers have said, demands a pou sto, a 
 starting point. The people of the world will have a 
 science of psychology when the principles of the Scrip- 
 tures are understood, and demonstrated in the lives 
 of men. 
 
 Is it possible that the Scriptures are essentially and 
 profoundly psychological? Is it possible that this is 
 true, and that science has failed to discover it? Herbert 
 Spencer in his work on Education: Intellectual^ Moral, 
 and Physical, tells us that true education is essentially 
 psychological. ^ 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 89 
 
 The true education [said Spencer] is practicable only to the 
 true philosopher. Judge, then, what prospect a philosophi- 
 cal method now has of being acted out! Knowing so little 
 as we yet do of Psychology, and ignorant as our teachers are 
 of that little, what chance has a system which requires 
 Psychology for its basis? . . . Education must conform to 
 the natural processes of mental evolution, ... A nebulous 
 perception of it now prevails among teachers; and it is daily 
 more insisted on in educational work. "The method of 
 nature is the archetype of all methods, " says M. Marcel. 
 
 Ifi the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, Abram is again 
 told of his inheritance; he is told in a most precise and 
 specific way. The ultimate and abiding inheritance 
 here and elsewhere described in the Scriptures is not an 
 earthly possession. It is represented in that wealth 
 and splendor of soul that gives rest and peace, that 
 brings man face to face with God, that makes him 
 conscious of the Divine Presence. "Fear not, Abram; 
 I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" 
 (Gen. 15: i). '*The Lord is Man's inheritance, accord- 
 ing as the Lord thy God promised him" (Deut. 10: 9). 
 "For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot 
 of his inheritance" (Deut. 32: 9). The just inherit 
 God; and God inherits the just. ''I lead in the way of 
 righteousness, that I may cause those that love Me to 
 inherit substance" (Prov. 8: 21). This reciprocity of 
 inheritance is glorious; it proclaims the Fatherhood of 
 God, and the brotherhood of man. What could be more 
 suggestive of human immortality than this? How can 
 man know that it is possible for him to inherit the 
 power and glory of heaven? 
 
 "And Abraham said, Lord God, whereby shall I 
 know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, 
 Take Me an heifer three years old, and a she-goat three 
 
90 The Law of Human Life 
 
 years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, 
 and a young pigeon." The human soul, the living, 
 moving, abiding entity, with or without its mask of 
 flesh, is revealed in three principles, prefigured by the 
 ram, the heifer, and the goat. When Abram, cooperat- 
 ing with his Maker, has destroyed his five rebellious 
 kings, and attained to the marriage feast of Cana, when 
 the principles that inhere in his soul are in a state of 
 unity, then is he conscious that God is, and what man 
 is, then is he conscious of his abiding inheritance. The 
 condition of Israel's possession of the promised land, 
 of his inheritance, was character. "That which is al- 
 together just shalt thou follow, thai thou mayst live 
 and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
 thee" (Deut. i6:20;Num. 32: ii). 
 
 (i) The ram three years old represents the head, 
 the seat of reason. Reason is assertive, initiative, and 
 constructive. The head is the seat of the masculine 
 powers of the human soul. The ram leads and defends 
 the fiock; he represents the sign Aries. Abram's ram 
 is without blemish; he is three years old. Three as 
 here used indicates perfection. (2) The heifer is the 
 symbol of the heart, the life center, the seat of the 
 affections and the emotions. The heart is essentially 
 feminine. The heifer is three years old; Abram is pure 
 in heart. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall 
 see God." (3) The she-goat is the symbol of the 
 lower principles of the human soul, the seat of the 
 carnal appetites. The goat is three, years old; the lower 
 principle of the soul is, therefore, in a state of perfect 
 subserviency to the head and heart. 
 
 "And Abram took unto him all these (the animals 
 and the birds), and divided them in the midst, and laid 
 each piece one against another: but the birds divided 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 91 
 
 he not." The animals represent the respective prin- 
 ciples of the human soul; and Abram is represented as 
 placing these in their right order. Plato in his dialogue, 
 The Republic, says that when man has botmd together 
 the three principles within him, which may be compared 
 to the higher, the lower, and the middle of the scale (of 
 music), and the intermediate intervals — ^when he has 
 bound together all these, and is no longer many, but 
 has become one entirely temperate and perfectly ad- 
 justed nature, then he will begin to act wisely and 
 justly. 
 
 A thing composed of parts approaches perfection in 
 just the degree that its several parts are perfect. The 
 soul's perfection, as Plato has said, is represented in the 
 unity and harmony of its principles. Abram "laid each 
 piece one against another." When Abram abandoned 
 Haran, when he went out of his country, and from his 
 kindred, and from his father's house, he pitched his 
 tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: 
 and there he built an altar unto the Lord, and called 
 upon the name of the Lord (Gen, 12 : 8). Bethel means 
 the House of God, and Hai, a heap of ruins. Since the 
 Scriptures often speak of the body, or the soul of man 
 as the house of God, it follows that Hai represents the 
 soul of man in a state of confusion and disorder, and 
 Bethel the soul in a state of unity and harmony. 
 
 "But the birds divided he not. " Birds are a symbol 
 of the formless. They represent the mental, the spirit- 
 ual. The fowls that come down upon the carcasses 
 represent, it would seem, carnal mind, human mental- 
 ity at its nadir; but it is written that "Abram drove 
 the fowls away"; he lived superior to the carnal, 
 sensuous state of man. The young pigeon is, we believe, 
 the symbol of Reason; and the turtle-dove of the Holy 
 
92 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Spirit; and thus, the fowls, the young pigeon, and the 
 turtle-dove represent ascending degrees of conscious- 
 ness. Emerson in his essay on History, says: "There is 
 One Mind common to all individual men. ... Of the 
 Universal Mind each individual man is one more 
 incarnation. All Its properties consist in him." The 
 body of man is susceptible of division into parts, and the 
 soul may be contemplated in the light of its principles, 
 but Mentality is One. It is indivisible. "It is im- 
 possible that the essence which reasons within us," 
 said Pascal, "should be other than Spiritual." He that 
 is faithful to the Light that God hath put into his soul 
 shall have it enlarged unto wisdom, but he that puts 
 his Light to a false and wicked use is destined to lose it. 
 This is taught in the parable of the talents; he that 
 makes a false use of the mentality God has given him is 
 "the unprofitable servant who is cast into outer dark- 
 ness" (Matt. 25: 30). What do we understand by 
 Christ, or Israel? What do these names represent? 
 They represent mentality lifted up, mind free from all 
 earthly contamination, "mind," as Plato said, "true 
 and free and in harmony with nature. " "When ye have 
 lifted up the son of man, then shall ye know that I am 
 he, and that I do nothing of myself" (John 8: 28). 
 When your mind is lifted up above the things of the 
 sensuous world, then is Christ "formed in you" (Gal- 
 4: 19). 
 
 The birds, the turtle-dove, and the young pigeon, 
 Abram divided not. Carnal mind, mind fallen, is still 
 mind. The young pigeon represents Reason, mentality; 
 the turtle-dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. "And 
 the Lord God took the Man, and put him into the 
 Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15). 
 The mind is the man. The true office of man is the 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 93 
 
 perfection and preservation of the soul. When the soul 
 is made perfect, then it is the conscious organ of the 
 Holy Spirit of which the dove is a symbol (Matt. 3: 16; 
 John 1 : 32). When man has overcome the world, when 
 ''he has put all things under his feet, then is man 
 himself subject unto Him that put all things under him, 
 that God may be all in all" (i Cor. 15: 2^, 28). When 
 man has done his work, when his soul is made perfect, 
 then is he himself assimilated to the Holy Spirit. 
 
 In ancient times, it seems that precepts and princi- 
 ples for the guidance of mankind were taught almost 
 exclusively in symbols, allegories, and parables. Why 
 was sign language adopted in the writing and teaching 
 of the Scripture? The reasons are certainly apparent 
 and conclusive. In ancient times and even during the 
 Middle Ages, it was worth one's life to affirm doctrines 
 that were contrary to the accepted beliefs of the priestly 
 and governing classes. It is said that the great dis- 
 covery of Copernicus, to wit: that the earth moves 
 around the sun, was not published to the world until 
 after his death. "Why speakest thou to the people in 
 parables? Jesus answered and said unto his disciples, 
 Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of 
 the Kingdom of Heaven, but unto them it is not so 
 given" (Matt. 13: 10, 11). To the pure in heart it is 
 given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God,, 
 but to the sensuous, conceited, and animalized, any 
 attempted explanation of spiritual things meets with 
 ridicule, mockery, even with violence. If we live in 
 Egjrpt, or Sodom, we are expected to conform to their 
 sensuous customs and habits, or stand condemned. 
 "Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyp- 
 tians before their ej'-es, and will they not stone us?" 
 (Ex. 8: 26). Moreover, if the thith had been told by 
 
94 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the prophets of old in the plainest and simplest language 
 it is quite probable that, bigoted and conceited men, 
 in order to justify their prejudices and preconceived 
 opinions, would have translated the Scriptures in such a 
 way as to destroy their true and inward meaning; but 
 since the Scriptures were taught and written in a sigh 
 language their perversion was made most difficult. 
 
 In the sixteenth chapter of Genesis it is written that 
 Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar, her JEgyptian maid, 
 and gave her to Abram to be his wife, and that Hagar 
 bear Abram a son, and that Abram called his son's 
 name Ishmael. Ishmael is the son of an Egyptian 
 woman. He is the type of the primitive man, of man 
 in the Gentile state. "His hand is against every man, 
 and every man's hand is against him." In the seven- 
 teenth chapter is an account of the predicted birth of 
 Isaac, He is the son of Sarah, the free woman. It will 
 be observed that Isaac is bom after Abram's name is 
 changed to Abraham, and Sarai's name to Sarah. Isaac 
 is born of regenerate parents. Paul says that "He who 
 was of the bondwoman was bom of the flesh; but he of 
 the free woman was by promise. Which things are an 
 allegory" (Gal. 4: 23, 24). The bondwoman and her 
 son represent a heart and mind that are set upon the 
 things of the world; the free woman and her son repre- 
 sent a heart and mind superior to the things of the 
 world. 
 
 "And Sarai said unto Abram, It may be that I may 
 obtain children by Hagar" (Gen. 16: 2). How is Sarai 
 to obtain children by Hagar? By what natural or 
 evolutionary process does Sarai become the mother of 
 the children of Hagar? Sarai's name is changed to 
 Sarah, the Princess, the universal mother, "the mother 
 of nations." Sarah is the mother of the two nations 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 95 
 
 into which all mankind are divided, to wit : the Gentiles, 
 and the Jews or Israelites. These two nations are 
 represented by Cain and Abel, and by Ishinael and 
 Isaac. Isaac is bom of regenerate parents; he is bom 
 after his parents have been given new names to corre- 
 spond to their new and perfected characters; and Abra- 
 ham circumcised Isaac when eight days old "as God 
 had commanded him" (Gen, 21:4). Children bom of 
 regenerate parents are counted for the seed. "The 
 children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Rom. 
 9:8). Isaac, bom of regenerate parents, Is predisposed 
 to virtue from his youth. "Among you [the regenerate] 
 he that is eight days old shall be circumcised" (Gen. 
 17: 12). Circumcision, like baptism in water, is a 
 symbol of regeneration. "Who shall forbid water 
 seeing these have received the Holy Ghost as well as 
 we?" (Acts 10: 47). "It may be that I may obtain 
 children by Hagar." When does Ishmael, the Gentile, 
 the child of the flesh, become the adopted son of the 
 regenerate Sarah? It takes place when he attains the 
 age of discretion, and chooses to be her son. "And 
 Ishmael was thirteen years old, when he was circum- 
 cised" (Gen. 17:25). 
 
 Abram's name is changed to Abraham; and it is 
 written that God estabUshed "an everlasting covenant" 
 with him (Gen. 17: 7). This is the covenant that God 
 makes with all the just; it is represented in the soul's 
 perfection, Man's covenant with God is represented 
 in his consciousness of God's Spirit, and his fidelity to 
 God and man. Abraham, like all- of the great, is a 
 prophet. " Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which 
 I do; Seeing that he shall do justice and judgment?" 
 (Gen, 18: 17-19). It is said that Abraham entertained 
 angels, and was forewarned of the destruction of 
 
96 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Sodom. He entertains angels who has that spiritual 
 insight by which he reads the doom of a sensuous and 
 wicked people. This legend is true to human nature. 
 What community, tribe, or nation of people was ever 
 decimated or destroyed by war, famine, or pestilence 
 without being forewarned by some god-fearing person? 
 Moreover, no community, tribe, or nation of people was 
 ever destroyed in which any considerable number of 
 righteous people dwelt. "Where there is no vision the 
 people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is 
 he" (Prov. 29: 18). 
 
 In the nineteenth chapter of Genesis it is written 
 that Lot sat in the gate of Sodom and that two angels 
 came to Sodom; that Lot rose up to meet them, and 
 that he bowed himself down before them; that he 
 urged them to turn in and tarry all night in his house. 
 "And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all 
 night. And Lot pressed them greatly; and they turned 
 unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them 
 a feast. " And before they lay down the men of Sodom, 
 compassed Lot's house about, and demanded that he 
 should bring out his celestial guests, and Lot went out 
 unto them, and offered to give them his two daughters. 
 "But the angels put forth their hands, and pulled Lot 
 into the house to themselves, and shut the door. And 
 they smote the men that were at the door of the house 
 with blindness, both small and great; so that they wor- 
 ried themselves to find the door. " This is an allegory; 
 it is the story of the soul. Lot desires to lead a better 
 life; he desires to set his mind and heart upon things 
 above; he desires to entertain celestial visitors in his 
 house, in the depths of his soul, but he seems powerless 
 to abandon the life of Sodom. This allegory is descrip- 
 tive of the condition of every unregenerate human soul. 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 97 
 
 The angels represent Lot's desire to be just and up- 
 right before God, his wife and his daughters represent 
 his heart, and the debauched affections of his heart, and 
 the men of Sodom represent his unrestrained carnal 
 desires, " Lot sits at the gate of Sodom" ; he is desirous 
 to abandon the life of Sodom, but his house is com- 
 passed about by the men of Sodom, his carnal desires 
 are forever urging him to abandon his house, his soul, 
 the temple of God. He that goes in pursuit of the 
 pleasures of the world abandons and defiles the house 
 I of God. "Ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of 
 God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of 
 God, him shall God destroy" (i Cor, 3: i6, 17). "And 
 Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which 
 married his daughters, and said. Up, get you out of this 
 place ; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed 
 as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law." Lot's 
 affections, his daughters, that are wedded to the Sodo- 
 mites are doomed. The angels, the divinity within the 
 soul of Lot, hastened him to abandon Sodom. "Arise, 
 take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; 
 lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the dty." 
 And yet it is said that "he lingered," When Lot, his 
 wife, and his two daughters were out of Sodom, the 
 command is given: "Escape for thy life; look not behind 
 thee, neither stay thou in all the plain, lest thou be 
 consumed." Abandon Sodom; "escape for thy life." 
 This is the way of salvation ; there is no other. 
 
 "But Lot's wife looked back from behind him, and 
 she became a pillar of salt. " Lot's heart has undergone 
 a great change. Salt is a sjnnbol of that which preserves ; 
 it is a sjmabol of virtue. "Every sacrifice shall be 
 salted with salt. . . , Have salt in yourselves, and 
 have peace one with another" (Mark, 9: 49, 50). It 
 
98 The Law of Human Life 
 
 would be difficult to conceive a greater miracle, than 
 that change of heart, that forever attends the abandon- 
 ment of a sensuous life. This allegory teaches that 
 every rational being is confronted with a heaven- 
 imposed duty, entirely personal; the duty of making 
 harmonious and just the soul, the house of God; and he 
 that would accomplish progress in this high and holy 
 work must make his house a fit abode for angels; he 
 must escape Sodom, and flee to the little city of Zoar. 
 With the abandonment of Sodom comes the ascent of 
 reason. When the dawn arose the angels hurried Lot; 
 reason's triumph is represented in the abandonment of 
 the sensuous life. "The sun was risen upon the earth 
 when Lot entered Zoar" (Gen. 19: 23). The Sodomites 
 are smitten with blindness that they cannot find the 
 door (Gen. 19: 11). This is the fate of the carnally 
 minded. 
 
 It is written that Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt 
 in the mountain, and that his two daughters were with 
 him, and that they dwelt in a cave; and when he was 
 old his daughters made him drink wine, and that each of 
 the daughters was the mother of a son begotten of their 
 father; and the son of one was called Moab, and was the 
 father of the Moabites, and the son of the other was 
 the father of the children of Ammon. This is evidently 
 an ancient myth suggested by Lot's life in the cities of 
 the plain. "Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and 
 pitched his tent toward Sodom" (Gen. 13: 12). A 
 large portion of the people composing these ancient 
 tribes lived in the low lands, or plain of the Jordan. 
 This low land was called the "plains of Moab" (Num. 
 22:1; 26:3; Deut. 34:1). The resemblance of the 
 people composing these two ancient tribes and their 
 habitat may have given rise to the myth that they were 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 99 
 
 descended from a common ancestor; and thus Lot be- 
 comes the eponym. The Scriptures reveal a marked 
 regard for psychological accuracy, but in matters of 
 history they disclose an indifference. This idea is 
 illustrated in the story of Lot. Lot's life from a psy- 
 chological standpoint is instructive and edifying, but 
 from an historic standpoint it is low, mythical, and 
 fabulous. This story shows the indifference with which 
 religion contemplates events in time. ''We look not at 
 the things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
 seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but 
 the things which are not seen are etemal" (2 Cor. 4: 18). 
 
 In the twentieth chapter of Genesis it is said that 
 Abraham journeyed toward the south and sojourned in 
 Gerar. The name Gerar means pilgrimage, or sojourn. 
 Abraham, like all the great, is a "stranger and so- 
 journer" on the earth (Gen. 23: 4; Heb. 11 : 13). "And 
 Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and 
 Abimelech King of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But 
 God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said 
 to him. Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the 
 woman thou hast taken is a man's wife." He that is 
 given to the carnal life is, in contemplation of the 
 Scriptures, "a dead man: " "The Uving" are they who 
 have abandoned the carnal life. "But as touching the 
 resurrection of the dead [the carnally minded], have 
 ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, 
 saying, . . . God is not the God of the dead, but of 
 the living" (Matt. 22:31, 32). 
 
 Abimelech calls Abraham to account for calling 
 Sarah his sister, and then Abraham explains to Abime- 
 lech that what he said is true. "And Abimelech said 
 unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done 
 this thing? And Abraham said, Because I thought, 
 
100 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will 
 slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my 
 sister; she is the daughter of my Father, but not the 
 daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." 
 The fear of God is not in any place where the people 
 are sensuous and carnal; the carnally minded may 
 pretend to be religious, but in truth their religion is a 
 mockery ; they are dead to God. " God is the God of the 
 living, and not of the dead. " " Indeed she is my sister; 
 she is the daughter of my Father, but not the daughter 
 of^my mother." This figure of speech is beautiful, 
 sublime, and most edifying. It affirms the Fatherhood 
 of God, and the brotherhood of man. "Have we not 
 all One Father? Has not One God created us all?" 
 (Mai. 2: lo). ''Call no man your father upon the 
 earth; for One is your Father, which is in heaven" 
 (Matt. 23: 9). 
 
 "And unto Sarah Abimelech said. Behold, I have 
 given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, 
 he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto aU that are 
 with thee, and with all other; thus she was reproved." 
 Why was Abraham a covering of the eyes to all that 
 knew him? God is apprehended through the Mind's 
 eye. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see 
 God. " When the eyes are covered, when the eyes are 
 no longer enamored of the things of the sensuous world, 
 then it is that one comes to realize the power and glory 
 of the unseen. "We look not at the things which are 
 seen, but at the things which are not seen ' * (2 Cor. 4:18). 
 Abraham, like all the great, made manifest in his own 
 life the power and glory of God and thus sought by 
 life and word to turn the eyes of- men from the seen, 
 to the contemplation of the unseen. Abraham was a 
 covering to the eyes of all who knew him, and "thus 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew loi 
 
 was Sarah reproved." Abraham's life was, and is, a 
 reproof to all whose mental vision is set upon outward 
 things. The true office of the mind is the improvement 
 of the soul, the permanent, the abiding, the eternal. 
 The world is filled with "greedy dogs which can never 
 have enough. They all look to their own way, every 
 one for his gain." (Isa. 56: 11). Pew indeed have 
 covered their eyes, few indeed have turned from the 
 pursuit of sensuous pleasures and things, and sought to 
 look inward, and to know something of the nature of 
 the human soul; few indeed, like Abraham of old, have 
 sought to make their souls perfect before God and man. 
 "For it is said there came a voice from heaven saying, 
 'Man know thyself.' Thus the proverb is still true, 
 ' Going out were never so good, but staying at home were 
 better.'" This is from a mysterious anon3mious book, 
 Theologia Germanica, that emphasizes the importance 
 of self-knowledge. 
 
 In the twenty-first chapter of Genesis is an account of 
 the birth of Isaac, and of his circumcision when eight 
 days old. Seven, like the number three, indicates a 
 period, or epoch, wherein a work is accomplished, 
 wherein a work has attained to fulfillmeht. "Behold, I 
 cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, 
 and the third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 13: 32). 
 The eighth day, the day of circumcision, indicates 
 the commencement of a new period; it indicates the 
 beginning of a new state. Circumcision on the eighth 
 day certifies the regeneration of the parents, and pre- 
 figures the regeneration of the child. Isaac is the child 
 of promise; he is the child o^ regenerate parents; he is 
 the child of the most fit. "Isaac is counted for the 
 seed" (Gen. 21: 12; Rom. 9: 8). The children of the 
 virtuous, the just, the pure in heart, the most fit, ia a 
 
102 The Law of Human Life 
 
 word, the regenerate are the seed whereby all mankind 
 are to be reformed. All the regenerate are Jews, or 
 IsraeUtes, according to the Scriptures. "He is a Jew, 
 which is one inwardly ' ' (Rom. 2:29). Salvation is of the 
 regenerate. "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4: 22). 
 The regenerate are "a pecuHar treasure tmto God above 
 all people" (Ex. 19; 5). The regenerate are God's 
 appointed teachers. "But unto the wicked God saith, 
 What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that 
 thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth? See- 
 ing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words be- 
 hind thee" (Ps. 50: 16; Dan. 12: 10). Every sensualist 
 "casteth the words of God behind him. " 
 
 "And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian 
 mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out 
 the bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bond- 
 woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." 
 The bondwoman and her son represent a mind and 
 heart set upon the things of the world; the free woman 
 and her son, the regenerate woman and her son, repre- 
 sent a mind and heart divorced from the spirit of the 
 world. Religion is founded upon the idea that there is 
 a Spiritual Kingdom that transcends the animal king- 
 dom of the world; and they that would inherit the 
 higher kingdom, must live above the spirit of the animal 
 world. The carnally minded man, the mocker, whose 
 hand is against every man does not inherit the Kingdom 
 of God. "Blessed are the poor in spirit"; blessed are 
 they that are depleted of the spirit of the world; "for 
 their inheritance is the Kingdom of heaven." "Ye have 
 mocked at the counsel of the poor in spirit, because he 
 putteth his trust in the Lord" (Ps. 14: 6). 
 
 "The son of the' bondwoman shall not be heir with 
 my son, even with Isaac." This is the Law; it is the 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 103 
 
 imperative command of heaven. None but the just, 
 none but the regenerate, none but they who have cast 
 out the bondwoman and her son, none but they who 
 live above the spirit of the world, inherit the kingdom of 
 heaven. Jesus said to his disciples: "Because ye are 
 not of the world, the world hateth you" Qohn 15: 19). 
 John Nelson, John Wesley's faithful friend, when told 
 that religion might interfere with his business, said: 
 "I told them I had reason to bless God that ever John 
 Wesley was bom, for by hearing him I was made sen- 
 sible that my business in this world is to get well out of 
 it; and as for my trade, health, wisdom, and all things 
 in this world, they are no blessings to me, any further 
 than as so many instruments to help me, by the grace 
 of God, to work out my salvation, " 
 
 "And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a 
 well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently 
 taken away," This well is evidently a symbol of 
 knowledge. It seems that Abraham digged many wells 
 which the sensuous Philistines filled with earth (Gen. 
 26: 15, 18). Abraham presented Abimelech with three 
 varieties of gifts: sheep, and oxen, and seven ewe lambs 
 which he sent by themselves. Three and seven are 
 numbers that ordinarily mean perfection when thus 
 used. Abraham is a teacher, a master, a dispenser of 
 the waters of life; his life is an illustration of the way of 
 life. He is a type of the perfect man. " I am Almighty 
 God; walk before me, and be thou perfect " (Gen. 17 : i). 
 "When Abimelech asked Abraham why he sent the seven 
 ewe lambs as a separate offering, Abraham answered, 
 "that they may be a witness unto me, that I have 
 digged this well" [that I am a teacher of truth, that I 
 am a dispenser of the waters of life]. The seven ewe 
 lambs are a symbol, it would seem, of wisdom and of a 
 
104 The Law of Human Life 
 
 pure heart; and they also suggest the good offices of 
 friendship and peace. There is no abiding peace for 
 man aside from character. The best possible evidence 
 that one has digged wells of knowledge is that he can 
 freely, charitably, and justly dispense the waters of Ufe 
 to all, even to those who would violently take them 
 away, or fill them with earth. 
 
 "Abraham called the place Beersheba [the well of 
 the oath]; because there they sware both of them." 
 Abraham and Abimelech take the oath of good fellow- 
 ship, of peace, at the well of knowledge; they mutually 
 agree to deal justly with each other, and with the 
 descendants of each other (Gen. 21: 23, 24). At this 
 well mankind enter into an eternal covenant, a cove- 
 nant never to be broken. Abraham, like all the great, 
 was a prince of peace. *' Blessed are the peacemakers; 
 for they shall be called the children of God." William 
 Ellery Channing, in his famous lecture on the godlike 
 Fenelon, said: **The word which Fenelon has most 
 frequently used to express the happiness to which the 
 mind ascends by the supreme love of God, is 'peace,' 
 perhaps the most expressive which language affords. 
 We fear, however, that its fuU import is not always 
 received. " These symbols are not history, though they 
 appear in the garb of history. They are essentially 
 psychological; they deal with principles. History deals 
 with events in time; religion with the unseen, the eternal. 
 
 In the twenty-second chapter of Genesis it is written 
 that God did tempt Abraham: "And he said, Take now 
 thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and 
 get thee into the land of Moriah [the land that Jehovah 
 has provided, or chosen for the just]; and offer him 
 there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains 
 which I will tell thee of." It appears that Abraham 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 105 
 
 proceeded promptly to execute this divine command; 
 for it is said that he rose up early in the morning, and 
 saddled his ass, and took two young men, and Isaac, and 
 wood for the burnt offering, and went unto the place 
 of which God had told him. The domestic ass is a 
 faithftd and patient beast of burden, and is a symbol of 
 obedience and service; on the contrary, the horse is the 
 symbol of war, and pomp, and unrestraint; and thus it 
 is that the man of God is represented as riding upon an 
 ass (Zech. 9:9); and the man of war upon a horse (Isa. 
 31:1). 
 
 I The story of the sacrifice of Isaac is the story of the 
 sacrifice that every human being must make who would 
 attain to the land of Moriah, the land of rest and peace. 
 "The land of Moriah" is a symbolic expression de- 
 scriptive of a high and holy state of consciousness; a 
 state immune from the trouble of the world. ''In the 
 world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; 
 I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). "Offer 
 Isaac for a burnt offering," "Thine only [legitimate] 
 son, whom thou lovest. " The Scriptures would have us 
 believe that Abraham loved Isaac more than he loved 
 his own life. The sacrifice of Isaac could only mean the 
 sacrifice of his body; the sacrifice of his earthly nature; 
 his soul was immune from the ravages of fire. "Offer 
 [the body of] Isaac for a burnt offering." What does 
 this mean? It means the sacrifice of every earthly 
 consideration; it means the sacrifice of the animal 
 nature of man. This is the price, the condition of hiunan 
 salvation. "Nor will I offer burnt offerings of that 
 which doth cost me nothing" (2 Sam. 24: 24). The 
 proffered sacrifice of Isaac is a symbol descriptive of 
 the crowning act of salvation, to wit: the overcoming of 
 the world. "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the 
 
io6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 world. " In this story, Abraham is represented as rising 
 to the very zenith of human greatness. 
 
 God draws a cloud over each gleaming mom. 
 
 Would we ask why? 
 It is because all noble things are bom 
 
 In agony. 
 Only upon some cross of pain or woe 
 
 God's son may lie; 
 Each soul redeemed from self and sin must know 
 
 Its Calvary. 
 
 Frances Power Cobbe. 
 
 "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, 
 and saw the place afar off" (Gen. 22: 4), "Behold, I 
 cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, 
 and the third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 13: 32). 
 Jesus, it seems, referred to the "third day," as "my 
 day." "Your father Abraham saw my day, and re- 
 joiced" (John 8: 56). In the Scriptures, Man's sojourn 
 upon earth is often spoken of as "three days." This is 
 illustrated in the life of Moses. Moses was forty years 
 in Egypt, this was his first day; he was forty years in 
 the wilderness, his second day; and his resurrection 
 from the dead at Horeb marked the commencement of 
 the "third day" of his life on earth. They who are 
 resurrected from the dead, while living in the world, are 
 destined to "bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9: 28; Isa. 
 53: 11). During the last day, the third day, of Moses' 
 life on earth, the sins of Israel were laid upon him. 
 "Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me" 
 (Num. II: II, 12). This is the fate of the prophet 
 (Ezek. 4: 4-6) ; this is evidently the fate of all who have 
 attained to the third day, and are employed in the 
 final work of overcoming the world. "I have glorified 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 107 
 
 thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou 
 gavest me to do" (John 17: 4). "To bear our sins" is 
 to sustain temptations. They alone are great who are 
 able to withstand any and all temptations. "Remem- 
 ber how God tried Abraham, and how He tried Isaac, 
 and what happened to Jacob; for he hath not tried us 
 in the fire, as He did them" (Judith 8: 26). 
 
 On the "third day, " man is said "to put away sin by 
 the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9: 26). The story of the 
 sacrifice of Isaac is the story of Abraham's great tempta- 
 tion. "It is appointed unto man once to die [to the 
 world], but after this the judgment," the crisis, the 
 great temptation (Heb. 9: 27). They who have at- 
 tained to the third day, they who have overcome the 
 world, they who are consciously related to the Kingdom 
 of God, have attained to "the end of the world" (Heb. 
 9: 26). To die to this world, to die to the animal 
 kingdom, is to be bom into the spiritual kingdom. The 
 son of man, the mind, must be lifted up, if he would see 
 and know the godlike possibilities of man, and the 
 glory of God's Kingdom, "Verily I say unto you, 
 there are some standing here, which shall not taste of 
 death, till they see the son of man coming in his king- 
 dom" (Matt. 16: 28). Jesus is here represented as 
 addressing his disciples. He tells them how foolish and 
 unprofitable is a selfish, worldly life, then in splendid 
 Oriental phrase, he describes the glory that attends 
 him who is consciously related to the Kingdom of God 
 (Matt. 16: 24-28). 
 
 Jesus made himself identical with the spiritual 
 kingdom, which transcends the animal kingdom of this 
 world. "He said unto the Jews: Ye are from beneath; 
 I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this 
 world" Qohn 8: 23). Jesus tells the Jews that, when 
 
io8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 their minds are lifted up above the things of the sensu- 
 ous world and are related to the higher kingdom, they 
 will then know the truth concerning him. "Then said 
 Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the son of man 
 [when ye have lifted up your own minds], then shall 
 ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself; 
 but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things" 
 (John 8: 28). They who are related to the Kingdom of 
 God are the conscious organs of the Holy Spirit; they 
 are taught of their Father. "Holy men of God spake 
 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter i : 21 ; 
 Luke 1 : 70), The prophets are they who speak in God's 
 name (Dan. 9: 6; 2 Chron. 36: 15, 16; Neh. 9: 30). The 
 Scriptures unqualifiedly teach that there is a stage in 
 the moral progress of man, when he is entitled to speak, 
 and does speak in God's name; or, in other phrase, 
 there is a stage in the evolution of the soul of man when 
 the Holy Spirit speaks through him. "The hour is 
 coming when all who are in the graves [when all who 
 are in the sensuous state] shall hear my voice, and shall 
 come forth, they that have done good to the resurrec- 
 tion of life; and they that have done evil unto the 
 resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do 
 nothing: as I hear [as I am led of the Spirit], I judge, and 
 mine own judgment is just ; because I seek not mine own 
 will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" 
 (John 5: 28-30). The damnation that man suffers 
 when he is resurrected out of a state of carnality and 
 death into a state of spirituality and life, is measured 
 by the evil that he has done. "But ye can call to 
 remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were 
 illtimined, ye endured great and divers afflictions" 
 (Heb. 10: 32). 
 
 "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 109 
 
 and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in 
 his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them 
 together. And Isaac said, Behold the fire and the wood : 
 but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And 
 Abraham said. My son, God will provide Himself a 
 lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both of them 
 together. " The wood of the burnt offering is laid upon 
 Isaac. What does the wood represent? It represents 
 the sacrifice that man must make would he attain to 
 the Kingdom of God; it represents his animal and 
 worldly nature. The animal nature of man, like the 
 wood that is laid upon the altar, is doomed to sacrifice. 
 Man is not consciously related to the higher kingdom 
 till he has sacrificed the lower. All evil in man is 
 traceable to his animal nature. The iniquities of Israel 
 were laid upon the head of a goat, a symbol descriptive 
 of the carnal nature of the soul of unregenerate man. 
 These symbols are true to human nature; they are 
 scientific, "My kingdom is not of this world; if my 
 kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
 fight" (John 18:36). 
 
 "And Abraham took the fire in his hand, and a 
 knife. " The fire in Abraham's hand is a symbol of the 
 Holy Spirit, of that which purifies, and chastens, and 
 disciplines. The soul of man, the daughter of Zion, is 
 purged of its filth "by the spirit of judgment, and by the 
 spirit of burning" (Isa. 4:4). It would seem that the 
 knife in Abraham's hand is a sjmabol of justice. A 
 knife or a sword, in the hand of a master, is a symbol 
 of heaven's justice and judgment- " I come not to send 
 peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10: 34). Abraham, like 
 all the great, has attained to "the third day," the day 
 of judgment. "It is appointed unto man once to die 
 [to the world], but after this the judgment," the crisis 
 
no The Law of Human Life 
 
 or great temptation (Heb. 9: 27). They who have 
 attained to the third day, they who are resurrected 
 from the dead, are masters. They belong to "an un- 
 changeable priesthood," a priesthood "after the order 
 of Melchisedec" (Heb. 7: 11, 24; Gen. 14: 18, 19). 
 The masters are they who are led and taught of God; 
 and thus they are said to "live in His sight." "After 
 two days will he revive us; in the third day He will 
 raise us up, and we shall live in His sight" (Hosea 6:2). 
 They who have died to the world; they whom God hath 
 revived; they who have attained to the "third day," 
 are the teachers and masters of mankind; they are the 
 religious teachers "both of the dead and the living" 
 (Rom, 14: 9). The wood, the fire, the knife, and the 
 lamb are the insignia of the master. The faithful 
 disciple must needs follow his master bearing the 
 sacrificial fuel, "And whosoever doth not bear his 
 cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" 
 (Luke 14:27, 33). "So they went both of them to- 
 gether." 
 
 "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide 
 Himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both 
 of them together," The Lord God Almighty and the 
 Lamb, Love and Truth, Life and Light: these are One, 
 They do not imply a divided homage. God alone is 
 the true object of human worship; but it is impossible 
 that man should honor God without honoring his own 
 mentality. "He that honoreth not the son [his own 
 mind], honoreth not the Father which hath sent him" 
 (John 5: 23). When man is faithful to the Light that 
 God has given him, it is impossible that he should be 
 unfaithful to God or man. This is beautifully phrased 
 in the blessing, the farewell benediction of Polonius to 
 his son Laertes: 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew m 
 
 This above all — ^to thine own self be true; 
 And it must follow, as the night the day, 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man. 
 
 It is written that when Abraham was in the act of 
 sacrificing Isaac, that he was commanded to desist. 
 " Lay not thine hand upon the lad ; for now I know that 
 thou fearest God. . . . And Abraham lifted up his 
 eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught 
 in a thicket by his horns: And Abraham went and took 
 the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in the 
 stead of his son. " The ram, or the lamb, is the symbol 
 of mentality. "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a 
 male of the first year" (Ex. 12: 5; i Peter i: 19). 
 "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
 of the world" (John i: 29). Behold, a man who has 
 attained to the "third day." Behold, a Mind that is 
 lifted above the things of the sensuous world. Behold, a 
 Man, a Mind, which sacrifices every earthly considera- 
 tion in the cause of truth and justice and human salva- 
 tion. Behold, the righteous servant of God wjio shall 
 bear the iniquities, "the sins of many" (Heb. 9: 28; 
 Isa. 53: II; Num. 11: ii;Ezek. 4:6). 
 
 "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide 
 Himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both 
 of them together." The mind, according to the sym- 
 bolism of the Scriptures, is masculine, as the heart is 
 feniinine. The burnt offering is a male without blemish 
 (Lev. 1:3). The lambs of God, the saviors of mankind 
 who sacrifice all worldly things in the cause of truth and 
 justice, are lambs without blemish. The Lambs of God 
 are they who "have suffered in the flesh [and have 
 overcome the world] and have ceased from sin" (i 
 Peter 4: i). They come bearing the knife, the sword, 
 
112 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of heaven's unerring justice; they make no compromise 
 with evil. They "cast fire upon the earth" (Luke 
 12: 49); they "set men at variance" (Matt. 10:35). 
 They that have attained to "the third day," they who 
 have overcome the world, are prophets all. Abraham, 
 like all the great, is a prophet (Gen. 20: 7). 
 
 "So they went both of them together." The story 
 of Abraham and Isaac, as told in the twenty-second 
 chapter of Genesis, is the story of the Master and His 
 disciple. The Master leads the way; He ascends the 
 mount of salvation with the knife and the fire; he 
 represents the justice and judgment of heaven; and 
 His disciple attends him bearing the sacrificial fuel. 
 "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all 
 that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14: 
 33). This story is true to human nature. Man 
 does not willingly and of his own volition forsake 
 the things of the world. Some impulsion, word, or 
 circumstance; something that impels, is necessary to 
 lead man to forsake the world; for it is said that Abra- 
 ham "botmd Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar 
 upon the wood"; and it is also written that the ram 
 that Abraham offered up for a burnt offering in the 
 stead of his son was " caught in a thicket by his horns " ; 
 and thus reason, represented by the ram, is silent and 
 resisting the sacrifice. It is written, that Jesus came 
 upon Simon Peter and John and James, fishermen, 
 when they were washing their nets; and that he said 
 unto Simon, "Launch out into the deep, and let down 
 your nets for a draught." It is said that they caught 
 a multitude of fishes, enough to fill two ships. "When 
 Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying. 
 Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For 
 he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the 
 
The Story of Abraham, the Hebrew 113 
 
 draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so 
 was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which 
 were partners with Simon. . . . And when they had 
 brought their ships to land, they forsook all^ and followed 
 him" (Luke 5: 5-1 1). 
 
 When Jesus said unto Simon, "Launch out into the 
 deep, and let down your nets for a draught, Simon 
 answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all 
 night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word 
 I will let down the net." Simon is incredulous; his 
 faith is weak; but obedience to the word of the Master 
 prostrates and humbles him. Men are slow to launch 
 out into the deep; they are slow to make sacrifices for 
 truth and justice; they hesitate to obey the Master; 
 and as a result they toil in darkness, and take nothing, 
 or, at most, what they take is destined to perish, and 
 come to naught. The Master is he that stands to 
 sacrifice every earthly consideration in the cause of 
 truth and justice; the Master is he that teaches men the 
 way of perfection. "I am the Almighty God, walk 
 before Me, and be thou perfect." 
 
 The good are friends of God and man; 
 The truly good do all they can. 
 They sacrifice for all the race; 
 And thus they win the higher place. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ISAAC. THE STORY OF THE IDEAL FATHER, MOTHER, 
 AND CHILD 
 
 "In Isaac shall thy seed be called*' (Rom. 9: 7). 
 
 IN the seventeenth chapter of Genesis, it is written 
 that Abram's name is changed to Abraham. 
 ''Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, 
 but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many 
 nations have I made thee.*' Sarai's name is changed 
 to Sarah. *'I will bless her, and she shall be the 
 mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her." 
 In the story of Abraham and Sarah, we read of the 
 ideal and regenerate father and mother. They were 
 disciplined and chastened; they were made perfect 
 by suffering; they came out of Egypt; "And Abram 
 went out of Egypt, he and his wife" (Gen. 13:1). 
 They abandoned the sensuous life; before their names 
 were changed they were in the Gentile state; and when 
 they became Israelites in their hearts they were given 
 new names. "That which is natural is first; and after- 
 wards that which is spiritual." Abram had a son by 
 an Egyptian woman, a bondwoman, whose hand was 
 against every man. The son of the natural man is a 
 Gentile; and is bom into the world "like a wild ass's 
 colt" (Job 11: 12). 
 Abram and Sarai were faithful; they abandoned 
 
 114 
 
The Story of Isaac 115 
 
 Egypt; they planted themselves vineyards; they culti- 
 vated domestic grapes, and suffered no wild grapes to 
 grow in their vineyards (Isa. 5: 1-5). In a word, they 
 cultivated the virtues, and prevailed with God. They 
 were inspirational, and prophetic. God was not hid 
 from them. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing 
 which I do?" seeing that he will command those of 
 his household "to do justice and judgment" (Gen. 
 18:17, 19)- Their new names were formed out of 
 their old ones; the natural man in the process of evolu- 
 tion becomes the spiritual man. They are not to be 
 remembered by what they were in their primitive state, 
 but by what they were in their regenerate state. ' ' They 
 shall no more be remembered by their [old] names" 
 (Hosea2: 17). 
 
 "The kings of people shall be of Sarah." Why is 
 Sarah called the mother of kings? She is resurrected 
 from the dead; she has attained to great perfection of 
 character. She is the mother of the regenerate, of a 
 royal race. She is the ideal mother; she is the mother 
 of them who are fit to rule. ' * Behold, thy King cometh 
 unto thee; he is just and lowly; and he points the way 
 of salvation; and cometh riding upon an ass" (Zech. 
 9:9). They who have attained to self-mastery; they 
 who are just in mind and in heart are the kings of 
 Israel. "We have heard that the kings of the house 
 of Israel are merciful kings" (i Kings 20: 31). Joseph 
 "ruled over all the land of Egypt." The people said 
 of Abraham: "Thou art a king from God among us" 
 (Gen, 23: 6). "Where is he that is bom King of the 
 Jews?" (Matt. 2:2). 
 
 He who feeds men serveth few. 
 He serveth all who dare be true. 
 
 Emerson. 
 
ii6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Abraham is the father of two races, two nations: 
 Ishmael represents the Gentiles, the first in time; and 
 Isaac, the Israelites, the last born in time, but the 
 first-bom in power. "For they are not all Israelites, 
 which are of Israel : Neither because they are the seed 
 of Abraham, are they all children: but in Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called'* (Rom. 9:6, 7). The legitimate 
 children of Abraham are not represented in the fierce 
 and rebellious Ishmael, but in those who have fled the 
 carnal life, in those who have abandoned the Egyptian 
 life, in those who live the calm and peaceful life of 
 the meditative Isaac. "In Isaac shall Abraham's seed 
 be called." The things that are said to have happened 
 to Abraham, like the things which are told of this 
 or that patriarch, or prophet, are not given as mere 
 matters of history, but they are given in fact to illus- 
 trate principles. "All these things happened unto 
 them for types, and they are written for our admoni- 
 tion by those who have attained to the end of the 
 world/' who have overcome the world (i Cor. 10: 11). 
 Abraham prays for the redemption of his first-bom son. 
 "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might 
 live before Thee" (Gen. 17:18). According to the 
 Scriptures, every unregenerate person, though born a 
 Jew, is a Gentile; and every regenerate person, though 
 born a Gentile, is an Israelite. "He is a Jew who is one 
 inwardly" (Rom. 2 : 29). 
 
 "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, 
 one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But 
 he who was of the bondwoman [an Egyptian] was 
 born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by 
 promise" (Gal. 4:22, 23). He who is bom after the 
 flesh is an Egyptian; but he who is born of the spirit 
 is an Israelite. Ishmael represents the Egyptian 
 
The Story of Isaac 117 
 
 state of consciousness, the primitive state of man. 
 "I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles" (Acts 22: 
 21). "Israel is a people near unto God" (Ps. 148: 14). 
 The Israelite, the Jew, or the Hebrew is the name of 
 him who has fled Egypt, and lives in the promised land; 
 he is one who is born of a free woman; and lives in the 
 land of freedom; and because of his regeneracy he is 
 "near unto God." '*Por indeed I was stolen away 
 [says Joseph] out of the land of the Hebrews: and here 
 also have I done nothing that should put me into the 
 dungeon" (Gen. 40: 15). Joseph was not hopeless in 
 bondage, because he knew the "way out." The bond- 
 age that constitutes one an Egyptian is the bondage of 
 the soul; it is the bondage that comes of carnality- 
 Joseph attained to great perfection of life; he was a 
 master in Israel; though he lived in Egypt, he was 
 superior to the sensuous and carnal life of its people; 
 he was a "ruler over all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 41 : 
 43). The regenerate are they who live superior to the 
 sensuous spirit of the world; "they rule over all the 
 land of Egypt." 
 
 Is the moral development of man fortuitous, capri- 
 cious, accidental? Is the evolution of the human 
 soul, the most important thing under Heaven, uncon- 
 trolled by fixed principles? Are the marvelous alle- 
 gories and parables associated with the lives of the 
 patriarchs and prophets mere matters of history? 
 It is submitted that the Scriptures announce principles. 
 Therefore, let the moralist disengage them from the 
 passing, the local, and the temporary; and point out 
 the universal and the eternal. The aim and end of 
 Science is the discovery of principles. Is there an 
 orderly sequence? What is the Law? Science teaches 
 that the processes of nature are orderly; and flays 
 
ii8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 without mercy any teacher or institution which affirms 
 the contrary. Science is the avowed enemy of the 
 fortuitous and arbitrary. Science is revealed in orderly 
 knowledge; and such knowledge is necessarily grounded 
 in principles. Man's regeneration is psychological be- 
 cause it has to do with the soul's evolution. Since 
 all human souls are made after the same divine pattern, 
 "the pattern shown Moses on the mount," it follows 
 as a matter of course, that nothing is sure for me, or 
 for you, except that which is equally sure for every 
 other human being. Reason, as the Greek philoso- 
 phers have said, demands a pou sto, a settled point, 
 a fixed point of observation. *'0 my God, who art 
 always the same, let me know myself, and I shall 
 know thee." This is said to have been a favorite saying 
 of St. Augustine. 
 
 All who are enamored of the pomp and splendor of 
 the world, and live the carnal life are, according to 
 the symbolism of the Scriptures, Gentiles, Egyptians ; 
 they are so denominated because they are sensuous and 
 materialistic; and not because they belong to this 
 or that nationality. They who have abandoned the 
 carnal life, the virtuous and just, are in contemplation 
 of the Scriptures, Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews; these 
 names are synonymous and should not be used arbitra- 
 rily. "He is a Jew who is one inwardly." ""Salvation 
 is of the Jews" (John 4: 22). "Who are Israelites; to 
 whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the 
 covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service 
 of God, and the promises?" (Rom. 9:4). "I have set 
 thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldst 
 be for salvation to the ends of the earth" (Acts 13 : 47; 
 Isa. 49:6). Man is the organ of salvation to the 
 extent that he is just. To the extent that man is the 
 
The Story of Isaac 119 
 
 organ of the Holy Spirit, he possesses within himself 
 an explanation of what he sees; and is, therefore, "a 
 light to the Gentiles." 
 
 Professor James, called the "unchallenged veteran 
 leader of American psychology and philosophy" 
 defmes psychology briefly: "The description and ex- 
 planation of the states of consciousness as such." 
 Abraham and Sarah have attained to a high degree of 
 moral perfection ; and they are the parents of a son who 
 is a fit representative of a state of consciousness trans- 
 cending that prefigured in Ishmael, the son of the 
 bondwoman. Frederick W. Robertson, the famous 
 clergyman of Brighton, when describing the qualities 
 that inhere in the poet said: "Every great poet is a 
 double-natured man; with the feminine and manly 
 powers in harmonious union; having the tact, and 
 sympathy, and the intuition, and the tenderness of 
 woman, with the breadth and m^issiveness of the manly 
 intellect, besides the calm justice which is almost ex- 
 clusively masculine." 
 
 Sarah acts in obedience to the lordly virtues of 
 Abraham. "Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him 
 lord" (i Peter 3:6); and in turn Abraham is to 
 "hearken to the voice of Sarah, for in Isaac shall thy 
 seed be called" (Gen, 21: 12), The heart is the life 
 center. "Eve is the mother of all life." The offices 
 of the heart are quite as consequential as those of the 
 head. "For in Isaac shall thy seed be called." This 
 suggests a verse from Tennyson, In Memoriam, which 
 we have taken the liberty slightly to change; perhaps 
 the true inward meaning of Tennyson is not changed 
 at all. 
 
 Let knowledge grow from more to more; 
 But more of reverence in us dwell. 
 
120 The Law of Human Life 
 
 That head and heart, according well. 
 May make one music as before, 
 But vaster. 
 
 Religion consists not in a prbfessed belief in this 
 or that dogma, but in greatness of mind and heart; it 
 is represented in the united perfections of the masculine 
 and the feminine, in the unity of the hemispheres of 
 being. The feminine, or maternal, in human character 
 is represented in calmness, passivity, and receptivity; 
 the masculine, or the paternal in activity, invention, 
 and construction. The story of Isaac teaches that 
 regenerate parents may and do become the progenitors 
 of a virtuous lineage; that the evolution of a royal 
 race is the result of a chaste and virtuous parentage. 
 That like begets like. The Egyptians, the "children 
 of the flesh are not the children of God" (Rom. 9:8); 
 they do not know God because they are carnally minded. 
 To be carnally minded is to be in a state of death, 
 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 
 
 Isaac is the child of promise; he is so because of 
 the superiority of his parents. His predicted birth is 
 a source of unspeakable joy to his father and mother; 
 and his advent into the world is most welcome. His 
 name is not changed, because he is the flower of virtue. 
 "Thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish 
 my covenant with him, and with his seed after him." 
 The Spirit of God is made manifest in the lives of the 
 just; "I will establish My covenant with him." What 
 figure could more perfectly represent the consequences 
 incident to the paternal and maternal relation? Men 
 and women, would they be virtuous, can be instruments 
 of righteousness to remote generations, and friends 
 of God and man; but with the abandonment of virtue, 
 
The Story of Isaac 121 
 
 they can and do become the instruments of prostitu- 
 tion, sin, and death, and enemies of God and man. 
 The covenant of God is with the just. Joseph Cook 
 in a Monday lecture in Boston said: Extinction is 
 before the wicked. ' * God puts an end to an incorrigibly 
 wicked family in this world.'* ''Blessed are the meek: 
 for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5). 
 
 The story of Abraham, and of Sarah, and of Isaac is 
 the story of the ideal father, mother, and child. Abra- 
 ham and Sarah are given new names before Isaac is 
 bom; they are regenerate; they are related to the 
 Kingdom of God; therefore, Isaac is the child of pro- 
 mise, "The children of the promise are counted for 
 the seed*' (Rom. 9:8), Isaac is the perfect child, 
 the child without blemish, the seed of the royal race; 
 because of the spiritual attainment of his parents, he 
 is predisposed to virtue from his earliest childhood. 
 "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight 
 days old." Circumcision in its inward sense certifies 
 to the regeneracy of the parents and prefigures the 
 regeneracy of the child. 
 
 "Ishmael is bom after the flesh"; he is bom before 
 his father's name is changed; he is the son of an Egyp- 
 tian woman, of a bondwoman. His hand is against 
 every man; he is a Gentile; but on reaching the age of 
 discretion, he chooses to become an Israelite. "Ish- 
 mael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised; 
 and in the selfsame day was Abraham circimicised" 
 (Gen. 17:26). 
 
 "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham 
 made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned ' ' 
 (Gen. 21:8). Since the Scriptures are intended to 
 announce, and do announce principles, we believe that 
 the language just quoted is intended to describe a 
 
122 The Law of Human Life 
 
 deep truth incident to human nature. This conclusion 
 would seem obvious from what is said in the verses 
 which immediately follow. Sarah saw the son of 
 Hagar, the Egyptian, mocking. She said unto Abra- 
 ham, Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son 
 of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son. 
 Abraham made a great feast not because Isaac was 
 weaned from his mother's breast, but for the reason 
 that the mother gives to the soul its body of flesh and 
 blood. The heart is the life center. "Eve is the 
 mother of all life." It is the mother that builds 
 the tabernacle, the house of life. "The Lord make the 
 woman that is come into thy house like Rachel and like 
 Leah, which two did build the house of Israel "(Ruth 
 4: 11). Good and holy mothers are they who build 
 the houses of Israel. What a glorious and godly race 
 of people would be upon this earth were men and 
 women obedient to the heaven descended ideals of 
 ancient Israel. 
 
 Nothing can be more potential to relate men and 
 women to God, the source of all life and truth and love 
 and beauty and wisdom than so to live as to be the 
 parents of children who are absolutely without blemish. 
 Think of the deaf, and dumb, and blind, and idiotic, 
 and misshapen that come into the world due to the 
 prostitution and sin of men and women. "Evil is evil 
 because it is unnatural." God is apprehended as pure 
 mentality. Reason is spiritual; therefore, aU sinning 
 is against God. Joseph when tempted of Potiphar's 
 wife said: "How can I do this great wickedness, and 
 sin against God?" When the prophet Nathan tells 
 David to his face that he has been guilty of gross 
 infidelity, David confesses his guilt: "I have sinned 
 against the Lord." The Scriptures tell us that he 
 
The Story of Isaac 123 
 
 who violates chastity shall bring upon his mind and 
 the affections of his heart paralysis and death. *'If 
 thou restore her not, know that thou shalt surely die, 
 thou, and all that are thine" (Gen. 20: 7). The mind 
 and the feelings and affections "are all that are thine." 
 Let men and women beware lest they eat the forbidden 
 fruit- '*For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou 
 shalt surely die" (Gen, 2: 17), Nothing can be truer 
 to human nature, than the allegory of Adam, Eve, 
 and the serpent; Adam, mind; Eve, the heart, the 
 affections; and the serpent, the carnal appetites; Eve 
 is tempted of the serpent, and Eve in turn tempts 
 Adam; and thus it is that the soul of man sacrifices 
 Paradise, communion with God, and falls under the 
 sentence of death. 
 
 The feminine qualities prevail during early child- 
 hood; the feelings and the emotions are active; the 
 child is easily moved to tears or anger; the child often 
 senses conditions of which the adult person is entirely 
 oblivious; he knows what he ought or ought not to do 
 by instinct, or intuition, rather than by any process of 
 reason; but if the child be descended of a virtuous and 
 noble lineage, then it may be that the masculine qualities 
 will be early developed. Such a child at a surprisingly 
 early age may reason with accuracy, and show the 
 most marked regard for truth and justice. "And 
 Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, mocking." 
 He who lives in the Egyptian state of consciousness is 
 a mocker of virtue; piety to him is foolishness; mercy 
 is weakness. To him cupidity is genius, and cruelty is 
 courage. The bondwoman and her son represent a 
 mind and heart in a state of carnal bondage, in a state 
 of obsession to the passing shows of the world. Sarah 
 is imperative, for she said unto Abraham, "Cast out 
 
124 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the bondwoman and her son : for the son of the bond- 
 woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." 
 Carnal mind is at enmity with God. It is animalized 
 mind; it is a mocker of spiritual things. 
 
 Liberty or freedom is the opposite of bondage. The 
 carnally minded man thinks that liberty consists in 
 freedom of indulgence; nothing can be further from the 
 truth. Such freedom is an illusion; for its direction is 
 toward limitation and death. Freedom consists in the 
 elevation and enlargement of the individual life; it is 
 born of righteousness. There is but one liberty. It is 
 found in a sound mind and a virtuous heart; it can 
 only be found in a mind and heart absolutely free from 
 the obsessions of the world. "Blessed are the poor 
 in spirit'*; blessed are they who are depleted of the 
 spirit of the world. The blessings of heaven belong 
 to Isaac, the spiritually minded, the son of the free 
 woman. 
 
 "The son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with 
 my son, even with Isaac." The perishable inheritance 
 lasting for a day may pass to the mocking Ishmael, 
 but the inheritance that abideth eternity belongsto the 
 God-fearing Isaac. "And Abraham made a great 
 feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." This 
 statement, though on its face trivial, is profound. It 
 emphasizes the unspeakable importance of character 
 building. This was a joyous feast; it is the com- 
 memoration of the day when the divine possibilities 
 of a human soul are first made manifest. What day 
 is more worthy of commemoration than that in which 
 a righteous man and woman see their combined 
 virtues envisaged in their offspring? The first con- 
 sideration of individual life is perfection of character; 
 and the earliest revelation of virtuous principles in the 
 
The Story of Isaac 125 
 
 life of the child was a day of thanksgiving and joyftd 
 acclaim in ancient Israel. 
 
 It will be observed that Abraham cast out the bond- 
 woman and her son in the wilderness. The wilderness, 
 or desert life is much in evidence in the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures. It is the symbol of trial, of provocation, and of 
 suffering. It is descriptive of the way whereby the 
 soul of man is made perfect. 
 
 "We must through much tribulation enter into the 
 kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). All who would at- 
 tain to their true inheritance must abandon Egypt, 
 and go by the way of Sinai to the promised land; 
 this ordeal applies alike to all; it is the law. Man 
 is made perfect by suffering; so was Moses, so was 
 Elijah, and so was Jesus. Will it be contended 
 that any human soul can escape the operations 
 of the divine law that inhere in the soul itself, 
 and that determine the mode and manner of its 
 evolution? 
 
 Sarah, the princess, the Hebrew Minerva, the uni- 
 versal mother is true to the Law. She tells every 
 man that he must cast out the bondwoman and her 
 son, that his mind and heart must rise above sensuous 
 things, and that he must become her son if he would 
 inherit the blessings of heaven. Her son is the legiti- 
 mate son; he is made perfect under the law. Minerva 
 teaches man to sacrifice his animals (Prov. 9:2; Matt. 
 22:4; John 2: 15). The vestiges of animalism within 
 the soul itself, and which are adored and worshiped in 
 Egyptian life, must be driven out of the temple; "Those 
 mine enemies that would not that I should reign over 
 them, bring hither, and slay them before me" (Luke 
 19:26). Envy, falsehood, hate, malice, hypocrisy, 
 concupiscence, greed, and murder; the whole horde 
 
126 The Law of Human Life 
 
 must be driven out of the temple, or sacrificed upon its 
 altar. This is the Law. 
 
 We believe it was the late Henry George who said: 
 '*We know ourselves to be truly human only by 
 discovering and exercising super-animal traits." As 
 long as man is enamored of the sensuous, luxurious, 
 and animalized life of Egypt, he is a mocker of spiritual 
 things ; to him they are foolish ; he is dead to the spiritual ; 
 he is dead and in his grave and is awaiting resurrection, 
 according to the Scriptures (Ezek. 37: 12, 13; John 5: 
 28; Hosea 13: 14; Ps. 31 : 17; Dan, 12: 2; i Sam. 2: 9; 
 I John 5:16). Man will not live superior to his animal 
 traits until he is willing to sacrifice them; he must be 
 resurrected from a state of death; and he must be shown 
 the (Exodus) '*way out'* by a Moses, an Elijah, or a 
 Jesus; he must suffer the rigours of the Law. The 
 imperative command of the Law is: "Deny thyself, 
 take up thy cross, and follow me." The Israelite is he 
 who passes through the Red Sea; baptism with water 
 precedes baptism with fire; the fire descends at Sinai; 
 this law of sacrifice is given at Sinai; to them who 
 would worship the golden calf this ordeal is unbearable. 
 "And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, 
 and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest 
 we die." 
 
 In the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, it is written 
 that Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, 
 that ruled over all he had, "Put I pray thee, thy hand 
 under my thigh " ; and thus Abraham makes his servant 
 swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that 
 he shall not take a wife for Isaac of the daughters of 
 Canaan, but that he shall go hence, and take Isaac 
 a wife from among the Hebrews. Abraham's eldest 
 servant, ' ' that ruled over all that he had, " was evidently 
 
The Story of Isaac 127 
 
 a wise servant; for the wise employ the services of 
 the wise. Why was this servant made to take an oath 
 with his hand under the thigh of his master? Why are 
 the wise, the lowly, and the just represented as riding 
 upon asses? (Zech. 9:9; John 12: 15). The regnant 
 is above, the subservient is below. The domesticated 
 ass is the symbol of faithful and willing service, of 
 patience, and of obedience. When the servant of 
 Abraham put his hand under the thigh of his master, 
 he took the oath of fidelity and of obedience and of 
 loyalty. 
 
 Why all this care in selecting a wife for Isaac? 
 Why is this old and faithful servant made to take an 
 oath before God and man he will faithfully obey his 
 master, and select a wife for Isaac from among the 
 fairest and the best who then lived in the world? If 
 the virtues of Abraham and Sarah are to be perpetu- 
 ated to remote generations, will it not be because their 
 descendants are mated with the fittest? Is moral 
 development fortuitous, capricious, accidental? Moral 
 development is made manifest in justice. What is 
 justice? Plato tells us that Wisdom is the virtue of 
 the head, that it is the governing virtue; that Valor 
 is the virtue of the heart, that the pure in heart know 
 no fear; that Temperance is the virtue by which the 
 lower principle of the sotd is restrained and girded and 
 made subservient to wisdom; the regnant is above, the 
 subservient below; and that Justice is the all-inclusive 
 virtue, it represents the principles of the soul in unity, 
 in balance, in harmony; in a word, it represents the 
 soul's perfection. 
 
 We read in the Scriptures of a royal race, of a chosen 
 people, of the elect. Were such a people developed 
 by accident? It stands to reason that such a people 
 
128 The Law of Human Life 
 
 were developed by an orderly cultivation of the virtues, 
 by a strict adherence to principles. Moses Mendels- 
 sohn, the famous Jewish philosopher, in a letter to his 
 friend Johann Casper Lavater, in December, 1769, said: 
 
 I do not consider what should rivet me to a religion, to 
 appearances so excessively severe, and so commonly ex- 
 ploded, if I were not convinced in my heart of its truth, 
 . . . Yet of the essentials of my religion I am as firmly, as 
 irrefragably convinced, as ever you can be of yours. And 
 I herewith declare, in the presence of the God of truth, 
 your and my Creator and Supporter, by whom you conjure 
 me in yoiu: dedication, that I will adhere to my principles 
 so long as my entire soul does not assume another form. 
 
 The Hebrew Scriptures are very ancient, but being 
 true to human nature, they can in no event become 
 obsolete. The Scriptures are intended to explain, and 
 they do explain *'the Law that endureth forever" 
 (Baruch 4:1). The descendants of ancient Israel, or 
 the great mass of them, have not known the Law, and 
 have made little or no endeavor to live it, for many 
 centuries. The reason for this is apparent. The 
 soft, the luxurious, the sensuous, the Egyptian life, the 
 life of the worldly, is the life most comfortable to flesh; 
 but they of this life "are not the children of God'* 
 (Rom. 9:8). "They are not all Israelites, which are 
 of Israel," "Did not Moses give you the Law, and 
 yet none of you keepeth the Law?" (John 7:19)- 
 Mendelssohn did not know why he should be riveted 
 to a religion "so excessively severe," except that he 
 bejieved in his heart that it is true. The Law of 
 heaven is rigorous; it suffers no violation to go un- 
 punished; and moreover, it imperatively commands 
 every rational soul to abandon the sensuous life of 
 
The Story of Isaac 129 
 
 Egypt, and to flee into the desert, and to sacrifice his 
 animals. The psychology of the Scriptures is veiled. 
 "They shall take them captives, whose captives they 
 were, and they shall rule over their oppressors" (Isa. 
 14:2). 
 
 It is not necessary to ask why the Gentiles do not 
 know the Law; for their home is in Egypt. They are 
 not near to the Law. They alone know the Law who 
 are in their hearts Israelites; they alone know the Law 
 who have abandoned Egypt, and have suffered the 
 rigors of the Law. "I will send thee far hence to 
 the Gentiles." Why are the Israelites ignorant and 
 neglectful of the deep things of the Law? The condi- 
 tion of knowing the truth is a willingness to do it; he 
 who is neglectful of the truth loses the capacity to 
 perceive it. "He that doeth the truth cometh to the 
 Light." Wisdom is more than knowledge; it is illumi- 
 nation, it is the light of Heaven within the soul whereby 
 things are beheld in their true relation; it is represented 
 in the perfection of the soul itself. Men err in nothing 
 so much as in wronging their own natures; none are 
 just to themselves ; and because of this they are imjust 
 to others. Nothing can be truer than the advice which 
 Polonius gave to his son Laertes : 
 
 This above all, — ^to thine own self be true; 
 And it must follow, as the night the day, 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man. 
 
 As a political power the Israelites have never been 
 consequential; and it is not possible that they should. 
 Israel's kingdom is not of this world. He who enters 
 into the political and commercial activities of the 
 world ceases tct be an Israelite. "He is a Jew who is 
 9 
 
130 The Law of Human Life 
 
 one inwardly." They who are true Israelites are not 
 engaged in gainfiil and worldly activities. ''Israel is a 
 people that stands alone, that does not count among 
 the nations" (Num. 23:9). They are Israelites who 
 are related to the Spiritual kingdom, the kingdom that 
 transcends the animal kingdom of the world. *'If 
 my kingdom were of this world, then would my ser- 
 vants fight." Israel's strength is not of the world; 
 it is not commercial ; it is not political. ' * Not by virtue 
 of material strength and political power shall ye prevail, 
 but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6; Jere. 
 9: 24). They who are Israelites in their hearts are not 
 governed of men; they are governed of God. "And 
 Gideon said unto the Israelites, I will not rule oyer 
 you, neither shall my son rule over you : the Lord shall 
 rule over you" (Judges 8: 23). They who are related 
 to the spiritual kingdom, and are thus in a state of 
 unity, harmony, love, and justice, are Israelites. If 
 we are consciously related to the Kingdom of God, we 
 are Israelites, and though we live in the world, we are 
 not of the world. The individual man is either related 
 to the Kingdom of God, or to the animal kingdom 
 represented bj'' the world. "No man can serve two 
 masters, ye can not serve G6d and Mammon." 
 
 In the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, is a leg- 
 endary account of how the eldest servant of Abraham 
 took ten of the camels of his master and went to Meso- 
 potamia unto the city of Nahor; and there found the 
 fair and gracious Rebekah who became the wife of 
 Isaac. It is written that Isaac first meets Rebekah 
 when he has gone forth to meditate, "And Isaac 
 came by the way of the well of Lahairoi ; for he dwelt 
 in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate 
 in the field at the eventide; and he lifted up his eyes, 
 
The Story of Isaac 131 
 
 and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming." 
 "And Isaac came by the way of the well of Lahairoi." 
 A well is a symbol of knowledge; and Lahairoi means 
 '*the living are endowed with sight." Who are "the 
 living," and who are "the dead"? The dead are 
 they who are in the Gentile state, they who live after 
 the flesh, they who abide in the Egyptian state of 
 consciousness. "The Egyptians said, We be all dead 
 men" (Ex. 12:33). ''The children of the flesh are 
 not the children of God" (Rom. 9:8). 
 
 "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" 
 (Matt. 22:32). God is the God of those who have 
 abandoned the sensuous and animalized state of 
 consciousness; He is the God of the resurrected. Man 
 is man because of his mentality. The son of man, the 
 mind of man, must be lifted up, as Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness. The living are they who are 
 related to the spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of love, 
 and of justice, and of righteousness; the kingdom that 
 transcends the animal kingdom of the world, "I am 
 the Lord that do work love, and justice, and righteous- 
 ness in the earth : for in these things I delight, saith the 
 Lord" Qer. 9: 24). The living are they who "come by 
 the way of the well of Lahairoi," 
 
 "And Isaac went out to meditate." When the mind 
 and affections of the individual are set upon the things 
 of the world, he is in a state of bondage. "Why turn 
 ye again to the weak and beggarly things of the world, 
 do ye again desire to be in bondage?" (Gal. 4:9). 
 They who are obsessed by the things of the world are 
 incapable of meditation. The human soul must be 
 just and upright before God if it would be the instru- 
 ment of meditation. "The observation of nature," 
 says Goethe, "requires a certain purity of mind, which 
 
132 The Law of Human Life 
 
 cannot be disturbed or preoccupied by anything." 
 None but the virtuous, none but the pure in heart are 
 capable of meditation. "God revealeth His secret 
 unto His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7; Ps. 
 25: 14). "Meciitate, ye that ride on white asses; and 
 that walk by the way" (Judges 5: 10). 
 
 Paul talks about "Christ being formed in you" 
 (Gal. 4: 19). What is it to have Christ formed in you? 
 Christ, or right reason, is not formed in you as long as 
 you are controlled by precepts: by inhibitions and 
 commands from without, and by material and worldly 
 considerations. People who are led hither and yon by 
 every outward show, Paul called "my little children" 
 (Gal. 4:19). Christ is formed in you when reason 
 maintains the ascendancy and fearlessly performs its 
 every office; Christ is formed in you when you are 
 controlled from within, and not from without. Our 
 animal traits lead us to adore and love the things of the 
 world, when these traits: pride, lust, greed, revenge, 
 malice, falsehood, hypocrisy, anger, and hate, are in 
 the ascendant; then is man led in every direction but 
 the right one; then is man controlled from without, and 
 not from within. Then is man led hither and yon by 
 everything that promises carnal gratification. When 
 reason sits composedly at the summit of the temple, 
 and commands Satan, the lord of the world, and his 
 animalized horde (Luke 4:9), then is Christ formed 
 within the soul, then is man the master, then is man 
 controlled from within, and not from without. 
 
 Isaac is a true type of the self-governing. He is the 
 child of promise because he is governed from within and 
 not from without. He is not controlled by commands 
 and inhibitions imposed on him by others ; but by reason 
 and conscience, by the divine within his own soul. 
 
The Story of Isaac 133 
 
 Mentality is the eye of God. *'I will instruct thee and 
 teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will 
 guide thee with mine eye. Be not as the horse, or as 
 the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth 
 must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near 
 unto thee" (Ps, 32 : 9). The spontaneous and intuitive 
 perception of truth precedes its reflection, its medita- 
 tion. The pure in heart are intuitive, they are inspira- 
 tional, they are led and taught of the Holy Spirit, that 
 is all knowing. "Quench not the Spirit, Despise not 
 prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast to what is 
 good" (i Thess. 5:19-21). Great truths are intui- 
 tively perceived; and the meditative are they who 
 make the most of truth. "He that doeth the truth 
 Cometh to the Light." All higher knowledge is bom of 
 virtue; intuition, or inspiration, comes of purity of life. 
 The office of meditation is to "prove all things"; but 
 its highest office is to prove those things concerning 
 human nature itself which are first intuitively per- 
 ceived. Aristotle contended that they who reject the 
 testimony of their intuitions will find nothing surer 
 on which to build. 
 
 Wisdom says that God is Love, 
 That He is known by what He is. 
 Let men from wiles and conceits flee. 
 And seek by righteousness to see. 
 
 It is said that the chaste and meditative Isaac 
 Newton discovered the law of gravitation; and that he 
 meditated the principle which he had intuitively per- 
 ceived for several years before he taught it and de- 
 monstrated it mathematically. Meditation is the 
 process whereby principles intuitively perceived are 
 
134 The Law of Human Life 
 
 applied and demonstrated. Emerson and Emanuel 
 Kent, and all the Transcendentalists have taught that 
 principles are intuitively perceived. "Meditate, ye 
 that ride on white asses, and that walk by the way." 
 Meditate, ye that have escaped the obsessions of the 
 sensuous world. Meditate, ye that are ''poor in spirit," 
 that are depleted of the spirit of the world; for your 
 inheritance "is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). 
 Meditate, ye that "come by the way of the well of 
 Lahairoi." Lahairoi: "the living, the resurrected, are 
 endowed with sight." Moses and Jesus, and the 
 great of old, were they that came by the way of the 
 well of Lahairoi. 
 
 The great are they who live worthy of the truth; 
 for the condition of knowing the truth is a willingness 
 to do it. "He that doeth the truth cometh to the 
 Light." The great of old were they who lived worthy 
 of a knowledge of the Law of Human Life, and medi- 
 tated it, and demonstrated it in the lives they lived. 
 "I am the way, the truth, and the life; and no man 
 cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), 
 "O how I love Thy Law! it is my meditation all the 
 day" (Ps. 119:97). The mind is made strong and 
 vigorous and self-reliant, not by what it passively 
 receives from others, but by its own action, by medita- 
 tion upon what it receives. If man would be a man, 
 if he would have "Christ formed in him, " he must be 
 just, he; must live a clean and virtuous life, he must 
 live worthy of the truth, he must meditate principles, 
 and demonstrate them. It therefore stands to reason, 
 that In all higher thought intuition precedes meditation. 
 The meditative are they who have passed by the way 
 of the well of Lahairoi; the meditative are they who are 
 bom of regenerate parents; the children of the regener- 
 
The Story of Isaac 135 
 
 ate * ' are cotinted for the seed * ' (Rom. 9 : 8, Gen, 21: 12). 
 The meditative, the virtuous, are they who are destined 
 to reform the world. *' Salvation is of the Jews." 
 
 In the twenty-sixth chapter of Genesis, it is written 
 that there was a famine, and that Isaac went into the 
 land of the Philistines unto Gerar. The name.Gerar 
 means sojourning; so Isaac was but a temporary resi- 
 dent, a mere sojourner, in the land of the Philistines. 
 "And the Lord appeared unto Isaac, and said, Go not 
 down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I wiU tell thee 
 of." This is a beautiful figure of speech. Isaac is ad- 
 monished not to become a sensualist ; but to maintain 
 himself on the spiritual plane of consciousness. He is 
 commanded of God, of consciousness and of reason, 
 not to go down into Egypt, not to fall from the spiritual 
 plane to the material. All who live worthy of the 
 promised land, all who live above the spirit of the sensu- 
 ous animal world, are told of the promised land, are 
 told of the Kingdom of God; and it is the Spirit of 
 God Himself which brings to man this high and holy 
 message. "Sojourn in this land [the land which 
 I shall tell thee of] and I will be with thee, and will 
 bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give 
 all these countries, and I will perform the oath which 
 I sware unto Abraham thy father." 
 
 "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the 
 earth" (Matt. 5:5). Meekness is gentleness; it is self- 
 control; it is control by conscience and reason; it is 
 freedom from control by the unrestrained passions 
 and emotions. Death and extermination is the fate 
 of sensuality; life, liberty, enlargement, possession, 
 salvation, are the inheritance of meekness, of righteous- 
 ness, and of justice, "I will give thee all these coun- 
 tries." All cruelty, all wrong, all devastation by war, 
 
136 The Law of Human Life 
 
 famine, and pestilence is the result of living on a low, 
 carnal, animalized plane of consciousness. "Let us 
 go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, 
 and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon 
 us with pestilence, or with sword" (Ex. 5:3). If 
 man would escape the vengeance of heaven, he must 
 abandon Egypt. *'For the wrath of God is revealed 
 from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous- 
 ness of men, who treat the truth with contempt" 
 (Rom. 1:18). 
 
 "And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the 
 place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my 
 sister; for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, 
 the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah." 
 This singular language teaches the Fatherhood of God 
 and the brotherhood of man. "Have we not all One 
 Father? Has not One God created us all?" (Mai. 
 2: 10; Isa. 63: 16). "And the men of the place asked 
 him of his wife" (and Isaac answers them in a parable) 
 "lest, said he, the men of the place should kill him for 
 Rebekah." This brief statement tells the whole story; 
 it reveals the plane of consciousness on which the 
 Philistines abided. Every one who wrongs man, 
 woman, or child to the end that he may gratify his 
 carnal desires is a Philistine, a camalist, a Hamite; 
 and all such abide in the Egyptian state of conscious- 
 ness. This is the plane of carnal mind; it is the plane 
 on which all evil originates. 
 
 Isaac lives above the sensuous plane of consciousness; 
 he is more human than animal; he is intuitional; he is 
 inspirational; he is given to meditation. "And Jesus 
 said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: 
 ye are of the world; I am not of the world. . . . Then 
 Jesus said unto them, When ye have lifted up the son 
 
The Story of Isaac 137 
 
 of man [when your own minds are lifted above the 
 things of the sensuous animal world], then shall ye 
 know that I am he [that I am an organ of the Holy 
 Spirit], and that I do nothing of myself; but as my 
 Father has taught me, I speak these things" (John 
 8:23,28). "God hath spoken by the mouth of His 
 holy prophets, which have been since the world began" 
 (Luke 1:70; Neh. 9:30; Jer, 7:25; Ezek. 33:7). 
 
 "And Abimelech charged all of his people, saying, 
 He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be 
 put to death. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and 
 received in the same year, an hundredfold: and the 
 Lord blessed him," When virtue is recognized, when 
 it is honored, it speedily increases an hundredfold, 
 and is blessed of God. They who faithfully cultivate 
 the virtues are blessed of God. "I am the Lord that 
 do work Love, Justice, and Righteousness: for in these 
 things I delight, saith the Lord" (Jer. 9:24). "And 
 the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew 
 until he became very great." The greatness of Isaac 
 did not consist in the number of his flocks and herds 
 and servants (Gen. 26: 14); but in the greatness of the 
 life he lived, and the principles for which he stood, 
 
 "And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for 
 thou art much mightier than we." The life of the 
 virtuous and upright Isaac was a great reproach to the 
 wicked and sensuous Philistines. For every teacher 
 of virtue is an abomination to the sensuous. "For 
 every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians" 
 (Gen. 46:34). But a little farther on we shall see 
 how Abimelech, and his friend, and the chief captain 
 of his army, repent of their evil ways, and come to 
 Isaac for help and guidance. Isaac, like all the great, 
 is a savior. All who live above the spirit of the world 
 
138 The Law of Human Life 
 
 aid in saving mankind from sin and error. "When 
 they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; 
 and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest 
 to them Saviours, who saved them out of the hand of 
 their enemies" (Neh. 9:27; Obad. verse 21; Judges 
 2:18). 
 
 *'And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which 
 they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; 
 for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of 
 Abraham; and he called their names after the names 
 by which his father had called them." The conceited, 
 the sensuous, the animalized, are always seeking to 
 stop the wells of knowledge that are digged by the 
 virtuous; and they are always seeking to "stop and 
 fill them with earth, " with their sensuous and materialis- 
 tic opinions; and strange as it may seem, these wells 
 have been stopped often in the name of God, and of 
 religion. Perhaps it was Pope, the poet, who said: 
 "There never was a party, faction, or cabal, in which 
 the most ignorant were not the most violent ; for a bee 
 is not a busier animal than a blockhead." 
 
 But God is infinite in resource and power ; and when 
 it is necessary that the wells be "digged again" an 
 Isaac appears. "The children of the promise [the 
 children of the regenerate] are counted for the seed" 
 (Rom. 9: 8); it is the children, the descendants of the 
 virtuous and just, who are to lead the people of all 
 nations to higher planes of consciousness. It is the 
 children of the royal race who are destined to lead man- 
 kind to the Lord's house, that is established in the top 
 of the mountains, and is exalted above the hills (Isa. 
 2:2, 3). The Scriptures teach that the day shall 
 come when they who abide on the lowest plane of 
 human consciousness shall be awakened out of their 
 
The Story of Isaac 139 
 
 state of death, and be made to realize a higher state of 
 consciousness. And the day shall come when they 
 who are ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the 
 outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall worship the Lord 
 in the holy mount at Jerusalem (Isa. 27 : 13). 
 
 The wells here referred to evidently represent states 
 of knowledge, states of development, states of con- 
 sciousness. Isaac is represented as passing through 
 the trials and temptations to which his father was 
 subjected. Isaac digged the same wells that his father 
 had digged; "And he called their names after the names 
 by which his father had called them." Every well 
 which Isaac digged is attended with trials, contentions, 
 and trouble except the last two. The story of the wells 
 would have us know that Isaac experienced the same 
 storm and stress to which all the great are subjected. 
 Will any one ever enter into the promised land, into 
 the higher state of consciousness, without experienc- 
 ing the rigors of the desert life? Will any one ever 
 attain to his true inheritance, without digging all of 
 the wells which weredigged by Abraham, and ''digged 
 again" by Isaac? *'We must through much tribula- 
 tion enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). 
 It is written that Isaac digged several wells; Esek, the 
 well of strife; Sitnah, the well of contention; Rehoboth, 
 the well of roominess, spaciousness, and of liberty; 
 and lastly Beersheba, the well of the oath, the seventh 
 well, the well of rest and peace and brotherhood. 
 All who persist in leading clean and virtuous lives are 
 destined to come by the way of the well of Rehoboth 
 and the well of Lahairoi; they are destined to find 
 liberty and peace, and to "be fruitful in the land" 
 (Gen. 26:22). 
 Since Beersheba is the seventh well, it would seem 
 
140 The Law of Human Life 
 
 that Rehoboth was the sixth. The number six, when 
 used in a psychological sense, represents all the states 
 of labor, combat, and temptation, that precede the 
 coming of the day of rest and peace; all the states 
 of trial and temptation that precede regeneration. 
 "And Isaac removed from thence [from Sitnah, the 
 well of contention] and digged another well; and 
 for that they strove not : and he called the name of it 
 Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made 
 room for us, and we shall be fruitful in this land." 
 Man, would he be fruitful, must conquer all of those 
 enemies: envy, malice, lust, greed, hypocrisy, revenge, 
 and murder, "which would not that he should reign 
 over them'* (Luke 19:27). This animal horde must 
 be driven out of the temple, 
 
 Isaac digged the weU of Rehoboth, the sixth well, 
 and he is at peace with himself, and with all the world. 
 He has overcome the world, and is fruitful. The 
 mental Isaac, the Man, has wrestled through a long 
 night of trial and temptation with the lower Isaac, the 
 outer Isaac, the Isaac of flesh, and has won the final 
 victory. The mental body, the spiritual body, has 
 attained to complete mastery over the natural body. 
 "That which is natural is first, and afterwards that 
 which is spiritual" (i Cor. 15:46). Plato in his dia- 
 logue. The Republic, tells what it is that distinguished 
 the man of capacity, the fruitful man, from the man 
 who is wanting in capacity. "The one has a body 
 which is a good servant to his Mind, while the body of 
 the other is at war with his Mind." This recalls the 
 words of Paul, "Meats for the belly, and the belly for 
 meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now 
 the body is not for prostitution, but for the Lord; and 
 the Lord is for the body" (i Cor, 6:13). This we 
 
The Story of Isaac 141 
 
 would interpret : meats and the body of man are of the 
 earth; they are animal, and are doomed to destruction. 
 The body is not for prostitution and lust, but to be 
 a good servant of the Mind; for the Mind is for the 
 government of the body. Dissimulation, aye, evil in 
 its every form, is bom of sensuality as Shakespeare so 
 ingeniously affirmed; for its every effect is to render 
 one more and more incapable of perceiving what is 
 true and loving what is good. 
 
 I will not do it; 
 Lest I stircease to honor mine own truth, 
 And by my body's action, teach my mind 
 A most inherent baseness. 
 
 Coriolanus^ 3:2. 
 
 "And Isaac went up from thence [from the well of 
 Rehoboth] to Beersheba." Isaac has attained to 
 **the third day," or what is the same, the seventh; 
 he has attained to "my day.'* "Your father Abraham 
 saw my day, and rejoiced" (John 8:56). So God 
 creates Man in his own image; male and female; and 
 he makes him perfect on the sixth day; and then 
 God and Man are said to rest on the seventh day, the 
 Sabbath. The keeping of the Sabbath is a perpetual 
 celebration of the greatness and goodness of God, 
 and the perfection of Man. ^^And Isaac went up to 
 Beersheba.'' The Lord now appears unto Isaac and 
 promises him untold blessings; Isaac is now related 
 to the Spiritual kingdom, the kingdom that transcends 
 the animal kingdom of the world. "And Isaac builded 
 an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord 
 and pitched his tent there." 
 
 There wanted yet the master-work, the end 
 Of all yet done — a creature who, not prone 
 
142 The Law of Human Life 
 
 And brute as other creatures, but endued 
 With sanctity of reason, might erect * 
 
 His stature, and, upright with front serene 
 Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence 
 Magnanimous to correspond with Heaven, 
 But grateful to acknowledge whence his good 
 Descends; thither with heart, and voice, and eyes 
 Directed in devotion, to adore 
 And worship God Supreme, who made him chief 
 Of all his works. 
 
 Milton: Paradise Lost. 
 
 Abimelech went from Gerar to Isaac with a friend 
 and the chief captain of his army. "And Isaac said 
 unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate 
 me, and have sent me away from you?- And they 
 said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee." 
 It is now proposed that they take an oath of peace and 
 good fellowship, at the well of Beersheba, the well of the 
 oath, the well of peace, the well of brotherhood; and it 
 is written that Isaac made them a feast; and that they 
 did eat and drink; and that they departed from Isaac in 
 peace. Virtue persisted in is victorious over all comers ; 
 and its end is rest and eternal peace. "But be of good 
 cheer; I have overcome the world'* (John 16:33). 
 
 "Remember what things God did to Abraham, and 
 how he tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in 
 Mesopotamia, of Syria. For He hath not tried us in 
 the fire as He did them , . , but God doth scourge them 
 that come near unto Him, to admonish them" (Judith 
 8 : 26, 27). The living, the resurrected, they who have 
 come by the way of the well of Lahairoi, are "near 
 unto God"; for it is written that they "shall live in 
 His sight" (Hosea 6:2). "Israel is a people near 
 unto God" (Ps. 148:14). 
 
The Story of Isaac 143 
 
 Let no man believe that he can attain to true great- 
 ness without passing all the trials and temptations 
 experienced by the patriarchs of old; let no man believe 
 that he can attain to perfection without digging all of 
 the wells which were digged by Abraham, and "digged 
 again " by Isaac. The lives of the patriarchs are before 
 us; it is written that they lived the true life, and at- 
 tained to power and glory; it is within the power of 
 men living to-day to attain to the power and glory 
 made manifest in the lives of the patriarchs. "He 
 that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do 
 also; and greater works than these shall he do" (John 
 14: 12). 
 
 Every rational being has a great and serious work 
 to do; and every evil thought and deed adds new 
 burdens to the task. "Hear, O earth: behold, I will 
 bring evil upon this people, even the fruits of their 
 thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto My 
 Words, nor My Law, but rejected It" (Jer. 6:19; 
 Prov. i: 31). "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: 
 for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" 
 (Gal. 6:7), Man is a co-worker with God in the at- 
 tainment of his own perfection; "man was put into the 
 Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." "For 
 we are all labourers together with God" (i Cor. 3:9; 
 2 Cor. 6: i). 
 
 Can there be a greater error under Heaven, than to 
 fail to be a faithful worker together with God in the 
 improvement of the mind, and heart, and soul? It is 
 certainly the will of Heaven that man shall bravely 
 face the trials and temptations of life, and do the very 
 best he can; and thus go from well to well, from 
 "character to character," This man must do if he 
 would attain to the well of Lahairoi, the well of the 
 
144 The Law of Human Life 
 
 liying, the well of the seeing, the well of the resurrected, 
 the well of liberty. Why does God afflict? Why does 
 He chasten? Why does God lead us by the way of the 
 wells of strife, of contention, of sorrow, and of suffering? 
 It is that we may "remember all the way" (Deut. 
 8 : 2, 3). What God lays upon us is for our own good; 
 it is the work of mercy. '*He afflicteth not willingly, 
 but for our profit, that we may be partakers of His 
 holiness" (Heb. 12: 10); and thus we behold: 
 
 The protractive trials of great Jove 
 To find persistive constancy in man. 
 
 Troilus avd Cressida. 
 
 It is the duty of each and all to<face the reponsibili- 
 ties of life, as did the patriarchs of old, and go bravely 
 forward, that we may be numbered with those who are 
 "near unto God." The great are they that go forward 
 in the high and holy work of self -improvement. "And 
 the man, Isaac, waxed great, and went forward, and 
 grew until he became very great" (Gen. 26:13). 
 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou 
 unto Me? speak to the children of Israel that they go 
 forward" (Ex. 14: 15). 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE STORY OF JACOB 
 
 "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there" 
 (Gen. 35: 1). 
 
 THERE are several chapters in Genesis, especially 
 twenty-seven to thirty-seven, that are largely 
 descriptive of the experiences of Jacob, Of Rebekah, 
 the mother of Esau and Jacob, it is written: "And 
 the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, 
 and two manner of people shall be separated from thee; 
 and the one people shall be stronger than the other 
 people; and the elder shall serve the yotmger" (Gen. 
 25: 23). The Scriptures, speaking broadly, divide man- 
 kind into two classes: the Gentile and the Israelite; 
 the unregenerate and the regenerate; those who live the 
 sensuous life and those who abandon it; those who live 
 a life more animal than human and those who honestly 
 seek to live the spiritual life. This line of cleavage, 
 everywhere present in human society, is represented 
 in Esau and Jacob; they were twins; Esau was the 
 first-bom in time, and was "all over like an hairy gar- 
 ment"; and the hand of Jacob who was born last "took 
 hold on Esau's heel." The hairy Esau is the repre- 
 sentative of primitive man, of carnal man, of man in 
 the Gentile state; he is the representative of that class 
 1 ' 145 
 
146 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of men who sacrifice all for carnal pleasures, worldly 
 renown, and material things. Jacob is the representa- 
 tive of the spiritual man, the man who lives above the 
 spirit of the world, and who is controlled of conscience 
 and reason. 
 
 "Mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which 
 did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. 
 But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raise me 
 up, that I may requite them [that I may overcome and 
 pacify them]. By this I shall know that thou favorest 
 me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me" 
 (Ps. 41 : 9-1 1). In this story of Jacob, we shall see how 
 God doth *' raise him up, " and how it is that he became 
 the^ master of Esau and his descendants, the sensuous 
 Edomites, The psychological process by which God 
 "raised Jacob up" and made him the master of his 
 sensuous brother is described and illustrated in the 
 Scriptures in a unique way. This symbol of Jacob 
 holding Esau's heel, tells the story of the envy and 
 malice of the conceited animalized man toward his 
 more highly evolved brother; and it would have us 
 know that he who is controlled of conscience and 
 reason is heaven's appointed teacher and master of his 
 bloody and warlike brother; but he who would exercise 
 this mastery must attain to a high and holy state of 
 consciousness. "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go 
 up to Bethel, and dwell there" (Gen. 35: i). 
 
 Frederick Denison Maurice in his book. The Religions 
 of the World, says: "There is a tendency in man to 
 become purely animal, and there is a race of men in 
 which this tendency is realized and perpetuated; there 
 is in man that which may be raised to fellowship 'With 
 the Divine; and there is a race in which this capacity 
 is exhibited and transmitted." The story of Esau 
 
The Story of Jacob 147 
 
 and Jacob is the story of the animal man who sacrifices 
 all for the gratification of his carnal desires; and of 
 him who is ''raised to fellowship with the Divine," 
 Esau, the animal man, is the victim of envy, lust, 
 hypocrisy, falsehood, superstition, malice, revenge,, and 
 murder; he loves violence and war. Jacob stands for 
 restraint and order; he stands for a life governed of 
 reason and conscience; and his life points the way, 
 the psychological process, whereby the human nature 
 of man triumphs over his animal nature. Emerson, 
 like all the wise, tells us in his essay denominated 
 History that "Men and women are only half human"; 
 and that it is the first duty of man to cultivate the 
 human and to awe the beast. 
 
 "And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, 
 a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man dwelling 
 in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of 
 his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob" (Gen. 25:27, 
 28). The great are they who live the simple life; 
 "and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents." How 
 good it is to live the simple life, and to feel that all men 
 are brothers. 
 
 'Tis perchance 
 Unknown to you that in these simple vales 
 The natural feeling of equality, 
 Is by domestic service imimpaired. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 "And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his 
 venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob." In the symbolism 
 of the Scriptures,the wife ordinarily is the representative 
 of her husband's affections. It wotdd appear, therefore, 
 that Isaac in an outward and bodily sense was fond of 
 Esau, but that in the depths of his spiritual nature, in 
 
148 The Law of Human Life 
 
 his heart, he loved Jacob. Isaac loved Esau for his 
 venison ; but Jacob for what he was, and for the promise 
 of greatness that his life portended. "And Isaac was 
 three score years old when Rebekah bare Esau and 
 Jacob" (Gen. 25:26). The number three when used 
 in a psychological sense is indicative of perfection; 
 Isaac, it would seem, had attained to a fullness and 
 completeness of character at the time of the birth of his 
 sons; and like his father Abraham, he is the father of 
 two nations. Now it is said that ''Esau sold his 
 birthright to Jacob," for bread and pottage. This is 
 the ever-recurring story of the carnal man who sells, 
 who sacrifices the blessings of heaven for the gratifi- 
 cation of his carnal desires. "Therefore was Esau's 
 name called Edom" (Gen. 25:30). The name Edom 
 means red, bloody, earthly. 
 
 In the twenty-seventh chapter of Genesis, is an 
 account of Isaac communicating his blessing to Jacob. 
 According to a literal interpretation of this chapter, 
 it would seem that Isaac intended to bestow his bless- 
 ing on Esau; but due to a ruse planned by Rebekah, 
 the blessing went to Jacob. When we contemplate the 
 nature of this blessing, it is entirely apparent that the 
 blessing belonged to Jacob pursuant to Heaven's Law, 
 and not to Esau. Esau was incapable of inheriting 
 the blessing of his father; no one is cheated out of that 
 which he is incapable of receiving. "Isaac was old, 
 and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see" 
 (Gen. 27: i) ; but we do not understand from this that 
 Isaac's character had suffered any diminution; Isaac 
 though old was still an upright soul; his character was 
 free from blemish; he was the fit ancestor of an holy 
 nation. Character is communicable from him who has 
 it to him who is prepared to receive it. Isaac's blessing 
 
The Story of Jacob 149 
 
 was an invocation, a prayer, that his own character, 
 and the character of his father might be realized and 
 perpetuated, and made fruitful, in the life of his son, 
 and in his son's posterity forever. "Character is 
 reserved force which acts directly by its presence, and 
 without means, " said Emerson. Heaven does not give 
 man light and power except upon the condition that 
 he use it for the salvation of others. 
 
 Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, 
 Not light them for ourselves ; for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 As if we had them not. 
 
 Measure for Measure. 
 
 The just and upright soul of Isaac was an organ of 
 the Holy Spirit; and it was, therefore, possible for 
 Isaac to communicate a blessing to any one who was 
 prepared to receive it. "Not by virtue of material 
 strength and political power shall ye prevail, but by 
 my Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6). "I am the 
 Lord that do work Love, Justice, and Righteousness; 
 for in these things I delight, saith the Lord" (Jer. 
 9:24). The Spirit of Life, and Truth, and Love is 
 communicable; the benediction of the just carries with 
 it a mighty blessing. The just are both voluntarily 
 and involuntarily effluent of blessings: of life, truth, 
 and love; and the corrupt and debauched are effluent 
 of curses; of sin, sickness, and death. It is written 
 that Abimelech, and one of his friends, and the chief 
 captain of his army visited Isaac, "And they said, 
 We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee : and we 
 said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt 
 us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee" 
 (Gen. 26:26-29). This is intended to teach, and 
 
15^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 does teach, that Abimelech, his friend, and his chief 
 captain sought a blessing and benediction at the hand 
 of Isaac, 
 
 The blessing of the just wais administered in Israel 
 to the end that the name, the character of the man of 
 God, might be transmitted to the remotest generations. 
 God puts His Spirit into the soul of man; and to the 
 extent that man is just and upright^ he is the organ of 
 the Holy Spirit; and the Spirit of God in man is com- 
 municable to others who are desirous and willing to 
 be just. Jacob, surnamed Israel, laid his hands upon 
 the heads of the sons of Joseph, and prayed that his 
 name, his character, and the character of his ancestors, 
 might be realized and perpetuated in them. "Let 
 my name be on them, and the name of my fathers 
 Abraham and Isaac" (Gen. 48: 1 6). It is written, that 
 ' ' Joshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom, 
 for Moses had laid his hands upon him" (Deut. 34: 9)- 
 Elisha said unto Elijah, "I pray thee, let a dotible 
 portion of thy spirit be upon me" (2 Kings 2: 9, 15). 
 "Virtue went out of him and healed them all" (Luke 
 
 6:19). 
 
 Man communicates what he has. A wicked man is 
 effluent of sin, sickness, and death; the just man is 
 effluent of life, and of truth, and of love. "I am come 
 that they might have life, and that they might have 
 it more abundantly" (John 10: 10). We believe that 
 the effluence of the individual man for either good or 
 evil, and of which he is entirely unconscious, is incom- 
 parably more conducive to good or evil than what he 
 may voluntarily say and do; therefore, the necessity 
 of a just and virtuous life. Such a life even in the 
 absence of spoken words and overt acts, carries untold 
 blessings to others. Horace Bushnell (Sermons on 
 
The Story of Jacob 151 
 
 the New Life) when discoursing on the subject, "Un- 
 conscious Influence," said: "I believe that the insensible 
 influences of good men are as much more potent than 
 what I call their voluntary and active, as the great 
 silent powers of nature are of greater consequence than 
 her little disturbances and tumults." Little do we 
 comprehend the appalling consequences of an evil life; 
 and how little do we know of the divine and godlike 
 possibilities of a just and virtuous life. How dreadful 
 it is for one to go among his fellows exhaling inharmony, 
 disease, and death; and how unspeakably glorious and 
 divine it is for one to communicate involuntarily the 
 blessings of Heaven to every one desirous of good with 
 whom he comes in contact. 
 
 Isaac when he ate Esau's venison was acting the 
 part of the outer Isaac; but when he communicated his 
 blessing, when he sought to communicate his character 
 to his son, and to his son's posterity forever, he was 
 acting the part of the. inner Isaac. In a word, when he 
 sought to communicate Heaven's blessing, he was 
 "turned into another man" (i Sam. 10:6). Esau, 
 when he learned that Jacob had received the blessing, 
 "cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry" (Gen. 
 27:34) and invoked a blessing of his father, and 
 complained that Jacob had supplanted him. It is the 
 decree of Heaven that he who lives the spiritual life 
 shall supplant him who lives the carnal. "And Isaac 
 answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made 
 him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given him for 
 servants"; and thus Heaven's blessing goes unerringly 
 to the rightful heir. This prayer, this blessing was 
 fulfilled ; for it is written, ' ' and all they of Edom became 
 David's servants" (2 Sam. 8: 14). Thus we have the 
 survival of the fittest. Isaac consoles Esau by telling 
 
152 The Law of Human Life 
 
 him that he shall enjoy "the fatness of the earth, and 
 by the sword shalt thou live " (Gen. 27 : 38, 39). These 
 are things especially pleasing to an Esau. But the 
 state of the sensuous and warlike Esau is not hopeless; 
 for Isaac said, "and it, shall come to pass when thou 
 shalt have dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke 
 from off thy neck'' (Gen. 27:40); but it should be 
 remembered that the dominion here spoken of is the 
 dominion born of virtue; the dominion of rpason. 
 
 It is planned that Jacob shall go on a journey to 
 the home of his maternal grandfather, that he may 
 escape the violence of his brother Esau, sumamed 
 Edom, and that he may not take a wife of the daughters 
 of Canaan. The sensualist is not careful to do those 
 things that conserve the welfare either of himself or of 
 society; he is not careful to select a wife who is fit to be 
 the mother of children. License and self-indulgence he 
 calls freedom. And Esau was forty years old when 
 he took to wife two of the daughters of the Hittites. 
 ' ' Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah" 
 (Gen. 26:35). The sensualist does not know enough 
 to know that license and carnal indulgence spell 
 bondage, limitation, and death; and that restraint and 
 virtue spell enlargement of life and liberty. The 
 sensualist does not know that limitation, sin, sickness, 
 and death obtain in the kingdom of the animal world; 
 that freedom, enlargement, and power belong essentially 
 to the spiritual kingdom that transcends the animal; 
 that man must die to the lower kingdom to be bom 
 into the higher; and that all of the great teachers and 
 masters have taught this. Man must be lifted up 
 above the carnal plane of consciousness, if he would 
 realize the larger life, the life of freedom and power; 
 he must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
 
The Story of Jacob 153 
 
 the wilderness. Water is a symbol of the sensuous 
 life, "Except a man be bom of water and of the 
 Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God*' 
 Qohn3:5). 
 
 The ostensible reason for the journey of Jacob to 
 the home of his mother's father is to escape the violence 
 of the warlike Esau, and that he may find a suitable 
 wife; but in truth the real reason is psychological; 
 for in this story of Jacob's journey to "the land of the 
 people of the east," we discover the process whereby 
 God doth "raise him up, " the process whereby his soul 
 is made perfect. And when the time comes for Jacob 
 to depart on his journey that meant so much to him, 
 and to his posterity, Isaac again invokes the blessing 
 of Heaven upon him. "And God Almighty bless thee, 
 and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou 
 mayst be a multitude of people. And give thee the 
 blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; 
 that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a 
 stranger, which God gave unto Abraham" (Gen. 28: 3, 
 4). The land that God gave to Abraham, and to 
 which Jacob is now a stranger, is the land that God 
 gives to all the faithful; it is the home of the elect; for 
 it is in truth the Kingdom of God. 
 
 Jacob proceeds upon his journey. "And he lighted 
 upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because 
 the sun was set." This was a dark and sad experience 
 for Jacob; he sleeps with his head upon a stone; and 
 as he thus slept, he dreamed of a ladder that extended 
 from heaven to earth and the angels of God were 
 ascending and descending upon it; and the Lord stood 
 above it, and said, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy 
 father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou 
 liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." Jacob is 
 
154 The Law of Human Life 
 
 now promised that inheritance which goes to all the just. 
 This recalls the first sentences of Emerson's memorable 
 essay on History: ''There is One Mind common to all 
 individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same 
 and to all of the same. He that is once admitted to 
 the right of reason is made a freeman of the whole 
 estate." Jacob is now promised the guidance, the 
 protection, and the blessings of heaven, and thus the 
 prayers of his father are being fulfilled in him. "And 
 Jacob woke out of his sleep . . . and was afraid, and 
 said. How dreadful is this place! this is none other but 
 the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. . . . 
 And Jacob vowed a vow." Jacob called the name of 
 this place Bethel, which means "the house of God"; 
 but this place was called Luz at the first; the word Luz 
 means separation, or departure. Jacob has experienced 
 a psychological change; he has attained to a state of 
 intuition; the angels of God are asgending and descend- 
 ing; he is conscious of the divine presence as never 
 before. "How dreadful is this place! this is none 
 other but the house of God." Jacob vowed a vow; he 
 is repentant; he is in Luz; he has determined on a 
 separation, or departure from his past life; his life is 
 dreadfully serious; he has turned his back upon the 
 comforts of the world; he sleeps with his head upon a 
 stone; he is a stranger and a sojourner on earth; he 
 realizes that there is but one course to pursue; and that 
 is to put his trust in the Lord God of his fathers; to be 
 just as they were just. He knows that his fathers 
 attained to power, and wisdom, and greatness far be- 
 yond their fellows; and why should not he follow in 
 their footsteps, and become a "freeman of the whole 
 estate," as did they? 
 
 The journey is continued; Jacob comes to the land 
 
The Story of Jacob 155 
 
 of the people of the east; he beholds a well in the field, 
 and three flocks of sheep lying by it; and a great stone 
 is upon the well's mouth; atid they of this land are of 
 Haran. "And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, 
 whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we" 
 (Gen. 29:4), Rachel, the daughter of Laban, came 
 to this well with her father's sheep : " f or she kept them, ' ' 
 A well is a symbol of knowledge; Jacob is receptive 
 of the higher knowledge; he is inspirational; he rolls the 
 stone from the well's mouth, and waters the flock of 
 Laban, his mother's brother. He is a dispenser of 
 knowledge. He found three flocks lying by the well. 
 Three is a number indicative of perfection. Jacob, 
 like all who are led out of Haran, and are established in 
 the promised land, like all who attain to perfection, 
 must tmdergo severe discipline; for nothing is truer 
 than that man is made perfect by suffering. "Ye 
 shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the 
 baptism that I am baptized with" (Matt. 20: 23). 
 
 Laban has two daughters; the elder was Leah; and 
 the younger was Rachel. "Leah was tender-eyed; but 
 Rachel was beautiful and well-favoured" (Gen. 29: 17). 
 Leah was good-hearted; but Rachel was wise. The wise 
 are the keepers of the sheep. Rachel kept her father's 
 flock (Gen. 29: 9). And Jacob loved Rachel; and said 
 unto Laban, "I will serve thee seven years for Rachel 
 thy younger daughter." Jacob served seven years for 
 Rachel, but was given Leah; and when Jacob accused 
 Laban of deceiving him, Laban said, "It must not be 
 done in our country, to give the younger before the 
 first-bom" the heart, the affections, the life of the 
 individual, must undergo severe discipline, before reason 
 attains to its own; Leah represents a disciplined heart. 
 And Jacob served "yet seven other years" for Rachel. 
 
156 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Leah is the mother of four sons: Reuben, Simeon, 
 Levi, and Judah, and then it is said that her powers of 
 maternity faUed; then two sons are born to Jacob by 
 Rachel's maid, Billah; Dan and NaphtaU; and two by 
 Leah's maid, Zilpah: Gad and Asher; and after the birth 
 of the sons named, Leah's power of maternity recurs, 
 and she becomes the mother of two more sons : Issachar 
 and Zebulun, and lastly, of a daughter, Dinah; and 
 after this the prayers of the beautiful and well-favored 
 Rachel were answered; and she becomes the mother 
 of Joseph, who became the mighty prince, and master 
 of Egypt. 
 
 According to the narrative in chapters twenty-nine 
 and thirty of Genesis, Jacob is the father of eleven sons 
 and a daughter while living in Haran in Mesopotamia. 
 Jacob is represented as living in a desert land, the 
 dwelling-place of a shifting tribal population. It is 
 here that Jacob's education begins, the education that 
 is to "raise him up" out of a lower state of conscious- 
 ness into a higher. "God found Jacob in a desert 
 land, in the waste howling wilderness ; he led him about, 
 he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his 
 eye" (Deut. 32: 10). This story of Jacob living in a 
 desert, and of his wives and their maids, and of his 
 several sons and a daughter born in the order narrated, 
 evidently has a more profound meaning than appears 
 upon its face. This story is outwardly historic; but 
 in its depth it is psychological. This story describes 
 a process; and it is told in this singular way for the 
 express purpose of showing the mode and manner 
 whereby the soul of man is made perfect. God who 
 made man in His own image and likeness made him 
 capable of attaining to a high degree of perfection, 
 through successive gradations of improvement, in an 
 
The Story of Jacob 157 
 
 ascending life. Paul speaks of man's development from 
 ''character to character"; and when speaking of the 
 human soul, the inward and abiding, he says: "The 
 inward man is renewed day by day." Character 
 building involves an orderly process. Evolution, said 
 Charles Darwin, proceeds by ''numerous, successive, 
 and slight modifications." 
 
 In Deuteronomy (21 : 15-17), it is written that if a 
 man have two wives, one beloved and the other hated, 
 and they have borne him children, then when he 
 maketh his sons to inherit, the sons of her who is hated 
 are to be preferred. The Levites, the descendants 
 of the third son of Leah, were preferred in the days of 
 Moses, and the descendants of Judah became a mighty 
 power in Israel. Why are the sons of the wife who is 
 hated to be preferred? The reason is evidently psycho- 
 logical. In the unfoldment of the powers of the soul of 
 man, the heart is first to find enlargement. "God shall 
 enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, 
 and Canaan shall be his servant" (Gen. 9: 27). This 
 we would interpret: the heart, the feelings shall find 
 virtuous enlargement, but the heart shall be governed 
 of the head; and the head and heart shall have absolute 
 dominion over the lower principle of the soul repre- 
 sented by Canaan. A virtuous heart is forever the 
 faithful ally of a wise head. Heinrich Heine, a thought- 
 ful and observant Jew, who did what he could to 
 liberalize the thought of Europe, said: "The Jews 
 have highly civilized hearts in an imbroken tradition 
 for two thousand years. I believe they acquire the 
 culture of Europe so quickly because they have 
 nothing to learn in the matter of feeling, and read 
 only to gain knowledge." Coleridge, in his Aids 
 to Reflection, says: "The especial aim and charac- 
 
158 The Law of Human Life 
 
 teristic operation of Christianity is to moralize the 
 affections." 
 
 Rachel and Leah, who represent the head and heart 
 of Jacob, vie with each other as to which shall render 
 him the better service. This service is represented 
 in child-bearing. The heart, the seat of the feminine 
 virtues, realizes true blessedness in devotion, in self- 
 sacrifice, in maternity. Leah is the first to bear 
 children; she is the first to call upon heaven to witness 
 her suffering and afiiiction. "Surely the Lord hath 
 looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband 
 will love me" (Gen. 29:32). The husband of the 
 human heart is the mind; and when the heart undergoes 
 great suffering, the mind is awakened to virtuous action. 
 "Rachel was barren"; but her suffering sister moves 
 her to virtuous action; she presents Jacob with her 
 maid, Billah, by whom he has two sons; and at the 
 birth of the second Rachel declares herself the master 
 of her sister. "And Rachel said. With great wrestlings 
 have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: 
 and she called his name Naphtali" (Gen. 30: 8). The 
 name Naphtali means that which struggles, or wrestles 
 for supremacy. Reason is ascendant; it has gained a 
 victory over the heart. But Leah, who ceased bearing 
 after the birth of Judah, does not slacken her endeavors 
 to be of use to her husband; for she presents Jacob 
 with her maid, Zilpah, by whom Jacob has two sons; 
 and at the birth of the second Leah declares her- 
 self happy. "And Leah said, Happy am I, for the 
 daughters will call me blessed, and she called his name 
 Asher" (Gen. 30: 13). The soul of man is sometimes 
 spoken of in the Scriptures as a daughter. "Rejoice 
 greatly, daughter of Zion" (Zech. 9:9; Isa. 62: 11). 
 "The daughters will call nle blessed." Leah is happy 
 
The Story of Jacob 159 
 
 because she is doing all she can to make perfect the soul 
 of Jacob, * ' Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall 
 see God" (Matt. 5:8). 
 
 The story of Jacob's wives presents a unique study 
 in psychology. Perhaps, there is a no more effective 
 way to describe and illustrate the nature of the human 
 soul, and the manner of its development, than that set 
 forth in this marvelous allegory. It should be remem- 
 bered that this story is intended to describe the ' ' hidden 
 man," the "inward man," and the process of his de- 
 velopment. Moreover, it should also be remembered 
 that this inner man is forever revealing himself in knowl- 
 edge and feeling, perception and sensation. 
 
 The Hebrew Scriptures again and again tell the 
 story of the human soul as nearly in the terms of the 
 concrete as would seem possible; and it stands to reason 
 that this is the best way to awaken an interest in the 
 hidden truths of human nature and to impress them on 
 the mind. Herbert Spencer, who wrote the preface to 
 F. Howard Collins' book, An Epitome of the Synthetic 
 Philosophy, made this observation: *'A long series of 
 abstract propositions, taken without concrete illustra- 
 tions, is likely to prove wearisome, and to leave but 
 faint impressions." 
 
 Rachel and Leah are represented as incapable of 
 bearing children during the time that children are 
 born of their maids. The maids, it would seem, repre- 
 sent man on the plane of the lower principle of the 
 human soul; for they and their children are governed 
 absolutely of Rachel and Leah; this is a reasonable 
 inference, since Rachel and Leah own these maids and 
 give names to their children. In a word, the head 
 and heart own and control their maids, their servants; 
 and while these maids are being taught obedience and 
 
i6o The Law of Human Life 
 
 temperance, Rachel and Leah bare no children. 
 Broadly speaking, what does this singular allegory, 
 outwardly historic, but inwardly psychological, 
 teach? It teaches that the human soul is com- 
 posed of three principles; that the two higher prin- 
 ciples should control and master the lower absolutely; 
 that each of these principles has its proper and 
 legitimate office, and that human greatness consists 
 in bringing these principles into a state of unity and 
 harmony. 
 
 Concord within the soul of man, says Plato, is born 
 of the harmony of its principles. He observes that 
 when these are brought into a state of unity, then the 
 soul "becomes one entirely temperate and perfectly 
 adjusted nature"; and this he likens to that harmony 
 that may exist between the higher, lower, and the 
 middle notes in the scale of music. 
 
 William EUery Channing, like many of the wise, 
 had much to say about unity and concord within the 
 soul of man. 
 
 The human soul [says he] has a unity. Its various 
 faculties are adapted to one another. One life pervades 
 it; and its beauty, strength, and growth depend upon 
 nothing so much, as on the harmony and joint action of all 
 its principles. To wound and degrade it in any of its powers, 
 and especially in the noble and distinguishing power of 
 reason, is to inflict on it universal injury. . . . The soul 
 never acts so effectually or joyfully, as when all of its powers 
 and affections conspire; as when thought and feeling, reason 
 and sensibility, are called forth together by one great and 
 kindling object. It will never devote itself to God with 
 its whole energy, whilst its guiding faculty sees in Him a 
 being to shock and confound it. We want a harmony in 
 our inward nature. 
 
The Story of Jacob i6i 
 
 Rachel and Leah, who so faithfully represent the 
 mind and heart of Jacob, never slacken their virtuous 
 endeavors; they are equally faithful before heaven; 
 they each invoke the blessing of God to the end that 
 they may render Jacob a more perfect service. Leah's 
 prayers are first answered. "And God hearkened 
 tmto Leah, and she bare Jacob a fifth son . - . and she 
 called his name Issachar, " and she also bare Jacob a 
 sixth son, and she called his name Zebulun, and lastly 
 a daughter whom she named Dinah. The heart, it 
 would seem, has well-nigh completed its work. Leah 
 has borne Jacob six sons. The number six when used 
 in a psychological sense, represents all the states of 
 labor, emulation, and contest, that precedes the coming 
 of perfect rest and peace; for seven represents perfection. 
 It is now that Rachel attains to her own; for to her is 
 bom the seventh legitimate son of Jacob. "God hath 
 taken away her reproach" (Gen. 30:23). "And it 
 came to pass, when Rachel had bom Joseph, that 
 Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go 
 unto mine own place, and to my country" (Gen. 30; 
 25). With the birth of Joseph comes the independence 
 of Jacob. The rivalry between Rachel and Leah ends 
 with this event; reason has attained to its own, and is 
 entitled to govern; for this is its office. The name 
 Joseph means increase, or addition. "Of the increase 
 of his government and peace, there shall be no end" 
 (Isa.9:7). 
 
 The unfoldment of the soul of man, says Paul, 
 proceeds "from character to character." The unfold- 
 ment of Jacob's soul, and of every human soul which 
 has attained to a high degree of perfection, is told in 
 the story of Jacob. Jacob's sons by his wives repre- 
 sent successive gradations of improvement. Reuben, 
 
 XI 
 
i62 , The Law of Human Life 
 
 the name of the first-bom son of Jacob, means "Behold 
 a son," behold, the dawn of the masculine principle 
 of reason; Simeon, hearing and obeying; Levi, associa- 
 tion, or unity; Judah, confession, or praise of God; 
 Issachar, reward or recompense; Zebulun, dwelling, 
 or habitation, that which represents a settled condition; 
 Joseph, increase, or addition that knows no limit. 
 
 Who represents the beginning of the dignity and 
 excellence of Jacob? It is the first-bom of her who 
 was hated- "Reuben, thou art my first-bom, my 
 might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency 
 of dignity, and the excellency of power" (Gen, 49:3). 
 If Reuben represents Jacob's star at its horizon, who 
 represents it at its zenith? Evidently, Joseph, the 
 son of the beautiful and well-favored Rachel; for all are 
 required to do obeisance to Joseph (Gen. 37:7, 10; 
 43:28). The wisdom and power of Jacob finds its 
 fulfillment in Joseph; and when Jacob describes the 
 power and glory of Joseph, he- likewise describes himself 
 arid every one who has attained to perfection of life. 
 Jacob's eulogy on the character of Joseph is a master- 
 piece; it is couched in five verses, and contains several 
 profound and suggestive figures of speech. The great- 
 ness of Jacob found fulfillment in the character of 
 Joseph. ''The blessings of thy father have prevailed 
 above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost 
 bounds of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the 
 head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of 
 him that was separated from his brethren" (Gen. 49: 
 22-26). 
 
 Jacob's sons by Rachel's maid are Dan and Naphtali. 
 The name Dan means judgment, or he who judges; 
 Naphtali, he who wrestles, or struggles for supremacy. 
 These sons represent the offices of the mind. "And 
 
The Story of Jacob 163 
 
 Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard 
 my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore she called 
 his name Dan" (Gen. 30: 6). "God hath given me a 
 son"; this we would interpret: God hath given me a 
 mind; if the mind would prevail, if it would gain domin- 
 ion over all below it, it must wrestle for supremacy until 
 it gains the victory; but reason before it attains to 
 wisdom and glory must be represented, not by a bastard 
 progeny, but by its own. Plato says that the virtue 
 of reason is wisdom; and that reason is the measuring 
 and directing virtue, since its office is to govern. It 
 may be said that Dan and Naphtali represent reason 
 at its nadir, the reason of the natural man, as distin- 
 guished from the spiritual man, 
 
 Jacob's sons by Leah's maid are Gad and Asher. 
 The name Gad means company, or he who is armed 
 and prepared; Asher, blessedness, or happiness. These 
 sons represent the offices of the human heart ; the offices 
 of the heart are numerous; they area troop, or company; 
 and when the affections act in obedience to reason, 
 they are armed and prepared to do battle on the side 
 of truth and justice. Happiness and blessedness 
 are represented in purity of heart. Plato says that 
 the virtue of the heart is valor. The pure in heart 
 know no fear. "Virtue is bold; and goodness never 
 fearful," said Shakespeare. "Blessed are the pure in 
 heart; for they shall see God." Plato also says that 
 temperance is the virtue by which the sensuous desires 
 are restrained and destroyed; and lastly, that justice 
 is the virtue that represents the poise, the balance, 
 the perfection of the human soul. But it would seem 
 that the sum of all the virtues of Leah's sons, and the 
 sons of the maids are represented in the character of 
 the mighty Joseph, the just man who "ruled over all 
 
164 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the land of Eg5rpt." Joseph was a master, a dis- 
 penser of the bread of life. '*And when all the land of 
 Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for 
 bread, and Pharaoh said unto the Egyptians, Go unto 
 Joseph; what he saith unto you, do" (Gen. 41 : 55). 
 
 Rachel and Leah, the representatives of Jacob's 
 head and heart, the two that had suffered so much in the 
 dark days of his chastening and discipline, and who 
 have wrestled with each other that they might render 
 him the better service, are faithful in every trial. They 
 say unto Jacob, ''Whatsoever God hath said unto thee, 
 do" (Gen. 31:16). Jacob has determined to depart 
 from Laban secretly, and to go ''unto his own place, 
 to his country," to that country that God has promised 
 to all the faithful; and when Laban went to shear his 
 sheep, Jacob set his sons and wives upon camels, and 
 took all of his belongings, and stole away unawares 
 to Laban. "So he fled with all that he had; and 
 he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face 
 toward the mount Gilead. And it was told Laban 
 on the third day that Jacob was fled. And Laban took 
 his brethren with him, and pursued after him seuen 
 days* journey; and they overtook him in the mount 
 Gilead" (Gen. 31:21-23). 
 
 "When the children of Ammon saw that they had 
 made themselves odious to David, they sent a thousand 
 talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out 
 of Mesopotamia" (i Chron. 19:6). According to the 
 symbolism of the Scriptures, it would seem, that 
 Mesopotamia was the home of the rebellious and war- 
 like. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, 
 and stay on horses, and trust in chariots" (Isa. 31 : i). 
 Jacob is escaping out of Mesopotamia, the country 
 between the rivers; and he is on his way toward a 
 
The Story of Jacob 163 
 
 land, that is a symbol of a high and holy state of 
 consciousness. The cottntry from which Jacob is 
 fleeing, the country for which he is destined, and the 
 place where he has pitched his tent, are suggestive. 
 Jacob has made great progress; he has attained to a 
 high degree of perfection; and he is soon to be "turned 
 into another man" (i Sam. 10:6); he has attained to 
 the "third day," as did his father Abraham. "Abra- 
 ham saw my day and rejoiced" (John 8: 56). Laban 
 was told that Jacob was fled on the "third day," and 
 he pursued after him a "seven days' joiuney," and 
 overtook him in the mount Gilead, the mount of 
 testimony, the mount of truth. 
 
 And Jacob continues on his journey; and he comes 
 to the country of Edom, the land of Esau and his 
 people, the home of the luxurious and warlike. "Thy 
 dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and by thy 
 sword shalt thou live" (Gen. 27:39, 40). The people 
 of this land, the people who abide on the sensuous plane 
 of consciousness, are doomed to certain destruction 
 (Isa. 34:5-8; 63:1-4; Jer. 49:17; Ezek. 25:12-14; 
 Amos i: 10, 11). Here it is that Jacob finds himself 
 confronted by Esau, and four hundred men with him. 
 Here it is that the bloody, the sensuous, the animalized 
 Esau, with his four hundred, threatens his brother, 
 and those of his household with utter destruction. 
 "Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed" (Gen. 
 32:7). This was Jacob's darkest hour; it was just 
 before dawn; just before he was bom into the higher 
 life. He prays fervently to the God of his fathers, and 
 he pleads the promises that the God of his fathers 
 had made to him when he slept with his head upon a 
 rock (Gen. 32: 9-12) ; and in the dark night preceding 
 tfie day that he was to meet Esau, with his four hun- 
 
i66 The Law of Human Life 
 
 dred, he "was left alone; and there wrestled a Man 
 with him until the break of the day" (Gen. 32:24). 
 This Man did not prevail until he wounded Jacob in the 
 thigh; he did not prevail until he dealt the animal 
 nature of Jacob a deadly thrust. Then did reason, 
 the Man, the governing principle in the soul of Jacob, 
 aided by its natural allies, the affections of a righteous 
 heart, win its final victory. And he who had pre- 
 vailed said: "Thy name shall be called no more 
 Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with 
 God and with men, and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32:28). 
 Reason is spiritual; it is the good angel that "redeemed 
 Jacob from all evil" (Gen. 48: 16). 
 
 Jacob is raised up; he is resurrected from the dead; 
 he is consciously related to the Kingdom of God, the 
 kingdom that transcends the animal kingdom of the 
 world; he has attained to the "third day, " to "my day" 
 (John 8 : 56) . " And Jacob called the name of the place 
 Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is 
 preserved" (Gen. 32:30); he is conscious of the power 
 that God has put upon him; he is conscious that he 
 has "power with God and with men." Jacob, like all 
 the truly great, is "the son of God with power, according 
 to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the 
 dead" (Rom. 1:4). The son of man, the mind of man, 
 must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
 ■ wilderness. God is the God of the resurrected. He 
 is the God of those who are consciously related to his 
 kingdom, and who do His will. "I am the God of 
 Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 
 God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" 
 (Matt. 22: 32). God is not the God of the fallen, the 
 sensuous, and the dead, but of those who are lifted up 
 above the plane of the carnal and sensuous world. 
 
The Story of Jacob 167 
 
 Jacob has prevailed; he has attained to the eternal 
 light, the light that shall forever find enlargement. 
 "And as Jacob passed over Penuel the sun rose upon 
 him" (Gen. 32:31). 
 
 When this man of God, siomamed Israel (he who hath 
 prevailed) and who is clothed upon with Heaven's 
 power, goes forth to meet his brother Esau, with his 
 four hundred, the order in which the members of his 
 family march is significant. "And he put the hand- 
 maids and their children foremost, and Leah and her 
 children after,- and Rachel and Joseph hindermost" 
 (Gen. 33: 2). This is the order of the evolution of the 
 soul of man. The bondmaids and their children repre- 
 sent the primitive state of man, the state in which he 
 is governed of others, the state in which he is governed 
 from without, and not from within; Leah and her 
 children, an intermediate state wherein the feelings 
 and emotions vie and wrestle with the mind for su- 
 premacy; and Rachel and Joseph, the state wherein 
 reason has attained to his own, the state wherein man is 
 governed from within and not from without, the state 
 wherein conscience and reason are supreme. 
 
 The soul of man must undergo long and wearisome 
 discipline to the end that the affections may be tamed 
 and humanized, and that the vestiges of animalism 
 inhering in the soul may be conquered and destroyed. 
 The especial aim of religion, said Coleridge, " is to moral- 
 ize the affections." It is said that Jacob served seven 
 years for the fair Rachel, and was rewarded for his 
 services with the tender-eyed Leah; and that Jacob 
 served "yet another seven years," for the well-favored 
 Rachel- "Seven years," is a phrase used not to 
 describe seven actual years, but to designate a period 
 of trial and discipline, and suffering through which 
 
1 68 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the soul of man must necessarily pass in the process 
 of its evolution from a low carnal state to a high, holy, 
 and spiritual state. Jacob, like all who have attained 
 to true greatness, was made perfect by suffering. 
 Figuratively speaking, every one who would attain 
 to his true inheritance must serve seven years for 
 Rachel, and be given Leah; and then serve "yet another 
 seven years, " for the well-favored Rachel, the keeper of 
 the sheep. The repetition of this phrase " seven years " 
 is for emphasis; and since the number seven, expressive 
 of perfection, is repeated, it would seem that Jacob's 
 trial, and discipline, and chastening were full and com- 
 plete. ''Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be 
 baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with" 
 (Matt. 20:23). "Remember what things God did 
 to Abraham, and how He tried Isaac, and what hap- 
 pened to Jacob in Mesopotamia of Syria. For He 
 hath not tried us in the fire, as he did. them, for the 
 examination of their hearts, neither hath He taken 
 vengeance on us: but the Lord doth scourge them 
 that come near tinto Him, to admonish them" (Judith 
 8:26,27). 
 
 In the thirty-fourth chapter of Genesis, it is written 
 that Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out to see the 
 daughters of the land; that Shechem, the son of Hamor, 
 took her and defiled her, "Shechem spake to the 
 heart of Dinah" (Gen. 34:3). This is the old story, 
 first the debauchery of the woman, the heart, and then 
 the fall of reason. When the affections are corrupted, 
 then is man in the way of transgression. "Adam was 
 not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the 
 transgression" (i Tim. 2: 14). Shechem seeks to make 
 reparation for his wrong. "Ask me never so much 
 dowiy and gift, and I will give according as ye say unto 
 
The Story of Jacob 169 
 
 me: but give me the damsel to wife" (Gen. 34: 12). 
 But Jacob and his sons tell Shechem and Hamor that 
 no compromise can be made. "And they said unto 
 them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one 
 that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto 
 us" (Gen. 34: 14). Circumcision is an ancient symbol 
 of virtue. It distinguished the virtuous and chaste 
 from the fallen and sensuous. The Hebrew Scriptures 
 teach unqualifiedly that the perfection of man, and of 
 the race, depends upon the mating of the fit with the 
 fit; and that no deviation from this principle is to be 
 tolerated. "Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice 
 [if ye would live in obedience to conscience and reason] 
 and thus keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar 
 treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth 
 is Mine" (Ex. 19; 5). If there is to be a royal race, a 
 ruling race, a perfect race, it stands to reason that it 
 must be developed according to the ideas and principles 
 of the Scriptures. Abraham makes his eldest servant 
 take an oath that he will find a wife for Isaac among the 
 fairest and the best; and this contributed to make the 
 blessings of Jacob prevail above the blessings of his 
 progenitors (Gen, 49:26); and Isaac sends Jacob to 
 the people of the East that he may find a suitable wife, 
 "And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged 
 him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife 
 of the daughters of Canaan" (Gen. 28: i). 
 
 It is written that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and 
 Levi, slew Hamor and Shechem his son; and thus 
 avenged the wrong that had been done their sister; 
 and when Jacob reproves his sons for their violence, 
 they answer: "Should he deal with our sister as with an 
 harlot?" This allegory teaches that the fit should be 
 mated with the fit; and that this principle must be 
 
I70 The Law of Human Life 
 
 obeyed; and it also teaches the sacredness of chastity; 
 and the enormity of the offense of him who violates 
 it. The moral status of a people, or their want of 
 moral status, is most perfectly revealed in the attitude 
 of men toward women. Tacitus said that the ancient 
 Germans were a virile knd unconquerable people, and 
 that the men entertained the profoundest respect for 
 women; and that the adulterer was buried alive in 
 mud. To the extent that people are alive and indignant 
 at the violation of virtue and chastity, they are moral; 
 and to the extent that they are indifferent, they are in 
 a state of degeneracy and death. "To be carnally 
 minded is to be in a state of death; but to be spiritually 
 minded is to be in a state of life and peace" (Rom. 
 8:6). 
 
 Mortals, that would follow me, 
 Love Virtue, she alone is free- 
 She can teach you how to climb 
 Higher than the sphery chime; 
 Or, if Virtue feeble were, 
 Heaven itself would stoop to her. 
 
 Milton: Comus. 
 
 Jacob is now returning to the land of his fathers, 
 to the land of Abraham and of Isaac, the land in which 
 man shall not lack anything, the land wherein man shall' 
 bless Gk)d (Deut. 8:9, 10). "And God said, Arise, 
 go up to Bethel, and dwell there." The name Bethel 
 means the house of God. Evidently, this has reference 
 to a high and holy state of consciousness; Jacob is 
 commanded to "go up to Bethel, and dwell there," 
 and he at once makes ready to fulfill this command. 
 "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that 
 were with him. Put away the strange gods that are 
 
The Story of Jacob 171 
 
 among you, and be clean and change your garments" 
 (Gen. 35:2). They who would enter in, and possess 
 the promised land, who would behold the power and 
 glory of God, must put away their false gods, be clean, 
 change their garments, and make ready for the coming 
 of the "third day" (Ex. 19: 10, 11; Hosea 6:2; Luke 
 13* 32). "And it came to pass, when all the people 
 were clean, that they passed over the Jordan," into the 
 promised land (Josh. 4:1); and this passage over Jordan 
 to possess this fair land was on the third day Qosh. 
 i:ii). 
 
 Jacob has returned to the promised land; and as he 
 journeyed from Bethel to Bethlehem, Benjamin, the 
 son of the right hand, the son of him who hath prevailed 
 was bom. The son of man, the mind of man, must be 
 lifted up above the plane of the sensuous animal world, 
 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, if man 
 would attain to a conscious relation with the Kingdom 
 of God that transcends the animal kingdom of the 
 world, "And it came to pass as Rachel's soul was 
 departing, that she called his name Benoni: but his 
 father called his name Benjamin" (Gen. 35: 18). The 
 name Benoni means the son of sorrow and travail, the 
 son of grief and suffering; and thus it is that man is 
 made perfect by suffering (Heb. 5:8, 9). "He that 
 hath suffered in the flesh [and died to the world] hath 
 ceased from sin" (i Peter 4:1). "Remember what 
 things God did to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. 
 For he hath not tried us in the fire, as he did them" 
 (Judith 8:26, 27). Jacob, like all the sons of God 
 who have overcome the world, experienced a great 
 travail of soul. "He shall see the travail of his soul, 
 and shall be satisfied: 'by his knowledge shall my 
 righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their 
 
172 The Law of Human Life 
 
 iniquities" (Isa. 53:11). He bears the iniquities of 
 many who lives superior to every temptation. The 
 story of Jacob recalls the immortal words of Hesiod, 
 the Greek epic poet: 
 
 Vice one may take in troops with ease, 
 
 But in fair Virtue's front 
 Immortal God has stationed toil. 
 And care, and sweat, to bar the road. 
 Long is the road and steep, 
 And rough at first, which leads the steps 
 
 Of mortal man thereto; 
 But when you reach the height, the path 
 Is easy which before was hard. 
 And swift the onward course. 
 
 Plato, in his dialogue, Laws^ facetiously makes 
 mention of these lines, and says: "The case of the 
 many proves the wisdom of Hesiod, who says that the 
 road to wickedness is smooth and very short, and that 
 there is no need of perspiring," 
 
 Benjamin is the last-bom son of the well-favored 
 Rachel; he is the eighth legitimate son of Jacob. The 
 number eight, when used in a psychological sense, 
 means the beginning, or commencement of a new state 
 of being; and this event, the birth of Benjamin, certifies 
 the perfection of Jacob, the realization of the higher 
 life. "Arise, go to Bethel, and dwell there." Jacob is 
 the type of the perfect man. Rachel the represen- 
 tative of reason, has completed her work. "Among you 
 [among the regenerate], he that is eight days old shall 
 be circumcised" (Gen. 17: 12). Circumcision is an 
 ancient symbol which was intended to teach, and does 
 teach, the high and holy possibilities of man. The 
 circumcision of the child on the eighth day certifies 
 
The Story of Jacob 173 
 
 the regeneracy of the parents, and prefigures the 
 regeneracy of the child. "The children of the flesh," 
 the children of the unregenerate, are not the children 
 of God; "but the children of the promise," the children 
 of the regenerate are counted for the seed (Rom. 9:8). 
 Circumcision is the dedication of the child of the 
 regenerate to virtue, to the higher life, the life repre- 
 sented by Abraham, and by Isaac, and by Jacob, and 
 by Moses, and by Jesus, and by all the resurrected. 
 "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have 
 ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, 
 saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of 
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of 
 the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:31, 32). God 
 is not the God of the animalized, of the carnally minded, 
 but of the spiritually minded; God is the God of those 
 whose minds are lifted up above the plane of the 
 sensuous world. 
 
 "And Leah bare Jacob a sixth son; and Leah said, 
 God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my 
 husband dwell with me, because I have bom him six 
 sons; and she called his name Zebulun" (Gen. 30: 19, 
 20). The name Zebulun means dwelling, or habita- 
 tion, that which represents a settled and peaceful 
 condition. Power to bare suffering and trial with 
 patience is a "good dowry." "Now will my husband 
 [a contented and virtuous mind] dwell with me." 
 The number six, as here used, represents all the states 
 of labor, emulation, contest, and suffering, which pre- 
 cede the coming of the eternal day of rest and peace. 
 It, therefore, follows that the number seven, like the 
 number eight, represents the commencement, or begin- 
 ning of a new and higher state. "If a man [a male 
 child] on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that 
 
174 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the Law of Moses should not be broken ; are ye angry at 
 me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the 
 Sabbath day?" (John 7: 23). He who is made ''every 
 whit whole" by the teachings of Moses and Jesus, he 
 who attains to perfection of character, he who fulfills 
 the Law, attains to the seventh day, the Sabbath 
 day, the day of rest and peace. 
 
 But when you reach the height, the path 
 Is easy which before was hard, 
 And swift the onward course. 
 
 God who made man, a reasoning being, in His own 
 image and likeness, made him capable of attaining to a 
 high degree of perfection, through successive grada- 
 tions of improvement, in an ascending life. Much is 
 said both in the Old and New Testament Scriptures 
 about the children of the regenerate being "counted 
 for the seed" (Gen. 21:12; Rom. 9:7, 8). The 
 Scriptures tell us in unmistakable terms that it is the 
 children of the virtuous, the chaste, the just, who are 
 to reform the world. "Salvation is of the Jews" 
 (John 4:22). What is regeneration? Does it consist 
 in consenting to some form of words, or does it consist 
 in a process of development like that revealed in the 
 life of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob? 
 
 William EUery Channing, when discoursing on 
 Regeneration^ an hundred years ago (181 1), said: 
 
 Do sensual and earthly desires hear the voice of con- 
 science? How many desires and habits which conscience 
 forbids are indulged in! A religious character, then, is an 
 acqtiisition, and implies a change; a change which requires 
 labor and prayer, which requires aid and strength from 
 heaven; a change so great and important, that it deserves 
 
The Story of Jacob 175 
 
 to be called a new birth. , . . Once his passions were his 
 lords; now he bows to the authority, and waits to hear the 
 will, of God. Once human opinion was his guide, and 
 human favor the reward he proposed; now he feels that 
 another eye is upon him, and his heart and life are naked 
 before God, and to approve himself to this righteous and 
 unerring witness and judge is his highest ambition. . - . 
 To conclude, — once he was alive to injury, and suffered 
 anger and revenge to direct his treatment of an enemy; 
 now his indignation is tempered by mercy, and he is ready 
 to forgive. 
 
 The great are they who act in obedience to conscience 
 and to reason; they live above the spirit of the world; 
 they make no compromise with evil. The immortal 
 Socrates, when addressing the judges who condemned 
 him to death, said; "Men of Athens, I honor and love 
 you, but I shall obey God rather than you." 
 
 It is the command of Heaven that man shall labor 
 to make his own soul perfect. '*And the Lord God 
 took the Man, and put him into the Garden of Eden 
 to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2: 15). Abraham is 
 commanded to be perfect. "I am the Almighty God; 
 walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1)- 
 *'And the Lord appeared unto Isaac, and said, Go not 
 down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee 
 of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I 
 will bless thee" (Gen. 26: 2, 3). "And God said unto 
 Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, arid dwell there" (Gen. 
 35: i). "We are labourers together with God" (i Cor. 
 3:9). The aim and end of reHgion is the sanctification 
 of the soul; and this bespeaks successive gradations of 
 improvement; it bespeaks development "from character 
 to character." The Holy Spirit is present with, and 
 blesses all who live above the spirit of the sensuous 
 
176 The Law of Human Life 
 
 animal world. It is written : " Noah was a just 
 man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked 
 with God" (Gen. 6:9). This we would interpret: 
 Noah was desirous in his heart to be just; he lived a 
 blameless life; he did the best he could with the knowl- 
 edge that he had. 
 
 While it seems to involve a contradiction, perhaps, 
 it is fair to say, that he is ''perfect in hiS' generations, 
 and walks with God," who does the best he can with the 
 knowledge that he has. ''The perfection of all crea- 
 tures, including man," said Leibnitz, "consists in a 
 strong and unhampered forward impulse toward ever 
 new perfections." Paul would have us know that the 
 perfection of the soul is "from character to character." 
 In a word, that its perfection is an orderly process. 
 It stands to reason, that man is responsible and blame- 
 ful only so far as he has power to know and do his duty; 
 and that he is depraved and guilty only so far as he 
 indulges evil propensities which he can resist and 
 avoid. He walks with God who is faithful to conscience 
 and reason. He , walks with God whose Rachel and 
 Leah, whose mind and heart, vie with each other in 
 virtuous and holy endeavor. O that my mind and 
 heart may attain to a perfect unity, like the tw;o faithful 
 wives of Jacob. The Scriptures teach, as did Socrates 
 and Plato, that the principles of the human soul may 
 attain to a state of harmony, tmity, concord; and this 
 we denominate the perfection of the soul of man. And 
 yet, what we call perfection seems to have its limita- 
 tions. "Good Master, what shall I do that I may 
 inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him. Why 
 callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that 
 is God" (Mark 10: 17). Plato in his dialogue Laws, 
 says: "Now, God is the measure of all things, in a 
 
The Story of Jacob i77 
 
 sense far higher than any man, as they say, can ever 
 hope to be. And he who would be dear to God must, 
 as far as possible, be like him and such as He is. Where- 
 fore the temperate man is the friend of God, for he is 
 like him; and the intemperate man is unlike him and 
 different from him, and unjust." "This is the sub- 
 stance of religion," said Pythagoras, "to imitate Him 
 whom we worship." 
 
 The Scriptures teach that the soul of man may attain 
 to a state of unity and harmony, to a state of perfection, 
 but the mind, the governing principle of the soul, may 
 continue to enlarge its sphere forever. " Of the increase 
 of his government and peace there shall be no end" 
 (Isa. 9:7). William EUery Channing, when discoursing 
 on the subject : Imitableness of Christ's Character, and the 
 text, "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, 
 that ye should follow his steps " ( i Peter 2:21), said : 
 
 The body soon reaches its limit. But intellect, affec- 
 tion, moral energy, in proportion to their growth, tend to 
 further enlargement, and every acquisition is an impulse to 
 something higher. When I consider this principle or 
 capacity of the human soul, I cannot restrain the hope 
 which it awakens. The partition walls which imagination 
 has reared between men and higher orders of beings vanish. 
 I no longer see aught to prevent our becoming whatever 
 was good and great in Jesus on earth. In truth, I feel my 
 utter inability to conceive what a mind is to attain which 
 is to advance forever. Add but that element, eternity, to 
 Man's progress, and the results of his existence surpass 
 not only human but angelic thought. Give me this and 
 the future glory of the human Mind becomes to me as 
 incomprehensible as God Himself." 
 
 The first sentence of the thirty-seventh chapter of 
 Genesis is a veiled description of the greatness of 
 
178 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Jacob. "And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his 
 father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan." This 
 indicates that Jacob had attained to a state of wisdom 
 and power to which "his father was a stranger." 
 There are other like Scriptures (Gen. 49:26; Baruch 
 3:36); this accords with the Hebrew idea: the longer 
 the line of virtuous ancestry, the greater the power 
 of the individual descendant. It would seem that Mary, 
 the mother of Jesus, was descended of more than forty 
 generations of monotheists and haters of idolatry (Matt. 
 1:17). When Jacob blesses the sons of Joseph, he 
 says: "Let my name [my character] be named on 
 them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac" 
 (Gen. 48: 16). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent 
 three generations of regenerate man; but Jacob is 
 represented as having attained to a state of wisdom and 
 power beyond- that of his ancestors; the virtues of his 
 fathers are "named on him,*' are made manifest in 
 him; he is the type of the perfect man; he is so because 
 of his noble ancestry; he is so because he lives worthy 
 of the privileges of life; he is so because his higher 
 nature has prevailed over his lower; he is so because 
 he lives above the spirit of the sensuous animal world. 
 "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: 
 for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, 
 and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32:28). "For the kingdom 
 of God is not [represented] in words, but in power" 
 (i Cor. 4: 20). The Kingdom of God, the government 
 and power of God is made manifest in character. 
 "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 
 17:21; 11:20; Matt. 12:28). They who" declare the 
 power and glory of the Kingdom of God, are they who 
 have overcome the world. Salvation is of the regenerate ; 
 " Salvation is of the Jews" ; salvation is by character. 
 
The Story of Jacob 179 
 
 The task of Israel, and of every rational being, is 
 to be holy, is to seek perfection of character (Lev. 19: 
 2; Deut. 26: 19; Ex. 19: 6). The Scriptures tell us that 
 God sent his prophets, the wise men, to the people of 
 Israel again and again, that the seed of virtue might 
 be preserved, and that the holy work of salvation might 
 proceed apace Qer. 7:25; 11:7; 35: I5; Neh. 9:30; 
 2 Kings 17: 13; 2 Chron. 36: 15, 16). The Scriptures 
 teach that it is through the instrumentality of Israel, 
 through the instrumentality of the regenerate, that 
 mankind are to be brought to a knowledge of the truth. 
 ''Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22; Rom. 9:4; 
 Isa. 2:2-4; Micah 4: 1-4; Jer. 3: 17)- It is the seed 
 of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; it is the seed of the 
 virtuous which is to bring an indescribable blessing to 
 the people of all nations. " Only -the Lord had a delight 
 in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed 
 after them, even you above all people, as it is this day" 
 (Deut. 10: 15). "I am the Lord that do work Love, 
 Justice, and Righteousness: for in these things I delight, 
 saith the Lord" (Jer. 9: 24). 
 
 Zion, or Jerusalem, is often used in the Scriptures 
 as a figure to represent the Church Universal, the 
 elect of God, the fraternity of the just. The power and 
 > glory of God is made manifest in the lives of the just 
 (Rom. i: 19)- "He that hath seen me hath seen the 
 Father" (John 14:9). In olden time Jersualem was 
 the rendezvous of the great of Israel. The soul of 
 the just is called the daughter of Zion, the daughter 
 of Jerusalem. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, 
 O daughter of Jerusalem ' ' (Zech. 9:9). " Out of 
 Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord 
 from Jerusalem" (Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2; Luke 24:27), 
 ''For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it 
 
i8o The Law of Human Life 
 
 for his habitation. This is my rest forever; here will 
 I dwell; for I have desired it" (Ps. 132: 13, 14). The 
 power of God, the love of God, the glory of God, the 
 salvation of God, the Law of God, the divine order, 
 is made manifest in the lives of the just. "For God 
 hath desired it," 
 
 The thirty-seventh chapter of Genesis opens with a 
 statement indicative of the high attainments of Jacob; 
 and it also contains much that suggests the high char- 
 acter of the young and well-favored Joseph, who 
 though the youngest of his father's sons but one, is 
 their superior. "Joseph, being seventeen years old, 
 was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad 
 was with the sons of Billah, and with the sons of Zilpah, 
 his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father . 
 their evil report." Cain slew Abel; Ishmael mocked 
 Isaac ; Esau persecuted Jacob. When Joseph's brethren 
 saw that their father loved him more than all his 
 brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peace- 
 ably tmto him (Gen. 37:4). From what is here said, 
 it would seem that the sons of the bondmaids were 
 the least evolved, and Joseph the highest, of the sons 
 of Jacob. It is here written that Joseph dreamed 
 dreams that portended his future greatness. "And 
 he told his dream unto his father, and to his brethren: 
 and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is 
 this that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother 
 and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves 
 to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; 
 but his father observed the saying." They who are 
 destined to future greatness give evidence of it in their 
 childhood, and the wise take note of it. "His father 
 observed the saying." "His mother kept these sayings 
 in her heart ' ' (Luke 2:51). Joseph is the son of regener- 
 
The Story of Jacob i8i 
 
 ate parents; and there is nothing truer than that the 
 children of the regenerate are inclined to virtue from 
 their early childhood. But since the story of Joseph 
 is to be told in the next chapter, it is only necessary here 
 to say, that the greatness of Jacob was represented 
 in Joseph, the great master, and prince, who "ruled over 
 all the land of Egypt," and to whom all were required 
 to do obeisance (Gen. 41:43). Perhaps Joseph was 
 greater than his father; for it would seem that the 
 accumulated virtues of his fathers were "named on 
 him." 
 
 Joseph, though a lad, was the overseer of his father's 
 business. "And Jacob said unto him, Go, I pray, see 
 whether it is well with thy brethren, and with the 
 flocks; and bring me word again." But Joseph is 
 unkindly received by his brethren. "And they said 
 one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh." And 
 they counseled that they should kill him. "And Reu- 
 ben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands 
 and said. Let us not kill him." Reuben counseled 
 that they cast him into a pit; it being the intention of 
 Reuben, "that he might rid him out of their hands, to 
 deHver him to his father again"; but it is written that 
 Joseph's brethren stript him of his coat of many colors 
 "that was upon him," and cast him into a pit where 
 there was no water. Joseph's cgatofjnanyucolors was 
 the insignia of hisjaflxer's-Jov-e^-aad it -prefigured the 
 pu nty~a irdrgfeatness of his life. Perhaps there is nothing 
 under Heaven more suggestive of cleanness and virtue 
 than soft, clean, bright colors; and thus it is that the 
 bow in the sky is a fit symbol of God's covenant with 
 man. God promises rest, and peace, and glory, to all 
 of his children whose lives are made to resemble the 
 clean, soft, bright colors of the bow in the sky. 
 
1 82 The Law of Human Life 
 
 It is written that the brethren of Joseph lifted up 
 their eyes, and beheld a company of Ishmaelites come 
 from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and 
 balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt; 
 and then it is proposed that they sell Joseph to 
 the Midianite merchants. '*And Judah said unto his 
 brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and 
 conceal his blood? Come let us sell him to the Ishmael- 
 ites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our 
 brother and our flesh," And thus Joseph is carried 
 down to Egypt. ''And Reuben returned unto the 
 pit; and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent 
 his clothes." "He is our brother and our flesh." 
 ''Have we not all One Father? Has not One God 
 created us all? " (Mai. 2:10), It is a matter of common 
 knowledge that aromatics, especially myrrh and cas- 
 sia, were used in religious observances, in ancient as 
 well as in modem times; and that they are symbols of 
 cleanliness and parity. They who love righteousness, 
 and hate wickedness, "God hath anointed with the 
 oil of gladness above their fellows; and their garments 
 smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia" (Ps. 45:7). 
 It is therefore apparent that the spicery, and balm, 
 and myrrh are symbols that prefigure the character of 
 Joseph, just as the gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, 
 presented to the infant Jesus by the wise men of the 
 east were symbols expressive of his future greatness 
 (Matt. 2: 11). 
 
 What does the chapter, the thirty-seventh of Genesis 
 teach? Is it simply history? When Joseph is feeding 
 the flock with his brethren, the sons of Billah and of 
 Zilpah, he "brought unto his father their evil report"; 
 and when Joseph goes again to see if all is well with 
 his brethren, and with the flocks, some of his brethren, 
 
The Story of Jacob 183 
 
 presumably the sons of the bondmaids, counsel his 
 death; but the sons of Leah inVeigh against this. 
 Reuben insists that he shall be delivered to his father 
 again; Judah counsels that they do him no outward 
 violence; "Let not our hand be upon him" but that he 
 be sold to the Ishmaelites. It is submitted that this 
 story is intended to teach, and does teach, states of 
 human consciousness. The sons of the bondmaids, it 
 would seem, counsel gross violence. Like Cain, and 
 like Esau, they would slay their brother that is pre- 
 ferred before them; but the sons of Leah are in some 
 measure controlled of conscience and reason. ''Reuben, 
 thou art my first-bom, my might, and. the beginning of 
 my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excel- 
 lency of power" (Gen. 49:3). The dignity of man, 
 and the power of man, begins in obedience to conscience 
 and reason. 
 
 That the building of character involves an orderly 
 process is taught by all the wise; and it has been 
 taught by men less renowned than the Hebrew prophets 
 and the greatest of the Greek philosophers. Professor 
 William James in his Varieties of Religious Experiences, 
 says: "To be converted, to be regenerated, to receive 
 grace, to experience religion, to gain an assurance, are 
 so many phrases which denote a process, gradual or sud- 
 den, by which a Self hitherto divided, and consciously 
 wrong, inferior, and unhappy, becomes unified and 
 consciously right, superior, and happy, in consequence 
 of its firmer hold on religious realities." It is certainly 
 apparent that the Scriptures describe again and again 
 the process whereby the soul of man attains to a state 
 of harmony and perfection, and it would seem that this 
 process is succinctly described in the story of Jacob. 
 
 The author of this book insists that the Hebrew 
 
1 84 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Scriptures are essentially psychological, and not his- 
 toric; that they are fundamentally psychological, and 
 incidentally historic; and it seems fair to say that 
 the historic method of interpreting the Scriptures has 
 prevailed almost exclusively in the Western world since 
 the second or third centuries, a.d. Even to-day large 
 sums of money are being expended in burrowing into 
 the hidden and dark places of the Egyptian pyramids, 
 and into the ruins of buried cities for the purpose 
 of confirming the historic features of the Scriptures. 
 There are thousands of good men and women, who 
 have observed the waning influence of the historic 
 churches, that are now earnestly desirous to revive an 
 interest in religion as it is taught in them; and to this 
 end the world is being ransacked in the hope of finding 
 something that will breathe into these churches a new 
 life and power. The plight of the churches is pathetic. 
 There is a Church, however, which is not historic 
 and which exists above and beyond the ravages of the 
 sensuous animal world; it is the fraternity of the just; 
 and he who would belong to this church, this brother- 
 hood must live in obedience to Heaven's Law. The 
 end and aim of religion is to relate man to a kingdom 
 which transcends the animal kingdom of the world. 
 "My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were 
 of this world, then would my servants fight." "And 
 God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell 
 there." "And Jesus said to another, Follow me. But 
 he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 
 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead [let the sensuous and 
 carnally minded] bury their dead: but go thou and 
 preach the Kingdom of God. And another also said, 
 I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, 
 which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto 
 
The Story of Jacob 185 
 
 him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, 
 and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God*' 
 (Luke 9:59-62). No man whose mind and heart 
 are set upon the things of the world; no man who 
 compromises with the spirit of the world is fit for 
 the Kingdom of God. 
 
 It is submitted that when the Scriptures are truly 
 interpreted from the standpoint of psychology, then 
 wiU the One True Religion fotmded upon human nature 
 attain to its scientific establishment. If the principles 
 of religion are teachable and demonstrable, then it 
 stands to reason that they are scientific and eternal, 
 and are not a matter of speculation. All truth that 
 is teachable and demonstrable has relation to some 
 known object. "We must start in religion," says 
 William Ellery Channing, "from our own souls. In 
 these is the foundation of all divine truth." This was 
 the oft-repeated utterance of him who was called the 
 Socrates of the New England School of Transcendental- 
 ists; this was a fundamental doctrine of this illustrious 
 school of teachers and philosophers. The author of 
 this book affirms that this doctrine is taught both in 
 the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Socratic School of 
 Greek Philosophy; and that it is in harmony with reason 
 and human experience. 
 
 Of course, the great metaphysical idea, that we 
 should live in continual dependence upon God's Spirit, 
 and faithfully and prayerfully seek to live worthy of 
 It, is at the very heart of religion; but notwithstanding 
 this great central truth, our insistence is: that the 
 knowable, the teachable, and the demonstrable, have 
 to do with man. The indwelling of the Spirit of God 
 in the soul of man is the great truth of religion. " Know 
 ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the 
 
1 86 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (i Cor. 3: i6). Then 
 the question: What is the process whereby the soul 
 and body of man is made pure and chaste, a fit temple 
 of the Hving God? ''Behold, the tabernacle of God 
 [the abiding-place of God] is with men, and He will 
 dwell with them" (Rev. 21:3). "Wisdom maketh 
 aU things new; and in all ages entering into holy souls 
 hath made them friends of God, and prophets" (Wisd. 
 of SoL T\2i), Is there a more edifying and consoling 
 thought confided to man than this: that man, mentally, 
 is made in the image and likeness of his Creator, and 
 is endowed with the capacity of making the human 
 soul perfect? 
 
 The Scriptures teach that "God is a Spirit" Qohn 
 4:24; Zech. 4:6; Isa. 40:13; 2 Cor. 3:17); and 
 they expressly inhibit any image, or likeness of Him 
 (Ex. 20: 4, 5; Deut. 4: 15, 16; Isa. 40: 18). God is be- 
 yond limitation and definition; therefore, the know- 
 able and teachable have to do with man. The idea 
 before us suggests the pointed inquiry of the late 
 Horace Bushnell (Introduction to his book, Forgiveness 
 and Law) : "Is it not time now, after so many centu- 
 ries gone by, to have it discovered, that there is no 
 truth concerning God which is not somehow explicated 
 by truths of our own moral consciousness? " The great 
 prophets, sent of God, sought to rescue religion from 
 dogmatism and speculation; they taught that all the 
 truths of religion fall within the field of human experi- 
 ence; that all who live worthy of the Law shall know 
 the doctrine Qohn 7: 17). When the soul of man is 
 conformed to the moral order of God manifest in all 
 the works of nature, then is the soul of man an organ 
 of truth, then does man express the will of God, " My 
 doctrine is not of me, but His that sent me" (John 
 
The Story of Jacob 187 
 
 7: 16). "The moral order of the universe, said Fichte, 
 is itself God: we need no other, and we can comprehend 
 no other." 
 
 A Law of Order reigns 
 . Throughout creation, and this Law it is 
 Which like to God the universe maintains. 
 Herein do higher creatures see displayed 
 The trace of the Eternal Might — 
 All natures to this heavenly Law incline, 
 Approaching each, according to his kind, 
 Some more, some less, unto their source divine. 
 
 Dante: ParadisOy Canto i. 
 
 Moreover, it is apparent, that Socrates, the sage 
 of Athens, and his disciple Plato, sought to rescue 
 Philosophy from dogmatism and speculation; for it is 
 written that they taught that virtue, and virtue alone, 
 points the way to all higher knowledge. These ob- 
 servations recall, what is said to have been a favorite 
 remark of St. Augustine: "O my God, who art always 
 the same, let me know myself, and I shall know thee." 
 This accords with the song of Pope: 
 
 That virtue only makes our bliss below; 
 And all our knowledge is, ourselves to know. 
 
 Men need not trouble their souls with metaphysical 
 speculations about the personality of God. It is 
 enough to know that Wisdom, Truth, Self-Conscious- 
 ness, and Self-Activity are reckoned as essentials of 
 personality in its highest expression. It is imthinkable, 
 therefore, that these essentials of personality should 
 exist in man, and not exist in the Creator of man. " He 
 that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that 
 formed the eye, shall He not see? He that teacheth 
 
1 88 The Law of Human Life 
 
 men knowledge, shall He not know?" (Ps. 94:9, 10). 
 "For what maketh thee to differ from another? and what 
 hast thou that thou didst not receive?" (i Cor. 4:7). 
 Science itself acknowledges that all conceivable things 
 proceed from one unseen source. "All things proceed 
 from One Universal Energy," said Herbert Spencer. 
 Why should men speculate upon the character of God, 
 when it is possible to live a life of virtue, a life superior 
 to the sensuous animal spirit of the world, and thus 
 come to a realization of the Spirit of God in conscious- 
 ness? "It is of all things most difficult," said Plato, 
 "to find out God, and impossible to communicate him 
 to others." Man comes to know God by approaching 
 Him in likeness, by becoming "a partaker of the 
 Divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). 
 
 Unseen, yet not unf elt ; if any thought 
 Has raised our minds from earth, a pure desire, 
 A generous act, a noble purpose brought, 
 It is Thy breath, O Lord, which fans the fire. 
 
 James Freeman Clarke. 
 
 Paul In all earnestness of speech counsels perfection, 
 and tells us to look forward to the time when we shall 
 "come into the tinity of the faith, and of the knowledge 
 of the Son of God, unto the perfect man, unto the 
 measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 
 4: 13). Jesus, it would seem, expressly rebuked the 
 idea that God, the Father, the Spirit of all righteousness, 
 is to be contemplated in an abstract and metaphysical 
 way. "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the 
 Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus said unto him. Have 
 I been so long a time with you, and yet hast thou not 
 known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the 
 
The Stoiy of Jacob 189 
 
 Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? " 
 (John 14: 8, 9). "That which may be known of God is 
 made manifest in the lives of the just; for God hath 
 showed it unto them" (Rom. i: 19). The Scriptures 
 teach unqualifiedly that the character of God, "the Di- 
 vine nature," is manifested in the lives of the faithful and 
 just. " Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom 
 the Spirit of God is?" (Gen. 41:38). "There is none 
 good but one, that is God" (Mark 10: 18). While we 
 should not assume that the goodness of man is identical 
 with the perfect goodness of God, it is fair to assume 
 that nothing can be compatible with the boundless good- 
 ness of God which is incompatible with the goodness 
 which is revealed in the lives of the just. Only by 
 believing and discerning in consciousness that God has 
 virtues similar to or resembling human virtues, do we 
 come to believe and know of the moral perfections of 
 God; and of the filial relation that exists between man 
 and his Father in heaven. 
 
 The primary and celestial office of reason is the 
 perfection of the soul. Reason was put into the 
 human soul "to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2: 15). 
 Reason, the masculine principle of the soul, is forever 
 bringing brick and sUme (Gen. 11 : 3), his false opinions 
 and conceits, and is thus attempting by a process of 
 speculation to find the way to heaven; but this process, 
 this building of the tower of Babel, has forever ended 
 the same way, in the confusion of tongues. Reason in 
 his present fallen state does religion a poor service when 
 speculating on the character of God; but reason is 
 sufficient, even as we know him, to be a co-worker 
 with God (i Cor. 3: 9; 2 Cor. 6: i) in a high and holy 
 work, the perfecting of the soul. When reason has 
 done the work that God hath specially assigned him, 
 
190 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the perfecting of the soul, then does man attain to his 
 true estate, then does man become conscious of the 
 Kingdom of God, then does man "come into the 
 unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son 
 of God"; for all the just are consciously the sons of 
 God; all the just attain to a knowledge of their divine 
 sonship. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God" 
 (i John 3:1-3; Phil. 2:15). "Wisdom in all ages 
 entering into holy souls, hath made them friends of God 
 and prophets" (Wisd. of Sol. T'.2y). 
 
 **If in us dwelt not God's own might 
 How could the godlike give delight?" 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE STORY OF JOSEPH 
 
 "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God 
 is?" (Gen. 41:38), 
 
 William Ellery Channing, in April, 1841, the year 
 before his death, in the introduction to a volume of his 
 lectures and sermons, said: 
 
 We must start in religion from our own souls. In these 
 is the foundation of all divine truth. An outward revela- 
 tion is only possible and intelligible on the ground of con- 
 ceptions and principles previously furnished by the soul. 
 Here is otir primitive teacher and light. Let us not dis- 
 parage it. There are, indeed, philosophical schools of 
 the present day, which tell us that we are to start in all our 
 speculations from the Absolute, the Infinite. But we rise 
 to these conceptions from the contemplation of our own 
 nature; and even if it were not so, of what avail would be 
 the notion of an Absolute, Infinite existence, an Uncaused 
 Unity, if stripped of all those intellectual and moral attri- 
 butes which we learn only from our own souls ? What but 
 a vague shadow, a sounding name, is the metaphysical 
 Deity, the substance without modes, the Being without 
 properties, the naked unity, which performs such a part in 
 some of our philosophical systems? The only God whom 
 our thoughts can rest on, and our hearts can cling to, and 
 our consciences can recognize, is the Cod whose image 
 
 191 
 
192 The Law of Human Life 
 
 dwells in our own souls. The grand ideas of Power, Reason, 
 Wisdom, Love, Rectitude, Holiness, Blessedness, that is, of 
 all God's attributes, come from within, from the action of 
 our own spiritual nature. . . . Thus the soul is the spring 
 of our knowledge of God. 
 
 No one living in modem times, no one speaking 4;he 
 English language, in our judgment, has ever spoken 
 more illumined words concerning the nature, the po- 
 tential powers, the marvelous possibilities, and the 
 glory of the human soul, than did Channing. This 
 was the burden, the key-note, of his classic and chaste 
 utterance. To the end of his virtuous and exemplary 
 life, he never tired of heralding the glorious possibilities 
 of the human soul. His insistence was, that men in 
 their present state of civilization, have little or no 
 conception of the sublime possibilities of man. "The 
 most lamentable scepticism on earth, and incompar- 
 ably the most common, is a scepticism as to the great- 
 ness, powers, and high destinies of human nature. In 
 this greatness I desire to cherish an unwavering faith." 
 Channing's letters, lectures, and sermons, covering 
 more than a thousand printed pages, are replete with 
 brilliant observations concerning human nature, 
 
 "We must start in religion from our own souls." 
 This is precisely what the Scriptures teach; it is what 
 Socrates and Plato taught. Psychology is, therefore, 
 the science of sciences. The deep truths of human 
 nature were known to the adepts of ancient wisdom, 
 to the great prophets and philosophers; and this holy 
 science will be revived in the near future; and when 
 revived, it will take precedence of all other science. 
 Man will respect man; man will honor man, when he 
 comes to know the essential nature of his own soul, 
 
The Story of Joseph 193 
 
 and of every human soul. When man knows enough 
 to know, that he cannot wrong another without first 
 wronging himself and desecrating his own soul, then will 
 he hesitate to do evil. When man knows enough to 
 know that every evil thought and act mars and wounds 
 the soul, and fills it with discord, inharmony, and 
 pain, then he will not be a foolish and temporizing 
 child. Channing, when speaking on the subject Honor 
 Due to All Men, and on the text "Honor all men" 
 (i Peters: 17), said: 
 
 The soul is to be regarded with a religious reverence 
 hitherto unfelt; and the solemn claims of every being to 
 whom this divine principle is imparted are to be established 
 on the ruins of those pernicious principles, both in Church 
 and State which have so long divided mankind into the 
 classes of the abject many, and the self-exalting few. 
 There is nothing of which men know so little as themselves. 
 . . . Men have as yet no just respect for themselves, and of 
 consequence no just respect for others. ... I hold that 
 nothing is to make man a true lover of man, but the dis- 
 covery of something interesting and great in htiman nature. 
 We must see and feel that a hxmian being is something 
 important, and of immeasurable importance. 
 
 Chaiming, when discoursing on the teachings of 
 Jesus, said: 
 
 Jesus Christ thought nothing worthy of his notice, but 
 the soul of man; and the whole tenor of his gospel is, that 
 the soul is capable of all that is great and excellent, that it 
 may become the Image of God, that it may ascend to the 
 glory and purity of angels. It is constantly his doctrine, 
 that man is appointed to join the society of heaven, and 
 that he will there shine as the sun, that he will exchange 
 his present imperfection for spotless purity. . , • These 
 13 
 
194 The Law of Human Life 
 
 are views which have little to interest him who never 
 reflects on his inward nature, who only feels that he has a 
 body and organs of sense, and who thinks the highest 
 happiness is found in the gratification of the brute. But 
 there are those who feel conscious of the heavenly principle 
 within them, who, at the sight of distinguished virtue, pant 
 to attain to its resemblance, who kindle at the thought of a 
 boundless progression, of a never-ending ascent towards God. 
 
 It was Theodore Parker, we believe, who called 
 Channing, the Socrates of the New England School of 
 Transcendentalists. If Channing were its Socrates, 
 then Emerson was its Plato. In the Memoirs of 
 Margaret Fuller Ossoli, the basic principle of this 
 school is stated in a sentence. "Transcendentalism, 
 as viewed by its disciples, was a pilgrimage from the 
 idolatrous world of creeds and rituals to the Tem- 
 ple of the Living God in the soul." Emerson, like 
 his great predecessor, Channing, taught that human 
 greatness consisted in the perfection of the soul. 
 "Wherever a man comes, there comes revelation. 
 The old is for slaves. When a man comes, all books 
 are legible, all things are transparent, all religions 
 are forms. The remedy for their deformity is first, 
 Soul, and second, Soul, and ever more Soul." This 
 school did more, perhaps, to emphasize the dignity of 
 the human soul, than any other in modem times. 
 
 The views of Channing on the greatness, powers, 
 and high destinies of human nature, we believe, a 
 proper prelude to the story of Joseph. Joseph, like all 
 the masters in Israel, was great because of the purity 
 and perfection of his soul. 
 
 Symbolism [says John Ruskin] is the setting forth of a 
 great truth by an imperfect and inferior sign (as, for instance. 
 
The Story of Joseph 195 
 
 of the hope of the resurrection by the form of the Phoenix) ; 
 and it is ahnost always employed by men in their most 
 serious moods of faith, rarely in recreation. Men who use 
 symbols forcibly are almost always true believers in what 
 they symbolize. But personification is the bestowing of a 
 human or living form upon an abstract idea: it is, in most 
 cases, a mere recreation of the fancy, and is apt to disturb 
 the belief in the reality of the things personified. Thus 
 symboUsm constituted the entire system of the Mosaic 
 dispensation: it occtirs in every word of Christ's teaching; 
 it attaches perpetual mystery to the last and most solemn 
 act of his life. But I do not recollect a single instance of 
 personification in any of his words. 
 
 What is psychology? "It is the description and 
 explanation of the states of consciousness as such," 
 said the late Prof. William James. Is there any other 
 method in our present condition of existence, of describ- 
 ing and explaining states of consciousness, other than 
 by the use of the tangible and the visible? On reflec- 
 tion, it would seem that there is no way of describing 
 and explaining the subjective except by the use of 
 parables, allegories, and symbols. 
 
 The low valley of the Nile, a great monotonous 
 expanse, the abode of a luxurious, pleasure-loving, and 
 warlike people, is itself a fit symbol of a low and sensuous 
 state of consciousness. In the book of Exodus, we are 
 told how the children of Israel are led out of this valley 
 of carnality and death; and how they were swiftly 
 carried into the midst of the mighty mountain scenery 
 of Arabia. They were led into this arid and wilderness 
 land, that they may honor and worship God ; that they 
 may offer a "sacrifice unto the Lord their God" (Ex. 
 5:3); in this region, intermediary between Egypt and 
 the promised land, the Israelites are brought near unto 
 
196 The Law of Human Life 
 
 God. "You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, 
 and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought 
 you unto myself" (Ex. 19:4); in this wilderness they 
 are said to be led and taught of God (Deut. 8:2, 3). 
 This desert land is a symbol descriptive of a state of 
 consciousness above the Egyptian state; and above 
 and beyond the desert is the promised land fair in cli- 
 mate and bounteous in resource, a land forever dear 
 to the children of Israel, "a good land, a land without 
 scarceness, a land wherein man shall lack nothing, 
 a land wherein man shall bless God" (Deut. 8: 7-10). 
 This land at once suggests a high and holy state of 
 consciousness, a state of perfect rest and peace. 
 
 Little is known of the early life of Joseph. It is 
 written that he was the eleventh son of Jacob, and 
 that he was the first-bom of the fair Rachel; and that 
 "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because 
 he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat 
 of many colors" (Gen. 37:3); and that when the 
 brethren, of Joseph saw that their father loved him 
 more than he loved them, "they hated him, and could 
 not speak peaceably unto him." It is also said that 
 Joseph dreamed dreams portending that his brethren 
 should do obeisance to him, and that his brethren 
 "hated him still more for his dreams"; and that they 
 sold him to a company of Ishmaelites come from Gilead 
 with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, 
 going to carry it down to Egypt. 
 
 The story of Joseph's life is largely legendary, but 
 these legends are not fiction; they are the antithesis 
 of fiction; they are deeper than history; they are 
 psychological. History has to do with events in time; 
 psychology with states of consciousness. These legends 
 teach that Joseph's father and mother were highly 
 
The Story of Joseph 197 
 
 evolved, were spiritually developed, even before his 
 birth; and that Joseph was a thoughtful and meditative 
 child; that he was precocious. "His brethren envied 
 him , . . and they said one to another. Behold this 
 dreamer cometh ' ' (Gen. 37:11, 19). John Ruskin, 
 England's famous social reformer and art critic, when 
 speaking of the significance of colors, said: "Of all 
 God's gifts to the sight of man, color is the holiest, the 
 most divine, the most solemn. . . . The purest and most 
 thoughtful minds are those which love color the most. 
 . . , Not without meaning was the love of Israel to his 
 chosen son expressed by the coat "of many colors." 
 
 Jacob, in the days of Joseph's childhood, had attained 
 to wisdom, to seership; he had prevailed with God, and 
 his name was changed to Israel; and while his sons 
 envied Joseph, he himself "observed the sayings" of 
 his precocious son (Gen. 37: 11) ; for what he then said 
 portended future greatness. They who are destined 
 to greatness often give evidence of it in their early 
 childhood (Luke 2:51). The spicery and balm and 
 m3?Trh that the Ishmaelites were carrying down to 
 Egypt suggest the purity of Joseph's life; just as the 
 gold, and frankincense, and mjnrh which the wise men 
 are said to have presented to the infant Jesus, prefigured 
 the perfection of his character. 
 
 The story of the human soul, as related in the 
 fortieth chapter of Genesis is doubly veiled. On its 
 face it purports to be the interpretation of two dreams 
 by Joseph. It is written that the chief butler and the 
 chief baker had offended their lord, the king of Egsrpt, 
 and that he put them into the prison, "the place where 
 Joseph was bound." According to the symbolism of 
 the Scriptures, everyone is in bondage, in prison, is 
 bound, who is obsessed by the things of the world; 
 
198 The Law of Human Life 
 
 everyone is in bondage who is under the control of the 
 chief baker. The chief baker represents the lower 
 principle of the human soul, the seat of the carnal 
 appetites. He who panders to his carnal appetites 
 is in prison with the chief baker, but he who conquers 
 and destroys the chief baker, his animal nature, is freed 
 from bondage, and is a master in Israel. The virtue 
 of temperance is made manifest in the restraint and 
 mastery of the carnal appetites. John Ruskin, when 
 speaking of intemperance, said: "Men are held in- 
 temperate only when their desires overcome or prevent 
 the action of their reason, and they are indeed intem- 
 perate in the exact degree in which such prevention or 
 interference takes place." 
 
 "In my dream, said the chief butler, behold, a vine 
 was before me; and in the vine were three branches," 
 and the chief butler proceeds to say that the vine 
 blossomed and brought forth ripe grapes, and that he 
 took of the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's 
 cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. This is 
 the interpretation said Joseph: "The three branches 
 are three days; yet within three days shall Pharaoh 
 lift up thine head, and restore thee into thy place; 
 and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, 
 after the former manner when thou wast his butler." 
 The chief butler is the representative of reason. The 
 mind is the man; the son of man, the man must be 
 lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. 
 The virtue of reason is wisdom; ripe grapes are a symbol 
 of wisdom. When the mind is prostituted and sensuous, 
 then is man fallen, then is man in prison with the chief 
 baker; but when the mind is lifted up it attains to its 
 true office; it is the custodian of the king's cup, and the 
 dispenser of ripe grapes. 
 
The Story of Joseph 199 
 
 The chief baker tells his dream. "Behold, I had 
 three white baskets on my head; and in the uppermost 
 basket there was all manner of baked meats for Pharaoh; 
 and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my 
 head." This is the interpretation, said Joseph: "The 
 three baskets are three days: yet within three days shall 
 Pharaoh Uft up thy head from off thee, and shall hang 
 thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off 
 thee." The birds, the symbol of mentality, eat of the 
 baked meats; as long as the mind is addicted to baked 
 meats man is fallen; as long as he is obsessed by the 
 things of the world, he is in prison. The mind becomes 
 noble or ignoble according to the nature of the food 
 it feeds upon. The birds feeding upon baked meats is 
 descriptive of mentality at its nadir, mentality on the 
 plane of the carnal world. A mind devoted to the 
 contemplation of high and holy things becomes holy. 
 Money represents carnal things. "The love of money 
 is the root of all evil" (i Tim. 6: lo). "He that is 
 dead [to the things of the world] is freed from sin" 
 (Rom. 6: 7). 
 
 "And it came to pass the third day, which was 
 Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast to all his 
 servants. . . . And he restored the chief butler unto his 
 butlership again. . . . But he hanged the chief baker: 
 as Joseph had interpreted unto them." Joseph has 
 attained to the third day; he is resurrected from the 
 dead. "It is appointed unto man once to die [to 
 the world] but after this the judgment," the crisis, the 
 baptism with fire. Joseph's soul is now upright before 
 God; the chief butler is lifted up; he is exalted; he is 
 a dispenser of wisdom. The chief baker is crucified; 
 he is hanged on a tree. Joseph has conquered his 
 five kings; he has destroyed the king of lust, the fiercest 
 
200 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of the five, the king that always counsels rebellion 
 about the thirteenth year (Gen. 14:4). Joseph was 
 tempted of this king in the day and hour that he met 
 Potiphar's wife; and he proved himself the master of 
 this fiery king, the prince of rebelHon. ''There is none 
 greater in this house than I. . . . How can I do this 
 great wickedness and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9)- 
 The mind is the man. Reason, as Plato has said, is 
 the directing and measuring virtue, since it must 
 govern the soul. "There is none greater in this house 
 than I." A pure mind is the image and glory of God. 
 Mentality is spiritual; he who violates reason, offends 
 against God. "Order is Truth," said Thomas Carlyle. 
 " Evil is evil because it is unnatural." It is a dissonance, 
 a departure from the divine order. 
 
 When man knows enough to know that all wicked- 
 ness and sin are against God, against the divine order, 
 and that every violation of heaven's law brings unerr- 
 ingly a punishment proportioned to the wrong, then 
 will he exclaim as did Joseph: "How can I do this 
 great wickedness and sin against God?" "And 
 David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the 
 Lord" (2 Sam. 12: 13). David was great enough to 
 confess his sins, and good enough to feel the pro- 
 fotmdest remorse. "I acknowledged my sin . . . 
 I will confess my transgressions" (Ps. 32:5). "He 
 that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso 
 confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" 
 (Prov, 28:13). He who confesses his sins and for- 
 sakes his evil ways, and does what he can to make 
 reparation, is in the way of forgiveness, before God and 
 man. Before invoking the blessings of heaven, let man 
 confess his sins, forsake his evil ways, and make repara- 
 tion; this is the injunction of the masters. "First 
 
The Story of Joseph 201 
 
 be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer 
 thy gift" (Matt. 5: 23, 24). 
 
 Joseph relied upon the chief butler to get him out 
 of prison. "Make mention of me to Pharaoh, and 
 bring me out of this house" (Gen. 40: 14). No man 
 ever escaped out of the house of bondage without the 
 faithful assistance of the chief butler, and without 
 first having conquered and destroyed the chief baker. 
 It is written that the chief butler "forgot Joseph" 
 (Gen. 40: 23). The exit from the house of bondage is 
 always attended with suffering; to die to one state is to 
 be bom into another. One must die to the animal 
 kingdom of the world in order to be bom into the 
 Kingdom of God. They who experience this death, 
 this re-birth, this travail of soul, feel in their hearts 
 that they are forgotten. "My familiar friends have 
 forgotten me" (Job 19: 14). "I am forgotten as a 
 dead man out of mind" (Ps. 31 : 12; Amos 6: 6; Jonah 
 2:4), "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me?" (Ps. 22:1), Mysticism, by Evel3m Underbill, 
 is a book which contains much of interest to students 
 of psychology. In this book is a chapter entitled: 
 "The Dark Night of the Soul," in which she says: 
 "Psychologically, then, the 'Dark Night of the Soul' 
 is due to the double fact of the exhaustion of an 
 old state, and the growth towards a new state of 
 consciousness." 
 
 Joseph, like all the highly evolved, like all who 
 have attained to self-mastery and to wisdom, experi- 
 enced that "horror of great darkness," that "dark 
 night of the soul" that marks the beginning of the 
 third day. The Man, the human, must wrestle with 
 the animal and wound it in the thigh, as the man 
 wounded Jacob; and this battle must be persisted in, 
 
202 The Law of Human Life 
 
 if man would attain to his own, until the animal is 
 conquered, "until the breaking of the day" (Gen. 
 32:24). Indescribable anguish and darkness precedes 
 the dawn, the breaking of the eternal day. "He that 
 hath suffered in the flesh [and died to the animal king- 
 dom] hath ceased from sin" (i Peter 4:1). Religion is 
 founded upon the idea that there is a kingdom of Unity, 
 Love, Rectitude, Holiness, and Blessedness, essentially 
 human, that transcends the ar;imal kingdom of the 
 world. "My kingdom is not of this world, if my 
 kingdom were of this world then would my servants 
 fight." The luxurious, the pleasure-loving, the car- 
 nally minded, have no conscious knowledge of this 
 high and holy kingdom. They that lie upon ivory 
 beds, and stretch themselves upon their couches, 
 and eat the lambs out of the flock, and drink wine in 
 bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, 
 "are not grieved because of the afflictions of Joseph" 
 (Amos 6: 4-6). 
 
 In the forty-first chapter of Genesis, it is written 
 that Pharaoh dreamed, and that in the morning his 
 spirit was troubled, and that he sent for his magicians 
 and wise men, and told them what he had dreamed, 
 "but there was none that could interpret them tmto 
 Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, 
 saying, / do remember my faults this dayJ^ The chief 
 butler then tells the king how he and the chief baker 
 were put into prison, and how a Hebrew interpreted 
 their dreams. "Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, 
 and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: 
 and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and 
 came in unto Pharaoh." Joseph shaved himself, and 
 changed his raiment; his hair is clipped off, and his old 
 raiment is cast away; these are symbols of outward 
 
The Story of Joseph 203 
 
 things. He has overcome the world; "he is called 
 out of the dungeon." Joseph has cast oflf the grave- 
 clothes that bound him; loose him, and let him come 
 forth, says the King (John 11:44). This is the story 
 of the resurrection. "Jesus said tmto Martha, I am 
 the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, 
 though he were dead [though he were in the carnal 
 state] yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Joseph, like 
 all the masters in Israel, was resurrected from the 
 dead when in the world, while his soul abided in a 
 body of flesh; the masters are they that demonstrate 
 in their Hves the Law of Human Life, the way of life. 
 "I am the resurrection and the life." 
 
 "I do remember my faults this day." When the 
 son of man, the mind, is lifted up, when it is free from 
 the obsession of things, when it has conquered and 
 destroyed the vestiges of animalism within the, soul, 
 then does man remember "his faults," then does man 
 counsel restraint, and charity, and mercy, and justice. 
 Paul tells Titus to speak evil of no man, and to be 
 gentle and merciful. "For we ourselves also were 
 sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers 
 lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, 
 and hating one another" (Titus 3:3). Men are tm- 
 believing and irreligious because their lives are low and 
 animal; they are unmindful of their faults because 
 they are corrupt and carnally minded. Moses is the 
 name of him who was drawn out of the waters of the 
 Nile; the Holy Spirit, the dove, descended upon Jesus 
 when he went up out of the waters of the Jordan. 
 Water is a symbol of carnal mind; they who are con- 
 scious of the kingdom of God are said to be drawn out 
 of the water, or waters. "He drew me out of many 
 waters" (2 Sam. 22:17; Ps. 18:16; 144:7). Joseph 
 
204 The Law of Human Life 
 
 is bom of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5); he is 
 consciously related to the Kingdom of God. 
 
 "And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a 
 dream, and there is none that can interpret it." . . . 
 "And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: 
 God shall give Pharaoh an answer of Peace" (Gen. 
 41: 16), The truth, the answer that satisfies, "is not 
 in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of Peace," 
 "I do nothing of myself" (John 8:28). "All things 
 proceed from One Eternal Energy," said Herbert 
 Spencer. A righteous human soul is an organ of the 
 Holy Spirit, Joseph in obedience to the- Spirit of God 
 in his soul interpreted the dream of Pharaoh; and the 
 interpretation was "an answer of Peace" to his troubled 
 soul. "And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we 
 find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit 
 of God is?" "Who is he that condemneth?" (Rom. 
 8:34). Who is he that speaks the truth in any pre- 
 sence? "It is Christ"; it is Israel; It is the Spirit o^ 
 God in a righteous human soul. 
 
 "Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto 
 thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the 
 throne will I be greater than thou, . . . And he made 
 him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and 
 they cried before him. Bow the knee: and he made him 
 ruler over all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 41:40, 43). 
 "The land of Egypt, the land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23), 
 represents the lower principle of the human soul. 
 Joseph ruled over all the land of Egypt; he is a master 
 in Israel; he is the exponent of wisdom. Wisdom is 
 entitled to ride in the second chariot; and it is the 
 duty of aU in the land of Egypt to bow the knee at the 
 approach of wisdom. This marvelous allegory would 
 seem to teach that God alone is superior to wisdom. 
 
The Story of Joseph 205 
 
 "Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." "It 
 is impossible that the mentality whic±L reasons within 
 us," said Pascal, "should be other than Spiritual." 
 He who offends against reason, offends against God; 
 evil is unnatural; it is a violation of the divine order. 
 He who is faithful to reason honors God. "All men 
 should honor the son, even as they honor the Father" 
 Qohn5:23). 
 
 "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-pa- 
 aneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter 
 of Poti-pherah, priest of On, . . . And Joseph was thirty 
 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt." 
 Many explanations have been made of the name given 
 to Joseph by the King. Modem Egyptologists have 
 in the main agreed that the last part of this name, 
 "paaneah, " means "the life." Names were given to 
 persons in ancient times descriptive of their characters; 
 in a word, when the character of an individual had 
 undergone a great and substantial change, he was 
 given a new name to correspond with his new character. 
 In the light of this principle so often illustrated in the 
 Scriptures, and the meaning given to the last part of 
 Joseph's new name by the Egyptologists, it is reasonable 
 to beUeve that this new name means, "the resurrection 
 and the life." Some translators have said that this 
 name in the Egyptian tongue means "A Savior of 
 the world." The two interpretations stated seem to 
 be synonymous, for the reason that every master, or 
 Savior represents in his own person "the resurrection 
 and the life." The Saviors of mankind are the 
 resurrected ones; they are those who have suffered in 
 the flesh, who have died to the animal kingdom of 
 the world, and who are consciously related to the King- 
 dom of God. "No sign shaU be given, but the sign of 
 
2o6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the prophet Jonas" (Matt. 12:39). The sign of the 
 prophet is demonstrated in the life of the prophet. 
 '*I am the resurrection and the life." 
 
 Asenath, the name of Joseph's wife, is said to mean, 
 "she that hath fled"; she that hath fled from idolatry- 
 Idolatry is represented in the love and adoration of 
 visible and earthly things; as long as the affections are 
 set upon the things of the world, upon things below, 
 the mind and heart are dead to the spiritual. Asenath 
 is the representative of Joseph's soul, and of every 
 righteous soul. Every righteous soul attains to wisdom. 
 Wisdom is faithful to her own. "When the righteous 
 was sold, she forsook him not, but delivered him from 
 sin: she went down with him into the pit, and left 
 him not in bonds, till she brought him the sceptre of 
 the Kingdom of God" (Wisd. of Sol. 10: 13, 14). Joseph 
 was sold for a servant; his feet were hurt with fetters; 
 he was led in irons. " The word of the Lord tried him, " 
 until the time when the word, the truth was made known 
 unto him; it was then that the King sent and loosed 
 him, and let him go free; it was then that he was clothed 
 upon with power "to bind the King's princes; and 
 to teach his senators wisdom" (Ps. 105: 17-22). It is 
 the Spirit of God in the heart of man that makes him 
 the organ of wisdom, of truth, and of faith. It is the 
 Spirit that bestows character. It is the Spirit that binds 
 and looses in Heaven and earth. To the extent that man 
 is the organ of the Holy Spirit he is free, and to the 
 extent that he offends against It he is bound (Matt. 
 16: 19). 
 
 "And unto Joseph were bom two sons before the 
 years of the famine came, which Asenath . . . bear 
 unto him; and Joseph called the name of the first-bom 
 Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all 
 
The Story of Joseph 207 
 
 my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of 
 the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused 
 me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." The 
 affections are first developed. Manasseh is the repre- 
 sentative of the heart. A pure and virtuous heart makes 
 man forget his past troubles. "If thou prepare thine 
 heart, . . . thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember 
 it as waters that pass away" (Job 11: 13, 16). When 
 the affections are set upon things above, they are 
 tmmindful of things below. Ephraim is the second 
 bom; he represents mentality, that which grows in 
 power. "Of the increase of his government and 
 peace there shall be no end" (Isa. 9:7). The Mind is 
 ■ the man. That is most fruitful and most glorious that 
 most resembles God, "God is in One Mind" (Job 
 23 : 13) ; and man is fruitful to the extent that he images 
 the divine Mind. Joseph's sons were bom "before 
 the years of the famine came"; the mind and the 
 heart must attain to a high degree of perfection before 
 the soul is prepared for the famine, the trials and 
 temptations of the desert life, "the great and dreadful 
 day of the Lord" (Mai. 4: 5). The wise are they who 
 "Make ready against the third day" (Ex. 19:11; 
 Luke 13:32, 33)- 
 
 That Joseph was the son of Jacob, that he had a 
 number of brothers, that he was sold into slavery to 
 a company of merchants on their way to Egypt, that 
 he underwent great suffering and was finally liberated, 
 that he had a wife and sons, and that he attained 
 to great power and was revered by the people of Egypt 
 and their king, are statements of a historic nature 
 quite as probable and credible as any other recorded in 
 ancient history. The question then is, are the Scrip- 
 tures to be regarded from a historic or a psychological 
 
2o8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 standpoint? It is submitted that while history is a 
 necessary handmaid of the Scriptures, it is but secondary 
 and incidental to their real object. The Scriptures are 
 intended to teach, and do teach, the way of salva- 
 tion; and this process is essentially psychological. It, 
 therefore, follows that the life of Joseph, and of Moses, 
 and of Jesus, and of all the great of which the Scriptures 
 make mention is to be contemplated in the light of 
 psychology, in the light of a process. 
 
 The chapter under consideration, the forty-first of 
 Genesis, together with the last four verses of the 
 preceding chapter, is a record of the celebration of 
 Joseph's resurrection from the dead. In a word, it is 
 the celebration of the greatest event of which we have 
 any knowledge ; it is the celebration of man's death to 
 the carnal world, and his birth into a high and holy 
 kingdom that transcends the animal kingdom of the 
 world. That such an event is possible of attainment 
 should awaken in the mind and heart of every rational 
 being unutterable gratitude and reverence toward 
 God, the Creator, and should move all such beings to 
 righteous and holy endeavor. No event is so worthy 
 of joy and of celebration as this ; for it heralds the coming 
 of the son of God. With the coming of the prophet, 
 "God hath visited His people" (Luke 7: 16). "Abra- 
 ham saw my day and rejoiced" (John 8:56). Let 
 the soul of man, the daughter of Zion, rejoice because 
 of the good tidings of great joy. "Rejoice greatly, O 
 daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem: 
 Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, he points 
 the way of salvation; he is lowly; he rides upon an ass" 
 (Zech. 9:9). The domestic ass represents the simple, 
 the lowly, the obedient, the serviceable; and the horse, 
 the pomp and glory of the world. "Woe to them that 
 
The Story of Joseph 209 
 
 go down to Eg5^t for help; and stay on horses, and 
 trust in chariots" (Isa. 31 : i). 
 
 There is a marked similarity between what is said 
 of Joseph's resurrection in the Scriptures under con- 
 sideration, and what is said of Jesus' resurrection in the 
 second chapter of John. The chief butler was lifted up 
 on the third day, and on this day the chief baker was 
 hanged, "And the third day there was a marriage in 
 Cana of Galilee." When the people cried to Pharaoh 
 for bread, the symbol of truth, "Pharaoh said unto all 
 the Egyptians, Gk) unto Joseph; what he saith unto 
 you, do." When the people at Cana wanted wine, the 
 symbol of wisdom and truth, "Jesus' mother saith 
 imto the servants. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do 
 it." The first pubUc miracle which Joseph did, that 
 "manifested forth his glory," and caused Pharaoh 
 and his servants to believe on him, was his interpreta- 
 tion of Pharaoh's dream. This "was good in the eyes 
 of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And 
 Pharaoh said unto his servants. Can we find such a one 
 as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? " " This 
 beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and 
 manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on 
 him." 
 
 Why is the celebration of the resurrection and 
 glory of Jesus called the marriage of Cana? This 
 marriage is the celebration of a perfected union between 
 a pure mind and a virtuous heart; it represents the 
 union of Wisdom and Love; it is what Swedenborg 
 called the "celestial marriage," Justice, according to 
 Plato, is not founded upon any outward thing, but it 
 represents the perfection of the soul itself. The virtue 
 of Reason is Wisdom, said Plato; it is the directing and 
 measuring virtue, since it must govern the soul, it 
 14 
 
210 The Law of Human Life 
 
 is the virtue of the head; Valor is the virtue of the 
 heart, the pure in heart are fearless, the heart is the 
 seat of love, "perfect love casteth out fear"; Temper- 
 ance is the virtue by which the sensuous and carnal 
 desires of the soul are restrained and destroyed; and 
 lastly, Justice is the crowning and all inclusive virtue 
 that represents the poise, the balance, the unity, in 
 brief, the perfection of the soul. 
 
 In the second chapter of John it is said that Jesus 
 drove the animals out of the temple. "Do you not 
 know that your body is the temple of the living God?" 
 (i Cor. 6: 19). "What agreement hath the temple of 
 God with idols?" (2 Cor, 6: 16). The driving of the 
 animals and money-changers out of the temple is a 
 figure illustrative of the process whereby the soul 
 is freed from its animal traits. "Men and women are 
 only half human" says Emerson in his essay on His- 
 tory. When Jesus spoke of driving out the animals, 
 he spoke of the necessity of freeing the sotd from the 
 vestiges of animalism. What are the vestiges of 
 animalism? Falsehood, hypocrisy, lust, greed, super- 
 stition, envy, malice, revenge, and murder. These 
 are some of the animal traits, some of the devils, that 
 must be cast out of the temple, if man would attain to 
 greatness. These devils inhere in the souls of un- 
 regenerate men. The physical animal body of man is 
 on the plane of the lower principle of the soul. When 
 the Jews asked Jesus what, is meant by driving the 
 animals out of the temple, he at once replied that he 
 referred to his body. "He spake of the temple of his 
 body ' ' (John 2:21). Does any one suppose that 
 Joseph who ruled "over all the land of Egypt," who 
 had overcome the world, had not first driven the 
 animals out of the temple? Is it possible for any 
 
The Story of Joseph 211 
 
 human soul to attain to perfection without being free 
 from the vestiges of animalism? 
 
 Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus were Masters in 
 Israel; and they, like all that have overcome the world, 
 like all that have attained to the "imchangeable priest- 
 hood, the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 7: 11, 24) 
 teach the same doctrine. They are related to the 
 Kingdom of God, and are the organs of the Holy Spirit. 
 "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the 
 Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21; Luke 1:70; John 5:30). 
 It stands to reason that they who are related to the 
 Kingdom of God, and are the organs of His Spirit, teach 
 the same doctrine concerning the human soul, and the 
 mode and manner of its evolution. "Go imto Joseph; 
 what he saith to you, do" (Gen. 41 : 55). "His mother 
 saith unto the servants. Whatsoever he saith unto you, 
 doit" Qohn2:5). 
 
 Joseph is a master in Israel; "he is a fruitful bough 
 by a well; whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 
 49: 22). A wall suggests an inclosure, a limitation; but 
 the power and greatness of Joseph extends over and 
 beyond the wall. Joseph is a dispenser of the bread 
 of life not only to the people of Egypt, but to the 
 famishing in all lands. "And Jacob said. Behold, 
 I have heard that there is com in Egypt. . . . And 
 Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy com in Egypt. 
 . , . And Joseph was the governor over the land. . . . 
 "And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed themselves 
 down before him with their faces to the earth. . . . 
 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 
 , . . And Joseph remembered the dreams which he 
 dreamed of them" (Gen. 42: 2, 3, ^, 8, 9). 
 
 Joseph in order to try his brethren, to learn what 
 manner of men they were, treated them as enemies, 
 
212 The Law of Human Life 
 
 as spies. "And they said, Thy servants are twelve 
 brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; 
 and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, 
 and one is not" (Gen. 42: 13). And Joseph to further 
 prove them demanded that they bring their youngest 
 brother to him, "But bring your younger brother 
 imto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall 
 not die. And they did so." It is written that Joseph 
 put his brethren into prison; but this is manifestly 
 allegoric; it is descriptive of the condition , of his 
 brethren. All men are in prison, in bondage, as long 
 as they are obsessed by the things of the world. "Why 
 do you turn again to the weak and beggarly things of 
 the world, do you desire again to be in bondage?" 
 (Gal. 4:9). Jesus tells how he shall escape out of 
 bondage on the "third day." "Behold, I cast out 
 devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the 
 third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 13:32). The 
 mission of Joseph, like every true master, is to lead 
 rtiankind out of bondage. None, it would seem, 
 escape bondage before the "third day" (Hosea 6:2). 
 
 "And Joseph said unto them the third day. This do, 
 and live; for I fear God: If ye be true men, let one of 
 your brethren be bound in the house of your prison" 
 (Gen. 42: 18, 19). Joseph is a master in Israel; he has 
 attained to the "third day"; he imposes hard condi- 
 tions on his brethren; he gives them to understand 
 that they must keep their word; that truth is a condi- 
 tion of salvation. "This do, and live; for I fear God." 
 "Let one be bound in the house of your prison." Let 
 one remain in prison, and represent your condition in 
 life. Let one be left as a hostage. 
 
 Joseph, the master, imposes hard conditions on his 
 brethren; but these conditions were necessary to their 
 
The Story of Joseph 213 
 
 salvation; they were necessary to awaken them out of 
 a state of death. The first step in htunan salvation 
 is to bring man to a realization oi his fallen and degener- 
 ate condition. Joseph reveals his brethren to them- 
 selves ; he brings them to a realization of their own fallen 
 and wretched state of mind and heart; and in order to 
 do this, he imposes conditions which fill their souls 
 with unspeakable anguish. "Now no chastening for 
 the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: never- 
 theless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of 
 righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" 
 (Heb. 12: 11); "In their affliction they will seek me 
 early" (Hosea 5: 15; Jonah 2:2; Ps. 119:67; Jer. 31: 
 18). Joseph brings his brethren face to face with 
 themselves; he makes them see their plight as they 
 never saw it before. A realization of one's own condi- 
 tion precedes a knowledge of God. "O My God, who 
 art always the same, let me know myself, and I shall 
 know thee," said St. Augustine. 
 
 "And they said one to another, We are very guilty 
 concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of 
 his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; 
 therefore is this distress upon us. And Reuben ans- 
 wered them saying, Spake I not xmto you, saying. Do 
 not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? 
 Therefore, also his blood is required. And they knew 
 not that Joseph understood them; for he spake imto 
 them by an interpreter" (Gen. 42: 21-23), 
 
 Blood for blood, and blow for blow: 
 Thou shalt reap as thou didst sow. 
 
 iEsCHYLUS. 
 
 " Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever 
 a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). 
 
214 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "And Joseph turned himself about from them, and 
 wept; and returned to them again, and commimed with 
 them, and' took from them Simeon, and botmd him 
 before their eyes" (Gen. 42:24). "He communed 
 with them"; he shared their grief and trouble. Jesus 
 wept at the tomb of Lazarus; "Then said the Jews, 
 Behold, how he loved him" (John 11: 35) 36). The 
 master, whether he be in Egypt or in Biethany, com- 
 mtmes and weeps with the fallen and the wretched; he 
 sympathizes with them because he loves them and 
 desires to help them. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which 
 killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent 
 unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy 
 children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under 
 her wings, and ye would not" (Luie 13: 34). 
 
 "And Joseph took Simeon from them, and bound 
 him before their .eyes" (Gen. 42:24). The name 
 Simeon means he who hears and obeys. And Reuben 
 said to his brethren, "Spake I not unto you, saying, 
 Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear.''* 
 Men bring upon themselves unspeakable suffering and 
 anguish because they will not hear and obey the voice 
 of conscience and of reason. Nations, tribes, and 
 families are decimated by war, by pestilence, and by 
 famine, that the people may be taught to hear and 
 obey the word of God. "The Lord will greatly bless 
 thee. ... If thou carefully hearken unto the voice of 
 the Lord thy God" (Deut. 15:4, 5). "If ye will not 
 hearken to me, to walk in My Law, which I have set 
 before you . - . then this city shall be like Shiloh, and 
 this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant" 
 (Jer. 26:4-9). Joseph does what he can to teach his 
 brethren to hear and obey conscience and reason, the 
 highest within their own souls. Simeon is bound be- 
 
The Story of Joseph 215 
 
 fore their eyes; and thus the brethren of Joseph have 
 an ocular demonstration of the bondage, of the low 
 sensuous condition in which they are. 
 
 And nine of Joseph's brethren return to the land of 
 Canaan with their sacks of com; and thus Joseph has 
 provided his bretliren with food; he has provided them 
 with food that perishes (i Cor. 6: 13); and with food 
 that does not perish, but gives added life. "This do, 
 and live; for I fear God." Joseph asks no outward 
 thing from them; but he desires above all that they 
 hear and obey conscience and reason; and that they be 
 good men, and live in the fear of God. "And it came 
 to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every 
 man's bundle of money was in his sack." When Jacob 
 is told that Simeon is a hostage in Egypt; and that the 
 Ruler "over all the land of Egypt" demands that his 
 youngest son shall be sent to him, he bemoans his 
 fate. "And Jacob their father said unto them, Ye 
 have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is not, and 
 Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all 
 these things are against me" (Gen. 42: 36). 
 
 Reuben, who represents the "beginning of Israel's 
 strength, and the excellency of dignity and power" 
 (Gen. 49: 3) is. inclined to obey the voice of conscience 
 and reason; Simeon, as his name implies, is disposed 
 to hear, learn, and obey; and Levi stands for association, 
 restraint, and temperance. Perhaps, it was Robert 
 Boyle who said: "Self-denial is a kind of holy associa- 
 tion with God." Judah, whose name means confession, 
 and praise of God, is a man of dauntless courage; he 
 is a just man; "he is a lion's whelp." While Joseph 
 has attained to greatness in Egypt, Judah has made 
 progress and has attained to "the excellency of dignity 
 and the excellency of power." "The sceptre shall not 
 
2i6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his 
 feet, until Shiloh [rest and peace] come; and unto him 
 shall the gathering of the people be" (Gen. 49: 9, lo). 
 The sceptre here referred to is reason; for it is the 
 sceptre that constitutes man a lawgiver; man must be 
 faithful to conscience and reason if he would find 
 Shiloh, rest and peace. "Unto him shall the gathering 
 of the people be." It will be observed that the sons of 
 Leah, and Joseph, the son of Rachel, are the real actors 
 in this marvelous drama of life; and that the sons of 
 the bondmaids do not manifest any moral activity. 
 Reuben and Judah insist that their brother Benjamin 
 shall go with them on their second journey down to 
 Egypt. "And Judah spake unto his father, saying, 
 The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall 
 not see my face, except your brother be with you" 
 (Gen. 43: 3). 
 
 "And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my 
 two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into 
 my hands, and I will bring him unto thee again" (Gen. 
 42:37). But the lion-hearted Judah offers to assume 
 all responsibility for the safe return of his youngest 
 brother. "And Judah said ttnto Israel, his father. 
 Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we 
 may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our 
 little ones. I will be surety for him; of my own hand 
 shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, 
 then let me bear the blame forever'' (Gen. 43: 8, 9). The 
 mighty ruler and master of Egypt imposed hard condi- 
 tions. He tried the hearts of Israel and his sons, but 
 let no man be deceived; for this is the way of salvation. 
 "If any man will follow in my footsteps, let him deny 
 himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 
 16:24). The Law of Heaven, whereby man becomes 
 
The Story of Joseph 217 
 
 a man, imposes hard conditions. "Progress is the 
 Law of Life; man is not man as yet," said Robert 
 Browning. The world contains many people who 
 make a pretense at being something; but who has seen 
 a Hebrew prophet, or a Greek philosopher who would 
 suffer death rather than deviate from the strait and 
 narrow way. The disposition of men generally to 
 temporize with truth and justice is well illustrated in 
 a remark made by John Ruskin in the first of a series 
 of three lectures entitled: The Crown of Wild Olive. 
 
 People are perpetually squabbling about what will be best 
 to do, or easiest to do, or advisable to do, or profitable to do, 
 but they never so far as I hear them talk, ever ask what is 
 just to do. And it is the law of heaven that you shall not 
 be able to judge what is wise or easy, unless you are first 
 resolved to judge what is just, and to do it. That is the one 
 thing constantly reiterated by our Master — the order of all 
 others that is given oftenest — *'Do justice and judgment." 
 That's your Bible order; that's the ''Service of God," not 
 praying nor psalm-singing. You are told, indeed, to sing 
 when you are merry, and to pray when you need anything; 
 and by the perversion of the evil spirit, we get to think 
 that praying and psalm-singing are "service." 
 
 Mary G. Chandler in her interesting little book, 
 The Elements of Character j says: "When the habit of 
 speaking the truth is neglected, the capacity of per- 
 ceiving it is gradually lost," And she might have 
 added: When truth is faithfully and habitually ad- 
 hered to, the capacity of perceiving it is gradually 
 enlarged. These propositions, these scriptural doctrines, 
 are as certainly true as any axioms in mathematics. 
 "Do justice and judgment," and the sceptre shall not 
 depart from you, nor a lawgiver from between your 
 
2i8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 feet, and like Judah, you shall come to Shiloh, and 
 unto you shall come the gathering of the people. 
 Virtue leads to enlargement without limit, "Of the 
 increase of his government and peace there shall be no 
 end" (Isa. 9:7). "He that doeth the truth cometh 
 to the Light" (John 3:21). When will men know 
 enough to know that they must face the grave duties 
 and responsibilities of life, like the lion-hearted Judah, 
 if they would come to Shiloh, and would aid others 
 to come? On the side of virtue is life, and liberty, 
 and enlargement forever; on the side of evil is limita- 
 tion, atrophy, and death. "I call heaven and earth to 
 record this day against you, that I have set before you 
 life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose 
 life, that both thou and thy seed may live" (Deut. 30: 
 19; 4: 26; 31: 28), 
 
 "And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the 
 com which they had brought out of Egypt, that their 
 father said unto them, Go again, buy us a httle food. . . , 
 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man : 
 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, 
 that he may send away your other brother, and Benja- 
 min. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved" 
 (Gen. 43: 2, 13, 14). Joseph now tries' the souls of his 
 brethren as they had never been tried before. When 
 their sacks were filled with food, and when they were 
 gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, they 
 were overtaken, and Joseph's silver cup was found in 
 the sack's mouth of the youngest, in Benjamin's sack. 
 "Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his 
 ass, and returned to the city. And Judah and his 
 brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: 
 and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph 
 said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? 
 
The Story of Joseph 219 
 
 wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?" 
 (Gen. 44: 13-15). 
 
 Joseph has felled his brethren to the earth by the 
 final blow that he has dealt them. Nothing sobers a 
 man, nothing brings him face to face with himself like 
 an appalling calamity. The wise do not believe that 
 anything is fortiritous or accidental; in a word, they 
 believe that whatever happens is the result of some 
 cause, or causes. Judah and his brethren believe that 
 their wretched condition is the result of their own 
 iniquity. "And Judah said, What shall we say unto 
 my lord? what shall we speak? how shall we clear 
 ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy 
 servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, 
 and he also with whom the cup is foimd. And Joseph 
 said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in 
 whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant 
 and as for you, get ye up in peace imto your father" 
 (Gen. 44 : 1 6, 17). The Hebrew Scriptures teach 
 unqualifiedly that every infraction of Heaven's Law 
 brings to the offender an adequate and proper punish- 
 ment. "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 
 than one tittle of the Law to fail" (Luke 16: 17). Noth- 
 ing is more certain, than that there is a principle, a 
 Law, operating in the imiverse that suffers no wrong to 
 go unpunished. "Beware of him, and obey his voice, 
 provoke him not; for he will not pardon your trans- 
 gressions: for my name is in him" (Ex. 23: 21). 
 
 But the lion-hearted Judah is no weakling; he is a 
 manly man; he is equal to the occasion. "Then 
 Judah came near unto Joseph, and said. Oh my lord, 
 let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's 
 ears, and let not thine anger bum against thy servant: 
 for thou art even as Pharaoh" (Gen. 44:18). The 
 
^ 1 
 
 220 The Law of Human Life 
 
 intrepid Judah makes no attempt to evade responsi^ 
 bility; he meets it face to face. He tells Joseph that 
 Benjamin is the child of his father's old age; and that 
 "his father's life is bound up in the lad's life"; and he 
 repeats to Joseph what his father said about having 
 two sons by his wife, and that one is lost, and if mis- 
 chief befall the other that it will bring down his gray 
 hairs with sorrow to the grave; and he assures Joseph 
 that he is surety for the lad. "For thy servant became 
 surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring 
 him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my 
 father forever. Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy 
 servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my 
 lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how 
 shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? 
 lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my 
 father" (Gen. 44: 32-34). 
 
 "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all 
 them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every 
 man to go out from me. And there stood no man with 
 him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren. 
 . , . And Joseph said unto his brethren. Come near to 
 me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, 
 I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 
 Now, therefore be not grieved, nor angry with your- 
 selves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me 
 before you to preserve life" (Gen. 45: i, 4, 5). Joseph 
 was human like all the great; and the story of his 
 aged father's sorrow and grief touched him profoundly. 
 The great are touched with compassion because of 
 man's sorrow and infirmity; and though tempted as 
 we are, they rise superior to sin (Heb. 4: 15). 
 
 Joseph finds no fault with his brethren because they 
 sold him to the Midianite merchants on their way down 
 
The Story of Joseph 221 
 
 to Egjrpt. "For God did send me before you to pre- 
 serve life." This is the work of the Master. "I am 
 come that they might have life, and that they might 
 have it more abtindantly" Qohn 10: 10). This recalls 
 the story of two of Jesus' disciples who went to Em- 
 maus, and how they bemoaned the fate of their Master, 
 "Jesus of Nazareth which was a prophet mighty in 
 deed and word before God and all the people, " and how 
 Jesus reprimanded them. "Then he said unto them, 
 O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
 have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
 things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at 
 Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them 
 in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" 
 (Luke 24:25-27). The Scriptures were written con- 
 cerning the soul of Jesus, and every human soul; they 
 were written concerning your sotil and mine; and 
 man must learn to bear with patience and fortitude 
 the unavoidable ills of life, if he would make progress. 
 "For I learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith 
 to be conterjt" (Phil. 4:11). Man is made perfect 
 by suffering (Heb. 5:8; Gen. 49:23; Ps. 105:17-20). 
 "He that hath suffered in the flesh [and is dead to the 
 things of the sensuous and carnal world] hath ceased 
 from sin" (i Peter 4:1). Man must suffer and die 
 to the carnal world before he is bom into the Kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paa- 
 neah [a Savior, the resurrection and the life] ; and gave 
 him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest 
 of On. And Joseph went oyer all the land of "Egypt. 
 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before 
 Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Gen. 41:45, 46). Joseph 
 was a great teacher of righteousness; and was both a 
 
222 The Law of Human Life 
 
 prophet and a priest. In olden times the priests were 
 the educated; they were the teachers of mankind; 
 they were the keepers of knowledge. "The priests* 
 lips should keep knowledge, and the people should ask 
 the Law at his mouth, because he is the messenger of the 
 Lord of hosts" (Mai. 2:7; Lev. 10: ir; Deut. 17:9; 
 Jer, 18: 18; Hag. 2: 11). 
 
 And Joseph said to his brethren: "So it was not 
 you that sent me hither, but God: and He hath made 
 me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a 
 ruler throughout all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 45: 8). 
 Joseph is the teacher of Pharaoh and his people- "The 
 people cried unto Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh 
 said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he 
 saith unto you, do" (Gen. 41:55). Joseph, like 
 Jesus, was a Master at the age of thirty. "All they 
 that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle 
 of the congregation, were from thirty years old and 
 upward even to fifty years old" (Num. 4:3; i Chron. 
 23 : 3)- Jesus, it would seem, entered upon his ministry 
 when "about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23), in 
 keeping with the teachings of the Old Testament 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The patriarchs were the fathers of their people, and 
 of nations; they were such because of the lives they 
 lived, and the knowledge they possessed. Every true 
 prophet was a priest; for the reason that he was a 
 teacher of righteousness ; but for a priest to be a prophet 
 was the exception, and not the rule. The prophets, 
 therefore, were the teachers of the priests; the priests 
 constituted a guild that transmitted knowledge from 
 generation to generation. Such a guild was necessary 
 in ages when the preservation of knowledge in written 
 form was most difficult. The priests often, at the 
 
The Story of Joseph 223 
 
 instance of the sensuous and luxurious of Israel and 
 because of their own weakness, compromised the high 
 ideals of Israel; and this brought on an ever-recurring 
 conflict between the prophets and the priests. 
 
 The prophets, the teachers of the priests, were 
 the most austere of all teachers; since they made no 
 compromise with evil; they made none because God 
 makes none. The priests and people of Israel who 
 desired to live the soft luxurious life of the world stood 
 in dread of the prophets. "And they feared Joshua, 
 as they feared Moses, all the days of his life" (Josh. 
 4: 14). The prophets were the guardians of Israel. 
 "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the 
 house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, 
 and give them warning from me " (Ezek. 3:17). " Thou 
 hast forgotten the Law of thy God," said Hosea to the 
 priests (Hosea 4:6; Mai. 2:8). "For the Law shall 
 not perish from the priests [say the priests when under 
 the censure of Jeremiah] . . , Come let us smite Jeremiah 
 with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his 
 words" (Jer. 18: 18). "Did not Moses give the Law, 
 and yet none of you keepeth the Law? Why go ye 
 about to kill me?" (John 7: 19). 
 
 The prophets are they that are related to the King- 
 dom of God, and are organs of His Spirit, and that 
 speak in His name (Neh. 9:30; Zech. 7:12; Micah 
 3:8). "Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth" 
 (Jer. 1:9; Isa. 51: 16). "God hath spoken by the 
 mouth of his holy prophets since the world began" 
 (Luke 1 : 70). Joseph was a ruler over all the land of 
 Egypt because he was a prophet and a master, "And 
 Pharaoh said unto his servants. Can we find such a one 
 as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Gen. 
 41:38). 
 
224 The Law of Human Life 
 
 After the coming of Moses, the Lawgiver, all the 
 great Hebrew prophets stood for the Law proclaimed 
 by him, and condemned unqualifiedly every departtire 
 from the strict observance of the Law either by the 
 priests or the people of Israel (Neh. 1:7; Isa. 8:20; 
 Jen 18: 18; Ezek, 7:26; Dan. 9: 11; Amos 2:4; Hosea 
 8: i; Zeph. 3:4); and we believe it is fair to say, that 
 no prophet ever condemned the teachers of Israel 
 more severely for failing to keep the Law, than did 
 Jesus of Nazareth. The attitude of the prophets 
 toward the Law is shown in the austere lives that they 
 lived, in their unqualified affirmance of the Law, and in 
 the severe and uncompromising war they waged against 
 any and every departure from the Law. Jesus affirmed 
 that his mission in the world was to fulfil the Law. 
 "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least 
 commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be 
 called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 
 5: 17-19). "Think not that I am come to destroy the 
 Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but 
 to fulfill"; this we would interpret: Think not that 
 I am come to proclaim a different doctrine, from that 
 taught in the Law, and by the prophets: I am not 
 come to destroy the teachings of the Law and the 
 prophets, but to fulfill, and to demonstrate in a life 
 lived the truth that they taught. 
 
 The religion that is founded upon human nature, the 
 religion that teaches the orderly unfoldment of the 
 powers of the soul of man, came to the people of Israel 
 in its full-orbed grandeur with the giving of the Law. 
 Moses dispensed this religion to the congregation of 
 Israel; and Jesus of Nazareth sought a greater dispensa- 
 tion, to wit: the giving of this religidn to the people of 
 the world. The end and the aim of the Law, the 
 
The Story of Joseph 225 
 
 religion of Israel, is to lead man to live in conformity 
 with Heaven's harmony, order, and truth; and this high 
 and holy Law is ftilfiUed when man lives in obedience 
 to the Law of his own nature. It stands to reason that 
 the orderly development of the soul of man is governed 
 by a principle, by a Law, as high as Heaven itself; 
 and that religion is founded in this Law; and this at 
 once suggests that religion is taught and demonstrated 
 in a life lived in obedience to this holy Law. 
 
 The Scriptures teach that the patriarchs, whose 
 mode of life and development is described in the Book 
 of Genesis and who preceded the coming of Moses, were 
 led by an unseen hand to do those things that were best 
 for them, and for mankind; and that they were willing 
 and desirous of being so led. "And Joseph said unto 
 his brethren, . . . Now therefore, be not grieved, nor 
 angry with yourselves, that ye sent me hither: for God 
 did send me before you to preserve life. ... So now it 
 was not you that sent me hither, but God" (Gen. 
 45 • 5i 8). Though none of the patriarchs who preceded 
 Moses, it would seem, organized a priesthood to keep 
 and teach the Law; and none surrounded himself with 
 disciples whom he taught and sent forth as sheep among 
 wolves; yet it does seem that these ancient men did 
 attain to a high degree of development; and that their 
 lives did in truth represent a fulfillment of the Law 
 of Moses, "Your father Abraham saw my day, and 
 rejoiced" (John 8:56). 
 
 This scriptural idea, that there is an all-wise Provi- 
 dence that regulates and superintends all the events of 
 the universe is beautifully expressed in words accredited 
 to the Sage of Athens, in Xenophon's Memorable 
 Thoughts of Socrates. Socrates thus addresses his 
 friend Aristodemus: 
 15 
 
226 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Do you not know that the most ancient and wise republics 
 and people have been the most pious, and that man, at the 
 age when his judgment is ripest, has then the greatest bent 
 to the worship of the Deity? 
 
 My dear Aristodemus, consider that your mind governs 
 your body according to its pleasure: in like manner we 
 ought to believe that there is a mind diffused throughout the 
 whole universe that disposeth of all things according to its 
 counsels. You must not imagine that your weak sight can 
 reach to objects that are several leagues distant, and that 
 the eye of God cannot, at one and the same time, see all 
 things. You must not imagine that your mind can. reflect 
 on the affairs of Athens, of Egypt, and of Sicily, and that 
 the providence of God cannot, at one and the same moment, 
 consider all things. As, therefore, you may make trial of the 
 gratitude of a man by doing him a kindness, and as you may 
 discover his prudence by consulting him in difficult affairs, so 
 if you would be convinced how great is the power and goodness 
 of God, apply yourself sincerely to piety and his worship; 
 then, my dear Aristodemus, you shall soon be persuaded 
 that the Deity sees all, hears all, is present everywhere, 
 and, at the same time, regulates and superintends all the 
 events of the universe. 
 
 Of course, the things said and done of Joseph do 
 not end with the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis, but 
 enough has been said to reveal the real character of this 
 mighty man of God. In the thirty-seventh chapter 
 of Genesis, it is written that "Joseph brought to his 
 father the evil report" of the sons of the bondmaids. 
 It would seem they counseled the death of Joseph; and 
 thus their character, or rather their absence of character 
 is revealed. The sons of the bondmaids represent man 
 low in the scale of development, and in Reuben, the 
 first-bom of Leah, we behold the dawn of the higher 
 life, and then higher in the scale of ascent, we behold the 
 
The Story of Joseph 227 
 
 lion-heaxted Judah standing face to face with Joseph, 
 the Master of all Egypt. The glory of Israel is re- 
 presented in Joseph, sumamed the Savior of the world 
 (the resurrection and the life) by the king of Egypt. 
 The story of Jacob, his wives, and his sons is instructive 
 and edifying; for it presents a unique and marvelous 
 study in psychology; and this story was intended to 
 teach, and does teach, the high and holy possibilities 
 of man. The seven sons of Leah and Rachel represent 
 the moral development of man; they represent the 
 ascending degrees of human greatness from its horizon 
 to its zenith. "Reuben, thou art my first-bom, 
 and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of 
 dignity, and the excellency of power" (Gen. 49: 3). 
 
 The next chapter deals with the life, the character, 
 and the teachings of Moses; it deals with the problem 
 of salvation as taught in the book of Exodus, the name 
 of which means the "way out." Perhaps no book was 
 ever written which so specifically points the way of 
 salvation, "the way out" of the carnal state of con- 
 sciousness; the way whereby man is resurrected out 
 of a state of carnality and death into a state of spiritual- 
 ity and life. "Psychology," said the late Prof. William 
 James, "is the description and explanation of the 
 states of consciousness as such." 
 
 "Now there arose up a new king over Egjrpt, which 
 knew not Joseph" (Ex. 1:8). Whatever may have 
 been the character of the people of Egypt in the time 
 of Joseph, it is fair to say, both from the viewpoint of 
 the Scriptures and of ancient history, that the Egj^ptians 
 in the time of Moses were a luxiuious, sensuous, and 
 warlike people; and that Moses and Plato and other 
 teachers of religion and philosophy, were justified in 
 likening the primitive, the sensuous, state of man to 
 
228 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the haughty, conceited, imperious, and money-loving 
 Egyptians. Ancient literature often describes states of 
 mentality, states of human development, by referring 
 to the predilections of this or that nation of people. 
 The moral status of a people, or the absence of such a 
 status, is determined by the things toward which their 
 affections are directed. ' ' Their abominations were 
 according as they loved" (Hosea 9: lo). 
 
 Plato in his dialogue. The Republic, says that a 
 nation of people, or State, represents the predilections, 
 the principles, and habits of the people who compose 
 such nation, or State. 
 
 Can I be wrong, I said, in acknowledging that in the 
 individual there are the same principles and habits which 
 there are in the State ? for if they did not pass from one to 
 the other, whence did they come? Take the quality of 
 passion or spirit; it would be ridiculous to imagine that 
 this quality, which is characteristic of the Thracians, Scythi- 
 ans, and in general of the northern nations, when found 
 in States, does not originate in the individuals that compose 
 them; and the same may be said of the love of knowledge, 
 which is a special characteristic of our part of the world, 
 or the love of money, which may, with equal truth, be 
 attributed to the Phoenicians and Egyptians. 
 
 The book of Exodus, the book in which Moses is the 
 great central figure, represents primitive, sensuous, 
 godless man as an Egyptian; and it points the "way 
 out" of this state of carnality and death, perhaps, as 
 no other book has ever described it. Therefore, it is 
 evident that Egypt, the desert or the wilderness, and 
 the promised land, represent ascending states of 
 consciousness, ascending degrees of human development. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MOSES 
 
 "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded 
 unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments" 
 (Mai. 4: 4). 
 
 Moses is the name of him who was drawn out of 
 the water. The dirty water of the Nile, out of which 
 Moses was taken, is a symbol of carnal mind. Moses, 
 we are told, was forty years in Egypt, forty years in 
 the wilderness, and forty years the spiritual teacher of 
 his people. "By faith Moses, when he was come to 
 years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 
 choosing rather to suffer afflictions with the people of 
 God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
 esteeming reproach for Christ's sake greater riches 
 than the treasures of Egypt" (Heb. li : 24-26), 
 
 He who suffers for Christ's sake suffers the reproach 
 of the world, to the end that he may attain to purity 
 of mind and heart ; he suffers that his soul may be made 
 upright. He who is drawn out of the water; he who is 
 resurrected from the dead must of necessity suffer. 
 The psychological change whereby the human soul dies 
 to the world and is bom into the spiritual life is always 
 attended with great suffering. This is the baptism 
 with fire. "How am I straitened, says Jesus, till it be 
 
 229 
 
230 The Law of Human Life 
 
 accomplished" (Luke 12:50). "We know that we 
 have passed from death to life" (i John 3: 14). 
 
 "Moses was learned in the wisdom of Eg3^t" (Acts 
 7 : 22) . Moses, it would seem, had every opporttuiity to 
 be learned in the wisdom of Egypt; he was the adopted 
 son of the daughter of the King of Egypt. The science 
 of symbolism had no doubt reached its zenith in the 
 days of Moses; the old temples and pyramids erected 
 centuries before his time bear unmistakable evidence 
 of this. But the most indubitable proof of his masterful 
 knowledge of symbols is to be found in that portion of 
 the Old Testament called the Pentateuch. We con- 
 fidently believe that the day is near at hand when the 
 Science of Psyche, or Psychology, will take precedence 
 of every other science; and that the Pentateuch will then 
 be regarded as the most profound and valuable contri- 
 bution to knowledge ever given to the people of the 
 world. 
 
 In the symbolism of the Scriptures, "Egypt is the land 
 of carnality; it corresponds with the lower principles 
 of the soul of unregenerate man; it is the home of the 
 primitive man, the irrational man; it is the land of 
 strife, rebellion, and death; in the days of Moses the 
 Egyptians were given to animal worship. This we 
 learn both from the Scriptures and from history. 
 "The Egyptians," says Tacitus, "venerate various 
 animals. . , . The Jews acknowledge, and that with the 
 mind only, a single Deity. . . , Theirs is the Supreme 
 Eternal God, Unchangeable, Immortal. They there- 
 fore suffer no statues in their cities, and still less in their 
 temples." Tacitus tells us in this connection that the 
 Jews have never permitted images of God in human 
 form. "They have never shown this mark of flattery 
 to their kings. They have never done this honor to 
 
Moses 231 
 
 the Csesaxs." Strabo, when speaking of the greatness 
 of Moses, said: He taught that "God was not to be 
 worshiped by any image, and that He would reveal 
 Himself only to the pure and virtuous." If Egypt 
 represents the lower principle of the human soul, then 
 Media, the wilderness region intervening between Egypt 
 and the promised land, represents the intermediate prin- 
 ciple of the soul. 
 
 The Scriptures teU us that God leads all his sons 
 out of Egypt; He leads them into the wilderness to 
 humble them, to prove them (Deut. 8:2, 3). All who 
 repent of the life of Bgypt are led into the wilderness to 
 be educated (Deut, 32: 10-12). Egypt is the land of 
 carnal pleasures; the wilderness is the land of adversity, 
 of discipline, and of privation (Num. 20:5). Man 
 attains to the higher life by suffering; he is destined 
 to undergo a fearftd and wearisome discipline ere he 
 attains to the promised land. For centuries men have 
 been taught that a mere form of belief does the work of 
 salvation. Nothing can be farther from the truth. 
 The Scriptures teach that man must be drawn out of 
 the water of the Nile, that he must abandon the carnal 
 life; and that he must sacrifice every worldly considera- 
 tion; and must tmdergo a great discipline and chastening 
 to inherit eternal life. They who find the Kingdom of 
 God "are the poor in spirit." The poor in spirit are 
 they who have abandoned the world, who are depleted 
 of the spirit of the world. "A friend of the world is 
 the enemy of God" (James 4:4; i John 2:15-17). 
 He who is in love with the world is more animal than 
 human; he who ardently loves money, fame, and power 
 is proud, conceited, and selfish. He who is dead to the 
 world is humble, charitable, and just. "For he that is 
 dead [to the animal world] is freed from sin " (Rom. 6:7). 
 
232 The Law of Human Life 
 
 The Scriptures teach in their every individual 
 experience that none attain to greatness except by 
 suffering. All the great have graduated in the school 
 of adversity. "The Lord hath chastened me sore: 
 but he hath not given me over unto death" (Ps. Ii8: 
 i8). "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now 
 have I kept thy word" (Ps. 119: 67). "For whom the 
 Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Heb. 12:6), All that 
 have attained to the promised land, to the Kingdom of 
 God, have gone by the way of the wilderness. Christ 
 is said to be crucified both in Egypt and in Sodom 
 (Rev. 11:8). All that live the carnal life crucify 
 conscience and reason. When Lot escaped Sodom, 
 and "entered into Zoar, the sun had risen upon the 
 earth" (Gen. 19:22, 23). As long as man persists in 
 living the carnal life, there is no spiritual help for him; 
 by such a life he renders himself helpless. "Haste 
 thee, escape thither: for I cannot do any thing till thou 
 be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was 
 called Zoar" [the beginning] (Gen. 19:22). Every 
 man who would realize the spiritual life must abandon 
 Sodom. 
 
 The Scriptures tell us again and again that the 
 carnally minded are dead and in their graves. "And 
 ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened 
 your graves, O my people, and brought you out of 
 your graves, and shall put my Spirit upon you, and ye 
 shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then 
 shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and 
 performed it, saith the Lord" (Ezek; 37: 12, 13; Hosea 
 13: 14; John 5:28; Dan. 12:2; Ps. 31: 17; Ex. 12:33; 
 I Tim, 5:6). Life and death are states of the soul, 
 and not of the body. " It is the Spirit that quickeneth, 
 the flesh profiteth nothing." 
 
Moses 233 
 
 Moses, when forty years of age, fled the land of 
 carnality. This was the dawn of his resinrection. 
 The method of the soul's evolution is: first the resurrec- 
 tion, first an awakening out of a state of carnality and 
 death, and then the judgment. ''For it is appointed 
 unto man once to die [to the sensuous animal world] 
 and after this the judgment," the crisis (Heb. 9:27). 
 The judgment, or crisis, is represented in the experience 
 in the wilderness; it is represented in a period of suffer- 
 ing, of discipline, of trial, and of sorrow. During this 
 period the animal nature of man is crucified. Accord- 
 ing to the symbolism of the Scriptures, it is in the 
 wilderness that man sacrifices his animal propensities. 
 "They that are Christ's [they that walk in obedience to 
 conscience, and reason] have crucified the flesh; they 
 have crucified the affections and lusts of the flesh" 
 (Gal. 5: 24). The affections and lusts of the flesh are 
 the vestiges of animalism inhering in the soul of man. 
 
 Moses' life, according to the symboKsm of the 
 Scriptures, may be divided into three epochs, often 
 denominated ' ' three days. " " Behold, I cast out 
 devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the 
 third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 13 : 32 ; Hosea 6:2; 
 Ex. 19: II; 2 Kings 20:5). ... It is written that the 
 first forty years of Moses' life were spent in Egypt, 
 this was the first day; then Moses is said to have 
 abandoned Egypt, and to have lived forty years in the 
 wilderness, this was the second day; and then he was 
 the spiritual teacher of his people for forty years, this 
 was the "third day." It is, therefore, apparent, that 
 Moses attained to what Jesus called "my day" (John 
 8: 56), the day of the resurrection. 
 
 The resurrection of man out of a state of carnality 
 and death into a state of spirituality and life represents 
 
234 The Law of Human Life 
 
 a process essentially psychological. Moses, It would 
 seem, experienced the dawn of his resurrection, "when 
 he came to years, when he chose rather to suffer afflic- 
 tion," than to enjoy the sensuous life of Egypt; he 
 experienced the dawn of his resurrection, when he aban- 
 doned "the fashion of the world" and went straight- 
 way into the wilderness. But the final resurrection, 
 the resurrection that brought him into a conscious 
 relation with the Kingdom of God, was at Horeb at 
 the beginning of the "third day"; this was the begin- 
 ning of "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" 
 (Mai. 4:5). Moses was resurrected from the dead 
 at the "mountain of God, at Horeb" (Ex. 3: i). They 
 that are resurrected from the dead, while living in the 
 flesh, are our masters; they are consciously related to the 
 Kingdom of God; and are the true religious teachers of 
 mankind. "And he sent them to preach the kingdom 
 of God, and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:2; Matt. 10: 7). 
 Jesus taught that Moses was resurrected from the dead 
 at Horeb (Luke 20: 37, 38; Mark 12: 26, 27)- 
 
 The human soul attains to its own, to virtue, by a 
 protracted conflict with evil; virtue is bom of a long- 
 drawn-out struggle and bitter experience. First the 
 resurrection from a state of death, and then the judg- 
 ment, the crisis, the conflict, the bitter experience, 
 symbolized by a period of trial, of sorrow, of chastening, 
 of discipline, and of suffering in the wilderness. 
 . "Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in 
 the land of Median; and he sat down by a well. Now 
 the priest of Median had seven daughters." These 
 daughters, we are told, visited, this well, and watered 
 their father's flock. The well is a symbol of knowledge ; 
 he who would teach, and he who would be taught, must 
 go to the well, the meeting place of the people in the 
 
Moses 235 
 
 wilderness. Seven indicates perfection. We believe 
 that the seven daughters of the "priest of Median," 
 who led their father's flock to the well, represent good- 
 ness and purity of heart. They who are possessed of 
 the greatest goodness of heart know most of sorrow. 
 These messengers of the priest of Median were driven 
 away from the well; and were not permitted to water 
 their father's flock' in peace; but the day was when a 
 mighty man of reason and dauntless courage came to 
 their rescue, and dispensed the water of the well justly, 
 and he became the shepherd of the flock of the priest of 
 Median. 
 
 The seven daughters of the priest of Median are in 
 the wilderness; they represent a state of consciousness 
 transcending that of Egjrpt; they represent a mediate 
 state of human development; a state wherein man Is 
 controlled by his feelings rather than Reason. Moses 
 supplants the daughters of the priest of Median in the 
 keeping of the flock. Reason, the virtue of the head, 
 is entitled to lead; it is the true guardian of the flock. 
 '*I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority 
 over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was 
 first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not [the 
 first] deceived, but the woman being deceived was in 
 the transgression" (i Tim. 2: 12-14). This we would 
 interpret: I suffer not the heart, the affections, the 
 feelings, to usurp the authority of reason, but to be 
 silent when reason speaks; for Adam, the mind, is not 
 the first to be deceived; it is the affections, the feelings 
 that are the first to transgress, to be victimized by the 
 wiles of Satan. 
 
 "He led the flock to the back side of the desert, 
 and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." 
 By this we understand, that Moses drank the cup of 
 
236 The Law of Human Life 
 
 adversity to its dregs; that he experienced all the 
 hardships of the desert life; that he exhausted this life 
 of "provocation" (Ps. 95:8). He who would be a 
 perfect man, and attain unto the measure of the stature 
 of the fullness of Christ, must lead the flock to the 
 back side of the desert, even to Horeb. Moses, like all 
 the great, suffered all the temptations; and like a 
 mighty hero -proved himself worthy. "And when the 
 devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from 
 him for a season" (Luke 4: 13). This is the fate of all 
 the great. All human souls are essentially alike; 
 and One Divine Law fixes the mode and man- 
 ner of the soul's evolution. Therefore, let no one 
 believe that he can escape the responsibilities of 
 life, "God is no respecter of persons." "What shall 
 I do, that I may inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10: 17). 
 Lead the flock to the back side of the desert, even 
 to Horeb. "Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and 
 be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
 with." 
 
 "Remember Lot's wife," who sacrificed the blessings 
 of heaven because her heart was set upon the things 
 of the world. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life 
 [by accumulating the goods of the world] shall lose it ; 
 and whosoever shall lose his life [his love of the sensuous 
 carnal world] shall preserve his life." He who leads 
 the flock to the back side of the desert, to the mountain 
 of God, even to Horeb, ventures the temporal.. "Re- 
 member ye the Law of my servant Moses." This 
 Law unequivocally teaches that man cannot attain 
 to the Kingdom of God, which is not of this world, 
 without dying to the world, without venturing the 
 temporal. He that is bom into the Kingdom of God 
 must die to the world; this is the resurrection, that 
 
Moses 237 
 
 precedes the judgment, the crisis. This is the message 
 of all the great. This is the Law. 
 
 The vegetable kingdom feeds upon and sacrifices the 
 mineral kingdom; the animal kingdom feeds upon and 
 sacrifices the vegetable kingdom; and the human 
 kingdom feeds upon and sacrifices the animal kingdom. 
 Reason is the governing principle of the human soul'; 
 reason, manas, the thinker/ the man, is given dominion 
 over all below him; reason relates man to God; and was 
 put into the human soul, into the Garden of Eden 
 ''to dress it and to keep it." This is the divine office 
 of reason expressed in brief scriptural phrase. 
 
 Plato speaks of the ofiices of the four cardinal virtues. 
 The virtue of reason, he calls Wisdom — this is the 
 directing and measuring virtue, since it must govern 
 the soul; the virtue of the heart is Valor, the helpmeet 
 of reason; the virtue by which the sensuous desires are 
 restrained and conquered is Temperance; and lastly 
 the virtue which gives poise and balance to the soul, 
 and which proves the three principles of the soul to be 
 in accord and harmony, is Justice, 
 
 It is apparent that the virtuous and God-fearing 
 Plato, like all the truly wise of ancient times, had true 
 knowledge of the Law of Human Life, but it will be 
 recalled that the great Moses proclaimed Heaven's 
 Law to his people a thousand years before Socrates 
 dispensed the bread of life to his disciples in the city of 
 Athens, The great Athenian philosopher, in the second 
 book of his dialogue, The Republic, describes the Law of 
 Life that inheres in the himian soul; and in substance 
 says: The three principles of the soul of man may be 
 compared to the higher, lower, and middle notes of the 
 music scale, and to the intermediate intervals; and when 
 these principles are bound together, and are no longer 
 
238 The Law of Human Life 
 
 many, but are one entirely temperate and perfectly 
 adjusted nature, then does man begin to act in the 
 spirit of Wisdom and of Justice. 
 
 He who is tmfaithful to reason lives in Sodom; and 
 if he persists in the abuse of reason, he will be smitten 
 with blindness, and will be "worried to find the door" 
 (Gen. 19: 11). "Evil is evil because it is unnatural." 
 Righteousness is righteousness because it is natural, 
 because it harmonizes with human nature. The more 
 a man persists in evil, the more helpless he becomes, 
 the more will he be "worried to find the door." "Be 
 not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man 
 soweth, that shall he ^Iso reap." The Law of Human 
 Life is exact; it is imperative; it suffers no wrong to 
 go unpimished, and no virtue unrewarded. The 
 principles, heralded by Moses, are not limited to one 
 nation, race, or people; they are alike applicable to 
 every rational being, everywhere and at all times. 
 The Law of Human Life is addressed to every rational 
 being. "All things must be fulfilled, which were written 
 in the Law of Moses . . . concerning me" (Luke 24: 
 44). Reader, the Law of Moses was written concerning 
 you, and concerning me. Emerson in the closing 
 words of his essay on Self-Reliance tells of the utter 
 vanity of expecting permanent good as a result of 
 outward worldly considerations, and says: "Nothing 
 can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring 
 you peace but the triumph of principles." 
 
 We are told that this mighty man of God, who went 
 to "the mountain of God, even to Horeb," came face 
 to face with God; that God called unto him out of the 
 midst of the bush, "and said, Moses, Moses, And he 
 said, Here am L" "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, 
 (said the Divine voice) for the place whereon thou 
 
Moses 239 
 
 standest is holy ground." He who hears the Divine 
 voice and is commissioned of Heaven must remove his 
 shoes from off his feet. Shoes are a symbol of the 
 outward and the earthly. Worldly cares, worldly 
 thoughts, and worldly interests must be put away. 
 He who would do the will of Heaven must be free from 
 the cares of the world. "The cares of the world choke 
 the Word of God." Moses has fled the carnal life of 
 Egypt; he is resurrected from the dead; he has suffered 
 the judgment, the chastening, the discipline, that the 
 Law of Human Life, of evolution, imposes; he has put 
 his shoes from off his feet; he has escaped from the 
 obsessions of the world; he has overcome the world; 
 and he is commissioned to do the will of Heaven. 
 
 It is just to say that he who has put his shoes from 
 off his feet, and stands on holy ground, is entirely 
 dedicated to the service of God. He who is found 
 worthy and is called and commissioned to teach and 
 point the way of salvation is given wisdom and 
 power commensurate with the duties of his holy office. 
 Moses is commanded to go to Egypt, the land of Ham; 
 and lead the children of Israel out of bondage. The 
 bondage from which he is to free them, is the bondage 
 of death, the bondage of carnality; the Scriptures teach 
 that all evil is orginated by the unrestrained and 
 unsubdued animal propensities that inhere in the 
 lower principle of the human soul; Egypt is the 
 land of carnality: of envy, of malice, of greed, of 
 concupiscence, of lies, and of murder. It is the 
 abode of the irrational, the primitive man, the land of 
 "shame" (Isa. 30 : 3). 
 
 All wickedness is weakness. 
 
 Milton. 
 
240 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus sayeth the 
 Lord, Israel is My son, even My first-bom: And I say 
 unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve me," 
 Reason, pure reason, we beHeve to be the first-bom of 
 God. They who flee from the land of carnality are the 
 children of Israel, the children of Reason. The fifth 
 chapter of Exodus opens with a remarkable colloquy. 
 Moses and Aaron are represented as speaking to Pha- 
 raoh as they were moved to speak by the Holy Spirit. 
 "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let My people 
 go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilder- 
 ness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I 
 should obey His voice to let Israel go. I know not the 
 Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Here is Moses, the 
 man of God, who has attained to the Kingdom of God, 
 the kingdom of right reason, and who is truly the son of 
 God (Ex. 7:1), standing face to face with Pharaoh, 
 the King of Egypt, the representative of carnality, 
 the representative of those who are said to be dead and 
 in their graves (Ezek. 37: 12, 13; Hosea 13: 14; Dan. 
 12:2; John 5:28; Eph. 5: 14). "The Egjrptians said. 
 We be all dead men" (Ex. 12: 33). Moses, the son of 
 God, in this dead, animalized presence, affirms that the 
 Lord God is; and said: "Let us go, we pray thee, 
 three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice to 
 the Lord our God." "I know not the Lord, neither 
 will I let Israel go." This is the boast of carnality; 
 this is the attitude of the tyrant ; it is the attitude of him 
 who would exploit others to the end that he may live 
 an idle, sinful, and luxurious life. 
 
 The first Book of Moses, or Genesis, is the book of 
 the generations of real men; in this book we read the 
 story of Adam, of Enoch, of Abraham, of Isaac, of 
 Jacob, of Joseph, and of others. The lives of the pa- 
 
Moses 241 
 
 triaxchs are placed before us not as a matter of history; 
 but that we may read in their lives the story of the 
 human soul; and thus discover the way of salvation; 
 the mode and manner of the soul's evolution. 
 
 The story of Moses, the servant of God, is first 
 brought to our attention in the Scriptures, in the 
 second chapter of the second Book of Moses, called 
 Exodus. This book, so full of the activities of this 
 mighty man of God, presents to the mind the exodus 
 of man from a state of carnality and death into a state of 
 spirituality and life. The name of the book "Exodus, " 
 that tells us so much of the life of Moses, means "way 
 out." The "way out" of carnality, or death, the 
 way of salvation, was taught by Moses in a marvelous 
 variety of symbols. According to this symbolism, 
 man is first of Egypt, or the tail; and secondly of the 
 desert, or the heart; and lastly of the promised land, or 
 the head. This is the order of the soul's evolution; 
 reason was put into the human soul "to dress it and to 
 keep it " ; and to make it a veritable paradise, a veritable 
 Garden of Eden. "And the Lord shall make thee the 
 head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, 
 and thou shalt not be beneath" (Deut. 28:13; Isa. 
 
 9: 15)- 
 
 Moses, the servant of God, points and leads the 
 "way out" ; he who leads the way must first have fotmd 
 it. Moses found the way to the moimtain of God, even 
 to Horeb, and was prepared to lead. Moses knew, 
 that man, would he be a man, must flee the carnal life; 
 and that the Law of Life must be written in the soul of 
 man if he would attain to his true inheritance. Moses 
 knew that all sin, sickness, and death originate with 
 carnal man, with carnal mind. Moses knew that sin, 
 sickness, and death are conditions of the soul, and not 
 16 
 
242 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of the body; that the physical body reflects only the 
 conditions inhering in the soul. ''Inasmuch as the 
 soul is manifestly immortal," says Plato, ''there is no 
 release or salvation from evil except the attainment of 
 the highest virtue and wisdom." 
 
 Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 
 
 And the grave is not its goal; 
 Dust thou art, to dust retumeth, 
 
 W^-s not spoken of the soul. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 Moses knew that man is the victim of every form of 
 superstition, of heresy, and of evil, so long as he abides 
 in the Egyptian state of consciousness. This recalls 
 Prof. William James's oft-repeated definition of Psy- 
 chology: "The description and explanation of the states 
 of consciousness as such." The life and teachings of 
 Moses constitute, as we believe,' the most profound, 
 accurate, and succinct "description and explanation 
 of states of consciousness as such" ever given to the 
 world by any one at any time. Psychology from its 
 very nature is the first of sciences; that science which 
 teaches the nature of the human soul, and the mode and 
 manner of its evolution, should be accorded the first 
 place in science, and be the subject of thoughtful and 
 candid consideration by every rational being. 
 
 " Science, " says Herbert Spencer, "is organized 
 knowledge; and before knowledge can be organized, 
 some of it must first be possessed." Moses, having 
 given to mankind organized knowledge of the highest 
 character, we would assign him to the first place in the 
 world of science. "Remember ye the Law of Moses 
 My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb 
 for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." The 
 
Moses 243 
 
 imperative command of this law is: Get ye out of 
 Egypt. Egyptians, " thou dwellest where Satan's 
 seat is" (Rev. 2: 13; Hosea 13: 13). 
 
 Again we desire to quote Prof, William James, who 
 has been called *'The tmchallenged veteran leader 
 of American Psychology and Philosophy." He said, 
 "Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself chopped 
 up in bits. Such words as 'chain' or 'train' do not 
 describe it fitly as it presents itself in the first instance. 
 It is nothing jointed; it flows. A 'river' or a 'stream' 
 are the metaphors by which it is most naturally de- 
 scribed. In talking of it hereafter, let us call it the 
 stream of thought, of consciousness, or of subjective 
 life." Moses is the name of him who was drawn out of 
 the water of the Nile; the dirty water of the Nile is a 
 symbol of carnal animalized mind. Moses abandoned 
 Egypt; and went into a desert land. It was there that 
 he led the flock to the back side of the desert, to the 
 mountain of God, even to Horeb. At the mountain of 
 Grod, even at Horeb, he was commissioned of Heaven to 
 lead the children of Israel out of a state of carnality 
 and death. He was commissioned to lead and to teach 
 the children of Israel to the end that they might be 
 bom into a high and holy state of consciousness, of Hfe. 
 *'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness 
 [the sjnnbol of the crucified desires of the flesh] even 
 so must the son of man be lifted up" (John 3: 14). 
 Every son of man, would he attain to his true inherit- 
 ance, must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent. 
 
 "From whence come wars and fightings among ye?" 
 (James 4: i). Moses knew from whence come wars 
 and fightings and sin, sickness, and death; therefore, 
 the significant request: "Let us go, we pray thee, 
 three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice to 
 
244 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the Lord our Gk)d; lest he fall upon us with pestilence 
 or with the sword" (Ex. 5:3). Three is indicative of 
 perfection. Three days' journey into the wilderness 
 will absolve Israel from the impending perils of pesti- 
 lence and the sword, and put Israel under the guidance 
 of virtue and wisdom, represented in the person of 
 Moses. The pestilence and the sword are forever 
 in evidence "in the streets of the great city which, 
 spiritually, is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our 
 Lord was crucified" (Rev. 11 ; 8). 
 
 The lordly man, the man of right reason, the 
 prophet sent of God, has often met with violence and 
 crucifixion at the hands of the carnally minded. In 
 the days when Moses was pleading the cause of his 
 people, in the presence of the sensuous and animal- 
 worshiping Pharaoh, plagues, we are told, came thick 
 and fast upon the people of Egypt; plagues always 
 come thick and fast just before the dawn of a better day. 
 When "a great prophet is risen up" and comes to 
 deliver those desirous of salvation, then it is said: 
 "that God hath visited His people" (Luke 7: 16). 
 "Inasmuch as the soul is manifestly immortal," it 
 would seem that man, first of all, would desire its per- 
 fection; but this is not true of carnal man; he entreats 
 the wise man to "take away the frogs," and the flies 
 that annoy him (Ex. 8:8, 28, 29). The wicked man 
 forever puts off the day of his deliverance. "And 
 Moses said unto Pharaoh, . . . when shall I entreat 
 for thee. And he said to-morrow" (Ex. 8:9, 10). 
 The carnal man is willing to sacrifice all for bodily 
 pleasure and comfort, and thus it is that Christ, or 
 right reason, is forever crucified in Egypt (Rev. 11:8). 
 The Egyptians are not concerned about their souls 
 which are "manifestly immortal"; they are concerned 
 
Moses 245 
 
 about their bodies; and he who is enamored of the 
 camal life is destined to be hurried, worried, and 
 preoccupied with the cares of the world; and to die 
 miserably. 
 
 Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, 
 Where death's approach is seen so terrible. 
 
 Henry VI. 
 
 Pharaoh and his people were worried of the plagues. 
 ''And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, 
 Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses 
 said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the 
 abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God; lo, shall 
 we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before 
 their eyes, and will they not stone usi We will go 
 three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice 
 to the Lord our God, as He shall command us" (Ex. 
 8:25-28). The Egjrptians loved the camal animal 
 life; and "their abominations were according as they 
 loved" (Hosea 9: 10). "We shall sacrifice the abomi- 
 nations of the Egyptians," said Moses; we shall sacri- 
 fice what the Egyptians adore. According to the 
 symbolism of the Scriptures, a shepherd is one whose 
 life is addicted to virtue and reason; when shall we 
 triumph against carnality, against him, the prince of 
 the world, who is the author of our tmdoing? When 
 we "raise against him seven shepherds and eight 
 principal men" (Mic. 5:5). This means that man shall 
 attain to his own with the perfection of reason. 
 
 Carnal mind is unfriendly to wisdom. "And it shall 
 come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall 
 say. What is your occupation? That ye shall say, 
 Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our 
 youth tmtil now, both we, and also our fathers: that 
 
246 The Law of Human Life 
 
 ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd 
 is an abomination unto the Egyptians" (Gen. 46:34). 
 The great shepherds of Israel were inspired philosophers. 
 ' ' Philosophers, * * says Plato, ' ' must inevitably fall 
 tmder the censure of the world," It therefore follows 
 that the animal propensities of man, which the Egyp- 
 tians indulged, and in fact, worshiped, were to be sac- 
 rificed by the Israelites. Moses pointed the Exodus, 
 the "way out," of the animal life. 
 
 The animal sacrifices of which so much is said in 
 the Old Testament Scriptures, are symbolic; they are 
 intended to show and do show the mode and manner 
 whereby the human soul is freed from its animal pro- 
 pensities; the mode and manner whereby man is lifted 
 up, is freed from the Egyptian state of consciousness. 
 Moses knew the Law of Human Life, the Law of Evolu- 
 tion thirty-three hundred years before the coming of 
 Charles Darwin; and he knew this Law in its profound- 
 est depths, as it inheres in the human soul itself, not 
 from the mere study of phenomena, but from that god- 
 like spiritual vision which beholds the nature of things 
 as they are in truth, and not as they seem to debauched 
 and fallen man. 
 
 "The observation of Nature, " said Goethe, "requires 
 a certain purity of mind, which cannot be disturbed or 
 preoccupied by anything." When the human soul is 
 just and upright before God, it is the organ of the 
 Holy Spirit, from which all Truth proceeds. This 
 fundamental truth was again and again repeated by 
 that kindly disposed and God-fearing man, George 
 Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends. 
 
 For I saw in the Light and Spirit which was before the 
 Scriptures were given forth, and which led the holy men of 
 
Moses 247 
 
 God to give them forth, that all, if they would know God 
 and Christ, or the Scriptures aright, must come into the 
 Spirit by which they that gave them forth were led and 
 taught. ... I directed all [says Fox] to the Spirit of 
 God in themselves; that they might be turned from dark- 
 ness unto Light, and believe in It; that they might become 
 the children of It, and might be turned from the power of 
 Satan unto God ; and by the Spirit of truth might be led 
 into all truth, and sensibly understand the words of the 
 prophets. 
 
 Moses was commissioned to lead the children of Israel 
 out of darkness and into the Divine Light, to turn them 
 from the power of Satan, carnal consciousness, to the 
 kingdom of reason, the image of the living God. 
 
 The Law of Heaven, the Law of Moses, is imperative; 
 its punitive power is not the result of whimsical passion ; 
 he that obeys this Law conforms to the Divine Order; 
 and he that offends against it is the victim of inharmony, 
 sin, sickness, and death. Man, Manas, Reason, was 
 put into the human soul to the end that this Law might 
 be obeyed. This Law bespeaks obedience or death. 
 ''But the Word [the truth] is very nigh unto thee, in 
 thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it. 
 ... I call heaven and earth to record this day against 
 you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings 
 and curses: therefore choose life" (Deut. 30: 14, 19). 
 They who flee Egypt and sacrifice those vestiges of 
 animalism that inhere in their souls, choose life. This 
 peremptory Law commands all rational beings to flee 
 Egypt, and never to return that way again. "The 
 Lord hath said unto you, Ye shaU henceforth return 
 no more that way" (Deut. 17: 16). 
 
 Emerson, in his essay on History, tells us that "Men 
 and women are only half human"; that every animal 
 
248 The Law of Human Life 
 
 has contrived to leave the imprint of its feattires upon 
 man. "Ah, brother, hold fast to the man, and awe the 
 beast; stop the ebb of thy soul — ebbing downward into 
 the forms into whose habits thou hast now for many- 
 years slid." The Hebrew Scriptures, the writings of 
 Plato, and mythology, all teach in unmistakable terms 
 that the soul of unregenerate man is the abode of 
 wild and unrestrained animal propensities. It is not 
 necessary to recount the "Twelve Labors of Hercules." 
 His first, we are told, was to slay the Nemean Lion; 
 the heart is in the sign Leo ; it is the seat of valor ; he who 
 would overcome must discipline his heart; the affections 
 must act in obedience to reason. His second labor was 
 to destroy the Hydra which infested the marshes of 
 Lema; this is the serpent that practices his wiles upon 
 each of us ; and if we would attain to our own, we must 
 change him from a venomous to a non-venomous 
 serpent; he must be restrained by the allied power of 
 reason and a righteous heart. The eleventh labor of 
 Hercules was to overcome a serpent and bring away 
 golden apples from the garden of Hesperides. Golden 
 apples are no doubt the symbol of wisdom. Minerva, 
 the goddess of wisdom, confers ' her blessing upon him 
 only who has conquered and slain his animals. "Wis- 
 dom hath killed her beasts" (Prov. 9:2). Minerva 
 herself bears upon her shield the head of Medusa, the 
 serpentine goddess whom she had slain. The twelfth • 
 and last labor of Hercules was to bring from Hades 
 the three-headed dog, Cerberus. . Man, would he be a 
 man, must attain to perfection in head, in heart, and in 
 loins. This story is told in the poetry of the ancients, 
 in their mythologies, in philosophy, and in the Scrip- 
 tures; this is the doctrine of ancient wisdom. 
 
 It would be worse than folly to attempt to minimize 
 
Moses 249 
 
 the importance of the scientific work of Charles Darwin, 
 and his co-laborer, Alfred Russell Wallace, and those 
 of their cult. The day is n6ar at hand, if we have not 
 already reached it, when all enlightened minds will 
 unite in the acclaim that the scientists of this school 
 have rendered the cause of truth an invaluable service. 
 Truth concerning human nature is worthy of all respect ; 
 and they who have labored so earnestly and unselfishly 
 to give us light on the ever-recurring problem of life — 
 vegetable, animal, and human — deserve our praise and 
 thanks. This school has done a very great service 
 toward restoring the ancient doctrine of human nature; 
 its researches prepare the way for what we conceive 
 to be a glorious work, the restoration of the ancient 
 wisdom religion. 
 
 While the labors of this school of science were 
 avowedly secular, they have rendered Truth an ever- 
 lasting service. Truth is one; it exists in unity, and its 
 principles are eternal and unchangeable. Religion is 
 founded upon the nature of the human soul itself. The 
 Lord God who formed the human soul, and endowed 
 it with intelligence, hath given it a law that inheres in 
 its own nature. The wise tell us that the human soul 
 is an epitome of the universe. "The roots of all 
 things are in man," says Emerson. This miniature 
 universe is related to all below it, and all above it. 
 Modem science has told us much of man's relation to 
 what is below him; and the office of religion is to teach 
 him his true relation to what is above him. 
 
 Religion, therefore, is the friend of all truth; and 
 all truth points the way to it. "He that doeth the 
 truth cometh to the light" (John 3:21). Men in- 
 stead of making all things pertaining to their souls, 
 "after the pattern which was shown Moses on the 
 
250 The Law of Human Life 
 
 mount" (Ex. 25:40); and instead of looking for and 
 finding the Law inhering in their own souls "went a 
 whoring with their own inventions" (Ps. 106:39); 
 and have filled the world with heresies and warring 
 sects. They of ancient and of modem times who have 
 aided us in obtaining better and truer views of life 
 and the mode and manner of its evolution, have made 
 all rational beings their debtors. We should hail them 
 as the chief benefactors of mankind. Let us again 
 turn to the marvelous utterances of him who thirty- 
 three centuries ago gave to his people the Law of the 
 '*One Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy," 
 
 In the nineteenth chapter of Exodus, we read that 
 Israel, ^'in the third month j^' camped in the wilderness 
 before the Motmt of Sinai, This is the theater of the 
 world's greatest event, the giving of the Law. It is 
 here that Moses proclaimed the Law of Human Life. 
 "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians [the 
 sensuous and carnal], and how I bare you on eagles' 
 wings, and brought you unto Myself, Now therefore, 
 if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, 
 then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all 
 people; for all the earth is Mine" (Ex. 19: 4, 5). 
 When man is confronted with trial, with temptation, 
 and with suffering, then is he brought near unto God ; 
 then is his opportimity to live worthy of the Law, and to 
 be a "pecuHar treasure unto God." Human greatness 
 consists in rising superior to all temptations; and in 
 living in obedience to Heaven's Law. 
 
 Moses is the intermediary between his people and 
 their God; he has attained to the "third day," to "my 
 day" (John 8:56); he has attained to that perfection 
 of soul that constitutes him a true prophet, a fit organ 
 of the Holy Spirit. "I would to God that all the 
 
Moses 251 
 
 Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord wotild 
 put His Spirit upon them" (Num. 1 1 : 29). Moses and 
 Jesus, and all true prophets, have desired that all men 
 should attain to their true inheritance, even to the state 
 of prophecy. Only the great know the godlike possi- 
 bilities of man. "The most lamentable scepticism on 
 earth, and incomparably the most common," said 
 William EUery Channing, "is a scepticism as to the 
 greatness, powers, and high destinies of human nature." 
 
 "Men and women are only half human," said Emer- 
 son; and in his essay on Politics, "We live in a very 
 low state of the world, and pay tmwilling tribute to 
 governments founded upon force"; and in his essay on 
 Character, we find these significant words. "We have 
 never seen a man; that divine form we do not 
 yet know. . . . What greatness has yet appeared is 
 beginnings and encouragements to us in this direction. 
 The history of those gods and saints which the world 
 has written, and then worshiped, are documents of 
 character." 
 
 What we know of truth is but the dawn of what is yet 
 to come. In the lives, in the characters, of the patri- 
 archs, and of Moses, and of Jesus, are revealed much 
 of the possibilities of man. The character of Jesus 
 Christ, and faith in his character, hath made this man 
 strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which 
 is inspired by his character hath given him this perfect 
 soundness in the presence of you all (Acts 3: 16). To 
 the extent that man is just, to the extent that his 
 soul is conformed to Heaven's Law, he is an organ of 
 the "power of God, and the wisdom of God" (i Cor. 
 1:24). 
 
 The Scriptures teach that all power and wisdom is of 
 God; and that God puts His Spirit upon them that 
 
252 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "obey His voice indeed, and keep His covenant"; 
 man must obey conscience and reason if he would at- 
 tain to greatness. "Not by material strength [not by 
 animal prowess] and political power shall ye prevail, 
 but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4: 6). "And 
 the Lord . . . took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, 
 and put it upon the seventy elders" (Num. 11:17, 
 25). Every true and upright person is possessed of 
 healing virtue and power that is communicable to those 
 who are prepared to receive, and who are willing and 
 desirous to receive. "And Abraham gave all that he 
 had unto Isaac" (Gen. 25:5); and thus it is that 
 we read of the blessings conferred by the patriarchs, 
 and prophets, by the laying on of hands. "And thou 
 shalt put some of thine honor upon him " (Num. 27 : 20) . 
 Jacob, when he blessed the sons of Joseph, said: "Let 
 my name [my character] be named on them and the 
 name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac" (Gen. 48: 16). 
 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people 
 and sanctify them to-day, and to-morrow, and let them 
 wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day; 
 for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight 
 of all the people upon Mount Sinai" (Ex. 19: 10, 11). 
 This language was intended to teach and does teach 
 the mode and manner of the soul's evolution. It teaches 
 that man must flee the Egyptian life, and must cast out 
 his devils, his animal propensities; that he must do 
 what he can to make his life clean and wholesome; 
 that he should "wash his clothes, and be ready against 
 the third day," "the great and dreadful day of the 
 Lord" (Mai. 4:5). It is on the third day, that the 
 Word of God, or the unerring truth, symbolized by 
 the dove, is said to descend upon man. The chapter 
 before us teaches in unmistakable terms, as do all the 
 
Moses 253 
 
 Scriptures, that the animal nature of man must be 
 sacrificed before he can make the ascent of the spiritual 
 mountain. "Whosoever toucheth the mountain shall 
 surely be put to death . . . whether it be beast or man, 
 it shall not Uve'* (Ex. 19: 12, 13). In the thirty-second 
 chapter of Exodus, we read that while Moses was absent 
 on the mount, the children "corrupted themselves" 
 by worshiping a golden calf; and that Moses, when he 
 beheld the infidelity of the people, and saw that they 
 had lapsed into animal worship, cast down the two tables 
 of the testimony and broke them. It is the spirit 
 of animalism that always breaks the Law, that prides 
 itself on disobeying the divine commands. 
 
 "Men and women are only half human." The 
 work of the prophet is to free the people from the 
 tyranny of carnal mind, from the tyranny of animalism, 
 and to teach them the way of humanism. In this 
 chapter we are told that Moses burned the calf, that he 
 ground it to powder, that he strewed it in the water, 
 and that he "made the children of Israel to drink of 
 it." "And Moses saw that the people were naked" 
 (Ex. 32:25). Man is naked and helpless before God 
 as long as he Is the victim of his animal propensities. 
 Moses commanded that the Levites, the teachers and 
 caretakers in Israel, should slay: "Every man his 
 brother, and every man his companion, and every 
 man his neighbor"; and there fell of the people that 
 day about three thousand. Every human being has 
 an animal brother, an animal companion, an animal 
 neighbor, whose power he must conquer and destroy. 
 By this we do not tmderstand that anybody actually 
 killed anybody else; but we do understand that the 
 Levites repented of their folly and set about to destroy 
 their animal propensities, and pledged themselves 
 
254 The Law of Human Life 
 
 forever to worship the Lord God of Israel in the way 
 that Moses had taught them. In ancient times this was 
 no doubt the customary method of stating deep truths. 
 "Those mine enemies, which would not that I should 
 reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me " 
 (Luke 19: 27). The wise engage in battles wholly tm- 
 known to the weak, the unthinking, and the frivolous. 
 
 Man, would he be a man, must believe in a rewarding 
 presence. "I am thy shield and thy exceeding great 
 reward." He must believe in the power and glory of 
 God, he must believe in the divinity of his own soul, 
 if he would be resurrected from the dead, if he would 
 find the "way out" of the Egyptian state of con- 
 sciousness. "And [Jesus was] declared to be the son 
 of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, 
 by the resurrection from the dead ' ' (Rom, 1:4). 
 "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and 
 to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected" 
 (Luke 13: 32-34). 
 
 Jesus, like Moses, describes the three stages of 
 the soul's evolution; and expresses the hope that the 
 spirit of prophecy, the true state of man (Num. 11 : 29) 
 should never perish out of Jerusalem. "For it cannot 
 be that the spirit of prophecy shall perish out of Jeru- 
 salem." Jesus bemoans the fallen and carnal state of 
 the people of Jerusalem, "which killest the prophets 
 and stonest them that are sent unto thee." He ex- 
 presses a willingness and desire to exercise his holy 
 offices in teaching and blessing the people. "How 
 often would I have gathered thy children together as 
 a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye 
 would not." It is certainly apparent that Jesus taught 
 the same fundamental truths concerning human nature 
 that were taught by Moses at Sinai. 
 
Moses 255 
 
 The office of the prophet is to lead the people out 
 of Egypt, to lead them away from the carnal life; and to 
 reveal to them in his own life the possibilities of man. 
 All power is of God; and the power of man is "accord- 
 ing to the spirit of holiness" within his own soul. He 
 that is resurrected from the dead is the son of God. 
 Salvation is personal. "No man by any means ca'n 
 redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him" 
 (Ps. 49: 7)- "The Lord renderest to every man accord- 
 ing to his works" (Ps. 62:12; i Kings 3:6; Pro v. 
 24: 12; Job .34: 11). The righteousness of Noah, and 
 of Job, and of Daniel is only sufficient to deliver their 
 own souls (Ezek. 14: 14). 
 
 We now come to the consideration of the Tabernacle 
 which was erected by Moses in the wilderness. The 
 tabernacle was evidently erected for the express 
 purpose of describing and illustrating human nature. 
 Moses was the first to place before his people a con- 
 crete representation . of the nature of the human soul. 
 The order revealed in the building of the tabernacle, 
 its cleanliness and sacredness, and the care taken of it 
 were intended to teach what the human soul should 
 resemble, and how it should be regarded. If the 
 tabernacle erected by Moses was approximately a 
 correct representation of human nature, then it stands 
 to reason, that no edifice ever erected by anybody 
 at any time taught and illustrated so much. 
 
 In the twenty-fifth chapter of Exodus occurs this 
 significant language : " And the Lord spake tmto 
 Moses saying. And let them make me a sanctuary that 
 I may dwell among them according to aU that I show 
 tnee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pat- 
 tern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye 
 make it." The tabernacle, and "the instruments 
 
256 The Law of Human Life 
 
 thereof" were descriptive of the nature of the human 
 soul itself. "The things which are seen are temporal; 
 but the things which are not seen are eternal." Religion 
 deals with the unseen, the eternal; therefore, the 
 necessity of using visible things, symbols to illustrate 
 and explain religious principles. The tabernacle and 
 the "instruments thereof" represented the unseen, 
 the soul and the things of the human soul. Philo, 
 when speaking of the tabernacle, said: "Let us look 
 on the altar and the tabernacle as ideas . . . the taber- 
 nacle and all the things therein are to be considered 
 as invisible. God has fixed the punishment of death 
 to any one who touches the sacred things of the 
 tabernacle." 
 
 The putting off of the physical body is only a seem- 
 ing death; death, in fact, only comes to the human soul, 
 the tabernacle of God, as the result of its desecration. 
 "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God 
 destroy " (i Cor. 3:17). There are many ways to defile 
 the tabernacle of God. Man, manas, reason, the 
 governing principle of the soul, may abandon its holy 
 function; and suffer the soul to be desecrated; the 
 affections of the heart may be debauched; and the 
 procreative power, the most imperious of all, if not 
 restrained, may lead the soul into prostitution. Every 
 Israelite was commanded to make God a sanctu- 
 ary, a fit dwelling wherein the Holy Spirit might 
 dwell "after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pat- 
 tern of all the instruments thereof." In a word, every 
 Israelite was to make his own soul perfect; and that 
 his soul might be the fit dwelling place of the Holy 
 Spirit, a pattern was placed before him. While the 
 Hebrew Scriptures expressly inhibit the representation 
 of the Lord God in any nmterial form, they do place 
 
Moses 257 
 
 before us a marvelous variety of s3mibols to explain 
 the nature of the human soul, and the mode and 
 manner of its evolution from a state of animalism to a 
 state of humanism- The Hebrew Scriptures proceed 
 on the idea that to perfect the soul, to build character, 
 requires a plan no less than to build a house. 
 
 Since the tabernacle and the instruments thereof are 
 descriptive of the human soul, it follows that]whatever 
 is said of them is said of the soul. The tabernacle is 
 called ' ' the tabernacle of testimony ' ' (Ex. 38:21; 
 Num. i: 50, 53). If man would know the deep truths 
 of human nature, and would apprehend God, let him 
 make his own soul just and upright before God; for it is 
 "the tabernacle of testimony." Reason must assume 
 its rightful authority; it must make itself a scourge 
 of cords, and it must drive out of the tabernacle envy, 
 hate, malice, revenge, lust, greed, h3^ocrisy, intolerance, 
 and murder; in a word, the whole horde of animal 
 propensities must be driven out of the tabernacle if 
 man would be man. John Locke, in his essay on the 
 Human Understandings evidently uttered a truth when 
 he said: "We may as rationally hope to see with 
 other men's eyes, as to know by other men's tmder- 
 standing." 
 
 An Israelite is one who acts in obedience to con- 
 science and reason; and the message of the tabernacle 
 to every Israelite was: "Take heed to thyself, and 
 keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things 
 which thine eyes have seen"'(Deut. 4:9). The ark 
 that rests within the Holy of Holies represents the 
 human heart, the life center of the individual. "Keep 
 thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues 
 of life" (Prov. 4:23). "My -dwelling shall be with 
 them [in their souls]; and I will be their God" (Ex. 
 17 
 
258 The Law of Human Life 
 
 29:45). "If our earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we 
 have a tabernacle builded of God, an house not made 
 with hands" (2 Cor. 5: i), _ It is the desire of God to 
 dwell in the tabernacle of man. ''The Lord hath 
 desired Zion for his habitation, here will I dwell; for 
 I have desired it" (Ps. 132: 13, 14). 
 
 The court of the tabernacle was a rectangular en- 
 closure one htindred and fifty feet in length and seventy- 
 five feet in breadth; and the length of this structure 
 was from east to west. It fronted the east ; the entrance, 
 "the door," was at the east end (Ex. 29:4), Within 
 and not far from the entrance at the east end was the 
 altar. "An altar shalt thou make unto me, and shall 
 sacrifice thereon thy offerings ' ' (Ex. 20 : 24) . The 
 dwelling was west of the altar; it consisted of two 
 apartments; first the Holy Place, and immediately 
 in the rear and to the west of this was the Holy of 
 Holies. The outer court of the tabernacle, we are 
 satisfied, represents the human body^ the altar the lower 
 principle of the soul; the Holy of Holies, the heart, 
 the seat of life; and the Holy Place, the seat of the 
 human mind. 
 
 The altar within the court of the tabernacle, and 
 westward from the entrance, was covered with plates 
 of brass. "Thou shalt overlay it with brass" (Ex. 
 27: 1-4); and the utensils used about the altar were 
 made of brass (Ex. 27:3), At the altar the animals 
 were sacrificed; it was there that their blood was 
 poured out. "For the life of the flesh is the blood, 
 and I gave it unto you to make an atonement for your 
 souls upon the altar" (Lev. 17: 11). The altar 
 corresponds to the lower principle of the human soul, 
 the seat of the animal propensities. The Scriptures 
 teach that the vestiges of animalism inhering in the 
 
Moses 259 
 
 soul of man, and symbolized by the flesh and blood of 
 animals, must be sacrificed would man attain to his 
 true inheritance. "But these mine enemies, which 
 would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, 
 and slay them before me" (Luke 19:27). Every 
 animal sacrificed at the altar of the tabernacle suggested 
 an Heaven-imposed duty, to wit: the driving of the 
 animals and the money-changers out of the temple. 
 
 In the book of Daniel, we read of an image of which 
 the Kong of Babylon dreamed; "This image's head was 
 of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, and his belly 
 and thighs of brass, and his legs and feet of iron and 
 clay " (Dan. 2 : 32) . The prophet Daniel interprets this 
 dream; he tells the King that this image represents four 
 kingdoms comparable to gold, silver, brass, and iron. 
 It is therefore apparent that states of mind, of con- 
 science, and of government, are symbolized by metals. 
 "For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring 
 silver" (Isa. 60: 17). The metals used in the con- 
 struction of the tabernacle, and its utensils and fur- 
 nishings, were used in the following order: the things 
 made of brass represented the lowest within the soul; 
 silver and gold, things intermediary; and pure beaten 
 gold, things Inward, highest, and most sacred. The 
 perfection of the soul consists in the tmity and harmony 
 of its constituent principles; therefore, the very great 
 care exercised in the building of the tabernacle. 
 
 "The altar shall be foursquare, and the height 
 thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt make 
 horns upon the four comers thereof" (Ex. 27:1, 2). 
 If man would attain to perfection, the lower principle 
 of the soul must be made perfect; It must act in obedi- 
 ence to the higher principles of the soul; it must be 
 the willing servant of a just mind, and of a virtuous 
 
26o The Law of Human Life 
 
 heart. In the language of symbolism, it should be 
 ''foursquare," and consonant with the number ''three." 
 The word "foursquare" indicates regularity, order, 
 harmony; as the word "three" indicates perfection. 
 There were horns upon the four comers of the altar; 
 horns are a symbol of virility and power. They grow 
 largest upon the heads of certain strong, vigorous male 
 animals. The horns upon the altar suggest that 
 power and virtue are bom of sacrifice. 
 
 The Holy Place in the tabernacle represented the 
 seat of the mind in the human soul; in this beautiful 
 place was a candlestick of pure gold with seven branches; 
 and on the branches were seven lamps (Ex. 25: 31-37). 
 ' The lamps were fed with pure olive oil. The light of the 
 seven lamps is a fit figure of mental perfection; and the 
 olive oil is a symbol .teaching that the mind is fed from 
 a spiritual source. In the fourth chapter of Zechariah, 
 is the story of the vision of Zerubbabel; he was con- 
 fronted with a mountain of hinderance; he was. in 
 mental anguish; and it is written that he beheld in a 
 vision a candlestick of gold with seven branches sup- 
 porting seven lamps fed with the golden oil of two oUve 
 trees. By this vision, Zerubbabel was taught that 
 mentality was not sustained "by might, nor by worldly 
 power, but by the Spirit of God" (Zech. 4:6). "For 
 by strength [by worldly power] shall no man prevail" 
 (i Sam 2: 9). 
 
 In the Holy Place were two tables covered with 
 plates of gold. Upon one of these tables were twelve 
 loaves of shew bread. This was a fit symbol of God's 
 providence. Bread is a symbol of God's word, of the 
 truth which is ever before us. Twelve is a universal 
 number; it suggests holiness, completeness. The 
 bread of God is inexhaustible; and it is the command 
 
Moses 261 
 
 of Heaven that man feed upon it. The other golden 
 table in the Holy Place was, called the altar of incense. 
 Incense was burned on this altar morning and evening; 
 and the odors that arose from this table are a symbol 
 of the prayers that are forever ascending out of the 
 souls of the just to the ever-living God, the source 
 of Life, and of Mentality, and of Love, Justice, and 
 Righteousness. "I am the Lord that do work Love, 
 Justice, and Righteousness: for in these things I delight, 
 saith the Lord" (Jer. 9: 24). 
 
 Immediately back of the Holy Place was the Holy of 
 Holies. This was the secluded and awe-inspiring, and 
 sacred above all, as its name implies. 
 
 blest seclusion from a jarring world. 
 
 COWPER. 
 
 The Holy of Holies was, as we believe, a symbol of 
 the life center of the human soul. Over the entrance 
 from the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies was a veil 
 of exquisite workmanship. "And thou shalt make a 
 veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined 
 linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: 
 and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood 
 overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon 
 the four sockets of silver" (Ex, 26: 31, 32). 
 
 Behind this veil that divided the Holy Place from 
 the Most Holy was "the ark of the testimony" (Ex. 
 26:33). The ark is the symbol of the human heart; 
 and over the ark was the mercy seat which was made 
 of gold; and upon this seat were mounted two angelic 
 figures, called the cherubims. The Scriptures tell us 
 that the Shekinah, the Divine Presence, is over the 
 mercy seat (Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89). This is not an 
 
262 The Law of Human Life 
 
 intimation of the localization of the Holy Spirit; but it 
 is, as we believe, the most certain and specific figure in 
 the literature of the world to show the relation of the 
 Divine Presence to life and mentality within the 
 human soul. 
 
 This teaches that every life is sustained by the One 
 Life that is; that "none can keep alive his own soul" 
 (Ps. 22:29). It teaches the unity of life, the Father- 
 hood of God, and the brotherhood of man. Contem- 
 plate the thought: over every human heart, over every 
 form of life, is the sustaining and ever-living Divine 
 Presence. The recognition of and beUef in this divine 
 and holy relation is the very essence of religion. Who 
 are "the living," and who are "the dead," according 
 to the Scriptures? "The living" are those who 
 believe in the Divine Presence, and abide in wisdom; 
 who "live in God's sight" (Hosea 6:2); and "the dead" 
 are those who live the carnal life, and do not believe, 
 and who rejoice in folly. "He stood between the dead 
 and the living, and the pestilence was stayed" (Num. 
 16:48). God is the God of "the Uving," of the 
 resurrected (Matt. 22:31, 32). "Ye that did cleave 
 unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this 
 day" (Deut. 4:4). "Cleave unto Him; for He is 
 thy life" (Deut. 30: 20). The carnally minded are said 
 to be dead because they are unmindful, disregardful, 
 and imbelieving as to their relation to and dependence 
 upon the source of life. 
 
 Emerson in 1833, when he had returned from Europe, 
 said: 
 
 I find this amazing revelation of my immediate relation 
 to God, a solution of all the doubts that oppressed me. 
 I recognize the distinction of the outer and inner self; the 
 
Moses 263 
 
 double consciousness, that within this erring, passionate, 
 mortal self, sits a supreme, calm, immortal mind, whose 
 powers I do not know, but it is stronger than I ; it is wiser 
 than I; it never approves me in any wrong; I seek counsel of 
 it in my doubts; I repair to it in my dangers; I pray to it 
 in my undertakings. It seems to me the face which the 
 Creator uncovers to His children. It is the perception of 
 this depth in human nature, this infinitude belonging to 
 every man that has been bom, which has given new value 
 to the habits of reflection and solitude. 
 
 It is good to know that there are chaste and virtuous 
 souls who prefer solitude, to the sensuous clamor of 
 the world, and who by high and holy living and think- 
 ing have come to perceive that God is present in the 
 tabernacle of man, 
 
 The godlike in man is revealed in his voice, in his 
 words, in his acts, and in his presence. The benign, 
 the pure in heart are preceded by their virtue. "Thy 
 righteousness shall go before thee" (Isa. 58:8). "If 
 a man be good, his righteousness shall go before him; 
 if wicked, the reward of his wickedness shall follow 
 him" (Barnabas 3: 14). "There went virtue out of 
 him, and healed them all" (Luke 6:19). And thus 
 the power and glory of God are made manifest "at the 
 door of the tabernacle" (Ex. 33:9). Emerson, when 
 speaking of his faithful friend, A. Bronson Alcott, said: 
 "Mr. Alcott was the great man. . . . He has more of the 
 godlike than any man I have ever seen, and his presence 
 rebukes and threatens and raises. He is a teacher." 
 "It is impossible to form," said Francis Power Cobbe, 
 "the faintest estimate of the good — ^the highest kind of 
 good — which a single devout soul may accomplish in a 
 lifetime by spreading the holy contagion of the love 
 of God in ever- widening circles arotind it." "The most 
 
264 The Law of Human Life 
 
 lamentable scepticism on earth, and incomparably 
 the most common, is a scepticism as to the great- 
 ness, powers, and high destinies of human nature." 
 Again, we quote the words of the chaste and godlike 
 Channing. 
 
 Gold and silver were extensively used in the con- 
 struction of the Holy Place and the Most Holy; and in 
 the making of the things that constituted their furnish- 
 ings. Gold was also used in making "the holy gar- 
 ments for Aaron." "And they did beat the gold into 
 thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the 
 blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in 
 the fine linen, with cunning work" (Ex. 39: 1-5). 
 The breastplate of the High Priest was made of gold, 
 of blue, of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined 
 linen, and in the same were set twelve varieties of 
 precious stones, which scintillated their imprisoned 
 light. According to Plato, bells are a symbol of the 
 divine harmony and order; and it may be that the 
 bells of gold on the garment of the High Priest were 
 a symbol of the divine harmony within the soul of man 
 (Ex. 28:31-35). 
 
 The precious metals, and the objects into which they 
 were fashioned, and their colors, and the colors of 
 the precious stones, were symbolic, as were all things 
 connected with the tabernacle. Pure gold, it would 
 seem, is the symbol of divine love, as silver is of divine 
 wisdom. " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the 
 fire, that thou mayst be rich; and white raiment, that 
 thou mayst be clothed " (Rev. 3:11); and thus it is that 
 man is told to cultivate a love of God, and a love of 
 wisdom; and to "put on righteousness as a breast- 
 plate" (Isa. 59: 17). The color of the metals: yellow 
 and" white: and the colors of the veil that obscured the 
 
Moses 265 
 
 Most Holy Place: blue, purple, and scarlet, are suggestive 
 of repose, tranquillity, and peace. They speak more 
 truly than words. They bespeak cleanliness and 
 purity. The sign of God's everlasting covenant is 
 revealed in the colors of the rainbow (Gen. 9: 11-17). 
 
 When the pure white, silvery ray of light, so sugges- 
 tive of wisdom and purity, is separated into the seven 
 principal colors of the rainbow, we have: violet, indigo, 
 blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Blue, the color 
 of the sky, so restful to look upon and so suggestive 
 of eternity, is said to bespeak the immortality of the 
 soul. In a book of much merit written by Edmund 
 Hamilton Sears, entitled: The Fourth Gospel, is this 
 observation: "Truth, as seen by the pure intellect, 
 is white and silvery; but truth transfused and made 
 chromatic with the divine love is golden; and when 
 it rules right royally over the conscience and the hfe, 
 it crowns us, and we wear it as a diadem of praise." 
 
 According to the symbolism of the Scriptures, the 
 ark, in its interior meaning, represents the human heart. 
 In Genesis, we read, that Noah's "ark went upon the 
 face of the waters" (Gen. 7: 18). The water that over- 
 flows the earth and destroys all flesh, all animal life, 
 is but another name for carnal mind; carnal mind is 
 animalized mind; it is mind on the plane of the carnal 
 appetites. Noah's "ark went upon the face of the 
 waters." This ark breasted the deluge for forty days 
 and forty nights upon the face of the waters, but 
 finally it rested upon a mountain. "And the ark 
 rested in the seventh month . . . upon the mountain of 
 Ararat." Again, we read of the ark on the face of the 
 waters of the river Nile; this ark contains the infant 
 Moses ; it contains him who was drawn out of the water, 
 and was destined to proclaim to the world the Law of 
 
266 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Human Life that inheres in the soul of man. This 
 Law is discovered when the ark is at rest on the moun- 
 tain, "in the seventh month." 
 
 " Remember ye the law of my servant Moses, which I 
 commanded unto him in Horeb." This Law takes 
 precedence of all other law; and it is as much above the 
 laws of the world, as the heavens are above the earth. 
 "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the 
 prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfil. 
 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, 
 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 
 till all be fulfilled" (Matt. 5: 17, i8). Every rational 
 being who would attain to rest and peace must be 
 faithful to the Law "till all be fulfilled." 
 
 The dove is the symbol of the Divine Word; the dove 
 was in Noah's ark; the dove descended upon Abraham 
 (Gen. 15:9); and again, we read, that the Law, the 
 Word of God is in the ark in the Most Holy Place. 
 Here is the ark at rest in the presence of God: "My 
 presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" 
 (Ex. 33: 14); here is the ark guarded by the winged 
 cherubims, the holy messengers of God; they are sym- 
 bols of wisdom and truth and of God's eternal and 
 unfailing justice. God is merciful, for He is above the 
 mercy seat; but above all. He is just. The mercy seat 
 is the seat of justice within the soul. "The tabernacle 
 of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and 
 they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be 
 with them, and be their God" (Rev. 21 : 3). God has 
 appointed the meeting-place between Himself and the 
 individual man. "There," says the Almighty, "above 
 the mercy seat, " "will I meet thee, and I will commune 
 with thee" (Ex. 25:22). Let man attune his soul to 
 perfection, if he would commune with his God; let 
 
Moses 267 
 
 him make God a holy tabernacle. This is what Paul 
 calls a '* reasonable service" (Rom. 12: i). 
 
 If man would be conscious of the Divine Presence, 
 he must prepare for God a chaste and holy taberna- 
 cle after the pattern shown Moses on the mount, and 
 builded by the inspired artisan Bezaleel. When man 
 sets about in right earnest to make his soul upright, 
 he will be aided in building as was Bezaleel; the Holy 
 Spirit will not only aid him to build, but it will fill his 
 heart with wisdom "that he may teach " (Ex. 35 : 30-35). 
 The Lord calls His own by name (Ex. 35 : 30) ; and the 
 names which He gives them correspond with their 
 real character. Bezaleel was the name of him who 
 stood in the Divine Presence. We are told of the 
 cleanliness, the chasteness, and the perfection of all 
 materials used in the building of the tabernacle; and 
 of the very great care that was exercised to the end 
 that the tabernacle be builded in every respect "after 
 the pattern shown Moses on the mount"; and of the 
 great precaution that was taken that the tabernacle 
 be in no way profaned or desecrated. 
 
 Let us contemplate the names of what we may call 
 the essential parts of the tabernacle, those parts which 
 represent the principles of the human soul: the altar of 
 sacrifice, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place. 
 These names are full of significance. It is certainly 
 apparent that the tabernacle was intended to teach and 
 did teach the deep truths of human nature; and more- 
 over, it would be impossible to conceive a more effective 
 and impressive method of placing before the mind's 
 eye the sotd's perfection. The prophet is he upon 
 whom the dove has descended; the dove is the symbol 
 of the Divine Word; and the Divine Word is the truth 
 without any alloy of error. "To this end was I bom, 
 
268 The Law of Human Life 
 
 and for this reason came I into the world, that I should 
 bear witness unto the truth." This is the office of the 
 prophet, 
 
 Moses was a prophet sent of God to teach the children 
 of Israel the way of salvation; and that they might 
 appreciate the marvelous possibilities of the human 
 soul, and its worth and sacredness, the tabernacle, 
 clean, chaste, perfect, and holy, was placed before them. 
 Religion is not a matter of speculation; it has its law, 
 and this law was marvelously illustrated in the sym- 
 bolism of the tabernacle. Let man abandon specula- 
 tion about God and immortality, and live the life 
 prescribed by the Law, as did Abraham, Joseph, 
 Moses, Socrates, Plato, and Jesus. It should be re- 
 membered that Socrates and Plato and those of their 
 school sought to reclaim philosophy from dogmatism 
 and speculation; and to teach mankind that all higher 
 knowledge comes as the result of virtue. "God is no 
 respecter of persons. But in every nation he that 
 feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable" 
 (Acts 10:35), -AJl who abandon the sensuous life, 
 all who live clean and virtuous lives are the inheritance 
 of God. ''They are thy people, thine inheritance" 
 (Deut. 9:29); and the just inherit God, for they are 
 "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4)- 
 
 The animal sacrifices which were made at the altar 
 were notorious. They taught unequivocally, that 
 man, would he be a man, must overcome his animal 
 nature. This is an animal world. "My kingdom is 
 not of this world." The Scriptures teach that all evil 
 originates on the plane of the lower principle of the 
 human soul; and it is in this principle that the irrational 
 vestiges of animalism inhere. "Those mine enemies, 
 which would not that I should reign over them, bring 
 
Moses 269 
 
 hither and slay them before me" (Luke 19:27). Let 
 man awe the beast and cultivate the human as Emerson 
 has said. Let him pray God for help that he may lash 
 these incorrigible enemies to the horns of the altar 
 that they may be sacrificed. Nothing which is animal, 
 nor which savors of the animal can approach the Divine 
 Presence, The priests when they entered into the inner 
 court of the tabernacle were to be clothed in linen 
 garments; and they were to wear no materials made 
 from an animal that dies; "and no wool shall come upon 
 them" (Ezek. 44: 17). Aaron and his sons were to be 
 free from the taint of animalism, "That they bear 
 not iniquity, and die; and it shall be a statute forever 
 unto Aaron and his seed after him" (Ex. 28: 42, 43). 
 
 The goat, like the serpent, is a symbol that represents 
 the lower principle of the soul of man. In the sixteenth 
 chapter of Leviticus, we read of the great day of expia- 
 tion which occurred but once a year; and how "all 
 the iniqioities of the children of Israel, and all their 
 transgressions in all their sins" were put upon the 
 head of the scapegoat that went forth into the wilder- 
 ness (Lev. 16:21, 22). The High Priest is the re- 
 presentative of all men, the Law of Human Life is 
 taught in his ministrations and in his hfe; his life 
 points the way of salvation; and every one who would 
 attain to eternal peace and rest must suffer and make 
 the whole sacrifice. All human souls, in their essential 
 nature, are alike; and every soul that would attain 
 to its celestial inheritance must be made perfect by 
 suffering. 
 
 Every son of God is destined to perform holy and 
 disinterested service as did the High Priest who car- 
 ried a breastplate, suspended from his shoulders and 
 which rested on his heart, on which was written the 
 
270 The Law of Human Life 
 
 names of the twelve tribes of Israel. "And Aaron 
 shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon 
 his heart before the Lord continually" (Ex. 28:30). 
 This symbol would teach us that the great religious 
 teacher must carry the people in his heart. He who 
 would perform a great moral service for mankind must 
 needs love the people. "We have an high priest whose 
 feelings are touched by our infirmities" (Heb. 4: 15). 
 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem , . . how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather 
 her brood under her wings, and ye would not " (Luke 
 
 13:34)- 
 
 While the animal sacrifices were symbolic, and were 
 intended to teach deep truths concerning human nature 
 and the way of salvation, it is apparent that actual 
 sacrifices were made after the manner narrated in the 
 book of Leviticus. The sacrifices were made to illus- 
 trate principles, and to restrain and deter evildoers. 
 The offspring of the delinquent, and the priestly func- 
 tion, were singularly conducive to the exposure of sin, 
 and the reformation of the sinner. The precepts gov- 
 erning the sacrifices directed that a certain kind of offer- 
 ing should be made for each specific sin or trespass. The 
 man or the woman who was guilty of wrongdoing was 
 thus taught to make reparation if it were possible, and 
 in any event to confess openly the wrong. 
 
 The first requisite to the atonement of sin is repara- 
 tion; and next to this is a penitent and candid acknowl- 
 edgment of the wrong, "First be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matt. 
 5:23, 24). "He that covereth his sins shall not 
 prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall 
 have mercy" (Prov. 28: 13). In a word, the offering' 
 which was brought by the delinquent, and the official 
 
Moses 271 
 
 service which was performed by the priest, told the 
 whole story; the offering was a prayer for forgiveness 
 and a confession. The Law and the precepts that 
 accompanied it are addressed alike to men and women. 
 
 It is impossible that precepts, commands, and inhibi- 
 tions imposed from without should take away sin. 
 "It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats 
 should take away sin" (Heb. 10: 4). If the observance 
 of precepts, or the sacrifice of bulls does not take away 
 sins, then what is it that does? It is repentance; it is 
 the turning away from an evil life, and the living of a 
 life of virtue. Moral evil is the transgression of a Law 
 whose obligation we feel within us. Sin is taken away 
 by living a life in obedience to conscience and reason. 
 
 "And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the 
 congregation both men and women, and all that could 
 hear with understanding, upon the first day of the 
 seventh month" (Neh. 8: 2, 3; Deut. 31: ii, 12). 
 The Word of God, the Law of Human Life, is addressed 
 to the intelligence of individual men and women, 
 "and to all that can hear with understanding, " without 
 reference to sex, caste, race, color, or nationality. 
 Why was the Law brought before the congregation 
 "upon the first day of the seventh month"? The 
 number seven indicates perfection. The end and the 
 aim of the Law is the perfection of man; and they who 
 live worthy of the Law are said to walk with God, and 
 to find rest and peace on the seventh day. "When a 
 man or woman shall commit any sin that a man [a 
 rational being] can commit . . . against the Lord, 
 and that person be guilty, then they shall confess their 
 sin," and shall make reparation, but if reparation can- 
 not be made, then an atonement shall be made; and 
 the S3mibol is the ram (Num. 5: 5-8). 
 
272 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Every rational being who knowingly sins offends 
 "against the Lord*'; Man, mind, is put into the human 
 soul "to dress it and to keep it, " and not to desecrate 
 it; he who desecrated the tabernacle was punished with 
 death; this idea is intended to teach and does teach 
 that the only death that can come to the soul of man is 
 the result of evil; every individual man or woman who 
 knowingly sins acts in open hostility to the Law of 
 God; for all is of God, and that which constitutes man 
 a man is mentality. Let man beware lest he prostitute 
 his mind, and thus desecrate the temple of the living 
 God; for "He is One Mind" (Job 23: 13). "There is 
 one Mind common to all individual men," says Emer- 
 son in his essay on History. 
 
 If it be true that the Scriptures are scientific, and 
 that they announce principles descriptive of the nature 
 of the human soul, and the mode and manner of its 
 evolution, and if it be true that men and women are 
 slowly emerging from a state of animalism, then it 
 would seem that there is no other method of escape 
 from sensuality, than that revealed in the life and 
 teachings of Moses, and Jesus, and other great prophets. 
 Jesus tells us in language clear and specific that the 
 Law and its precepts are imperative. "For verily I say 
 unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be 
 fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of the 
 least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, 
 he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven" 
 (Matt. 5:18, 19). 
 
 "Neither is there salvation in any other" (Acts 4: 12) 
 life than that lived by Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus. 
 The Law of Human Life proclaimed by Moses, and 
 its attendant precepts, fix responsibility; they were 
 
Moses 273 
 
 intended to work reparation for injury done, and to 
 constrain men and women to confess their wrongs. 
 "When he shall be guilty in one of these things, he 
 shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: and he 
 shall bring his trespass offering imto the Lord for his 
 sin which he hath sinned" (Lev. 5:5, 6). The sacri- 
 ficial offerings were symbols fixing individual responsi- 
 bility for sin. "Sin is the transgression of the Law" 
 (i John 3: 4). 
 
 The Law and its precepts are addressed to all rational 
 beings. "One law shall be to him that is home bom, 
 and to the stranger that sojoumeth among you" (Ex. 
 12 : 49) . " Mind carries the Law, " says Emerson. 
 Reason is the governing, directing, and measuring 
 principle within the. human soul; truth is the law of 
 reason. Reason is a mighty Angel sent of God; and 
 he suffers no violation of the divine commands. "Be- 
 hold I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the 
 way, and to bring thee into the place which I have 
 prepared. Beware of him,, and obey his voice, provoke 
 him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: 
 for My Name is in him" (Ex. 23:20, 2i), Justice 
 bespeaks immortality. "There is no god, " says Emer- 
 son, "that dare wrong a worm." Moses, Elijah, Soc- 
 rates, Plato, Jesus, and all the great prophets and 
 philosophers have taught that there is no escape from 
 moral responsibility; that every rational being is an- 
 swerable to God; that there is a living presence that 
 suffers no wrong to go unredressed and no virtue un- 
 rewarded. "The Lord God of Israel liveth before 
 whom I stand" (i Kings 17: i). Religion teaches the 
 accotmtability of man to the One Living God that is. 
 " Every one of us shall give an account of himself to 
 God" (Rom. 14: 12). "Say tmto the righteous, that 
 
 x8 
 
274 The Law of Human Life 
 
 it shall be well with him: for he shall eat the fruit of his 
 doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: 
 for the reward of his. hands shall be given him" (Isa. 
 3: 10, 11; Ezek. 18:20). 
 
 Moses is said to have given to the world the Penta- 
 teuch, or the first five books of the Bible. It is not 
 necessary to the cause of truth to show that Moses 
 actually wrote the Pentateuch. It is enough to say 
 that this great prophet organized a priesthood, to whom 
 he taught many precepts, or rules, for the government 
 of man in the ordinary affairs of life. He taught his 
 people that if they would become a people of real moral 
 worth, they must separate themselves from the vulgar, 
 the sensual, the murderous, and the warlike. But 
 these rules and precepts did not constitute fundamental 
 knowledge; they were only means to an end. They 
 only pointed the way to the higher knowledge. Moses 
 knew, as all the great have known, that there is a 
 divine order which inheres within the human soul 
 itself. This divine order may be called the Law of 
 Human Life, the Law of Righteousness; the way 
 of salvation. Plato, iq his dialogue Gorgias, repeats 
 the words of Socrates. "And 'lawful' and 'law' are 
 the names which are given to the regular order and 
 action of the soul, and these make men lawful and 
 orderly: and so we have temperance and justice." 
 
 Moses ordained a priesthood. The priests were 
 appointed and consecrated to teach. They were the 
 wise men of Israel; they were dedicated to a work. 
 They were not only the teachers of outward precepts 
 and rules, but they were taught the Law of Human Life 
 as illustrated by the tabernacle itself. The deep 
 truths of human nature were taught by Moses and the 
 priesthood, and the succeeding prophets; and even by 
 
^ Moses 275 
 
 the ancient poets and philosophers, in symbols and in 
 allegories. Symbols are more easily remembered than 
 descriptive words; and they forever tell the same story. 
 Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the work of 
 teaching. They were selected, no doubt, on accotmt 
 of their integrity and superior knowledge; and were 
 subjected to a severe moral discipline. They were 
 expected to make their souls upright; and to live 
 what they taught. 
 
 Among the virtuous there is a perfect identity between 
 the life lived and the things taught. The true teacher 
 demonstrates what he teaches in his own life. Aaron 
 and his sons were consecrated to reason, and to the 
 virtue of reason which is wisdom. This truth is related 
 in a symbol. The ram, which leads the flock, is the 
 symbol of reason; the sign Ares, the top of the head, is 
 the seat of reason. "And Moses said unto Aaron and 
 his sons, boil the flesh [of the ram of consecration] 
 at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and 
 there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of 
 consecration, as I commanded, sajdng, Aaron and his 
 sbns shall eat it. And that which remaineth of the 
 flesh and of the bread shall ye biuti with fire" (Lev. 
 8:31, 32). When describing the tabernacle, we had 
 occasion to say that the Holy Place represented the 
 human mind; the Most Holy- the heart, the seat of life; 
 and that the sacrificial altar represented the lower 
 principle of the soul. "And they shall take the ram of 
 the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the Holy 
 Place- And Aaron and his sons shall eat of the flesh of 
 the ram, and of the bread that is in the .basket. . . . 
 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atone- 
 ment was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them, 
 but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are 
 
276 The Law of Human Life 
 
 holy" (Ex. 29:31-34). None but those who live 
 worthily are entitled to feed upon spiritual things. 
 The vulgar, the conceited, the sensuous are not pre- 
 pared to feed upon the higher knowledge, — " a stranger 
 shall not eat thereof." This is a way of sa3ang, "Give 
 not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye 
 your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under 
 their feet, and turn again and rend you " (Matt. 7:6). 
 
 Aaron and his sons were to feed on reason; they were 
 to eat of the flesh of the ram that was boiled in the 
 Holy Place; and they were to feed upon truth, the 
 bread of life, that is in the basket of consecration in 
 the Holy Place. Aaron and his sons were anointed, and 
 consecrated, and sanctified, '*that they may minister 
 unto God in the priest's office"; and their priestly 
 services were connected with the tabernacle (Ex. 28: 
 41-43). Human nature can only be explained by 
 psychological principles; therefore, man's sanctification 
 is psychological. Aaron and his sons were dedicated 
 to a work; they were to point the way of salvation, 
 in the lives which they lived, and the truths which 
 they taught. They were removed from the cares of 
 the world; they were denied any worldly inheritance; 
 God is their inheritance (Num. 18:20, 21; Deut. 
 10:9). They were chosen "to stand before the Lord 
 to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name" 
 (Deut, 10: 8). They were the dispensers of the bread 
 of life; they were the custodians of knowledge; and 
 there is reason to believe that the profound truths 
 taught by Moses in the language of symbolism were 
 carried for centuries in the minds of the priesthood, and 
 were not wholly written until the days of Ezra, about the 
 year 400 B.C. 
 
 Moses, who was a marvelous prophet (Deut. 18 : 15; 
 
Moses ^^^ 
 
 Hosea 12:13), "^as also a priest (Ps. 99:6). The 
 priests were teachers and conservators of knowledge. 
 "The priest's lips shotald keep knowledge, and the 
 people should ask the Law at his mouth, because he 
 is the messenger of the Lord of hosts" (Mai. 2\T\ 
 Lev. 10:11; Deut. 17:9; Jer. 18:18; Hag. 2:11). 
 After the coming of Moses, and the giving of the Law, 
 all the subsequent Hebrew prophets stood for the Law 
 as proclaimed by Moses, and tmqualifiedly condemned 
 every departure from its strict observance, either by 
 the people of Israel, or their priests (Neh. 1:7; Isa. 
 8:20; Jer. 18: 18; Ezek, 7:26; Dan. 9: 11; Amos 2:4; 
 Hosea 8:1; Zeph. 3:4); and no prophet ever more 
 severely condemned the teachers and priests of Israel 
 for failing to keep the Law than did Jesus Qohn 7: 19). 
 Not only did Jesus condemn every departure from the 
 Law, but he stated unqualifiedly that the Law of Moses 
 must be fulfilled in its entirety (Matt. 5: 17-19). 
 
 *'And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and 
 an holy nation" (Ex. 19:6; i Peter 2:5). Every 
 rational being should strive to attain to the priestly 
 state of consciousness; he shotdd seek to be a teacher in 
 Israel and a custodian of knowledge. The condition 
 of becoming a teacher and priest in Israel is founded 
 upon the Law of Moses. "For Ezra had prepared his 
 heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to 
 teach in Israel statutes and judgments" (Ezra 7: 10). 
 He who would truly teach the Law must first have 
 fulfilled the Law; for the high and holy nature of the 
 Law is demonstrated in a Ufe of obedience to it, 
 as. Jesus himself said (Matt. 5:17, 19; Luke 16:17). 
 Rational beings should not only strive to be fit teachers 
 of truth and virtue; but they should so live and con- 
 form to the Law of Human Life as to attain to their 
 
278 The Law of Human Life 
 
 true inheritance, the state of prophecy. "And Moses 
 said ... I would to God that all the Lord's people 
 were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit 
 upon them" (Num. 11:29). 
 
 "The most lamentable scepticism on earth, and 
 incomparably the most common, is the scepticism as 
 to the greatness, power, and high destinies of human 
 nature." These are the words of William Ellery 
 Channing, when discoursing on the text; "Christ also 
 suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should 
 follow his steps" (i Peter 2:21). These and like 
 words we have quoted often ; for certainly nothing is a 
 greater deterrent to human progress than the low and 
 vulgar estimate that men place upon themselves. 
 Knowledge of the truth is the highest attainment of a 
 rational being; it is the truth that sanctifies; it is the 
 truth that makes clean; "Now ye are clean through the 
 word whdch I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3); 
 the truth is the word of God (John 17:17). They 
 that attain to greatness, to the higher life, must "suffer 
 for us"; they who stand for the truth in this animal 
 world must needs suffer persecution; they who live 
 above the spirit of the world are the objects of the 
 scorn and contempt of the sensuous and carnal. We 
 owe it to God, our Creator, and to ourselves, and to 
 mankind to live clean, virtuous lives. "And for their 
 sakes I sanctify myself" (John 17: 19). 
 
 Man, would he be a man, must make his soul as 
 clean, and chaste, and holy, as was the tabernacle; for 
 it is written that the Spirit of God dwells in the taber- 
 nacle of man behind the second veil, "which is called 
 the Holiest of all" (Heb. 9:3). Man, would he attain 
 to greatness, must be willing to labor and suffer in the 
 cause of truth and justice. This lesson was taught 
 
Moses 279 
 
 by the priesthood of Israel. Their services were 
 disinterested ; for they had no earthly inheritance. 
 "Thou shalt have no inheritance in the land. ... I 
 am thy part and thine inheritance among the children 
 of Israel" (Num. 18:20; Josh. 13:33). The ministra- 
 tions of the priesthood in the tabernacle were to the 
 end that the souls of men might be made as pure and 
 chaste as "fine white flour" (Lev. 2; i). It is the 
 desire of God to dwell in the soul of man, "He hath 
 desired it for His habitation" (Ps. 132: 13). 
 
 The great of Israel have always made religion the 
 first consideration. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of 
 God" (Matt. 6: 33). The first and highest duty of man 
 is to relate his soul to the spiritual kingdom, the king- 
 dom that transcends the animal kingdom of the world. 
 "My kingdom [and your kingdom] is not of this world" 
 (John 1 8 : 36) . ' ' He who makes religion his first object, 
 makes it his whole object: he has no other work in the 
 world than God's work," says John Ruskin. There 
 is a legend recorded by Luke which tends to prove 
 the strong religious bent of Jesus' mind, when a boy. 
 "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's busi- 
 ness?" (Ltike2:49). "lam the Lord that do work 
 Love, Justice, and Righteousness; for in these things 
 I delight, saith the Lord" (Jer. 9:24). If a man 
 does not make justice and righteousness the first 
 consideration in life, then it is certainly apparent that 
 his religion is perfunctory. Religion is a thing to be 
 lived; it is represented in a life, "I am the way, the 
 truth, and the life" (John 14:6). "Go unto Joseph; 
 what he saith unto you, do" (Gen. 41 : 55). 
 
 The world is full of people who are connected with 
 religious institutions; and the lives that a large portion 
 of them live is proof positive that they have no concep- 
 
28o The Law of Human Life 
 
 tion of the duties and ideals of religion. The thing 
 above all which makes religion an object of ridicule and 
 contempt is the wide and noticeable difference between 
 what men pretend to believe, and the lives that they 
 live. This causes the sceptic and the agnostic to attack 
 the churches, and to charge that they shelter bigots and 
 hypocrites; and this gives rise to the counter charge 
 that they who are outside of the churches are heretics, 
 ^ infidels, and atheists. What is the remedy? When it 
 is shown that the soul of man is governed by a high 
 and holy Law, and that this Law is teachable and 
 demonstrable, just as other laws of nature are teachable 
 and demonstrable, then it is submitted that religion 
 will be on a sure and eternal foundation. Jesus, like 
 Joesph, and Moses, and all the truly great, fulfilled 
 the Law. The teachings of Paul prove him to have 
 been an adept in matters of religion, and that he 
 tmderstood the operations of the Law; therefore, his 
 strong and unequivocal language: "If any man 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have 
 received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:9). 
 
 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
 living God; for you can call to remembrance former 
 days, in which, after ye were illumined, ye endured 
 divers afflictions" (Heb. 10: 31, 32). It is a "fear- 
 ful thing" to go to the promised land by the way of the 
 wilderness; it is a fearful thing to undergo the discipline, 
 the chastening, and the trials that are necessary to the 
 soul's perfection. Let no man believe that he can go 
 to the promised land except by the way of the desert; 
 all that go to the promised land must experience an 
 illumination, an awakening out of a state of sensuality 
 and. death, and must be obedient to the Law given at 
 Sinai, and must suffer aU the rigors of the desert life. 
 
Moses 281 
 
 "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord 
 thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, 
 to humble thee, and to prove thee" (Deut. 8:2). 
 
 The Jews have identified religion with the Law, 
 and the Law with the teachings of Moses, "Did not 
 Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you keepeth 
 the Law? Why go ye about to kill me?" (John 7: 19). 
 The observance," the keeping of the Law, is revealed 
 in a life attuned to justice and virtue. Jesus, like all 
 true prophets, succeeding Moses, taught by his life 
 and the words which he uttered, that the fulfillment of 
 the Law was absolutely indispensable to the salvation 
 of man. The words of Jesus concerning the Law are 
 ample and free from ambiguity. "One jot or tittle 
 shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled" 
 (Matt. 5:17-19). Jesus unsparingly condemned the 
 scribes and Pharisees because they did not live worthy 
 of the Law, "For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and 
 cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the 
 Law, judgment, mercy, and faith [Justice, Mercy, and 
 Truth] : these ye ought to have done ... Ye blind guides, 
 which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matt. 
 23:23,24). 
 
 Jesus did not find fault with the teachings of the 
 scribes and Pharisees; but he did condemn them 
 unqualifiedly for not living in harmony with the Law. 
 " Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples^ 
 saying: The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' 
 seat: whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe 
 and do; but do not after their works; for they say, and 
 do not" (Matt. 23: 1-3). Jesus recognized that what 
 Moses had taught was fundamental and obligatory. 
 It therefore follows that all Scripture and philosophy 
 descriptive of the nature of the human soul, and the 
 
282 The Law of Human Life 
 
 mode and manner of its evolution, given to the world 
 subsequent to the time of Moses, are but reiterations 
 of what he taught. 
 
 There is no instance in all human history, where 
 such honor and dignity were attached to teaching as in 
 ancient Israel. No teachers were ever more highly 
 respected than were Aaron and his sons and their 
 successors in office; they were the teachers and keepers 
 of the Law, and they ministered in and about the 
 tabernacle. They taught that man should make his 
 soul as clean and chaste and holy as was the tabernacle, 
 as pure- as an offering of "fine white flour" (Lev. 2: i). 
 But there is a clear distinction between the Levitical 
 priesthood, and the order of Melchisedec (Heb. chap. 
 7). There is a clear distinction between the priest who 
 taught principles by ministrations in and about the 
 tabernacle, and the Master who represents in his 
 own life the fulfillment of the Law. The teaching of 
 the precepts of the Law: commands and inhibitions 
 were a means to an end, but the fulfillment of the 
 Law represents an end in itself. The Master represents 
 "the end of the Law of righteousness to every one that 
 believeth" (Rom. 10:4). "Wherefore the Law [as 
 taught by the Levitical priesthood] was our school- 
 master to bring us to a knowledge of the life of the 
 Master, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 
 3:24). When man attains to that faith which leads 
 him to act in obedience to conscience and reason, then 
 he is no longer a child who is in need of being controlled 
 by commands arid inhibitions. "But after that faith 
 is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" 
 
 (Gal. 3: 25). 
 
 "The Law is not hidden from thee, neither is it far 
 off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who 
 
Moses 283 
 
 shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that 
 we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh 
 unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou 
 mayst do it. See, I have set before thee this day life 
 and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30:11-15). 
 This language is significant; for if the Law of Human 
 Life is not in Heaven, then it is revealed; and he who 
 revealed it must first have fulfilled it; and moreover, 
 the Law must be important above all else, for we 
 are told that it sets before man "life and good, and 
 death and evil." Remember, '*life and good," and 
 "death and evil" represent' states of the soul, and not 
 of the body. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the 
 flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6: 63). 
 
 The Law points the way of salvation ; it points the 
 way of life and good and of death and evil. Paul tells 
 how the Law taught him the way of life and of death. 
 "For I was alive without the Law once: but when 
 the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 
 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I 
 found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by 
 the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 
 Wherefore the Law is holy, arid just, and good" (Rom. 
 7:9-12). This we would interpret: there was a time 
 when I did not know the Law, and I believed that I was 
 alive; but when I came to understand the command- 
 ments of the Law, I found that I was deceived, and 
 that I was in a sensuous and carnal state, in a state of 
 death. "Wherefore the Law is holy." The prophet 
 Baruch, when speaking of the Law, said: "This is 
 the book of the commandments of God, arid the Law 
 that endureth forever: all they that keep it shall come to 
 life; but such as leave it shall die. Turn thee, O Jacob, 
 and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light 
 
284 The Law of Human Life 
 
 thereof, that thou mayst be illumined, ... Israel, 
 happy are we: for the things that are pleasing to God 
 are made known unto us" (Baruch 4: r-4). "For not 
 the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the 
 doers of the Law shall be justified" (Rom. 2:13). 
 It is the duty of carnal man first to walk in obedience 
 to the precepts of the Law, and to make his soul as 
 clean and chaste as was the tabernacle, to the end that 
 he may be awakened out of a state of carnality and 
 death; to the end that he "may be illumined"; and 
 thus come to realize the true life, the spiritual. 
 
 The temple builded in Jerusalem, and spoken of in 
 history as Solomon's Temple, stood for more than four 
 hundred years; and like the tabernacle it was entered 
 from the east; and in all of its appointments it was 
 identical with the tabernacle of which it was an enlarged 
 pattern. It is recorded in the Scriptures and in history 
 that this temple was destroyed at the time of the 
 Babylonian invasion. The temple, the great Jewish 
 house of worship, that existed in Jerusalem during the 
 time of the ministry of Jesus was also fashioned after 
 the pattern of the tabernacle. 
 
 If the tabernacle in its outward structure represented 
 the human body, and its inner structure the human soul, 
 then of course the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem 
 in the days of Jesus represented the body and soul of 
 man. This being understood, there ought to be no 
 difficulty in understanding the words of Jesus which are 
 recorded in the second chapter of John. In this chapter 
 he is represented as driving the animals and money- 
 changers out of the temple. Does any intelligent person 
 believe that any human soul will realize the Kingdom of 
 God, the kingdom which transcends the animal kingdom 
 of the world, until every vestige of animalism within 
 
Moses 285 
 
 the soul is destroyed? "Destroy this temple, and in 
 three days I will raise it up" (John 2: 19). This, it 
 would seem, has reference not to three literal days, but 
 to the building of the spiritual body, the perfection of 
 the human soul. "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do 
 cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall 
 be perfected" (Luke 13: 32). "But Jesus spake of the 
 temple of his body" (John 2:21). 
 
 It is certainly apparent, that the tabernacle, and 
 the Jewish temple in Jerusalem that was a pattern 
 of it, were builded as they were for the express purpose 
 of describing and illustrating the nature of the human 
 soul, and the mode and manner of its orderly evolution; 
 and it also follows that if the temple were to be availed 
 of and the truths of human natiu-e taught in a true, 
 concise, and uniform fashion, then it was necessary to 
 have an officiary, a class of teachers, a priesthood, to 
 minister in and about the temple. Therefore, the 
 temple and the priesthood did not constitute an end in 
 themselves, but they did constitute a very efficient means 
 toward the most important end under heaven, to wit, 
 the perfection of the soul of man. "If perfection were 
 by the Levitical priesthood [for under it the people 
 were taught the Law] what further need was there that 
 another priest should arise after the order of Melchise- 
 dec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?" (Heb. 
 7:11). The priests were the keepers and teachers of 
 the Law; but the prophets and Masters are they that 
 have fulfilled the Law, The teaching of the Law is a 
 means to an end, but the fulfillment of the Law is an 
 end in itself. They who have fulfilled the Law con- 
 stitute the order of Melchisedec. "I am the way, the 
 truth, and the life" (John 14: 6). Of course a righteous 
 human soul is incomparably superior as a teaching 
 
286 The Law of Human Life 
 
 instrument to any conceivable model, or pattern of 
 it, "But I say unto you, That in this place is one 
 greater than the temple" (Matt. 12: 6), 
 
 Idolatry was suppressed by means of the one temple; 
 and the priestly services in connection with it gave 
 fixedness and uniformity to the faith of Israel. The 
 priesthood and the tabernacle, or the temple, with 
 which they were associated, tended to give to religious 
 knowledge a certainty and fixedness never before nor 
 since approached. Jesus did not complain of the 
 teachings of the scribes and Pharisees who were in 
 and about the temple, and who "sat in Moses' seat"; 
 but he did condemn unsparingly the lives that they 
 lived. "Whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe 
 and do; but do not after their works: for they say, and 
 do not" (Matt, 23:2). The temple in Jerusalem was 
 destroyed about the year 70 a.d. Dr. Abraham 
 Geiger, Rabbi of an IsraeHte Congregation at Frank- 
 fort-on-the-Main, in his interesting and instructive 
 book, Judaism and its History, translated into English 
 by Charles Newburgh of Washington, D. C, said: 
 "The sacrificial service and the priesthood were 
 suddenly swept away, when the temple existed no 
 more," The temple was necessary to the priesthood, 
 and the priesthood to the temple. That faith 
 which is founded upon the Law lost its central and 
 imifying institution with the destruction of the 
 temple; and we believe it is fair to say, that, to the 
 extent that mankind have lost sight of the Law, re- 
 ligion has deteriorated, and become sectarian, partisan, 
 unscientific, and weak. 
 
 Judaism, or the religion of Israel, is a universal 
 religion because it is founded upon a Law that specifi- 
 cally points the way of salvation, a Law that has a like 
 
Moses 287 
 
 appKcation to every human soul. " God gives unto all 
 the inheritance, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, 
 and sanctification, as he promised in the Law" (2 
 Mace. 2:17, 18; Deut. 30:5). What the priesthood 
 taught is a necessary step in human salvation, Elias 
 must first come and restore all things to their right 
 relation. The teachings of the Levitical priesthood were 
 a means to an end ; but sanctification is an end in itself. 
 "This is the will of God, even your sanctification" 
 (i Thess. 4:3). In a word, God gives to all who obey 
 the Law, who live clean and virtuous lives, the inherit- 
 ance; the realization of His Kingdom; the knowledge 
 that was taught of the priesthood, the keepers of the 
 Law; and, lastly, sanctification, the state of moral 
 purity and perfection of life. The condition of knowing 
 the Law is a willingness to do it, to obey it. "For 
 Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the 
 Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and 
 judgments" (Ezra 7: 10). 
 
 That Judaism is a universal religion, and the only 
 possible universal religion, is made manifest in the 
 nature of the Law itself. Dr. Geiger, in the second 
 chapter of Part Two of his book, Judaism and its 
 History y when discussing the fall of the temple and the 
 dissolution of the priesthood, said: 
 
 Judaism had arisen in a people; this people was the 
 carrier of the ideas of that faith, and it could not historically 
 be otherwise. This religion reached out far beyond the 
 barriers of the people; it taught that it should at sometime 
 become the common property of mankind; it did not confine 
 itself to the compatriots of Israel, but joyfully accepted 
 all who acknowledged it in a true and faithful spirit. . . . 
 Jewish parentage did not make one a member of the con- 
 gregation of Israel [says Rabbi Geiger], but the acknow- 
 
288 The Law of Human Life 
 
 ledgment of the faith. The stranger and the home-born, 
 thus it was continually repeated, were to be perfectly equal. 
 
 The priesthood were the specially appointed "car- 
 riers" of Israel's faith; they were the keepers of the 
 Law; and that they might consistently keep and teach 
 the Law and preserve the unity of Israel, the tabernacle, 
 clean, chaste, and holy, a thing that represented the 
 body and soul of man, was forever before them and the 
 people they taught. The Law was taught to the people 
 of ancient Israel in the simplest and plainest way. In 
 a word, the dwelling of the tabernacle, pure and holy 
 and protected from desecration, was a symbol that 
 admonished every Israelite to make his soul the fit 
 dwelling place of the Spirit of God- God's Spirit 
 dwells in Zion, in the hearts of the righteous. "For 
 the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His 
 habitation" (Ps. 132:13). The Sciences are founded 
 upon the laws of nature. Every natural object is 
 fashioned by an inner living law. Then, will it be 
 denied that religion is founded upon an Heaven-given 
 Law? The Law of nature is the Law of God. The 
 Law that governs the orderly evolution of the soul of 
 man is the Law of God. 
 
 When Jesus is asked the way of salvation, is there 
 any uncertainty in his reply? ''Master, what must 
 I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said imto him, What 
 is written in the Law? . . . This do, and thou shalt 
 live" (Luke 10:25-28; Matt. 19:16-20). Nothing 
 in all the Scriptures is more certain than that Jesus of 
 Nazareth taught in the life that he lived, and in the 
 words he uttered, the absolute necessity of the fulfill- 
 ment of the Law as the way of salvation (Matt. 5: 
 17-19). It therefore follows that there is a perfect 
 
Moses 289 
 
 identity between the teachings of Moses and the 
 teachings of Jesus. When the son of man is lifted up, 
 when the mind and soul of man are made pure and 
 holy by the fulfillment of the Law, then it is that man 
 becomes the "heir of all things," then it is that the 
 mind of man comes to behold in itself the glory and 
 image of God (Heb. i : 2, 3). 
 
 Paul in the beginning of his letter to his disciple 
 Timothy tells him to ''give no heed to fables and 
 endless genealogies"; and in his epistle to Titus (3: 9) 
 he again says it is unprofitable and vain to ask questions 
 and to speculate about the Law. The truth of the 
 Law is demonstrated in a life lived in obedience to it; 
 and it is, therefore, not aided by the recounting of 
 genealogies and by speculations; for it is apparent, as 
 Paul says, that these things do not minister to edifica- 
 tion and faith (i Tim, 1:4). "Now the end of the 
 commandments [of the Law] is charity out of a pure 
 heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" 
 (i Tim. 1:5); for these things represent the end of the 
 commandments, the fulfillment of the Law. 
 
 Emerson, like Paul, did not believe that genealogies, 
 and fables, and legends, such as are woven about the 
 lives of all the great, should be permitted to obscure 
 principles. In his essay on Plato, the Philosopher^ 
 when speiaking of the birth of this ancient sage, he 
 says: 
 
 In short, a balanced soul was bom, perceptive of two 
 elements. . . . The reason why we do not at once believe 
 in admirable souls, is because they are not in our experience. 
 In actual life, they are so rare as to be incredible; but, 
 primarily, there is not only no presumption against them, 
 but the strongest presumption in favor of their appearance. 
 But whether voices were heard in the sky or not; whether 
 19 
 
290 The Law of Human Life 
 
 his mother or his father dreamed that the infant man-child 
 was the son of Apollo; whether a swarm of bees settled on 
 his lips or not; a man who could see two sides of a thing was 
 born. 
 
 "The most lamentable scepticism on earth, and 
 incomparably the most common, is a scepticism as to 
 the greatness, powers, and high destinies of human 
 nature." Dr. Channing, on another occasion, when 
 discoursing on the subject, "The Inimitableness of 
 Christ's Character," said: "I no longer see aught to 
 prevent our becoming whatever was good and great 
 in Jesus on earth." Emerson, like Channing, affirmed 
 that the life and works of Jesus fell entirely within 
 the field of human experience. Jesus taught the possi- 
 bilities of man. He emphasized this idea. "Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the 
 works that I do shall he do also; and greater works shall 
 he do; because I go to my Father (John 14: 12). It is 
 a lack of faith in the high and holy possibilities of man, 
 that has led mankind away from the contemplation of 
 the Law of Human Life, and has resulted in the multi- 
 plication of religious sects founded upon metaphysical 
 abstractions unscientific, unteachable, and tmdemon- 
 strable. If there is a Law of Human Life applicable 
 to the soul of man (and it is unthinkable that there 
 should not be), then it follows as a matter of course, 
 that every human soul that would attain to its true 
 inheritance must conform to this high and holy Law. 
 
 The Law itself which Moses gave to Israel, and which 
 Jesus honored and ftilfiUed, tends above all to fix the 
 status of Moses, and of Jesus; and of all the truly great. 
 Has the man fulfilled the Law? This is the criterion. 
 Whether voices were heard in the sky, or not; whether 
 
Moses 291 
 
 three wise men came from the east or not at the time 
 of the birth of the infant Jesus, are legends that 
 can neither be proved, nor disproved. Therefore, the 
 wise advice of Paul: "Give no heed to fables and 
 endless genealogies." Let men give their attention 
 to those religious principles which are both teachable 
 and demonstrable, and avoid those legends that lead 
 to contention and speculation, which do not minister 
 to godly edifying which is made manifest in faith. 
 
 Religion is evidently founded upon a Law that finds 
 fulfillment in the soul; its foundation is eternal and 
 everlasting; and all institutions that teach doctrines 
 other than those foimd in the Law are destined to wax 
 old as a garment, and the places that knew them shall 
 know them no more forever. Religion is ever the 
 same, and its years shall have no end. All hail to 
 Moses, the giver of the Law. "This is the Book of 
 the Commandments of God, and the Law that endureth 
 forever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such 
 as leave it shall die. . . . O Israel, happy are we: 
 for the things that are pleasing to God are made known 
 unto us" (Baruch 4: i, 4). "Which is the first com- 
 mandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first 
 of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel ; the Lord our 
 God is One Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord God 
 with all thy heart, and with aU thy soul, and with all 
 thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first 
 commandment. And the second is like, namely this, 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is 
 none other commandment greater than these" (Mark 
 12:28-31). "On these two commandments hang all 
 the Law and the prophets" (Matt. 22; 40). 
 
 These two commands proclaimed by Moses (Deut. 
 6:4, 5; Lev. 19: 18), and affirmed by Jesus, are great 
 
292 The Law of Human Life 
 
 and fundamental above all, because they announce 
 principles that underlie the whole superstructure of 
 religion, to wit: the Fatherhood of God and the brother- 
 hood of man. " Have we not all One Father? Has not 
 One God created us all?" (Mai. 2:10; Matt. 23:9.) 
 These principles should awaken in every human heart 
 imspeakable gratitude and edification; for they an- 
 notmce the high and holy possibilities of man. They are 
 not matters of history; they were not given to be reck- 
 oned as such; they were given to be realized in humati 
 consciousness. All who are faithful to conscience and 
 reason; all who live clean and virtuous lives; all who 
 live above the spirit of the world, come to realize the 
 Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. 
 The Scriptures tell us again and again that these prin- 
 ciples are to be realized in human experience; and 
 when they are realized, man is said to pass into the 
 promised land (Deut, 6:4-18). The promised land 
 is a symbol of a high and holy state of consciousness, 
 a state transcending the animal, sensuous world, a 
 state that relates man to the Kingdom of God; for the 
 land that was given to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to 
 Jacob, is the land of "the hving,*- the land of the resur- 
 rected (Deiit. 6: 10; Mark 12: 26, 27). 
 
 Nothing is a matter of speculation that is demon- 
 strable in a life lived. '*That which may be known of 
 God is made manifest in the lives of the just; for God 
 hath shown the truth unto them" (Rom. 1:19). 
 Moses, and Elijah, and Jesus, and all the truly great, 
 demonstrated the truth of Israel's religion in the lives 
 that they lived. "I am the way, the truth, and the 
 life: no man cometh unto the Father,. but by me" 
 (John 14: 6). Religion is founded upon principles that 
 are demonstrable; and no truth essential to religion lies 
 
Moses 293 
 
 outside of the field of human experience; therefore, 
 those legends and historical events interspersed in the 
 Scriptures, and which have filled the world with theo- 
 logical riddles and speculations, are not essential to 
 religion. 
 
 Power, more near my life than life itself, 
 If sometimes I must hear good men debate 
 Of other witness of Thyself than Thou, 
 
 As if there needed any help of ours 
 
 To nurse Thy flickering life, that else must cease, 
 
 Blown out, as 'twere a candle, by men's breath. 
 
 My soul shall not be taken in their snare, 
 
 To change her inward surety for their doubt 
 
 Muffled from sight in formal robes of proof: 
 
 While she can only feel herself through Thee, 
 
 1 fear not Thy withdrawal; more I fear, 
 
 Seeing, to know Thee not, hoodwinked with dreams 
 Of signs and wonders, while, uimoticed. Thou, 
 Walking Thy garden still commun'st with men, 
 Missed in the commonplace of miracle. 
 
 James Russell Lowell. 
 
 The two great commands, or principles, the love of 
 God and the love of man, proclaimed by Moses (Deut. 
 6:4, 5; Lev. 19:18) and affirmed by Jesus (Mark 
 12: 28-31) represent an end in themselves; they repre- 
 sent a high and holy state of consciousness, a state 
 wherein man apprehends in his mind and heart the 
 Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. 
 Therefore, it may be said that all other religious ideas 
 are but means to the end just described, to wit: the 
 writing of these two great principles in the heart 
 of man. "And these words which I command thee 
 this day, shall be in thine heart" (Deut. 6:6). "On 
 
294 The Law of Human Life 
 
 these two commandments hang all the Law and the 
 prophets" (Matt. 22:40). All the precepts of the 
 Law and the teachings of the prophets were given 
 that these two great principles might be written in the 
 hearts of men; and thus the Kingdom of God made an 
 existing fact on earth among the children of men. 
 '*Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is 
 in heaven." 
 
 The great religious teachers of the world, the Masters, 
 the "unchangeable priesthood," they of the order of 
 Melchisedec, are forever calling mankind back to the 
 Law; they are forever calling mankind back to the 
 consideration of a few simple principles which are both 
 teachable and demonstrable; and are, therefore, not a 
 matter of speculation. But so prone is the heart of 
 man to the subtilty of the serpent that these principles, 
 simple in themselves, are speedily obscured by the 
 inventions of sensuous men, and thus religion becomes 
 sectarian, and partisan, and given over to conten- 
 tion, strife, and speculation. "But I fear, lest by any 
 means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his sub- 
 tilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the 
 simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3). 
 
 How simple, how orderly, how divinely human have 
 been the lives and the teachings of all the truly great. 
 They who fulfill the Law live the simple life; and teach 
 the same doctrine; for they are the organs of the One 
 Eternal Spirit. "God hath spoken by the mouth of 
 his holy prophets, which has been since the world began " 
 (Luke 1:70). "Wisdom in all ages entering into 
 holy soulshsLve made them friends of God, and prophets" 
 (Wisd. of Sol. 7:27). Religion is represented in the 
 love of God and of man. Paul, a true lover of God 
 and man, tells in vigorous phrase that religion is "as 
 
Moses 295 
 
 sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal," if the soul 
 be not attuned to love (i Cor. 13: 1-3). ''Therefore, 
 Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Rom. 13: 8, 10). 
 
 The Spirit of God is our Master. Without the 
 free guidance of the Spirit, the soul of man becomes arid 
 and dry, his voice hollow and his utterance false. Man, 
 would he be a man, must labor to make his soul an 
 organ of the Holy Spirit; for He is indeed the Com- 
 forter; "He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26). 
 If man be faithful, the day will come when the Spirit 
 will possess him and will gird him for the contest (John 
 21 : 18). The men of the Spirit are the religious teachers 
 of mankind; for in truth they are sent of God (2 Chron. 
 24:20; I Sam. 10:6; 16: 13; Ezek. 11:5). 
 
 While swings the sea, whUe mists the mountains shroud, 
 While thunder's surges burst on banks of cloud, 
 Still at the prophet's feet the Nations sit. 
 
 James Russell Lowell. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ELIJAH 
 
 "Elias for being zealous and fervent for the Law was taken up into 
 heaven" (i Maccabees 2: 58). 
 
 In the first book of Kings (i6: 30-33), it is written 
 that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all, 
 that he did more to provoke the Lord of Israel to anger 
 than all the kings of Israel that were before him. He 
 took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of the King of the 
 Zidonians, "and went and served Baal, and worshiped 
 him." The Law of Jehovah promulgated by Moses 
 was obligatory upon the children of Israel, and their 
 rulers (Deut. 31: 10-13; ^7- 18, 19; Josh. 1:8). Every 
 king of Israel was commanded to have a book of the 
 Law (Deut, 17: 18). Since the Law is at the heart of 
 Israel's religion, the kings of Israel, like David, and 
 Hezekiah, and Josiah, who stood unqualifiedly for the 
 Law and rallied the people to its observance, and 
 destroyed the idols, altars, and images used in the 
 worship of false gods, were the great kings of Israel; 
 they were God's anointed; they were Jehovah's ap- 
 pointed representatives. Ahab on the contrary re- 
 presents the fallen and degenerate kings pf Israel. In 
 Israel aU true men live worthy of the Law; and all 
 degenerates disregard and mock it. A faithful observ- 
 
 296 
 
Elijah 297 
 
 ance of the Law is the condition of all higher knowledge; 
 it is the Law, therefore, that points the way of the ruler 
 and teacher in Israel. ''O how I love Thy Law! it 
 is my meditation all the day. . . I have more under- 
 standing than all my teachers: for thy testimonies 
 are my meditation. I understand more than the 
 ancients, because I keep Thy precepts. I have re- 
 frained my feet from evil ways, that I might keep Thy 
 Word. I have not departed from Thy judgments; 
 for Thou hast taught me. . . . Through Thy pre- 
 cepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false 
 way" (Ps. 119:97-104), 
 
 Not only were the Israelites commanded to serve and 
 worship Jehovah, but they were also commanded to 
 blot out the evidence of the worship of other gods. 
 "Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, 
 and cut down their groves" (Ex. 34: 13). Death was 
 meted out to those who counseled the worship of other 
 gods than Jehovah (Deut. 13:6-9). No Israelite 
 is suffered to forget that Jehovah is a just God, and 
 the judge of all the earth. "Shall not the judge of all 
 the earth do right?" (Gen. 18: 25). 
 
 The one infallible test of an Israelite is, that he 
 faithfully serve and worship Israel's God, Jehovah;- the 
 God who led Israel out of Egypt, the land of carnality, 
 "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23), and gave to Israel 
 the Law. The God who leads man away from the 
 carnal life and teaches him the Law of Human Life, 
 and communes with him in the depths of his own soul 
 is, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, the Most High 
 God. Jehovah is conceived of as Spirit, as pure men- 
 tality; wherever there is Virtue, Truth, Wisdom, and 
 Justice, there is the Spirit of Jehovah made manifest. 
 "Not by virtue of material strength and political power 
 
298 The Law of Human Life 
 
 shall ye prevail, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" 
 (Zech. 4: 6). The prophet is called "the man of the 
 Spirit," or the spiritual man (Hosea 9:7). "I am 
 full of power by the Spirit of the Lord" (Micah 3:8). 
 The Spirit of God is in the heart of the prophet, "as a 
 burning fire, and [he feels that he] can not endure 
 it" (Jer. 20:9; Amos 3: 8; Acts 4:20; Job 32: 18, 19). 
 It is the Spirit of God in the soul of man that impels 
 him to virtue. All power is of God; therefore the ne- 
 cessity of the soul's perfection. The monotheism of Israel 
 consists in the service and worship of One Almighty 
 Spiritual Being, and of Him alone. "Hold fast the 
 doctrine of a purely Spiritual Divinity," said William 
 EUery Channing. The idea of the unity of God is bom 
 of reason; for it is apparent that all the works of nature 
 exist in unity. "All things proceed from One Eternal 
 Energy," said Herbert Spencer. "Have we not all 
 One Father? Has not One God created us all?" (Mai. 
 2: 10). "Call no man your father upon the earth, 
 for One is your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 
 
 23:9)- 
 
 The Law was an imperative command to all Israel; 
 and in the days of Jesus Christ an attempt was made 
 through his disciples to communicate the religion of 
 Israel which is founded upon the Law to all mankind. 
 No principles of knowledge, it would seem, were ever 
 urged upon any people, with such earnestness and 
 persistence, as were those of the Law upon Israel. 
 The appalling calamities that befell the Israelites of old 
 were attributed to their persistent violations of the 
 Law (2 Kings 17: 13 ff.; Neh. 9:29, 30; Dan. 9:5, 6; 
 Zech. 7: 12; Amos 3: 2; Jer. 16: ii, 18). If there be a 
 Law of Human Life, then, of course, human greatness 
 consists in its fulfillment; and all sin, sickness, and 
 
Elijah 299 
 
 death bespeak the violation of it. Moreover, if there 
 be a Law of Human Life that unerringly points the 
 way of the soul's perfection and thus relates man to 
 the Kingdom of God, the spiritual kingdom that 
 transcends the animal kingdom of the world, then it 
 follows, of course, that no compromise should be 
 made with other gods and doctrines. The Law cuts 
 off every hope of God's favor, except that which springs 
 from a practical conformity to a life of truth, righteous- 
 ness, and justice. 
 
 The Israelites were commanded to serve and worship 
 Jehovah; and to abstain from the service and worship 
 of other gods; in a word they were commanded and 
 admonished to abstain from all practices other than 
 those prescribed by the Law (Deut. 6:6-14; ^3-^ ^-t 
 18:20; Isa. 8:20; Jer. 2: 8; 23: 13-15; Matt. 5: 17-19). 
 Necromancy, or the consulting of familiar spirits, was 
 expressly inhibited by the prophets of old (Isa. 8: 19; 
 Deut. 18: II, 12); and in this very connection it will 
 be observed that the Law is pointed to as the way of 
 perfection (Isa. 8:20; Deut. 18:13). The Law cut 
 the Israelites off from every form of nature worship; 
 it taught them to worship the Almighty God", One and 
 Invisible. The Law forbade any attempt by means of 
 natural signs: stars, clouds, or birds to find out what 
 ought to be done (Ex. 22: 18; Lev. 19:26, 31; 20:6, 
 27; Deut. 18:10-14; I Sam. 28:9). The Israelites 
 were commanded to live in obedience to conscience 
 and reason, the highest within their own souls. 
 
 Ahab "went and served Baal, and worshipped him"; 
 and he dealt with familiar spirits and wizards (2 Kings 
 21:6). He and his people were idolatrous; they for- 
 sook the God who had led their fathers out of Egypt, 
 out of carnal bondage. They went in pursuit of the 
 
300 The Law of Human Life 
 
 sensuous and luxurious life. Their religion was a 
 mockery; orgies and Bacchanalian feasts supplanted 
 the orderly, chaste, and edifying worship that char- 
 acterized the congregation of Israel in the days of its 
 greatness. When the people of the northern kingdom 
 of Israel were thus fallen into a state of debauchery 
 and idolatry, and were serving and worshiping strange 
 gods, Elijah appeared upon the scene. His character 
 and office are revealed in his name: "Jehovah is my 
 God; Jehovah is my strength." He comes as does 
 every true prophet to declare and to restore the Law, 
 and thus to make an end of false gods and doctrines. 
 It is the Spirit of God in the heart of the just that re- 
 veals the Law and the Testimony (Neh. 9:30; Zech. 
 7:12; Isa. 8 : 20) ; the prophet represents the fulfillment 
 of the Law. '*No sign shall be given, but the sign of 
 •the prophet Jonas." " I am the way, the truth, and the 
 life" Qohn 14: 6). The great are they who teach a way 
 of 'life conformed to Heaven's Law; and their lives are a 
 demonstration of what they teach; they are the expo- 
 nents of the Law and the Testimony. The Testimony 
 is the Law revealed in the life of the prophet, or in 
 outward written form. "To the Law and the Testi- 
 mony: if they speak not according to this word, it is 
 because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8: 20). 
 
 "Order is Truth, " said Thomas Carlyle, "Order and 
 Falsehood cannot subsist together. . . . Man's mission 
 is Order; every man's is." Disorder represents de- 
 formity, anarchy, and death. "Evil is evil because it is 
 unnatural." Righteousness is righteousness because it 
 is natural. The office of Elijah is the restoration of 
 the Law. "Elias must first come . . . and restore all 
 things" (Matt. 17:10, 11). The first step necessary 
 to the salvation of mankind is the restoration of the 
 
Elijah 301 
 
 Law; until the divine Law is recognized and obeyed, 
 all is confusion. Elias represents that type of man 
 who stands unqualifiedly for the Law, and makes no 
 compromise with evil. The Law must be fulfilled as 
 certainly ''as the Lord God of Israel liveth before 
 whom I stand" (i Kings 17: i). 
 
 "And EUjah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants 
 of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel 
 liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew 
 nor rain these three years, but according to my word" 
 (i Kings 17 : i). What was the nature of this 
 drought, this famine, that is said to have lasted three 
 years and six months? (Luke 4:25; James 5:17)- 
 "But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in 
 Israel in the days of Elias, when the heavens were shut 
 up for three years and six months, when great famine 
 was throughout all the land" (Luke 4: 25). The word 
 "widow," when used in a broad and poetic sense 
 means deprivation; in a word, there were many people 
 in Israel in the days of Elias who were deprived of 
 knowledge. _" My people are gone into captivity, 
 because they have no knowledge: and their honorable 
 men are famished, and their multitude dried up with 
 thirst" (Isa. 5:13). The most destructive of all 
 famines is not represented in a "famine of bread, nor a 
 thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" 
 (Amos. 8:11). This is the appalling famine, the deadly 
 privation, that forever comes to the wicked. 
 
 It is written that Elijah is commanded to hide him- 
 self by the brook Cherith, that he is there fed in a 
 mysterious wa/ morning and evening, that after a 
 time the brook is dried up; and that then he is com- 
 manded to go to Zarephath "which belongeth to Zidon" 
 and to abide at the house of a widow; and it is also 
 
302 The Law of Human Life 
 
 written that the son of this woman fell sick; and his 
 sickness was so sore that there was no breath left in 
 hini; and that Elijah carried the widow's son into a loft 
 ''where he abode," and restored him to hfe. "See, 
 thy son liveth." This widow, according to the Scrip- 
 tures, was dead. The dead are they who know not 
 God; they who live the carnal life. "And she said unto 
 Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of 
 God? art thou come to call my sins to rememberance, 
 and to slay my son?" The prophet, the just man, the 
 man of God, dismays and terrifies the sinful. " Depart 
 from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). 
 "And Ahab said unto Elijah, Hast thou found me, O 
 mine enemy? And Elijah answered, I have found thee: 
 because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight 
 of the Lord" (i Kings 21:20). The office of the 
 prophet is to wake people out of a state of death, "to 
 call their sins to remembrance," and to bring them^to 
 a knowledge of the Law. "And Elijah said. See, thy 
 son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by 
 this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the 
 word of the Lord in thy mouth is Truth," 
 
 The chapter before us, the seventeenth of i Kings 
 is, in its essential nature, an allegory descriptive of the 
 mode and manner of the orderly evolution of the human 
 soul. It is the story of the prophet. Elijah is fed 
 miraculously upon the bread of life, the word of God, 
 morning and evening. The brook that gave him com- 
 fort "dried up." Baptism with water does not make 
 perfect; baptism with fire is necessary to perfection- 
 He abides at "Zarephath which belohgeth to Zidon." 
 The name Zarephath means "the refining of metals," 
 and Zidon, "fishing." Metals are refined with fire; 
 and fish drawn out of the water is a symbol of the 
 
Elijah 303 
 
 resurrection, the resurrection of man out of a state of 
 carnality and death into a state of life and spirituality. 
 Fish when drawn out of the water die. "He that hath 
 suffereth in the flesh [and is dead to the world] hath 
 ceased from sin" (i Peter 4:1). Elijah is made perfect 
 by suffering; he is resurrected from the dead; "his right- 
 eousness shall justify many; for he shall bear their in- 
 iquities" (Isa. 53: 11). He "bears our sins," who rises 
 superior to every worldly temptation. "Be of good 
 cheer, I have overcome the world." 
 
 "The word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third 
 year, saying. Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will 
 send rain upon the earth" (i Kings 18:1). Elijah, 
 like Abraham, attained to the "third day" (John 8: 
 56). . . . "Behold, I cast out devils, and do cures to- 
 day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be per- 
 fected" (Luke 13:32). This is a study in psychology. 
 Elijah is here represented as having attained to a high 
 state of consciousness. First the Gentile state, the 
 primitive state of man, represented by the proud, con- 
 ceited, pleasure-loving, and warlike Egyptians; and 
 secondly, the intermediary state, the effeminate, where- 
 in man is controlled in a large measure by his feelings 
 and emotions, symbolized by a shifting and nomadic 
 life in a desert land, the hfe that is not wicked, but 
 lacks fixedness of purpose; and thirdly and lastly the 
 higher state of consciousness, the masculine, wherein 
 man is governed of reason and conscience, and of 
 which the promised land is a symbol. 
 
 They that have attained to the "third day, " or what 
 is the same, the "third year," are the meek. "Moses 
 was meek above all men" (Num. 12:3). What is 
 meekness? It is gentleness, self-control; it Is freedom 
 from control by unrestrained feelings and emotions. 
 
3^4 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Water, due to its changeableness and lack of fixedness 
 is a symbol of the unrestrained feelings and emotions. 
 All that are not governed of reason and conscience are, 
 like Reuben ''unstable as water" (Gen. 49:4). Ex- 
 cept a man rise out of the lower states of consciousness, 
 he cannot consciously realize the Kingdom of God, the 
 spiritual state of man, "Except a man be bom of 
 water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the King- 
 dom of God" Qohnsrs). 
 
 "Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord"; it is 
 written that she waged a campaign of extermination 
 against the teachers and prophets of Israel. Obadiah 
 was the governor of Ahab's house; and it is said that 
 "he feared the Lord greatly" ; and that he hid prophets 
 in a cave, and fed them with bread and water. Elijah 
 is commanded to show himself to Ahab; and when 
 on his way to fulfill this divine mission, he meets 
 Obadiah, who "fell on his face, and said, Art thou 
 that my lord Elijah? And Elijah answered him, I am: 
 go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here." Obadiah is 
 dumbfounded; he falls on his face; he is fearful of his 
 life; he tells Elijah that his lord has hunted for him 
 far and near. " There is no nation or kingdom, whither 
 my lord hath not sent to seek thee. . . And now thou 
 sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold Elijah is here." Obad- 
 iah is afraid to bear Elijah's message to his lord; for if 
 he delivers the message, and Elijah is not found; he is 
 destined to die. "So when I come and tell Ahab, and 
 he cannot find thee, he shall slay me." But Elijah 
 assures Obadiah that he will surely show himself to 
 Ahab to-day. "And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts 
 liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself 
 unto him to-day." The office of the prophet, " the man 
 of the Spirit, " is to tell the truth in any presence; and 
 
Elijah 305 
 
 it is likewise the duty of every man; for the prophet 
 is the exampler. "Go, preach, cry out, fear nothing; 
 raise thy voice with a sound loud as a trumpet, and re- 
 veal to my people their transgressions, and to the house 
 of Israel its iniquities" (Isa. 58: i; Josh. 4: 14). This 
 recalls the words of Jesus- in the presence of Pontius 
 Pilate: "To this end was I bom, and for this cause 
 came I into the world, that I should bear witness imto 
 the truth" (John 18: 37). This is the true mission of 
 man ; and he who disregards it brings the curse of Heaven 
 upon his own head. EHjah is a t5rpe of the true prophet 
 and teacher; he proclaims the Law, the Law of Human 
 Life, that restores man to a right relation before God. 
 "Elias shall come, and restore all things" (Matt. 17: 
 11). The reformation of mankind depends first upon 
 the restoration of Israel. "Salvation is of the Jews" 
 (John 4: 22). Salvation is of the regenerate. "He is 
 a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that 
 of the heart" (Rom. 2: 29). 
 
 "And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that 
 Ahab said unto him. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? 
 And Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel; but 
 thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken 
 the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed 
 Baalam." Elijah commands the king to gather unto 
 Mount Carmel the prophets of Baal, and the prophets, 
 "which eat at Jezebel's table"; and when the people 
 and the prophets of Baal were gathered at Motmt 
 Carmel, Elijah said unto the people, "How long halt 
 ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow 
 him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people 
 answered not a word." Elijah proposed that two 
 bullocks be brought; and the priests of Baal oflEer one 
 upon an altar; and he the other, "And call ye on the 
 20 
 
3o6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the 
 Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be 
 God. And the people answered and said, It is well 
 spoken." And it is written that the priests of Baal 
 called upon their gods from morning until moon, and 
 from mid-day until the time of the offering of the even- 
 ing sacrifice, and "there was neither voice nor any 
 answer, nor any that regarded." Elijah repaired the 
 altar that was broken down: and prepared the sacrifice 
 after the manner of the Mosaic precepts; and then 
 called upon the name of Israel's God. "Then the fire 
 of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and 
 the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up 
 the water that was in the trench." 
 
 Elijah tells the people to destroy the prophets of 
 Baal. "Let not one of them escape"; and it is said 
 that they were slain at the brook of Kishon; this name 
 means "tortuous, or crooked." This is the fate of the 
 wicked. "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had 
 done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets 
 with the sword." The sword is an ancient symbol of 
 justice. Elijah destroys the false prophets and teachers 
 with the sword of heaven; nothing that is false can 
 escape the vengeance of this almighty sword. At the 
 east of the Garden of Eden is a flaming sword, the 
 symbol of divine justice, that turns in every direc- 
 tion to point the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3: 3, 24), 
 "The fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt 
 sacrifice, and the wood and the stones, and licked up 
 the water." This is a powerful figure of speech; it 
 shows that the justice of Heaven suffers no violation 
 to go unpunished. The just make no compromise 
 with evil; they stand ready to sacrifice their last out- 
 ward thing in the cause of truth and justice. "He 
 
Elijah Z^7 
 
 that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy 
 one" (Luke 22:36). 
 
 Elijah, like all the great, is the representative of 
 the Law; the Law that brings every crooked and 
 wicked man to grief at the brook of Kishon; the Law 
 that exposes sin. "Nay, I had not known sin, but by 
 the Law" (Rom. 7:7)- Every infraction of heaven's 
 Law brings a certain and adequate punishment. No 
 offender can escape his just punishment, "Let not 
 one of them escape," Every human soul that would 
 inherit the blessings of Heaven must conform to this 
 Law; for it is the One Infallible Law of Justice. 
 "The prophet that hath my word, let him speak my 
 word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat .^ 
 saith the Lord, Is not my word like a fire? saith the 
 Lord: and like a hammer that breaketh the rocks to 
 pieces?" (Jer. 23:28). What is it that constitutes a 
 just man? Plato said, that Wisdom is the virtue of 
 reason, and that the head is the seat of the directing 
 and measuring virtue, since its office is to govern; 
 Valor is the virtue of the heart, the pure in heart know 
 no fear; Temperance is the virtue by which the sensuous 
 desires are restrained and mastered; and Justice is 
 the all-inclusive virtue that represents the poise, the 
 harmony, and the perfection of the human soul, the ful- 
 fillment of the Law. Religion is subjective ; it is realized 
 in a soul that is attuned to the divine order, " I am the 
 way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Fath- 
 er, but by me" (John 14: 6). None realize the Father- 
 hood of God, and the brotherhood of man but the just. 
 The unjust, the inharmonious, the crooked, are forever 
 magnifying racial distinctions and fomenting racial 
 prejudices; and thus it is that tribes and nations are 
 decimated, or destroyed by war, famine, and pestilence. 
 
3o8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Even when man has been taught the lesson of the Law 
 and is found fit to bear a sword, and to do battle on the 
 side of heaven, there is still another journey to be 
 made, the most dreadful and dark in all human experi- 
 ence. This journey, this drama of the human soul is 
 told in a marvelous way in the nineteenth chapter of 
 I Kings. He who makes this journey ''unto Horeb 
 the mount of God," must go alone; it is the ultimate 
 proof of loyalty; it is the supreme and final test of man's 
 faith in God. The soul of man must be upright before 
 it can set forth on this appalling journey; for it must 
 needs undergo an indescribable agony; for it is in 
 truth a crucifixion. Even the great Elijah, the eternal 
 type of the true prophet, the custodian of Heaven's 
 sword, the vindicator of the Law, the power and Spirit 
 of God made manifest, "the word made flesh," was 
 in need of an impulsion to send him forth on this most 
 dreadful journey. "O my Father, if it be possible, let 
 -this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but 
 as thou wilt" (Matt. 26: 39). '*Por verily I say unto 
 you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall 
 in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled" 
 (Matt. 5: 18). 
 
 The obdurate and arrogant Jezebel is the outward 
 and visible cause of Elijah's journey "unto Horeb 
 the mount of God"; but the real cause has to do with 
 Elijah's soul; it is the fulfillment of the Law; it seems 
 to be a necessary and final ordeal that must be passed 
 by every true prophet. It is written that two of Jesus' 
 disciples journeyed to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-27), 
 and that they met their Master who rebuked their 
 stupidity, and said: "0 fools, and slow of heart to 
 believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not 
 Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into 
 
Elijah 309 
 
 his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the 
 prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures 
 the things concerning himself." The Scriptures are 
 psychological; they announce principles, "things con- 
 cerning" every human soul alike. If the human soul 
 is an existing fact, and its evolution is controlled by 
 fixed principles taught in the Scriptures (and that it 
 should not be so controlled is unthinkable), then it 
 must follow that these principles must find absolute 
 fulfillment in every human soul that would attain to 
 its true inheritance; therefore the Scriptures announce 
 ''things concerning" your soul, and mine. 
 
 "Moses led the flock to the back side of the desert^ 
 and came to the motmtain of God, even to Horeb. 
 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a 
 flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Ex. 3:1,2). 
 By this we understand that Moses drank the cup of 
 adversity to its dregs; that he was crucified to the 
 world. The desert, or wilderness, is a symbol of 
 provocation, of trial, and of suffering (Ps. 95 : 8 ; Ex. 
 17:2, 7; Deut. 8:2, 3). Moses went to the back side 
 of the desert, "even to Horeb," Moses stood in the 
 presence of the divine fire, the fire that consumes the 
 sacrifice, that vindicates the Law of Heaven. Can any 
 human soul go farther than the back side of the desert, 
 "even to Horeb?" 
 
 When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, 
 and how he had slain with the sword all the prophets of 
 Baal, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So 
 let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy 
 life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this 
 time" (i Kings 19:2). This is the outward and 
 visible cause that is said to have sent Elijah to the 
 mount of God, "even to Horeb." For it is written 
 
310 The Law of Human Life 
 
 that he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer- 
 sheba, "and he left his servant there." The name 
 Beersheba means the seventh well. A well is a symbol 
 of knowledge. Elijah is a Master in Israel; he drinks 
 at the last well of human knowledge. He leaves his 
 servant at the well; but he himself went a day's journey 
 into the wilderness, and came and sat under a juniper 
 tree; and he requested for himself that he might die. 
 This is the story of the prophet. ''O Lord, take, I 
 beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me 
 to die than to live" (Jonah 4: 3). "No sign shall be 
 given, but the sign of the prophet Jonas" (Matt. 12: 
 39). The Scriptures teach that every human soul 
 which is consciously related to the Kingdom of God, the 
 spiritual kingdom, must die to the animal kingdom of 
 the world; every such soul must experience "an horror 
 of great darkness" (Gen, 15: 12). Man must die to the 
 sensuous animal world, if he would be bom into the 
 Kingdom of God. The cross of Christ is a symbol of 
 the crucifixion of the world, the soul's death to the 
 carnal world. "God forbid that I should glory, save 
 in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
 world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 
 6: 14). 
 
 Evelyn Underhill in her book Mysticism makes some 
 very interesting observations on what we may call the 
 supreme psychological experience so often described 
 and explained in the Scriptures. In the chapter entitled 
 "The Dark Night of the Soul," she says: "Psycho- 
 logically, then, the 'Dark Night' of the soul is due to 
 the double fact of the exhaustion of an old state, and 
 the growth toward a new state of consciousness." 
 The breaking up of the old state, that precedes the 
 advent of the new, may be likened to a storm, an earth- 
 
Elijah 311 
 
 quake, and a fire. This psychological change by which 
 man is said to be "turned into another man" (i Sam. 
 10: 6) seems to be twice told in the first book of Kings. 
 It is first told in the seventeenth chapter and again 
 in the chapter before us, the nineteenth of the same 
 book. It is written that as Elijah slept under a juni- 
 per tree, an angel touched him, and said, Arise and 
 eat; and he did eat and drink; and that the angel of 
 the Lord came the second time, and touched him, and 
 said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for 
 thee. Elijah is given a double portion of the food and 
 drink of Heaven; because the journey is too great for 
 him. 
 
 This chapter seems to be a summing up of the life of 
 Elijah; it is said that he went in the strength of this 
 meat forty days and forty nights tmto Horeb the 
 motmt of God. The phrase, "forty days and forty 
 nights, " does not represent as we believe,'a fixed period 
 of time, but it does represent a period of chastening and 
 discipline, of trial and sufifering, the dark night of the 
 soul, the "horror of great darkness." Elijah journeys 
 to Horeb; and it is here that his whole life passes in 
 review before him. And the word of the Lord came 
 unto him, sajdng, "What doest thou here, Elijah? 
 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God 
 of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy 
 covenant"; and then he is commanded to stand upon 
 the mount; and then it was that a great and strong 
 wind rent the mountain, and break in pieces the rocks; 
 but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind 
 an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 
 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not 
 in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. This is 
 the story of the human soul. "It is appointed unto 
 
312 The Law of Human Life 
 
 man once to die [to the world] ; and after this the judg- 
 ment, " the crisis, the dark night (Heb. 9 : 27). "Behold, 
 I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming 
 of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mai. 
 
 4:5). 
 
 Elijah after hearing the still small voice is again 
 asked the question, '*What doest thou here, Elijah?" 
 And he answers as he did before, saying, "I have been 
 very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the 
 children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown 
 down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the 
 sword; and I, even I only am left; and they seek my 
 life to take it away." The Scriptures occasionally 
 emphasize a truth by repeating the same question and 
 answer. Why is Elijah at Horeb, the mount of God? 
 It is because of his fidelity to the Law. "Elias for 
 being zealous and fervent for the Law was taken ^up into 
 Heaven" (i Mace. 2:58). The great Moses, the ser- 
 vant of God, centuries before the coming of Elijah, led 
 his flock to the back side of the desert to the mount 
 of God, even to Horeb; and was there commissioned 
 of Heaven to lead the children of Israel out of a state of 
 carnal bondage, sin, and death; and to teach them 
 precepts, and the Law of Human Life. 
 
 This drama of the soul's evolution points the way of 
 salvation. The soul that would hear '*the still small 
 voice" must pass by the seventh well. It must journey 
 into the desert; it must there be fed upon the bread of 
 Heaven; it must be tried and tempted, and ^'led by a 
 way that the raven's eye hath not seen." It must 
 experience the rigors of the Law: the storm, the earth- 
 quake, and the fire. '* Is not my word like a fire and a 
 hammer? " (Jer. 23 : 29) . It must continue its search for 
 God to the back side of the desert to the mount of God, 
 
Elijah 313 
 
 even to Horeb. It must seek the solitude of the cave, 
 and wrap a mantle about itself to exclude all discord 
 from without, if it would hear the still small voice. 
 "When man has ceased to hear the many," said 
 Madam Blavatsky, "he may discern the One. . . » 
 For then the soul will hear, and will remember. _ And 
 then to the inner ear will speak the Voice of the Silence" 
 (Professor James's Varieties of Religious Experience^ 
 p. 421). For God speaks from within, and not from 
 without. Man communes with God above the mercy 
 seat, over his heart, in the Holy of Holies. Perfection 
 of character comes of a belief in the Lord God of Israel; 
 and of a jealous regard for Him and His Law. "For 
 he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that 
 he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" 
 (Heb. 11:6). Every man who abandons the sensuous 
 spirit of the world, every man who has a jealous regard 
 for truth and justice, is in the way of salvation, and 
 of restoration; every such a one represents in some 
 measure the power and spirit of Elias. "Elias must 
 first come and restore all things" (Matt. 17:11). 
 "The children of the promise are counted for the seed" 
 (Rom. 9:9)- The restoration of Israel is the precedent 
 condition necessary to the salvation of mankind. 
 
 In the concluding portion of the nineteenth chapter 
 of I Kings, it is written that Elijah, like Moses of 
 old, is commissioned at Horeb to do certain things, to 
 wit; he is to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and 
 Jehu to be king over Israel, and he is also to anoint 
 EUsha to be a prophet in the place of himself. The 
 faithful, the fervent, the valorous who go to the back side 
 of the desert are the masters, and saviors of mankind. 
 "And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth 
 the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that 
 
3^4 The Law of Human Life 
 
 escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay" 
 (i Brings 19: 17), This is a strange way of saying that 
 justice shall in no event be defeated. He who escapes 
 justice at the hand of Hazael shall Jehu slay ; and he who 
 escapes Jehu shall Elisha slay. ''Have I not hewed 
 them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words 
 of my mouth" (Hosea 6:5). Hazael, the king of a 
 Gentile people, Jehu, a king of Israel, and Elisha, a 
 prophet, represent varying degrees of justice; quasi- 
 justice, justice approximating the true, and even an 
 exact justice. 
 
 Psychology has been defined as '*The science of 
 behavior, of conduct." Prof. George Herbert Palmer, 
 Alford Professor of Philosophy in Harvard University, 
 in his interesting little book: The Nature of Goodness, 
 says: 
 
 Conduct has three stages, not two. Let us get them 
 clearly in mind. At the beginning of life we are at the 
 beck and call of every impulse, not having yet attained 
 reflective command of ourselves. This first stage we may 
 rightly call that of nature or of unconsciousness, and mani- 
 festly most of us continue in it to some extent and as 
 regards certain tracts of action throughout life. Then 
 reflection is aroused; we become aware of what we are 
 doing. The many details of each act and the relations 
 which surround it come separately into conscious attention 
 for assessment, approval, or rejection. This is the stage 
 of spirit, or consciousness. But it is not the final stage. 
 As we have seen in our example, a stage is possible when 
 action runs swiftly to its intended end, but with little need of 
 conscious supervision. This mechanized^ purposeful action 
 presents conduct in its third stage, that of second nature or 
 negative consciousness. As this third is least understood, 
 is often confused with the first, and yet is in reality the 
 
Elijah 315 
 
 complete expression of the moral ideal and of that reconcilia- 
 tion of nature and spirit of which we are in search, I will 
 devote a few pages to its explanation. 
 
 Professor Palmer learnedly discusses that habitual, 
 or involuntary justice which is made manifest in him 
 whose soul is attimed to the divine order, and of which 
 Jesus spoke. "Verily, verily, I say tmto thee, When 
 thou wast yoimg, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst 
 whither thou wouldst: but when thou shalt be old, thou 
 shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird 
 thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not" Qohn 
 21:18). 
 
 And it is written that as Elijah went on his way 
 to fulfill his divine mission that he found Elisha, "who 
 was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and 
 he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast 
 his mantle upon him." Elisha is a master; he is pre- 
 pared to receive the mantle of Elijah; for he that plows 
 with the twelfth yoke leads the way. Twelve is a 
 number expressive of perfection. The oxen, a symbol 
 of life and power, are "before Elisha." "If a man 
 shall be good, his righteousness shall go before him;' 
 if wicked, the reward of his wickedness shall follow 
 him" (Barnabas 3: 14; Isa. 58: 8; Prov. 11:6). Elisha, 
 when honored of Elijah, "took a yoke of oxen, and slew 
 them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the 
 oxen, and gave tmto the people, and they did eat. 
 Then he arose and went after EHjah, and ministered 
 unto him." "The instruments of the oxen," it would 
 seem, represent precepts, commands, and inhibitions; 
 and the flesh of the oxen principles, Paul speaks 
 of those who are in need of milk, who are governed of 
 precepts; and also of those "that are of full age," who 
 
3^6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 can discern both good and evil, and who are fit to be 
 fed on meat (Heb. 5: 12-14). "-^-S an angel of God, 
 so is the lord my king, to discern good and evil" (2 
 Sam. 14:17). "The instruments of the oxen" are 
 necessary to their restraint and guidance, as precepts 
 are necessary for the restraint and guidance of the 
 lawless and ungodly. The raan who is governed of 
 reason and conscience is governed of God. Reason 
 and conscience represent the all-seeing eye of God. 
 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which 
 thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be 
 ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no under- 
 standing: whbse mouth must be held in with bit and 
 bridle, lest they come near unto thee" (Ps. 32:8, 9). 
 The instruments of the oxen, like the bit and bridle 
 represent precepts; it is therefore apparent that Elisha 
 taught precepts to the foolish, and principles to them 
 "that were of full age." 
 
 It appears that the prophet Elijah called the wicked 
 king , Ahab to account on more than one occasion. 
 "And Ahab said unto Elijah, Hast thou found me, O 
 mine enemy? And Elijah answered, I have foiond thee: 
 because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight 
 of the Lord." Ahab regards Elijah as his deadly enemy. 
 The just are the terror of the unjust. It is the will of 
 Heaven that all evil shall be exposed and punished; 
 "I have found thee" ; the fate of Ahab is the fate of all 
 the unjust. Elijah appalls Ahab; he tells him to his 
 face what he is, and that utter destruction will overtake 
 him unless he repents of his evil ways, and humbles 
 himself before God. Ahab evidently believed the 
 prophet, for it is written that he did humble himself 
 (i Kings 21:29). Elijah also reads the doom of the 
 unreasoning and rebellious Jezebel, who "stirred up" 
 
Elijah 317 
 
 Ahab to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. 
 ''The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel" 
 (i Kings 21 : 23). Jezreel means "abandoned of God." 
 Jezebel is abandoned and given over to her unrestrained 
 animal passions and desires; she goes to the limit, to the 
 wall; and these ungovemed desires and passions are the 
 dogs that destroy her at the waU of Jezreel. 
 
 The tragic end of the voluptuous Jezebel recalls 
 the story of Elisha recorded in the second chapter of 
 2 Kings, where it is written that EUsha, when on 
 his way to Bethel (the house of God, the Kingdom of 
 God) is confronted by little children who mocked him, 
 and said, "Go up, thou bald head"; and that he cursed 
 them in the name of the Lord; and that two she-bears 
 came out of the wood, and tare forty and two of them. 
 The people here spoken of are called little children be- 
 cause they have no more mentality than little children; 
 because they have no moral sense ; because they are the 
 victims of their unrestrained passions and desires; and 
 because they are more animal than human; and their 
 evil passions* and desires that rend and destroy them 
 are likened to she-bears. The just man, the man of 
 God, is always the object of mockery, of ridicule, 
 and of persecution by such people. Cain did violence 
 to Abel; Ishmael mocked Isaac; and Esau persecuted 
 Jacob. The blessings of Heaven are promised to the 
 spiritual man, the man that acts in obedience to reason 
 and conscience; and the curse of Heaven is laid upon 
 the animal man, the mocker, the envious, the malicious, 
 the revengeful, the cruel. The animal nature of man 
 must be sacrificed if he would attain to his true in- 
 heritance. When Elisha cursed the wicked children 
 *'in the name of the Lord," he was pronouncing 
 the curse that righteousness forever lays at the door 
 
31 8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of the sensual, the voluptuous, and the animalized. 
 "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or 
 how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?" 
 (Num. 23: 8). This story is an allegory in the form of 
 history; and it teaches profound psychological truths 
 in a concise way. These, and Hke Scriptures, are not 
 to be interpreted according to the literal acceptation 
 of the words used, but in a manner consistent with 
 reason and experience; for it is self-evident that the 
 evil passions of men rend and destroy them. The 
 Kingdom of Heaven properly speaking is not a place; 
 it is a holy state of consciousness; to goto Heaven, is to 
 attain to the real, the eternal, the abiding; it is to find 
 peace and rest within the soul itself. They who attain 
 to this high and holy state are said to have access to 
 the tree of hfe, the Source of Being; but the corrupt and 
 debauched, likened to dogs, are said to be "without." 
 "Blessed are they that do God's commandments, that 
 they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter 
 through the gates into the city. For without are 
 dogs and sorcerers" (Rev. 22: 14, 15). 
 
 Elijah comes to restore Israel, to restore the Law; 
 he is true to his great office; he makes no compromise 
 with evil; he exposes and condemns the wickedness of 
 the people; and the first that he exposes and condemns 
 are those in high places: the rulers and the priests; 
 "let not one of them escape." He comes proclaiming 
 Heaven's justice symbolized by the sword. "Therefore 
 I hewed them by the prophets" (Hosea 6:5). He 
 flays the King and Queen of Israel without .mercy; 
 and the false prophets and teachers he utterly destroys. 
 He stands unqualifiedly for the Law; he restores the 
 Law; and like all the great, he is a terror to evil-doers. 
 " Salvation is of the Jews " ; salvation is of the regenerate. 
 
Elijah 319 
 
 ''Elijah must first come, and restore all things." The 
 people "feared Joshua, as they feared Moses, all the 
 days of his life" Qosh. 4: 14). "Go, preach, cry out, 
 fear nothing, raise thy voice with a sound loud as the 
 trumpet, and reveal to my people their transgressions 
 and to the house of Israel its iniquities" (Isa. 58: i). 
 "Set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine 
 arm shall be uncovered" (Ezek. 4: 7). God condemns 
 evil; He "testifies against the unjust by His Holy 
 Spirit in the hearts of the just" (Neh. 9:30; Zech. 
 7: 12; Micah 3:8). "He that hath seen me hath seen 
 the Father" (John 14:9). The greatest, most valor- 
 ous, and godlike in the world, are they who speak the 
 truth in any presence; and the greatest cowards and 
 fools are they that are given to lying. "For when the 
 habit of speaking the truth is neglected, the capacity 
 of perceiving it is gradually lost." When the habit of 
 speaking the truth is uniformly observed, the capacity 
 of perceiving it is gradually enlarged. "He that doeth 
 truth Cometh to the light" (John 3: 21). 
 
 Elijah did not come with twelve princes, and seventy 
 elders; he did not have seventy whom he sent forth as 
 wolves among sheep, nor is it written that he had 
 twelve disciples. Moses and Jesus sought to perfect 
 an organization of self-governing people, who should 
 make manifest in their lives the Kingdom of God, 
 and who should form a nucleus for the reformation 
 of all mankind. Every soul which is just and upright 
 before God is related to the Kingdom of Heaven, is an 
 organ of the Holy Spirit, is governed of God, and not 
 of men. "And Gideon said unto the Israelites, I will 
 not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: 
 the Lord shall rule over you" Qudges 8: 23). 
 
 Every one who bears the sword of justice, every one 
 
320 The Law of Human Life 
 
 who is constrained to speak the truth fearlessly in any 
 presence, belongs to the Elias ministry. They who 
 belong to this ministry are the preachers of righteous- 
 ness; they admonish all men to flee from the wrath to 
 come, to abandon their evil ways; in a word, they preach 
 repentance; they seek to turn men from sin and death 
 to the way of life, truth, wisdom, and justice. They 
 of this ministry seek to turn the hearts of the people 
 "to the wisdom of the just, and to prepare a people for 
 the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" 
 (Luke i: 17; Mai. 4:5). Their work is preliminary; 
 repentance is the first step in the reformation of man. 
 He repents who abandons the sensuous life, the spirit 
 of the world, and cultivates the virtues. "Elias must 
 first come and restore all things." The restoration 
 here spoken of finds fulfillment in the restoration of the 
 individual. Evil, like righteousness, is personal. The 
 call to repentance is addressed to the individual. 
 Elijah waged his campaign for the restoration of 
 Israel against individuals: Ahab, Jezebel, and the 
 false prophets. "Let not one of them escape." 
 
 Elijah comes to restore the service and the worship 
 of the One Almighty God, to restore the faithful observ- 
 ance of the Law of Human Life, the Law that atttmes 
 the soul of man to the Divine Order. The Divine Order 
 is to all conceivable order of human invention as the 
 sun-dial is to the clock. Error is corrected by an appeal 
 to the Divine Order; it is the ultimate and unerring 
 criterion of Truth. The clock is at hand; it may be 
 consulted day or night; but the dial is only of use -w^hen 
 the sun shines on it. Nature is read in the light of 
 itself. The clock may err, and need to be corrected 
 by the dial, the unerring register of the earth's diurnal 
 rotation ; and thus the appeal is forever from the artificial 
 
Elijah 321 
 
 to the natural. The great are they who are forever 
 calling us back fromthe artificial, the fanciful, and the 
 passing to the abiding, the permanent, the eternal, the 
 natural. 
 
 We read in the Scriptures of Hell or Gehenna, and 
 of Hades or Sheol, and of Heaven or the Kingdom of 
 God. The misconception and misuse of these words 
 have led to great confusion in the consideration of the 
 Scriptures. These words are descriptive of mental 
 states. 
 
 The children of the flesh are they who live the sensual 
 life ; their mentality is on the plane of the lower principle 
 of the soul, on the plane designated by the sign Scorpio. 
 "These are not the children of God" (Rom. 9:8). 
 They who live on this plane of consciousness are con- 
 stantly led in every direction except the right one, 
 because of their unrestrained and unconquered animal 
 traits: envy, hate, falsehood, hypocrisy, greed, lust, 
 malice, revenge, and murder. These are some of the 
 dogs and she-bears that rend them; and they who live 
 in this state are said to be in Hell or Gehenna. They are 
 described in the Scriptures as dead because they have 
 no real knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, the kingdom 
 of Life, Truth, Wisdom, Love, and Justice. They on 
 this plane represent man fallen, mentality at its nadir, 
 and are forever crucifying the Lord of Wisdom and of 
 Righteousness (Rev. 11:8). According to the sym- 
 bolism of the Scriptures, they are said to abide m^gypt 
 and Sodom, "The strength of Pharaoh shall be your 
 shame, and your trust in the shadow of Egypt your 
 confusion ' ' (Isa. 30 : 3) . " Every shepherd is an abomina- 
 tion to the Egyptians " (Gen, 46 : 34) . Every man who is 
 faithful to reason, every just man, who tells the Egyp- 
 tians of their wicked and fallen state is at once the object 
 
322 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of their contempt and loathing. "And Ahab said unto 
 EUjah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy." They 
 who are faithful representatives of the Elias ministry 
 carry their campaign of righteousness into hell, into 
 Sodom and Egypt. But the true theater of the prophet 
 is the desert, or wilderness; for it is there that man is 
 taught the strait and narrow way (Matt. 7 : 14). Man's 
 religious education begins with his abandonment of 
 Egypt and Sodom. 
 
 The Hebrew word Sheol, and the Greek word Hades 
 are synonymous in meaning. They describe a mediate 
 state of consciousness which is represented by those 
 who have abandoned Egypt and Sodom. It would 
 seem that an office of the Elias ministry is to lead men 
 out of Egypt by the way of the Red Sea. They who 
 were led out of Egypt "were all baptized unto Moses 
 in the cloud and in the sea; and did eat of the same 
 spiritual meat; and did drink of the same spiritual 
 drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that 
 attended them; and that Rock was Christ." When 
 men abandon the Egyptian life, when they act in 
 obedience to wisdom and truth, then it is said that 
 they eat the same spiritual meat, and drink the same 
 spiritual Rock. Rock is a symbol of character, of 
 Faith and of Righteousness. Faith and righteousness 
 are sjmonymous words. Man has as much faith as 
 righteousness, and as much righteousness as faith. 
 "Upon this Rock I build my Church [the fraternity 
 of the Just], and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 it" (Matt. 16: 18). They have repented of their sins 
 who have abandoned the sensuous life,- and live clean 
 and decent lives. They who have attained to the 
 mediate state, represented by Sheol or Hades, are said 
 to abide in the desert; they have escaped the Gentile 
 
Elijah 323 
 
 state; they are Israelites all. The sacrifices of Israel 
 are first made in the desert. "Let us go, we pray thee, 
 three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto 
 the Lord our God" (Ex, 5:3), 
 
 "John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness 
 of Judaea. And saying, Repent ye: for the Kingdom 
 of Heaven is at hand." John belonged to the Elias 
 ministry. "The Law and the prophets were until 
 John: since that time the Kingdom of God is preached, 
 arid every man passeth into it" (Luke 16: 16). This 
 language we wotold interpret as follows: The precepts 
 of the Law as given by the prophets were fulfilled 
 with the baptism of John; and to those who are thus 
 prepared, the Kingdom of God is preached, and every 
 man passeth into it who is baptized with the Holy 
 Ghost, and with fire. "It is easier for heaven and 
 earth to pass than one tittle of the Law to fail" (Luke 
 16: 17). 
 
 First in order is the ministration of the outward 
 offices of the Law by the Elias ministry, and lastly 
 comes the writing of the Law within the heart. The 
 two states of consciousness above described may be 
 called the Egyptian and the desert, and they are 
 contrasted in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus; 
 the rich man is said to be in hell, and Lazarus is afar 
 off in Abraham's bosom. The rich man Uves the 
 luxurious and sensuous life, and is, therefore, a Gentile; 
 Lazarus repented; he turned away from the Egyptian 
 life, he passed into the mediate state, he reposed in the 
 bosom of Abraham, and is, therefore, an Israelite, 
 
 The third and higher state of human consciousness 
 is called the Heavenly; it represents the soul of man in a 
 condition of serenity and peace. It represents wisdom 
 at the summit of the temple, faithful to its every office 
 
324 The Law of Human Life 
 
 and a heart so pure and valorous as to know no fear; 
 and the loins girded and subservient to wisdom. In a 
 word, the Heavenly state of consciousness represents 
 the principles of the soul in such a condition of harmony, 
 unity, and balance, that the soul is the conscious organ 
 of the Holy Spirit. Such a soul is said to be just and 
 upright before God. Justice is the sum of aU the virtues 
 since it represents the soul's perfection. They who are 
 bom of water and of the Spirit pass into the promised 
 land, a symbol of Heaven, on the thil-d day (Josh. 
 i: 11). "Elias for being zealous and fervent for the 
 Law was taken up into heaven" (i Mace. 2:58). 
 Elias by the fulfillment of the Law attained to a 
 consciousness of the Kingdom of God. 
 
 William Ellery Channing, in a discourse at the 
 installation of the Rev. M. I. Motte in 1828, said: 
 
 That word hellj which is used so seldom in the sacred 
 pages, which in a faithful translation would not occur in 
 the writings of Paul, and Peter, and John, which we mefet 
 only in four or five discourses of Jesus, and which all persons 
 acquainted with Jewish geography know to be a metaphor, 
 a figttre of speech, and not a literal expression, this word, 
 t)y a perverse and exaggerated use, has done unspeakable 
 injury to Christianity. It has possessed and diseased men's 
 imaginations with outward torture, shrieks, and flames; 
 given them an idea of an outward ruin as what they have 
 chiefly to dread ; turned their thoughts to Jesus, as an out- 
 ward deHverer; and thus blinded them to his true glory, 
 which consists in his setting free and exalting the soul. 
 Men are fljang from an outward hell, when in truth they 
 carry within them the hell which they should chiefly 
 dread. - . . There is something far worse than outward 
 punishment. It is sin; it is the state of a soul, which has 
 revolted from God, and cast off its allegiance to conscience 
 
Elijah 325 
 
 and the divine word; which renounces its Father, and 
 hardens itself against Infinite Love; which, endued with 
 divine powers, enthralls itself in animal lusts; which makes 
 gain its god; which has capacities of boundless and ever- 
 growing love, and shuts itself up in the dungeon of private 
 interests; which, gifted with self -directing power, consents 
 to be a slave, and is passively formed by custom, opinion, 
 and changing events; which, living under God's eye, dreads 
 man's frown or scorn, and prefers human praise, to its 
 own calm consciousness of virtue; which tamely yields to 
 temptation, shrinks with a coward's baseness from the 
 perils of duty, and sacrifices its glory and peace in parting 
 with self-control. No ruin can be compared to this. 
 This the impenitent man carries with him beyond the 
 grave, and there meets its natural issue, and inevitable 
 retribution, in remorse, self-torture, and woes unknown 
 on earth. This we cannot too strongly fear, ."^ . . How 
 slowly men learn that Heaven is the perfection of the 
 mind. . . . Heaven is the freed and sanctified Mind. 
 
 Dr. Channing's words that "Men are flying from an 
 outward hell, when in truth they carry within them the 
 hell that they should dread," are in accord with the 
 poet's song. 
 
 Which way I fly is hell, myself am hell, 
 And in the lowest deep a lower deep. 
 Still gaping to devour me, opens wide, 
 To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven. 
 
 Milton: Paradise Lost, 
 
 Hell, Hades, and Heaven represent states of conscious- 
 ness. They who live on the lower plane of conscious- 
 ness denominated Hell are said to be dead and in their 
 graves awaiting resurrection (Ezek. 37:12-14; Hosea 
 13:14; Ps. 31:17; 30:3; Dan. 12:2; Ex. 12:33; John 
 
326 The Law of Human Life 
 
 5:28; I John 5: 16; I Sam. 2:9). All they that are 
 in this fallen state "shall come forth; they that have 
 done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that 
 have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" 
 (John 5:29), This awakening, this resurrection, out 
 of a state of carnality and death, out of hell, is spoken 
 of as an illumination. '*But ye can call to remem- 
 brance the former days, in which, after ye were illu- 
 mined, ye endured great and divers afflictions" (Heb. 
 I o : 32) . The mental anguish, the ' * damnation, ' ' 
 which man suffers on being resurrected out of a state of 
 carnality and death is measured by the evil that he 
 has done. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; 
 for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" 
 (Gal. 6: 7). 
 
 The Hades, or mediate state of consciousness begins 
 with man's resurrection out of a state of sensuality and 
 death. Desire is a craving of the a;nimal nature of man 
 for things that afford sensual gratification. Therefore, 
 the true work of man, the work of the mental or spiritual 
 man is the progressive subjugation of his sensuous ani- 
 mal nature. The condition of the higher life is a willing- 
 ness to abandon the lower. Lot, when told to abandon 
 Sodom, a name synonymous with sensuality, ' * lingered ' ' ; 
 and when led out of Sodom, out of a state of death, he 
 was given Heaven's unerring command: "Escape 
 for thy life; look not behind thee; neither stay thou 
 in the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be con- 
 sumed" (Gen. 19: 17). When Lot abandoned Sodom, 
 he acted in obedience to conscience and reason. "The 
 sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar" 
 (Gen. 19:23). How little is made of those splendid 
 figures of speech with which the Scriptures abound and 
 which so unerringly point the way of salvation ! 
 
Elijah 327 
 
 Hell represents a low sensuous state of conscious- 
 ness. "To be carnally minded is to be in a state of 
 death" (Rom. 8:6), This state was represented in the 
 sensuous animal-worshiping Egjrptians in the days of 
 Moses. "And the Egyptians said, "We be all dead 
 men" (Ex. 12:33). "And Pharaoh said, Who is the 
 Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? 
 I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go" (Ex. 
 5:2). Emerson in his essay on Circles, says: "People 
 wish to be settled: only as far as they are unsettled, is 
 there any hope for them. ... I unsettle all things." 
 "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath 
 settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from 
 vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: 
 therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is 
 not changed" (Jer. 48: 11). Our taste, our scent, our 
 affections are not changed except by chastening, and 
 discipline, and suffering. So long as we are settled 
 upon our lees, so long as we are enamored of the sensu- 
 ous life, so long as our hearts are^ devoted to the flesh 
 pots of Egypt, we remain in a state of death. "The 
 effect of continued prosperity," said Margaret Fuller, 
 "is the same on nations as on individuals; it leaves the 
 nobler faculties undeveloped." 
 
 Hades represents the unsettled state of man, the 
 state wherein man is "emptied from vessel to vessel" 
 and is thus freed from his lees. They that have 
 abandoned Egypt, they that are in this state, are repre- 
 sented as living a nomadic Kfe, dwelling in booths, in a 
 desert land. The Scriptures teach that man cannot 
 enter into the good land, the promised land, the land 
 that represents a high and holy state of consciousness, 
 until he has been chastened, and disciplined, and made 
 to know the whole way from Egypt to the promised 
 
328 The Law of Human Life 
 
 land (Deut. 8:1-4). None attain to the higher life 
 until they have paid '^the uttermost farthing" (Matt. 
 5:26). 
 
 Elijah is the true and eternal tj^e of the preaching 
 prophet; he comes to restore Israel; he comes to restore 
 the Law. All who are willing to suffer in the cause of 
 truth and who seek to awaken their fellows out of a state 
 of sensuality and death belong to the Elias ministry. 
 Repentance is the first step in the reformation of man ; he 
 repents who abandons Egypt, who abandons the sensu- 
 ous life. In the present state of man, his carnal desires 
 are stronger than conscience and reason. Desire is 
 the craving of the lower nature of man for things that 
 afford sensual gratification; and so long as man is the 
 victim of his sensuous-desire nature, he is dead and 
 helpless, awaiting resurrection. Elias must first come 
 and destroy the false prophets, and the worship of 
 false gods; and restore obedience to the Law, and the 
 worship of the One Living Almighty God. Elias must 
 first come and awaken man out of a state of death. 
 '*We know what we worship: for Salvation is of the 
 Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the 
 true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and 
 in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him" 
 (John 4: 22, 23). 
 
 "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast 
 given me, be with ine where I am; that they may behold 
 my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst 
 me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 24). 
 They who will behold the glory, the transfiguration of 
 Moses, and of Elias, and of Jesus, are they who live 
 worthy of the privileges of life, who live superior to the 
 spirit of the sensuous animal world, and thus have 
 overcome the world; none but the resurrected behold 
 
Elijah 329 
 
 the glory that Gtod hath given to Moses, and to EKas, 
 and to Jesus. God hath loved man, manas, through all 
 eternity; for he is spiritual. God hath loved his only 
 begotten "before the foundation of the world." " Man 
 is the image and glory of God" (i Cor. 11 : 7). 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE STORY OF JONAH THE PROPHET 
 
 "No sign shall be given, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." 
 
 In the twelfth chapter of Matthew, it is written 
 that certain of the Pharisees said unto Jesus, "Master, 
 we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and 
 said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation 
 seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given 
 to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas; for as Jonas 
 was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; 
 so shall the son of man be three days and three nights 
 in the heart of the earth." 
 
 The book of Jonah is the story of the prophet, and 
 of every prophet. It is an allegory descriptive of the 
 suffering, trials, and provocations which every human 
 soul must experience which becomes a conscious organ 
 of the Holy Spirit. Briefly speaking, it is an allegory 
 descriptive of the evolution of the prophet, the servant 
 of God. "God revealeth His secret unto His servants 
 the prophets" (Amos 3:7). 
 
 Jesus tells the Pharisees that no sign is to be given 
 but the sign of the prophet Jonas. What is the sign of 
 the prophet? It is the sign of the resurrection. The 
 prophets are the resurrected. They are those who have 
 abandoned the Egyptian state of consciousness, and 
 
 330 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 331 
 
 have graduated in the school of adversity. They are 
 those who have died to the world, and who live to Grod. 
 They are the friends of God, the sons of God, the 
 servants of God. They are pure and upright souls in 
 whom the Spirit of God is said to be "awake" Qob. 
 8:6). They are holy sotds into which the Holy Spirit, 
 or Wisdom has entered. "Wisdom maketh all things 
 new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh 
 them friends of God, and prophets" (Wisd. of Sol. 
 7:27). They are bom of water, and of the Spirit; 
 they are those upon whom the dove, the Holy Spirit 
 has descended. The psychological fact, or change, 
 which constitutes a man a prophet is the resurrection 
 from the dead. It is his resurrection out of an animal- 
 ized state of consciousness into a state of humanism, 
 of spirituality, and of peace. 
 
 "My kingdom is not of this world." They that 
 are related to the Kingdom of God are the con- 
 scious organs of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, like all the 
 great Masters in Israel, demonstrated in his own life 
 the resurrection; his life heralded the sign of Jonah the 
 prophet. No sign is to be given but the sign of the 
 prophet Jonas, the sign of the resurrection. Man, 
 would he be a man, must attain to the stature of the 
 prophet, to the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4: 13). Reli- 
 gion is not a matter of speculation; it is demonstrated 
 in the life of the prophet. The prophets, the servants 
 of God, are our elder brothers; they are our teachers 
 and masters. 
 
 Every one who has attained to his true inheritance 
 is a prophet. Joshua, the servant of Moses, told his 
 master that two young men were prophesying in the 
 camp; and said, "My Lord, forbid them." "And 
 Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake ? I would 
 
332 The Law of Human Life 
 
 to God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and 
 that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them" (Num. 
 11:29). The Lord puts His Spirit upon all the just; 
 all power and virtue is of God. "Not by virtue of 
 material strength and political power shall ye prevail, 
 but by My Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6; Neh. 
 9: 30; Jer. 9: 24). All the great of Israel are prophets. 
 When a prophecy fails, Israel is degenerate. "For it 
 cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" 
 (Luke 13 : 33). " I would that ye all speak with tongues, 
 but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that 
 prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, 
 except that he interpret, that the Church [the people of 
 God] may receive edifying." Paul would have us 
 know that the interpretation of the Word of Grod is 
 allied to prophecy. "Every scripture, " says Emerson, 
 "is to be interpreted by the same Spirit which gave it 
 forth, is the fundamental law of criticism. A life in 
 harmony with Nature, the love of truth and virtue, 
 will ptirge the eyes to understand th.6 text," 
 
 Wisdom says that God is good; 
 That He is known by what He is. 
 Let man from wiles and evil flee. 
 And seek by righteousness to see. 
 
 " Now the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son 
 of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh," Jonah did 
 not obey this call; he was not yet a prophet; he had not 
 passed by the way of the wilderness; he was not dead 
 to the world. His life was not dedicated to the service 
 of God and man; he was not careful to do the will of 
 God. Jonah was neglectful of duty, and of moral 
 purpose; and thus it is written, that he fled "from the 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 333 
 
 presence of the Lord." Every one who neglects duty- 
 flees from the presence of the Lord ; he abandons reason ; 
 he desecrates the temple of the Uving God, "which 
 temple ye are." Jonah in his exit from God "went 
 down to Joppa," and there took ship for Tarshish. 
 But God is not to be defeated by the wiles of Jonah; 
 for Jonah's obdurate heart is speedily broken; for the 
 Lord sent "a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the 
 ship was like to be broken." 
 
 Jonah is in the Egyptian state of consciousness; 
 he is wedded to the things of the world. All persons 
 in this state are described in the Scriptures as asleep or 
 dead; they are so described because they are oblivious 
 to spiritual things. "There was a mighty tempest in 
 the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken" . . . 
 and Jonah "was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came 
 to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou O 
 sleeper? arise, call upon thy God." The shipmaster 
 acts in obedience to reason; he is evidently on the 
 upper deck; but the crew seems to have been of the 
 progeny of Ham. The mariners were afraid, and 
 cried every man unto his god, and they cast forth the 
 wares that were in the ship to lighten it. There comes 
 a time in the evolution of the human soul, when all 
 earthly things must be sacrificed, if.it would find a 
 haven of rest and peace. The ship's crew casts lots 
 in order to determine who is responsible for the evil 
 that was upon them, "and the lot fell upon Jonah," 
 
 But even the superstitious children of Ham will 
 wake out of their sleep of death, and will flee into the 
 desert, or on to the deck above steerage, provided the 
 tempest lasts long enough, and comes with sufficient 
 fury. When Jonah Is awakened out of his "fast sleep, " 
 and is confronted with the charge that he is unfaithful 
 
334 The Law of Human Life 
 
 to the God of his fathers, he confesses that he is a 
 Hebrew,* and that he stands in fear of the Lord, the 
 God of heaven, and that he is fleeing from the presence 
 of the Lord; they aboard the ship knew this ''because 
 he had told them," Jonah is not a liar. He is a 
 good man according to the conventionalities of the 
 world; but *'his soul is not upright in him" (Heb. 
 2:4). He has not yet experienced that dreadful 
 discipline which makes the soul just and upright and 
 perfectly responsive to duty, ' He has not passed 
 "the great and dreadful day of the Lord." He has not 
 been baptized with fire; but we shall presently see 
 *'how he is straitened till it be accomplished" (Luke 
 12:50). 
 
 And the mariners asked Jonah what they should do to 
 him in order to appease the wrath of Heaven; and he 
 said unto them, "Take me up, and cast me forth into 
 the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know 
 that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." 
 The book of Jonah is the story of the prophet; it is an 
 allegory that points the way of salvation, "For my 
 sake this great tempest is upon you." The men did not 
 want to cast Jonah overboard; for they rowed hard to 
 bring the ship to land; but their work and prayers 
 were not answered. Nothing would avail but the 
 sacrifice of Jonah; he must suffer, and die to the world, 
 and be resurrected, Jonah must suffer the fate of the 
 prophet; the Law must be fulfilled; he must be baptized 
 with fire; he must be crucified. 
 
 They took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; 
 and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men 
 feared the Lord exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice 
 unto the Lord, and made vows. The fate of Jonah has 
 sobered and appalled all who have witnessed the fury 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 335 
 
 of the storm. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and 
 made vows. The way of salvation is demonstrated 
 in the life of the prophet. " No sign shall be given, but 
 the sign of the prophet Jonas." 
 
 It is written that Jonah is swallowed by a great 
 fish, and that he is in the belly of the fish three days and 
 three nights. The Scriptures speak again and again of 
 the sojourn of man on earth as three days; and they 
 teach that man is resurrected from the dead on the 
 third day (Hosea 6:2). Moses was forty years in 
 Egypt, this was his first day; he was forty years in the 
 wilderness, this was his second day; and he was resur- 
 rected from the dead at Horeb at the beginning of the 
 third day (Mark 12: 26, 27) ; and he was a teacher and 
 master of Israel for forty years after he was resurrected, 
 this was his third day. Jesus said : ' ' The third day I shall 
 be perfected; nevertheless I must walk to-day, and 
 to-morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that 
 a prophet perish out of [Israel] Jerusalem" (Luke 13: 
 32, 33)- 
 
 In the second chapter we read of Jonah's suffering, 
 of his woe. He cries to the Lord out of the belly of 
 hell; and God hears his prayers. He says that he is in 
 the depths of the sea, and that the billows and waves 
 pass over him. He is in a state of despair. "The 
 weeds were wrapped about his head." No one could 
 live in the belly of a fish; no one could have weeds 
 wrapped about his head, if he were in a fish. This is 
 an allegory descriptive of the rigors of the Law. "It is 
 appointed tmto man once to die [to the world], but 
 after this the judgment," the crisis, the baptism with 
 fire. 
 
 The fish is the symbol of the resurrection. The 
 fish when drawn out of the water dies. It dies to 
 
336 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the world. Water represents carnal mind, animalized 
 mind. Moses is the name of him who was drawn out 
 of the water of the Nile. Jesus, when baptized of 
 John in Jordan, "went up straightway out of the water." 
 Jonah is cast forth out of the water upon the dry land. 
 All the great who have abandoned the Egyptian state 
 of consciousness are said to be drawn out of the water 
 (2 Sam. 22: 17; Ps. 18: 16; 144: 7). In the fifth chapter 
 of Luke, it is written that Jesus came upon vSimon 
 Peter, and James and John, fishermen, when they were 
 washing their nets. Jesus said unto Simon, ''Launch 
 out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught, 
 And Simon said imto him. Master, we have toiled all 
 night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy 
 word I will let down the net." Simon is incredulous; 
 he is inclined to doubt even the word of the Master. 
 It is written that they caught a great multitude of 
 fishes, enough to fill two ships, and that when Simon 
 Peter saw the great number of fish that they had drawn 
 forth out of the water he fell down at Jesus' knees 
 saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O 
 Lord." This is the story of the resurrection. "The 
 draught of the fishes," the drawing of. the fish out of 
 the water is a fit symbol of the resurrection. This is 
 the sign of the Master, and of the prophet. 
 
 The soul's evolution is the work of an inner Divine 
 Law that is free from the limitations of time and place; 
 and its work is psychological and subjective; the process 
 is necessarily described in the vemactdar of the natural 
 man, and in the figurative language of an allegory. 
 It therefore follows that the tempest, the ship, the sea, 
 the fish, the King of Nineveh, and words and phrases 
 descriptive of times, places, and distances are necessarily 
 used allegorically. Psychology is a subjective science. 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 337 
 
 It deals essentially with states of consciousness; it 
 deals with the unseen. 
 
 Language should be interpreted according to the 
 object which it is intended to describe. If it describes 
 a visible and ponderable object, then it may receive a 
 literal interpretation; but if it describes a psychological 
 and subjective process, then it should be spiritually 
 interpreted. The outward, the visible, is interpreted 
 from the standpoint of the natural man; and the 
 subjective from the standpoint of the spiritual man. 
 A sword in the hand of the natural man is a symbol of 
 war and violence; but in the hand of the spiritual man 
 it is a symbol of justice. '*And he that hath no 
 sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one" (Luke 
 22:36). Jesus was no Caesar; he was dead to the 
 warlike and animalized state of Caesar ; he had conquered 
 and destroyed his Caesar; he was consciously related 
 to the spiritual kingdom, the kingdom that transcends 
 the animal; and to him a sword is a symbol of justice. 
 He wotild have men sacrifice their garments, every 
 outward thing, to the end that they may be just in 
 mind and heart, to the end that their souls may be just 
 and upright before God. 
 
 Jonah's obdurate spirit is broken; the tempest has 
 done its work. Jonah is penitent; his adversity hath 
 made him wise. "They that observe lying vanities 
 forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee 
 with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that 
 I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 
 2:8, 9). Jonah is repentant; he has vowed that he 
 will be faithful to God, and that he wiU keep his vows. 
 He has attained to the third day; he is now to experience 
 the resurrection and the judgment. "It is appointed 
 unto man once to die [to the world], and after this the 
 
 32 
 
338 The Law of Human Life 
 
 judgment," the crisis, the baptism with fire (Heb. 
 9:27). Jonah has ''indeed been baptized with water 
 unto repentance" (Matt. 3:11); but now comes his 
 baptism with fire, the judgment, the crisis, "the great 
 and fearful day of the Lord" (MaL 4:5); and we shall 
 see "how he is straitened until it be accomplished" 
 (Luke 12: 50), 
 
 Jonah's resurrection is marked by his emergence 
 from the water. "And the Lord spake unto the fish, 
 and it cast out Jonah upon the dry land." The fish, 
 the symbol of the Spirit and power of God, attends and 
 sustains Jonah in the depths of the sea, where he abides 
 for three days and three nights, and then, the fish 
 comes up out of the depths of the sea, and casts out 
 Jonah upon dry land. Jonah is resurrected from the 
 dead. "The son of man, the mind of man, must be 
 lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 
 ness." In the Scriptures attributed to Paul, it is written, 
 that Jesus Christ was declared to be the son of God 
 with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the 
 resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). The resur- 
 rection spoken of in the Scriptures is a resurrection out 
 of a state of carnality and death, into a state of spiritual- 
 ity, and of life, and of peace. Jesus said unto one of 
 his disciples: "Follow me; and let the dead [the carnally 
 minded] bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22). The carnal 
 man, he that abides in the Egyptian state of conscious- 
 ness, is described in the Scriptures as dead; he is dead 
 who lives the carnal life (Ex. 12: 33; Gen. 20: 3). 
 
 In the third chapter, it is written, "And the word 
 of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 
 Arise, go unto Nineveh." Jonah is approaching the end 
 of the world. He must put away sin by the sacrifices 
 of himself (Heb. 9: 26). Jonah now starts on a 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 339 
 
 three days* journey. " Now Nineveh was an exceeding 
 great city of three days' journey." Jonah is now to be 
 tried and tempted of the devil; he must bear trials and 
 temptations for forty days and forty nights; "yet 
 forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." The 
 animal traits inhering in Jonah's soul, the seed of Satan 
 that caused him to flee from the presence of the Lord, 
 are doomed to an utter overthrow. There is a Nineveh 
 in the depths of Jonah's own soul that must be ptu"ged 
 of all that is false to God; this false Nineveh must be 
 overthrown; "there shall not be left one stone upon 
 another, that shall not be thrown down." 
 
 The son of man, the mind of man must be lifted up. 
 Reason, the governing principle within the soul should 
 assume its rightful sovereignty; and be independent 
 of its outward carnal robe and bow down in humility be- 
 fore God. "The word came to the King of Nineveh, and 
 he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, 
 and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes." 
 And the king published a decree proclaiming a fast, and 
 said: "Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, 
 and cry mightily unto God"; and thus it was that 
 Nineveh was purged of her evil. The soul and body of 
 Jonah, the man and the beast, are "covered with sack- 
 cloth and ashes, and cry mightily unto God." *'I 
 beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God 
 that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
 and acceptable unto God, which is yoiu* reasonable 
 service" (Rom. 12: i). 
 
 "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and ttim 
 away from his fierce anger, that we perish not.^" 
 (Jonah 3:9). When will we escape from the rigors 
 of the great and dreadful day of the Lord? When will 
 the Law of God be vindicated? When will our tempta- 
 
340 The Law of Human Life 
 
 tlons and baptism with fire be at an end? When will our 
 soul find rest? When will it be at peace? 
 
 In the last chapter of Jonah, we hear the expiring 
 wail of the natural man; the old man dies hard; he finds 
 no pleasure in the purification of Nineveh. The 
 cleansing of Nineveh has caused him unspeakable 
 anguish and suffering. The last words of the natural 
 Jonah present in a marvelous way the attitude of the 
 natural man toward God and religion. "But it dis- 
 pleased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 
 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said; . . . when I 
 was yet in my country [when I was unregenerate], 
 I fled before thee unto Tarshish; for I knew thou art a 
 gracious God, and merciful, and slow to anger, and of 
 great kindness. . . . Therefore, rlow, O Lord, take, I 
 beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to 
 die than to live." 
 
 The natural man expects to attain to a state of 
 eternal rest and peace in some easy way. Is not the 
 atonement vicarious? Why should man die to his 
 animal nature? Why shotild the mind and the body, 
 the man and the beast, sit in sackcloth and ashes? 
 Why should man be the master of his body, and make it 
 holy and chaste, and present it "a living sacrifice unto 
 God?" Why should Paul call this a "reasonable ser- 
 vice"? Why should anybody abandon the pleasures of 
 Egj^t? Why should any one abandon the pleasures 
 of the flesh, and gird his loins, and start to the promised 
 land by the way of the wilderness? Why not go where 
 you please, and do what you please, and trust to God's 
 mercy? 
 
 The answer to this is: God is just; He has endowed 
 the human soul with reason "to dress it and to keep it" 
 (Gen. 2: 15) ; and through "his servants the prophets, " 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 341 
 
 He has given to man the Law of Human Life; and He 
 commands man to be just as He is just. The Law 
 applies to every rational being, and must be fulfilled 
 by all- "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, 
 than one tittle of the Law to fail" (Luke 16:17). 
 Man must answer for every infraction of Heaven's Law. 
 "Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever 
 a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The just 
 are they whose souls are attuned to Heaven's Law. 
 "Through knowledge shall the just be delivered" 
 (Prov. 11:9). 
 
 John Ruskin (Fors Clavigera, iii., p. 17), when discuss- 
 ing what some of the theologians are pleased to call 
 "Vicarious Salvation," said: "There are briefly two, 
 and two only, forms of possible Christian, Pagan, or any 
 other Gospel, or 'good message': one, that men are 
 saved by themselves doing what is right ; and the other, 
 that they are saved by believing that somebody else 
 did right instead of them. The first of these Gospels 
 is eternally true, and holy; the other eternally false, 
 damnable, and damning." 
 
 The King of Nineveh proclaims the Law, it is impera- 
 tive. Let man and beast, soul and body, be covered 
 with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. This is 
 the way of salvation. The animal nature of man must 
 be conquered, and girded. Jesus, in "the days of his 
 flesh, offered up prayers and supplications with crying 
 and tears unto him that was able to save him from 
 death, and was heard," and thus Jesus was resurrected 
 from the dead, and was made perfect, and became the 
 author of salvation tmto many (Heb. 5: 7-9). This is 
 the fate of the prophet. The prophets are the wise 
 men; they point the way of salvation. 
 
 "He that is dead [to the world] is freed from sin" 
 
342 The Law of Human Life 
 
 (Rom.'6 : 7). " He that overcometh [the world] shall not 
 be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2: 11). The pro- 
 phets are they who have overcome the world. The first 
 death here spoken of is a death to the world; the 
 second death is an abandonment of the physical body. 
 They who have died to the world, who have suffered 
 the first death, have their life's story written in the 
 Book of Jonah. Jesus tells the Pharisees that "no 
 sign is to be given, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." 
 The sign of the prophet is the sign of the resurrection; 
 and of this, the fish that is drawn out of the water is a 
 fit symbol. 
 
 In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew (17:24-27) 
 is the parable of the tribute money. Peter, sumamed 
 Bar-jonah (the son of the dove), is the apostle to find 
 the tribute-money. The dove is a symbol of the 
 Holy Spirit. Peter, it would seem, was the first of 
 Jesus' disciples to be resurrected from the dead, the 
 first upon whom the dove descended. Peter is the 
 apostle who is first called; he is a fisherman; and is 
 made a fisher of men. A personal contribution of any 
 kind is in the nature of tribute; and the greatest of all 
 contributions is that which points the way of human 
 salvation; and this is the work of the Holy Spirit that 
 speaks through the mouths of the just. "God hath 
 spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the 
 world began" (Luke i: 70). This parable would have 
 us know that the word of God, symbolized by the tribute- 
 money, is forever in the mouth of the resurrected. 
 The tribute-money is found in the mouth of the fish 
 that Peter drew out of the water. The truth, the word 
 of God, that which bestows upon us life, and strength, 
 and wisdom, is near to all of us, if we would but 
 know it, "The word is very near unto thee, in thy 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 343 
 
 mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it" (Deut. 
 
 30: 14)- 
 Jonah Is sick and tired unto death. "It is better 
 
 for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, Doest 
 
 thou well to be angry?" So Jonah went out of the 
 
 city, and sat on the east side of the city, that he might 
 
 see what would come of the city. Jonah is now awaiting 
 
 the end of the world, the end of the world so far as he is 
 
 concerned. "It is appointed tinto man once to die" 
 
 to the world. Our love of this animal world must come 
 
 to an end, if we would be related to the Kingdom of 
 
 God, the kingdom that transcends the animal kingdom. 
 
 " My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were 
 
 of this world, then would my servants fight." Jesus 
 
 "appeared once in the end of the world to put away 
 
 sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9: 26). The great 
 
 are they who have died to the world, who have overcome 
 
 the world, who have attained to the end of the world. 
 
 Jonah had undergone great suffering. He is baptized 
 with water; he has repented of his sins, and has emerged 
 from the water. He is baptized with fire, the Nineveh 
 within his soul is purged; he is now at the end of the 
 world. But it is the will of Heaven that Jonah shall have 
 one more illustration of the vanity of all earthly things. 
 And the Lord prepared a gourd that it might be a 
 shadow over Jonah's head. The lesson of the gourd is 
 addressed to reason. "So Jonah was exceedingly glad 
 of the gourd." But the gourd died in a day, and the 
 sun smote upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted 
 and wished himself dead. 
 
 He who would attain to a heavenly state of con- 
 sciousness, a state of rest and peace, must demonstrate 
 in his own life the sign of Jonah the prophet, the sign of 
 the resurrection. He who sets his heart upon the 
 
344 The Law of Human Life 
 
 things of this animal world is engaged in the cultiva- 
 tion of gourds; and is destined to see them come to 
 naught; but he who invokes the power of God by the 
 cultivation of virtue, and thus makes pure and righteous 
 his own soul, his own Nineveh, builds for eternity; 
 for the soul is the abiding. 
 
 The book of Jonah is an allegory; it is intended to 
 show, and it does show, the mode and manner of the 
 soul's evolution: that there is a rebirth, a resurrection 
 out of a state of animalism into a state of humanism; 
 and that this is represented in a process: a long period 
 of sorrow, trials, and temptations. It stands to reason 
 that every human soul in its essential nature is like 
 every other; and that every soul that would attain 
 to its own must experience the trials, and temptations, 
 and anguish figuratively described in this allegory. 
 The ordinary office of history is to record events in 
 time; but the book of Jonah is scientific and philosophic 
 in this that it describes and illustrates a psychological 
 process that is beyond the ken of history and time. 
 
 When we say that this story is essentially psycho- 
 logical, we do not mean to say that Jonah may not have 
 gone to Nineveh. Jonah was a prophet, a servant of 
 God; and it is entirely consistent with his life and 
 his office that he should have gone to Nineveh, the 
 city of a Gentile people; and that he should have raised 
 his voice, and cried out in condemnation of its wicked- 
 ness (Jonah 1:2). This allegory teaches that the 
 Law, the message of Israel, was, and is destined to 
 be carried to all nations and peoples. Jewish parentage 
 did not make one a member of the congregation of 
 Israel; it required an acknowledgment of the faith. 
 "Is Israel a servant? is he a homebom slave?" (Jer. 
 2:14). He is a Jew, an Israelite, "which is one 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 345 
 
 inwardly" (Rom. 2 : 29) ; he is one who has escaped the 
 obsessions of the world, and is free in mind and heart. 
 "One Law shall be to him that is homebom, and tmto 
 the stranger that sojoumeth among you" (Ex. 12:49). 
 
 ''No sign shall be given but the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas." The sign that takes precedence of all other 
 signs is the sign of the resurrection. God is the God 
 of the resurrected, "of the Hving"; they alone are led 
 and taught of the Spirit; the dead, the carnally 
 minded, are unmindful of the will of God, "But as 
 touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read 
 that which was spoken unto you by God, sashing, I am 
 the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of 
 the living" (Matt. 22 : 31, 32). Jesus, when resurrected, 
 "manifested forth his glory"; and gave many evidences 
 of his power and wisdom, but these "signs" were made 
 possible by the one great fact, the one great sign, to 
 wit: the resurrection. The resurrected are the sons of 
 God; they recognize the Fatherhood of God and the 
 brotherhood of man; they constitute a high and holy 
 fraternity. "Jesus was declared to be a son of God 
 with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the 
 resurrection from the dead" (Rom. 1:4). 
 
 It is written that Jesus gave "many signs" other 
 than those recorded. "But these are written that ye 
 may believe that Jesus is the Christ [the anointed, the 
 wise, the resurrected], the son of God; and believing 
 that ye might have life through his name" [through a 
 belief in his character] (John 20: 31). The faith of this 
 man in the name, the character, of Jesus Christ, hath 
 made him strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith 
 inspired of Jesus hath given him this perfect soundness 
 in the presence of you all (Acts 3: 16). In the writings 
 
346 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, denominated the synop- 
 tic Scriptures, faith means trust in God; but in John 
 it very often means a belief in the Hfe and character 
 of Jesus Christ, or rather, a belief in God through the 
 life of Christ. ''He that beUeveth on me, believeth 
 not on me, but on him that sent me" (John 12:44). 
 Belief in the high and holy possibilities of man ulti- 
 mates in a behef in God. The Scriptures teach that 
 man comes to love God through the love of his brother, 
 his neighbor. "He that loveth not his brother whom 
 he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not 
 seen?" (i John 4:20). It is through the love of man 
 that the love of God is "perfected in us" (i John 
 4:12), "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9). 
 All who love God have first come to love, and to respect 
 their brothers. "Have we not all One Father? hath 
 not One God created us all?" (Mai. 2: 10). 
 
 The life of Jesus, and of Moses, and of all the truly 
 great, do not represent the fulfillment of historic 
 predictions. The lives of the twice-born, of the 
 resurrected, represent the fulfillment of a Law as high 
 and holy, and eternal as Heaven itself. The resurrec- 
 tion is the sign that makes manifest in man the power 
 and glory of God, the Father. The resurrected are the 
 dispensers of wisdom. Water is a symbol of carnal 
 mind; the resurrected change water into wine. "What- 
 soever he saith unto you, do it" (John 2:5). "This 
 beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and 
 manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed 
 on him" (John 2:11). Jesus demonstrated in his life 
 the high and holy possibilities of man. 
 
 Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of prophets [said 
 Emerson]. ... He saw that God incarnates himself in 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 347 
 
 man, and ever more goetk forth to take possession of his 
 world. He said in the jubilee of his divine emotion, "I 
 am divine. Through me God acts; through me, speaks. 
 Would you see God, see me, or see thee when thou thinkest 
 as I now think." . . . Thus he was a true man. Having 
 seen that the Law in us is commanding, he would not suffer 
 it to be commanded. 
 
 The love of God and the love of man are the two 
 great commandments (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19: 18). "On 
 these two commandments hang all the Law and the pro- 
 phets" (Matt. 22: 40). Human greatness begins in the 
 love of man, and ultimates in the love of God, the 
 Father of us all. William EUery Charming, when speak- 
 ing on the text, "Honor all men" (i Peter 2: 17), said: 
 
 I hold that nothing is to make man a true lover of man 
 but the discovery of something interesting and great in hu- 
 man nature. We must see and feel that a human being 
 is something important, and of immeasurable importance. 
 We must see and feel the broad distance between the 
 spiritual life within us and the vegetable and animal life 
 which acts upon us. . . . A human being deserves a different 
 affection from what we bestow on inferior creatures, for he 
 has a rational and moral nature, by which he is to endure 
 forever, by which he may achieve an unutterable happi- 
 ness, or sink into unutterable woe. He is more interesting 
 through what is in him, than the earth or heavens ; and the 
 only way to love him aright is to catch a glimpse of this 
 immortal power within him. . . . Do we feel that there 
 is one divine life in our own soul and in all souls? This 
 seems to be the only true bond of man to man. 
 
 The great, the resurrected, enter into no metaphysical 
 speculations about the. nature of the Deity; their 
 knowledge of God is founded upon what they know of 
 
348 The Law of Human Life 
 
 man. "0 my God who art always the same, let me 
 know myself, and I shall know thee," said St. Augustine., 
 Moses and Jesus, and all the resurrected "manifested 
 forth their glory," and did what they could to teach 
 and demonstrate what man is. "How unsearchable 
 are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out. 
 For who hath known the Mind of the Lord?" (Rom. 
 ii:33i 34)- No two individuals, so far as we know, 
 in the course of all time, did so much to enlighten 
 mankind concerning the nature of man, and his high and 
 holy possibilities, as did Moses and Jesus of Nazareth. 
 "Jesus did not need that any should testify of man: 
 for he knew what was in man " (John 2 : 25). ' 
 
 Much has been written of the Messiah, the Christos, 
 the anointed. The Messiah, it would seem is always 
 coming; he is the eternal type that is promised; he 
 is the ideal man of God, Prophets in some measure 
 comparable to the Messianic ideal have come and 
 gone. God hath "spoken by the mouth of his holy 
 prophets, which have been since the world began" 
 (Luke 1:70). Through the prophet God visits His 
 people (Luke 7:16; 1:68); through the prophet God 
 testifies against His people by His Spirit (Neh, 9:30). 
 "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the 
 Spirit of God is?" (Gen. 41:38). It is written in 
 Hebrews (1:9), that Jesus was "anointed with the oil 
 of gladness above his fellows." But it should be 
 remembered that the anointing, the realization of the 
 Holy Spirit is promised to all the just (i John 2:20; 
 Num. II : 29; 2 Cor. 1:21). The just are they who love 
 righteousness and hate wickedness; they make manifest 
 the Spirit of God (Rom. 1:19); the just are they 
 
 ' See the words of William EUery Channing in the opening paragraph 
 of the chapter entitled "The Story of Joseph." 
 
The Story of Jonah the Prophet 349 
 
 whom "God hath anointed with the oil of gladness 
 above their fellows" (Ps. 45 : 7; Heb. 1:9). 
 
 The Old and New Testament Scriptures announce 
 principles that have been fulfilled and realized in a 
 large measure in the lives of all the truly great; and to 
 the extent that man lives and fulfills these heaven- 
 descended principles his Hfe approaches the Messianic 
 ideal; and, moreover, it maybe said that he who has 
 fulfilled the principles written in the Law of Moses 
 and in the prophets represents the Messianic ideal. 
 Since all human souls are builded after the same divine 
 pattern, "the pattern which was showed Moses in the 
 mount" (Ex. 25:40), it follows that every one who 
 would attain to perfection of life must fulfill what is 
 written in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets. 
 "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in 
 the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the 
 psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24: 44). The Scriptures 
 were written "concerning" every human soul alike; 
 and it is the first duty of man, to fulfill them as did 
 Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus, and all the great. The 
 fulfillment of the Scriptures is made manifest in the 
 resurrection. "No sign shall be given, but the sign of 
 the prophet Jonas." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST 
 "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). 
 
 John the Baptist preceded Jesus as a herald. He 
 came in the spirit and power of Elias "to turn the 
 disobedient to the wisdom of the just," and to make a 
 people ready for the coming of the "great day of the 
 Lord" (Luke 1:16). John was of noble lineage; he 
 was descended from pious parents. He resembled in 
 his simple and ascetic life the Essenes; and many 
 writers have said, or intimated, that he belonged to 
 this sect. John was no respecter of persons. He 
 told Herod Antipas and Herodias his wife of their 
 wickedness as frankly as he told others of their sins and 
 conceits; he represented in a measure "the power and 
 spirit of Elias." Elijah in his day censured kings 
 and queens; and John like the illustrious Elijah was 
 a terror to evil doers. He came preaching in the 
 wilderness of Judea. "And saying, Repent ye: for 
 the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Repentance is 
 the first step in the regeneration of the soul of man. 
 It means a willingness to abandon the spirit of the 
 world; it is an abandonment of the carnal life. He 
 repents who abandons the Egyptian life, the sensuous, 
 idolatrous life; and flees into the wilderness. He alone 
 
 350 
 
John the Baptist 35^ 
 
 repents who is willing to suffer and does suffer for the 
 cause of truth and virtue; all else is a pretense. He 
 repents who represents in his own life "the power 
 and spirit of Elias." 
 
 The first step toward the fulfillment of the Law is 
 repentance; and this state of mind is not represented 
 in a mere perfunctory consent, or pretended belief 
 in this or that dogma; but it does consist in a candid 
 conviction that finds expression in the feelings. "As 
 a man thinketh in his heart so is he." The heart is 
 the life center; and when the affections are thoroughly- 
 aroused on the side of virtue, then does the soul of man 
 manifest the power and spirit of Elias. The consent 
 of the mind is not enough to cause one to break with 
 the world; it is only when the mind is urged on by 
 righteous feelings that man bids adieu to the carnal 
 life of Egypt, and turns his face toward the wilderness, 
 and passes through the Red Sea. He repents who feels 
 in his heart that he should seek the Law and do it; 
 and proceeds to act in the spirit and power of Elias. 
 
 "Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the 
 Lord, and to do it'* (Ezra 7: 10). That resolve, of the 
 mind and heart, called in the Scriptures, repentance, 
 when entered into with all earnestness, in the spirit 
 of Elias, and followed to its ultimate consequences 
 changes the sotd "from character to character." It 
 is a process whereby "the inward man is renewed 
 day by day." Evolution, as Charles Darwin has well 
 said,, proceeds by "numerous, successive, and slight 
 modifications." The Law of Human Life, the Law of 
 Moses, the Law of Jehovah, is the Law of Evolution 
 operating within the soul of man. It first operates in 
 an evironmental way through precepts, inhibitions, 
 and commands imposed from without; and lastly the 
 
352 The Law of Human Life 
 
 drama of salvation is transferred from without to 
 within the soul itself. When the soul is given a righteous 
 self-direction from within; then, is the Law of Heaven 
 written in the heart. There is a Law that inheres in 
 the human souL Obedience to it is the condition of 
 Life; it is the Law of Heaven; because it rests not upon 
 human consent. "From his hand went forth a fiery 
 Law for them" (Deut. 33: 2; Isa. 51 : 4). 
 
 Repentance initiates the work of the inner Law. 
 "Behold, I will send you Elias the prophet before the 
 coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" 
 (Mai. 4:5). The office of John the Baptist was to wake 
 the people out of a state of death, out of the "Gentile 
 state" of consciousness. The Gentiles, according to- 
 the symbolism of the Scriptures, live in Egypt and in 
 Sodom. Paul, who was a Jew by birth, in his Epistle 
 to the Ephesians (2:3, 11) said: "Then were we in 
 our Gentile state, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
 of the mind." John knew that "they are not all 
 Israelites who are of Israel." He told the Pharisees 
 that descent from Abraham could not take the place 
 of character (Luke 3:7-9). Obedience to the Law 
 of Human Life works a change of character; it changes 
 the Gentile into a Jew. "He is a Jew who is one in- 
 wardly," "In Abraham shall all the families of the 
 earth be blessed " (Gen. 12:3). Abraham and Sarah 
 are the father and mother of nations. The divine 
 Sarah, the Hebrew Minerva, is imperative: "Cast 
 out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the 
 bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with 
 Isaac." This is the Law of Heaven. 
 
 According to the Scriptures, there are but two 
 nations: the Gentiles and the Israelites. Rebekah is 
 the mother of two nations (Gen. 25:23). These two 
 
John the Baptist 353 
 
 nations are represented in Cain and Abel, in Ishmael 
 and Isaac, and in Esau and Jacob. The Gentile is the 
 first-bom in time, but the last-bom in power; the Gentile 
 is the first-bom, the Israelite is the twice-bom. "That 
 which is natural is first, then that which is spiritual." 
 *'The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." 
 In a word, the carnally minded of all nations are 
 Gentiles; and the spiritually minded of all nations 
 are Israelites. 
 
 "From my youth I have heard in the tribe of my 
 family, that thou, O Lord, took Israel from among all 
 people, and our fathers from among all their prede- 
 cessors" (Esther 14: 5; Jesus Son of Sir. 24: 6). "And 
 there dwelt in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of 
 every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5; 13:16). All 
 devout men are inwardly Jews. "Salvation is of 
 the Jews"; salvation is of the just. "O Israel, happy 
 are we: for the things that are pleasing to God are 
 made known unto us" (Baruch 4:4). Happy are the 
 just; for the things that are pleasing to God are made 
 manifest to them (Rom. 1:19). Israel is "out of 
 every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" 
 (Rev, 5:9). God essayed to "take him a nation from 
 the midst of another nation" (Deut. 4:34). Israelites 
 are they "that are escaped of the nations" (Isa. 
 45:20), Religion is founded in righteousness; it is a 
 condition of the inner man, of the soul itself; all the pure 
 in heart are possessed of the faith of Abraham, and are 
 his children. Paul took occasion to emphasize this 
 truth. " Know ye therefore that they who are of faith, 
 the same are the children of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7)- 
 Jehovah is a just God. He puts His Spirit and 
 power upon the just of all nations. "My glory will 
 I not give to another" (Isa. 42: i, 8). 
 23 
 
354 The Law of Human Life 
 
 John the Baptist "preached the baptism of repent- 
 ance for the remission of sins." This seems to have 
 been his office. Baptism with water is a symbol; it is 
 descriptive of them who have escaped the '* Gentile 
 state" of consciousness. Water is a symbol of carnal 
 mind; the regenerate are they that are drawn out of 
 the water (2 Sam. 22: 17; Ps. 18: 16; 144: 7). Moses 
 is the name of him who was drawn out of the water of 
 the Nile. Jesus was baptized of John, and came up 
 out of the water. Coming out of the water, or coming 
 through the water is a symbol expressive of rebirth. 
 Jesus expressed this truth in his conversation with 
 Nicodemus: '* Except a man be bom of water and of 
 the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 Except a man escape the carnal life of Egypt, and pass 
 by the way of the Red Sea, and live in obedience to 
 the Law of Human Life, he cannot attain to the spiritual 
 state of consciousness. Man must live worthy of 
 the promised land if he would attain to it. "The 
 remission of sins," or the forgiveness of sins, here 
 spoken of, is the reward of him who abandons the 
 sensuous animalized life of the Gentiles, of the Egyp- 
 tians. The baptism of John is a symbol of such aban- 
 donment. 
 
 They who passed the Red Sea "were all baptized 
 unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (i Cor. 10: 2). 
 Elisha administered baptism to his Master, He ' ' poured 
 water upon the hands of Elijah" (2 Kings 3:11). 
 Elisha's command to "Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 
 4: 27) is the symbol of baptism. '* Wash and be clean. 
 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times 
 in the Jordan" (2 Kings 5: 14). Baptism with water is 
 the symbol whereby a Gentile is changed into a Jew, 
 or Israelite. Circumcision of the flesh, and baptism 
 
John the Baptist 355 
 
 with water, are symbols expressive of the same great 
 truth, to wit: the "putting off " of the carnal, the ''cas- 
 ting out of the bondwoman and her son, " for the bond- 
 woman's son can not inherit the blessings of Heaven. 
 
 The bondwoman's son is the representative of carnal 
 mind ; he is a Gentile. If a Gentile wanted to become a 
 Jew, he was baptized with water, and by this act it was 
 tmderstood that he had abandoned the carnal life. 
 ''He is a Jew which is one inwardly" (Rom. 2:29). 
 Circumcision of the flesh and baptism with water are 
 identical in this, that they certify, or are intended to 
 certify, to the abandonment of the spirit of the world; 
 and these symbols had a fixed and certain meaning 
 centuries before the coming of John the Baptist. 
 John lived and taught no new doctrine. No question 
 seems to have been asked about the origin, form, or 
 nature of the baptism which he administered ; its 
 regularity was conceded. Repentance, or the abandon- 
 ment of the sensuous life, is an essential and indis- 
 pensable step in the fulfillment of righteousness. Jesus, 
 when requesting baptism at the hand of John, said: 
 "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" 
 (Matt. 3:15). The flesh that was circumcised was 
 cast away; this ceremony, Uke the act of baptism, was 
 an act indicative of the "putting off" of the "fleshly 
 lusts that war against the soul." In the language of 
 Paul, it was "the putting off from the body the sins of 
 the flesh ' ' (Col. 2:11). Justin Martyr, who lived shortly 
 after the coming of John, summed up this idea in a 
 sentence, when commenting on the language of Paul 
 just quoted, he said: '*We are circumcised by baptism.''^ 
 
 Baptism, like circumcision, is an emblem of regenera- 
 tion, of purity, and of conformity to the will of God. 
 What shall we say of him who takes the vow of regenera- 
 
356 The Law of Human Life 
 
 tion, and yet continues to live the sensual life? There 
 is but one answer. He is a liar and a hypocrite. 
 Peter tells us that baptism is a '* figure"; and refers 
 to the allegory of Noah and the ark, and says: "The 
 ark was a preparing, wherein eight persons were saved 
 by water" (i Peter 3: 20, 21). It is true that baptism 
 is a "figure," or symbol; but it is equally true that he 
 who lives a life obedient to all that this symbol repre- 
 sents obtains added life and strength from day to day. 
 It stands for the process whereby "The inward man is 
 renewed day by day." Maimonides, when commenting 
 on the process whereby a Gentile became a Jew in 
 mind and heart, said: "The Gentile that is made a 
 proselyte . . . behold, he is like a child new-born," 
 Baptism is a symbol that foreshadows the rebirth, the 
 resurrection. This resurrection from the dead, this 
 rebirth is beautifully illustrated in the baptism of 
 Jesus; for it is written that as Jesus "went up straight- 
 way out of the water," the heavens opened; and a 
 voice spoke from above, saying, "This is my beloved 
 Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16, 17). 
 This is a beautiful figure of speech descriptive of the 
 descent of the Spirit symbolized by the dove. The 
 Spirit of God descends upon all the just; for all is of 
 God (i Cor. 4:7). "Who shall forbid water, seeing 
 these have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 
 (Acts 10: 47). Baptism, like circumcision, is a symbol 
 of religious fellowship; it is expressive of the Fatherhood 
 of God and the brotherhood of man, "Who shall 
 forbid water?" Who would deny this visible and no- 
 torious ceremony to any who are willing and desirous 
 to live clean and virtuous lives? 
 
 Abram was not circumcised until his name was 
 changed to Abraham, Circumcision, like baptism, 
 
John the Baptist 357 
 
 is a seal of regeneration. "In the self -same day [that 
 Ishmael was circumcised] was Abraham circumcised" 
 (Gen. 17:26), Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, 
 ''was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised" 
 (Gen. 17: 25). He was bom before Abram's name 
 was changed to Abraham; he was bom a Gentile, 
 and on reaching the age of discretion, he is entitled to 
 make his choice; and thus he became the legitimate son 
 of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac is the child of promise; 
 he is counted for the seed (Rom. 9: 7, 8) ; he is bom of 
 regenerate parents; he is predisposed to virtue from his 
 birth; he is predisposed to the spiritual life from child- 
 hood; and is dedicated to this life when eight days 
 old. "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when 
 eight days old, as God had commanded him" (Gen. 
 21:4), God, through his servants, the prophets, has 
 commanded all men to abandon the sensuous life, and 
 to live lives of virtue. 
 
 The symbolism of the New Testament is a repeti- 
 tion of the Old; and it is our duty to interpret these 
 symbols in the light of reason and of human experience. 
 Baptism, like circumcision, is a symbol that fore- 
 shadows the virgin, the spiritual birth. Except ye 
 abandon the^ sensuous and carnal life absolutely, 
 except ye live the regenerate life, you can not attain 
 to the spiritual state of consciousness called the King- 
 dom of God (John 3 : 3-5). Men are irreligious because 
 their lives are low and animal; all such must pass by the 
 way of the Red Sea, and of Sinai; they must be baptized 
 tmto Moses in the cloud, and must experience the 
 descent of the fire at Sinai, before they are fit to enter 
 the promised land (i Cor. 10:2), They "shall be 
 clean from all filthiness, " when they come to live in the 
 promised land (Ezek. 36: 24-28). 
 
358 The Law of Human Life 
 
 John the Baptist, like the fearless Elijah, is the 
 faithful representative of that irrepressible voice that is 
 forever crying in the wilderness, and saying, "Repent 
 ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; prepare ye 
 the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." This 
 voice is forever present in the world. It comes in 
 the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the 
 fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the 
 wisdom of the just; and to make ready a people for 
 the Lord (Mai. 4:5, 6; Luke i : 17). There is a tradi- 
 tion that Elijah abides in the "desert. The wilderness 
 is between Egypt and the promised land; none can go 
 to the promised land except by the way of the desert. 
 Elijah rules in the desert; and according to the Scrip- 
 tures, it is there that man first comes tmder the control 
 of Heaven's appointed disciplinarian; it is there that 
 man first confesses his sins and offers his sacrifice; 
 it is there that the escaped of Egypt, the Israelites, 
 celebrate their first great sacrifice (Ex. 5: 3) ; it is there 
 that man must repent and be baptized, if he would 
 proceed on his journey to the promised land; it is 
 there that he must make ready for the "third day"; 
 for "the coming of the great and dreadful day of the 
 Lord" (Mai. 4:5). 
 
 "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
 The Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of spiritual 
 consciousness, is "at hand" to every one who abandons 
 the carnal life, and is imbued with the spirit and power 
 of Elias; the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, to him 
 who lives the simple life, and is just in mind and heart, 
 and has his loins girded; it is at hand to him who is 
 clothed in a raiment of camel's hair, and wears a leather 
 girdle about his loins (Matt. 3:4). "Blessed are the 
 poor in spirit: for their reward is the Kingdom of 
 
John the Baptist 359 
 
 Heaven." Blessed are they who are depleted of the 
 spirit of the world ; blessed are they who have abandoned 
 the luxurious and sensuous and animalized spirit of 
 Egypt. Blessed are they who are dead to the spirit 
 of the world, and are willing to sacrifice all for the good 
 of all. Cursed are they who persist in living the 
 sensuous life, knowing that it brings evil upon them 
 and others; cursed are they who are willing to exploit 
 others for their own exaltation and sensuous pleasures; 
 cursed are they who are willing to sacrifice all in order 
 to win station, and power, and fame in the world. 
 Whosoever would save his life by worldly glory shall 
 lose it; and whosoever shall sacrifice his worldly life, 
 in order to live the higher life, shall save his sotd (Mark 
 
 8:35)- 
 
 "Behold there is a people come out of Egypt"; but 
 
 the descendants of this people were lapsed into the 
 "Gentile state" at the time of the coming of John. 
 The Jewish people, perhaps, have never been at any 
 time since the days of Moses wholly neglectful of their 
 ancient faith, but there is abundant evidence that a 
 strict adherence to their ancient ideals has been the 
 exception and not the rule. Very few indeed of Israel's 
 kings are said to have lived exemplary lives. In fact 
 it may be said that the great mass of the Jewish people 
 have lived in the Gentile state, and have fulfilled the 
 desires of the flesh, and that this state has only occasion- 
 ally been interrupted by the coming of some great 
 prophet who has attempted to bring Israel back to 
 "old paths," to the faith of the elect. 
 
 John preached the "baptism of repentance to all the 
 people of Israel" (Acts 13:24). He preached in the 
 wilderness of Judea. John was a Jew, and like his 
 illustrious successor, he sought first of all to reclaim 
 
3^0 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the lost sheep of Israel. John sought to prepare a 
 people for the coining of a Master. The Jews were the 
 approachable. '*It is not meet to take the children's 
 bread and cast it to the dogs." "Neither cast your 
 pearls before swine, lest they trample them under 
 their feet, and turn again and rend you," They who 
 have dared to stand for a life of virtue, and to speak 
 the truth in any presence, have been slandered, 
 maligned, assaulted, crucified, poisoned, or otherwise 
 destroyed the world over by the conceited and animal- 
 ized. "Dogs have compassed me: the assembly of 
 the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands 
 and my feet," said the Psalmist. "Cast not your 
 pearls before swine lest they rend you." John himself 
 was rent by those who lived the sensuous, swinish life; 
 for it is written that his head was separated from his 
 body, and carried into the presence of those in attend- 
 ance at a Bacchanalian feast, and presented to a dancing 
 girl (Matt. 14:6-11). 
 
 The truth can be communicated only to those who are 
 prepared to receive it. The corrupt, the debauched, 
 the animalized, have no knowledge of spiritual things. 
 Their souls are not related to the spiritual kingdom; 
 they have no moral courage. Valor is represented in 
 purity of heart; the pure in heart are dauntless; they 
 do not stand in fear of what man can do to them; they 
 alone fear God. "The secret of the Lord is with 
 them that fear Him" (Ps. 25: 14; 50: 16; Dan. 12: 10). 
 Obedience to Heaven's Law is the condition of all 
 higher knowledge. "I know more than the ancients, 
 because I keep thy precepts" (Ps. 119: 97-104). Jesus' 
 disciples were Jews; they were the descendants of the 
 elect. They were evidently chosen because of their 
 preparedness to receive the truth, yet it appears that 
 
John the Baptist 361 
 
 they were slow of comprehension. "I have many 
 things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" 
 (John 16: 12). 
 
 "I indeed baptize you with water; but another might- 
 ier than I Cometh ... he shall baptize you with the 
 Holy Ghost and with fire." Fire and water are the 
 two great cleansing elements in nature. "Everything 
 that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the 
 fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be 
 purified with the water of separation: and all that 
 abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the 
 water" (Num. 31:23; Isa. 48:10; Mai. 3:2, 3; Ps. 
 66:10; Zech. 13:9). Baptism with water precedes 
 baptism with fire. Man must pass by the way of the 
 Red Sea, if he would be prepared for the fiery ordeal of 
 Sinai, He who would attain to perfection must abide 
 the water and the fire. " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 Except a man be bom of water and of the Spirit, he 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
 A man's character and power are revealed in the 
 religious work which he does. John preached repent- 
 ance, and baptized his converts with water. His work 
 was preparatory. When Jesus asks to be baptized 
 of John, "John forbade him, saying, I have need to be 
 baptized of thee" (Matt. 3: 14). John it would seem 
 had not experienced the baptism with fire. Josephus, 
 the Jewish historian, says that John the Baptist was a 
 good man, that he admonished the Jews to cultivate 
 righteousness, and good fellowship, and piety toward 
 God, and that he enjoined the right of baptism. John is 
 represented as a righteous man, a just man (Matt. 2 1 : 32 ; 
 Mark 6 : 20) . If we would know something of the charac- 
 ter of John, we should contemplate him in the light of the 
 religious office he performed, and the estimate that he 
 
362 The Law of Human Life 
 
 placed upon himself. The story of John in the Scrip- 
 tures is attended with much legendary embellishment. 
 Sacred legends are bom of religious enthusiasm; they 
 are the creations of poetic minds; and are, therefore, 
 not to be treated always as serious statements of fact. 
 It is, therefore, important that we have some rational 
 idea of his character and oflSce. 
 
 In Matthew (ii:ii), it is written, "Verily I say 
 unto you, Among them that are bom of women there 
 hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; 
 notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of 
 heaven is greater than he." Language similar in 
 some regards occurs in Luke (7:28), ''Among those 
 that are bom of women there is not a greater prophet 
 than John the baptist; but he that is least in the 
 kingdom of God is greater than he." It therefore 
 appears that John had not been bom into the Kingdom 
 of God at the time of his ministry on earth; and since 
 the prophets are they who are bom of water and of the 
 Spirit, and are related to the Kingdom of God, it. 
 would seem that the word "prophet" in the verse 
 quoted (Luke 7: 28) is irrelevant, 
 
 Jesus is made to say that John is "more than a 
 prophet" (Matt. 11:9); "and much more than a 
 prophet" (Luke '7:26). We do not believe that 
 Jesus ever said what he is here reported to have said; 
 for the reason that John did not belong to the true 
 race of prophets. There is nothing to show that he 
 had been baptized with fire, but there are Scriptures 
 showing that he had not. "/ have need to be baptized 
 of thee" It seems that the eloquent ApoUos "knew 
 only the baptism of John" (Acts 18: 25) ; and that the 
 disciples of John, or at least some of them, did not 
 know that there is such a thing as baptism with the 
 
John the Baptist 363 
 
 Holy Ghost. "We have not so much as heard whether 
 there be any Holy Ghost" (Acts 19:1-6). *' Jesus 
 Christ belonged to the true race of prophets," as 
 Emerson lias said. He was bom of water and of the 
 Spirit, like Joseph, and Moses, and all the great; he 
 was a ''priest after the order of Melchisedec." The 
 great prophets are they who constitute this holy order; 
 they are the sons of God; they are the heirs of the 
 Kingdom of Heaven; they baptize with fire and thus 
 relate men to the Kingdom of God. But since the 
 order of Melchisedec is considered at some length in 
 the chapter devoted to the Life and Character of Jesus, 
 it is not now necessary to speak further concerning 
 that holy fraternity that is commissioned of Heaven to 
 preach the coming of the Kingdom of God in terms of 
 positive knowledge. 
 
 Jesus in the parable of the vineyard (Luke 20: 4-16; 
 Matt. 21 : 32-41) taught, it would seem, that John the 
 Baptist was a faithful servant of God, but not a son of 
 God. It is here written that a certain householder 
 which had planted a vineyard, and improved it, "let 
 it out to husbandmen, " to keepers; and when the time 
 of the harvesting of the fruit drew nigh, he sent his 
 servants, "that they might receive. the fruit of the 
 vineyard"; but the servants so sent were beaten, and 
 stoned, and cast out. Then it was that the owner of 
 the vineyard sent "his beloved son" (Luke 20: 13), 
 "the heir" (Matt, 21 : 38). This parable was intended 
 to teach, and does teach, as we believe, that the priests, 
 and scribes, and Pharisees, the keepers, of the vineyard, 
 were unfaithful in this that they beat, and stoned, and 
 cast out the servants of God; and that John the Baptist 
 was a servant of God, but not a son; and that Jesus 
 himself was a son of Grod, and an heir of His kingdom. 
 
364 The Law of Human Life 
 
 It is said that the "multitude counted John as a 
 prophet" (Matt 14: 5; Luke 20: 6). There is a passage 
 in John (i : 21) that some have translated thus: "And 
 they asked John, What then? Art thou Elijah? And 
 he saith, I am not. Art thou a prophet? And he 
 answered, No." Prophecy takes a wide range, and is 
 difficult of definition, but we do feel, that it can be 
 said with reasonable certainty, that John the Baptist 
 did not belong to the race of prophets to which Mel- 
 chisedec and Moses and Jesus Christ belonged. We 
 feel that we should believe those things in the Scriptures 
 that conform to reason, experience, and the known 
 truths of science ; therefore, we do not feel that we are 
 called on to believe statements that are at variance 
 with the general intent of the Scriptures; that inter- 
 pretation is evidently the best which shows the Scrip- 
 tures to be consistent and scientific in their general 
 intent. 
 
 The purification of the flesh, outward cleanliness, 
 may proceed apace, and attain to an early fulfillment; 
 for every intelligent person is privileged to escape 
 government by precepts, government from without; 
 but when the drama of salvation is transferred from the 
 observance of prcicepts, to a government from within 
 the soul itself, then is Christ in the process of forma- 
 tion. "I am in travail," said Paul, "till Christ be 
 formed, in you" (Gal. 4: 19). When the mind is 
 purified, when it is lifted above the things of the sensuous 
 world, there seems to be no end of its enlargement. 
 "Of the increase of his government and peace there 
 shall be no end" (Isa. 9:7). Baptism with water is a 
 symbol that bespeaks the purification of the flesh; 
 baptism with fire, the purification of the spirit, the 
 mind. "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of 
 
John the Baptist 365 
 
 the flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7: i). This leads us to an 
 understanding of the oflSce of John the Baptist. "There 
 arose a question between some of John's disciples 
 and the Jews about purifying. . . . John answered 
 and said, a man can receive nothing, except it be given 
 him from Heaven. . . . He must increase, but I must 
 decrease" (John 3: 25, 27, 30). It is the duty of every 
 one to make clean the outer man; but it should be 
 remembered that human greatness consists in the 
 perfection of the inner man. "For I delight in the 
 Law of God after the inward man" (Rom. 7:22). 
 It is on the mental plane that man is to find "the in- 
 crease of his government and peace." 
 
 John was a voice crying in the wilderness. "He 
 preached the baptism of repentance for the remission 
 of sins" (Mark, i : 3, 4). He warned men "to flee from 
 the wrath to come"; from the wrath that forever over- 
 takes the wicked and tingodly (Matt. 3:7). John 
 did not claim to be the Word of God, "the lamb of 
 God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 
 1 : 29). The Word of God is in the mouth of the resur- 
 rected. Peter found the tribute money in the mouth 
 of the fish that he drew out of the water (Matt. 17: 
 24-27) . Savonarola, often called a prophet of righteous- 
 ness, and whose simple and ascetic life resembled that 
 of John the Baptist, said: "I cannot enlighten you 
 inwardly, I can only strike upon your ears; but what 
 may that avail if your intellect be not enlightened nor 
 your affections kindled?" How can the voice avail^ 
 if there be no cleanliness of Kfe, no illumination within? 
 But the Scriptures tell us of the twice-born, of the 
 resurrected, who are more than a voice; for they are 
 the organs of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Frederick W. Robertson, the famous clergyman of 
 
366 The Law of Human Life 
 
 I 
 Brighton, England, delivered a series of lectures in 
 1 85 1-2-3 on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians; 
 and in his forty-ninth lecture, he spoke on the text: 
 '*Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the 
 flesh and spirit". (2 Cor. 7: i), and when speaking of 
 the Law he said: '*The Jewish Law required only 
 the purification of the flesh; the Gospel, which is the 
 inner spirit 0} the Law, demands the purification of 
 the spirit. The distinction is made in the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews (9: 13, 14)." 
 
 The sacrifice of the animals at the door of the tab- 
 ernacle tells the whole story of human salvation, just 
 as the story of Jesus driving the animals and the 
 money-changers out of the temple at Jerusalem tells 
 it (John 2: 14-16), The sacrifice of the animals at the 
 tabernacle, like the purging of the temple from all that 
 was animal, is an illustration of that great principle 
 which lies at the very heart of the religion of Israel, 
 to wit: the freeing of the soul and mind of man from 
 all vestiges of animalism. Anger, envy, hate, malice, 
 revenge, lust, hypocrisy, greed, falsehood, cruelty, and 
 murder are some of the devils, some of the vestiges of 
 animalism that inhere in the souls of unregenerate 
 man. . . . The soul of man is the tabernacle of God. 
 '* Make not my Father's house an house of merchandise" 
 (John 2: 16). 
 
 Of course, there comes a time in the evolution of the 
 soul of man when precepts, commands, and inhibitions; 
 and ocular demonstrations like the sacrifice of the 
 animals at the tabernacle and the purging of the temple 
 at Jerusalem, are no longer of use to him; and this 
 higher state in the evolution of the soul of man is 
 fittingly described in the fortieth Psalm, and in the 
 tenth chapter of Hebrews. In a word, there comes a 
 
John the Baptist 3^7 
 
 time when the whole draxoa of salvation is transferred 
 from things outward to a righteous self-direction from 
 within the soul itself. "Sacrifice and offering thou 
 didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt 
 offering and sin offering hast thou not required- Then 
 said I, Lo, I come [I now understand] : in the volume 
 of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 
 O my God: yea, the Law is within my heart" (Ps. 
 40:6-8; Heb. 10:1-8). It seems, therefore, entirely 
 clear that Moses, the giver of the Law, and all the 
 great prophets of old, were fully cognizant of what the 
 reverent and god-fearing Frederick W. Robertson was 
 pleased to call "the inner spirit of the Law." 
 
 Jesus Christ, like all the great Masters who had 
 preceded him, sought to relate men to the Kingdom of 
 God; and thus to make them organs of the Holy Ghost. 
 "When Paul laid his hands upon the disciples of John, 
 the Holy Ghost came upon them; and they spake with 
 tongues, and prophesied" (Acts 19:6). Peter, while 
 living in the world, was bom of water and of the Spirit 
 (John 3:5). He was sumamed Bar-Jona (the son of 
 the dove). The change of his name was a certification 
 of his re-birth. Simon Bar-Jona, while living in the 
 flesh, was related to the Kingdom of God, and was an 
 organ of the Holy Ghost. "As I began speaking, the 
 Holy Ghost fell upon them, as on us at the beginning. 
 Then remembered I the words of the Lord, how that he 
 said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall 
 baptize with the Holy Ghost " (Acts 1 1 : 15, 16) . There 
 is a spiritual power which attends the ministrations of 
 those who are bom into the Kingdom of God; they are 
 the sons of God, the sons of the Spirit, symbolized by 
 the dove; and they make manifest the power and glory 
 of God the Father. It is written that the power and 
 
368 The Law of Human Life 
 
 glory, the Spirit which attended Moses, was communi- 
 cated to the seventy elders, the seventy wise men: 
 '*and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon 
 them, they prophesied" (Num. 11:25). 
 
 To the conceited, the sensual, the mocking, the 
 animalized, the Christly life, the life that is crucified 
 to the world, is a stumbling-block and foolishness; 
 "but unto them which are called" [which are awakened 
 out of a state of sensuaUty and death], Christ repre- 
 sents "the power of God, and the wisdom of God" 
 (i Cor. 1:23, 24). We do not believe that John the 
 Baptist was an organ of the Holy Ghost, as was Moses, 
 and Elias, and Jesus. He was evidently a God-fearing 
 man as both the Scriptures and history record; and he 
 did what he could toward the restoration of the ancient 
 faith of Israel, and thus in some real measure, he 
 represented "the spirit and power of EUas" (Luke 
 l: 17; Matt. 17: 11). 
 
 Legends are often woven about the lives of distin- 
 guished persons; and perhaps, the life of no person- 
 named in the Scriptures, and who lived in the time of 
 Jesus or before, has been the theme of more legendary 
 comment, than John the Baptist. This may be ac- 
 counted for from the fact that during the lifetime of 
 John, there was an impression abroad that he was a 
 reincarnation of the prophet Elias. "Art thou Elias? 
 And he saith, I am not. Art thou a prophet? And 
 he answered, No" (John 1:21). A legend of this 
 character in a poetic age would naturally find ample 
 enlargement. Legends that cluster about the Hves of 
 famous people are not ordinarily the creations of 
 fiction; they are the creations of true poesy; and often 
 suggest and point the way of the profoundest truths; 
 but when viewed in this light, it stands to reason that 
 
John the Baptist 369 
 
 they should not be considered as serious and literal 
 statements of fact. There is a legendary account of 
 John in the first chapter of Luke that certifies to his 
 descent from virtuous and pious people. 
 
 The object of this essay is to reveal the true charac- 
 ter and office of John the Baptist. It is evident, we 
 think, that John did what he could to restore the "com- 
 mon faith" of Israel (Titus 1:4); and to prepare a 
 people for "the coming of the great and dreadful day 
 of the Lord" (Mai. 4:5), the day of baptism with 
 fire. What is here said of John, is, we believe, a proper 
 and necessary prelude to the life, the character, and the 
 religious office of Jesus Christ. 
 34 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 JESUS OF NAZARETH 
 
 " It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness " (Matt. 3 : 15). 
 
 Of the early life of Jesus of Nazareth, little is known. 
 His disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, like 
 their Master, were not specially concerned with the 
 passing, the local, and the personal. "The prophet 
 that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. 
 What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord" (Jer. 
 23:28). Events in time may be likened to chafi, 
 principles to wheat. Religion is essentially scientific; 
 it deals with principles; principles have no anniversary; 
 and are, therefore, eternal. "Know this first, that no 
 prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." 
 Events in time constitute the essentials of history; 
 but the office of religion is not to record passing events. 
 "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" 
 By these words, we understand Jesus to say in effect: 
 Is my life to be devoted to personal considerations? 
 Or is it to be devoted to the promulgation of those 
 truths which are eternal in their nature, and applicable 
 alike to every human soul? Jesus, like Moses and all 
 the great, taught and demonstrated in his own life 
 certain principles which he desired to bring to the 
 attention of all rational beings. "Heaven and earth 
 
 370 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 37 1 
 
 shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." 
 The wise do not believe that man should give heed 
 to fables, and endless genealogies, which give rise to 
 questions, whereby cometh envy, railings, and evil 
 surmisings (i Tim. i : 4; 6: 4), 
 
 The genealogy of Jesus, both in Matthew (i: 1-17) 
 and in Luke (3:23-38) is traced through the line of 
 Joseph; he was saluted as the son of Joseph and Mary 
 (John 1 : 45 ; 6 : 42 ; Matt. 13 : 55 ; Luke 4 : 22). Religion 
 is founded in principle; and is, therefore, in no wise 
 dependent upon any fable, supernatural story, or 
 genealogy, which may give rise to speculation, railings, 
 and evil surmisings. Nothing vital, nothing essential 
 to the cause of truth and of religion is a matter of 
 speculation. Faith, that is truly faith, is not fotmded 
 upon any speculative dogma ; it is founded in knowledge ; 
 and the faith of knowledge comes to every human 
 being who lives a virtuous and orderly life. "Blessed 
 are the pure in heart for they shall see God." "That 
 which may be known of God is made manifest to the 
 just" (Rom. i: 19). The man whose soul is upright 
 before God is not solicitous about the future. "The 
 just shall live by faith." God reveals himself to His 
 own; He awakes in the hearts of the just. "If thou 
 wert pure and upright; surely now He would awake for 
 thee" (Job 8: 6). 
 
 There is reason to believe that Mary, the mother of 
 Jesus, was descended through more than forty genera- 
 tions of monotheists and haters of idolatry (Matt. 
 i: 17); and that her character represented the spiritual 
 beauty of the royal race, and that Joseph was a devout 
 and just man (Matt, 1:19). Mary, like all of her 
 great maternal ancestors, was evidently faithful in 
 the depths of her soul to Israel's heaven-bom tradition, 
 
Zl'^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 to wit: that woman's first and highest duty before God 
 and man is so to live as to be the mother of a perfect 
 child, knowing that all things bring forth "after their 
 kind." Mary, like every faithful daughter of Israel, 
 no doubt prayed most earnestly that her first-born 
 should be a male child without blemish in mind, and 
 heart, and body; and that he might become a mighty 
 prophet in Israel. All great mothers belong to the 
 race of the regenerate; they have all come out of 
 Egypt; they are the paragons of virtue; they are not 
 bondwomen obsessed by the sensuous life; they are 
 free women; they are the descendants of the divine 
 Sarah; and like her they are the mothers of the children 
 of promise. If we would have children without blemish, 
 we must first have men and women who are devotees of 
 virtue, and are, therefore, fit for parentage. 
 
 It is the mother who, in the language of the Scriptures, 
 is said to build the tabernacle of flesh wherein dwells 
 the soul of man. "The Lord make the women that 
 come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which 
 two did build the house of Israel" (Ruth 4: 11). Mary, 
 like Rachel and like Leah, was faithful to her heaven- 
 descended duty; and like them her prayers were ans- 
 wered; the man or the woman who lives worthy of a 
 divine office, is not denied its fulfillment. Great is 
 the glory of her who is the mother of a perfect child; 
 and great is the degradation of her who is the mother 
 of a blind, a deformed, or a degenerate child. The 
 heaven-bom traditions and ideals of ancient Israel 
 have been lost for many centuries. There once lived 
 in the world a royal race; but the descendants of this 
 holy and glorious race have in the main lapsed into the 
 "Gentile state." There seems to be none who believe 
 in the godlike possibilities of man; all seem to be walk- 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 373 
 
 ing in darkness and confusion. Men and women are 
 alike neglectful of the high and holy responsibilities of 
 life. Where there is no virtue, there is no wisdom. 
 "Where there is no vision the people perish." 
 
 It is written that Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of 
 Judea in the days of Herod the King, and that wise men 
 came from the East, saying "Where is he that is bom 
 King of the Jews?" It is related that these wise men 
 did obeisance to the infant Jesus, and presented unto 
 him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is a 
 symbol of wisdom, the virtue of the head; frankincense 
 of purity of heart, the seat of life and love; and myrrh 
 is a symbol of chasteness and restraint, it stands for 
 the virtue of temperance. Jesus was bom King of 
 the Jews. He was a true representative of the royal 
 race; he was wise in head, pure and valorous in heart, 
 and his loins were girded. It is written that Joseph 
 was sold into slavery by his brethren to a company of 
 Ishmaelites who came from Gilead with their camels, 
 bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh which they were 
 carrying down to Egypt (Gen. 37:25). These aro- 
 matic spices are descriptive of Joseph's character. 
 They who rule Israel love righteousness and hate 
 wickedness; they are anointed with the oil of gladness 
 above their fellows; and their garments smell of myrrh, 
 and aloes, and cassia (Ps. 45: 7, 8). 
 
 Joseph was bom a king; he was a ruler "over all 
 the land of Egypt." All do obeisance to Joseph (Gen. 
 37:7; 41:43; 43:28). Wisdom, reason in Its purity, 
 is the first-bom of Heaven; and It is entitled to ride in 
 the second chariot (Gen. 41 : 43). The sons of God are 
 the fit organs of It. All who are in truth Israelites 
 are ruled of Wisdom. It is their shepherd. "They 
 shall have one shepherd" . . . "My servant David 
 
374 The Law of Human Life 
 
 shall be their prince forever" (Ezek. 37:24, 25). 
 "Wisdom in all ages entering into holy souls hath 
 made them friends of God, and prophets" (Wisd. 
 of Sol. 7:27). Wisdom is the chief shepherd that 
 forever rules the just. "The children of Israel shall 
 return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their 
 King" (Hosea 3:5). They are Israelites who seek 
 God, and live worthy of wisdom. "When the chief 
 Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of 
 glory that fadeth not away" (i Peter 5: 4; Ps. 80: i). 
 
 In the twelfth chapter of first Clement, it is written 
 that the bird Phoenix, the symbol of the resurrection, 
 builds itself a nest of frankincense and myrrh, before it 
 dies to the world. This ancient allegory is intended to 
 teach and does teach, that the resurrection of the soul 
 of man out of a state of death into the spiritual state 
 of consciousness is the result of purity of heart and 
 chasteness of body. The soul that would experience 
 a glorious resurrection must resemble in the depths 
 of its nature the materials' of which the Phoenix builds 
 its nest. 
 
 In Matthew (2:13-15), it is written, that Joseph 
 is admonished of Heaven to take the young child and his 
 mother, and flee into Egypt; for Herod the King, like 
 Pharaoh in the time of the infant Moses, desired to 
 destroy the child of promise. This is the ever-present 
 attitude of carnal, animalized mind toward the spiritual. 
 The wicked man stands in mortal dread of the just. 
 "For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just 
 man," "And Ahab said unto Elijah, Hast thou 
 found me, O mine enemy?" The sword is an ancient 
 symbol of justice. "Think not that I am come to 
 send peace on earth : I am come not to send peace, but 
 a sword." "He that hath no sword, let him sell his 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 375 
 
 garment, and buy one." Let a man sacrifice all, 
 even his garment, to be just. Herod the King, like 
 all the wicked, feared the coming of the just. In the 
 coming of the just, he read his doom. 
 
 It is also written, that Joseph took the yotmg child 
 and his mother down into Egypt, to the end that 
 certain words of prophecy might be fulfilled, wherein 
 it is said: "Out of Egypt have I called my son" 
 (Matt. 2:15). According to the symbolism of the 
 Scriptures, all of God's sons are called out of Egypt. 
 Egypt is the home of the primitive and sensuous man; 
 it is the home of those who live in the "Gentile state" 
 of consciousness; persons living in this state are said 
 to be dead and in their graves awaiting resurrection 
 (Ezek. 37:13; Ex. 12:33; John 5:28; Hosea 13:14; 
 Ps, 31:17), Israel is the last-bom in time, but the 
 first-bom in power. It is written that Moses said unto 
 Pharaoh: "Israel is my son, even my first-bom; 
 let my son go, that he may serve me; and if thou refuse 
 to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy 
 first-born" (Ex. 4:22, 23). The Gentile is the first- 
 bom of man; the Israelite is the first-bom of God. 
 First a Gentile, and then an Israelite; the first-bom of 
 the Egyptians are slain, that the first-bom of Israel 
 may live. Every one who would attain to his own 
 must die to the Egyptian state of consciousness, and 
 be bom into the spiritual life of Israel. This is the 
 resurrection of the dead. 
 
 Jesus, like all the great, must come out of Eg3^t 
 (Matt, 2: 15-18). Every mother in Israel is destined 
 to suffer the fate of Rachel, who cried, and would not be 
 comforted, because her children were carried away to 
 Egypt; but God has promised comfort to Rachel; and 
 to every mother in Israel. "Refrain thy voice from 
 
376 The Law of Human Life . 
 
 weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall 
 be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again 
 from the land of the enemy" (Jer. 31 : 15, 16). Every 
 one who lives a clean and virtuous life; every one who 
 is an Israelite in his heart, has abandoned "the land of 
 the enemy." 
 
 When Herod the King was dead, Joseph took the 
 young child and his mother, and came into the land of 
 Israel; and they dwelt in a city called Nazareth: 
 '*That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the 
 prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene" (Matt. 
 2:23). A Nazarene is one who is bom of regenerate 
 parents; and is, therefore, predisposed to virtue from 
 his earliest childhood. He is the child of promise, as 
 was Isaac. The bones of the living are clothed upon 
 with flesh; the bones are interior to the flesh; and those 
 who are dead to spiritual truths are likened to dry 
 bones; but it is written that those who resemble dry- 
 bones, who are inwardly dead, are to be awakened out 
 of their state of death (Ezek. 37:1-5). While the 
 bones are a symbol of that which is most inward, the 
 hair represents that which is most outward; the hair 
 of the Nazarene is not to be despoiled, "no razor shall 
 come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto 
 God from his mother's womb" (Judges 13:5; i Sam. 
 i: 11; Num. 6:5), 
 
 The Nazarene is the type of the regenerate child; 
 and in his early childhood he is said to represent 
 spiritual power in its ultimation. In the evolution of 
 the human soul, the external yields to the internal. 
 In the allegory *of Samson it is written ''There hath 
 not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a 
 Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb" (Judges 
 16:17) It is said that the marvelous power of Samson 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 377 
 
 was in "the seven locks of his head" (Judges l6: 19). 
 The Nazarite is the antithesis of him who is the repre- 
 sentative of dry bones. The faith of the Nazarite is 
 no doubt stated in the chaste and simple words of 
 Milton: 
 
 I know no spells, use no forbidden arts; 
 
 My trust is in the living God, who gave me. 
 
 At my nativity, this strength, diffused 
 
 No less through all my sinews, joints, and bones, 
 
 Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn, 
 
 The pledge of my unviolated vow. 
 
 Milton: Samson Agonistes, 
 
 The story of the Nazarite child is intended to teach 
 and does teach the high responsibilities that heaven 
 imposes on parents ; it teaches the marvelous possibilities 
 of human holiness; it teaches that they alone are fit to 
 be parents who are sotmd in mind, and heart, and 
 body; it teaches that men and women should so live 
 as to ultimate the power and glory of the spiritual life; 
 it teaches that the fit are the regenerate, the chaste, 
 the just. *'That which may be known of God is made 
 manifest in the Uves of the just" (Rom. i : 19). 
 
 It is written that when the young child was eight 
 days old, he was circumcised, and "his name called 
 Jesus." It will be recalled that Abram and Sara had 
 their names changed to Abraham and Sarah before the 
 birth of Isaac; and that Abraham himself was cir- 
 cumcised after the change of his name (Gen. 17:26). 
 Isaac was bom of regenerate parents, and was circum- 
 cised when eight days old. The children of the regen- 
 erate shall be circumcised when eight days old. "Among 
 you, he that is eight days old shall be circumcised" 
 
378 The Law of Human Life 
 
 (Gen. 17: 10, 12). The number eight as here used is 
 indicative of the perfection of the parents, and pre- 
 figures the perfection of the child. The act of circum- 
 cision certifies certain ideas, to wit: that the parents 
 of the child circumcised are not Egyptians; that the 
 child is bom of regenerate parents; that virtue begets 
 virtue; that character is communicable; that a virtuous 
 and holy ancestry is conducive to a like posterity; and 
 that the regenerate are "an holy nation." The idea 
 that men and women can attain to such a high degree 
 of perfection and moral excellence,' that the children 
 bom to them will be without blemish in mind, ' and . 
 heart, and body, is at the heart of the Mosaic Law, 
 If men and women would live faithftd to the Law of 
 Human Life, then every child bom into the world 
 would be a "Nazarite unto God from its mother's 
 womb." 
 
 In Luke (2:41) it is recorded, that Jesus when 
 twelve years old went with his parents to the feast of 
 the passover, and when the festivities were at an end 
 Joseph and Mary started on their return, and went a 
 day's journey; and the child Jesus tarried behind in 
 Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew it not; 
 and that they returned to Jerusalem; and ^* after three 
 days they found him in the temple, sitting in the 
 midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking 
 them questions"; and it is written that when his 
 mother said unto him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt 
 with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee 
 sorrowing" (Luke 2:48); he replied: "Wist ye not 
 that I must be about my Father's business?" 
 
 It is said that he went to Nazareth with Joseph and 
 Mary, "and was subject tinto them; and that he in- 
 creased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 379 
 
 and man." It is remarkable that a boy twelve years 
 old should have abandoned the company of his parents, 
 and "their kinfolk and acquaintance" and have tarried 
 behind in Jerusalem in order to converse with the 
 doctors of the Law in the Jewish temple. It would 
 seem that Jesus was a religious enthusiast; and that his 
 mind and heart were set upon the acquirement of 
 religious knowledge; and that he was so intent upon a 
 contemplated religious career that he was oblivious 
 to personal considerations. He who is in love with the 
 things of the world is preoccupied; the great mass of 
 mankind everyTvhere are hurried, and worried, and 
 obsessed by passing shows; their affections are set upon 
 things below. He alone is great whose mind and 
 affections are intently directed toward high, abiding, 
 and holy objects of thought. 
 
 Jesus was a "Nazarite tmto God from his mother's 
 womb." He did not quench the Spirit; no razor came 
 upon his head; he evidently did what he could from 
 an early age to ultimate the power and spirit of God 
 that abides in every regenerate soul. He early learned 
 that the secrets of heaven are made manifest to the 
 just (Rom. i: 19) and that by virtue, and by virtue 
 alone can man attain to knowledge of spiritual things. 
 "The observation of nature," says Goethe, "requires 
 a certain purity of mind, which can not be disturbed 
 or preoccupied by anything." He alone is great who 
 has escaped the obsession of things, and hves in the 
 realm of pure thought; he alone beholds the works of 
 nature in their true relation who is not disturbed or 
 preoccupied by the passing shows of the mutatious ani- 
 mal world. "Men and women," as Emerson has truly 
 said, "are only half human." Mankind is slowly 
 emerging from a state of animalism; they live lives 
 
380 The Law of Human Life 
 
 only half human; and countless numbers live lives of 
 wickedness and prostitution wholly unknown to ani- 
 mals domestic or wild. This great wickedness and sin 
 against God, this fall of man, is a prostitution of reason, 
 the first-bom of heaven. 
 
 As long as men and women abide in the Egyptian 
 state of consciousness, as long as they sojourn in the 
 land of Ham (Ps. 105: 23), as long as they are in the 
 "Gentile state," as long as they cultivate and nurture 
 the animal traits: envy, hypocrisy, falsehood, hate, 
 greed, malice, revenge, lust, and murder, they are 
 dead and oblivious to the kingdom of pure thought; 
 they are oblivious to the Kingdom of Heaven. "My 
 kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of 
 this world, then would my servants fight." "We know 
 ourselves to be truly human only by discovering and 
 exercising super-animal traits." These words are ac- 
 credited to the late Henry George, whose humane and 
 simple life was a benediction to many of his fellows. 
 "The God that dwells within man endows him with 
 Wisdom; the animal endows him with force," says 
 Franz Hartmann. . The world in which we Uve is an 
 animal world; and every human birth into this world 
 is, therefore, an animal birth. They that are true 
 followers of Christ "have crucified the flesh." All 
 flesh is doomed ; it is essentially animal in its nature. 
 
 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have 
 given it to you wherewith to make an atonement for 
 your souls upon the altar: for it is the blood that 
 makes an atonement for the soul" (Lev. 17:11). 
 The animal nature of man is antagonistic to God, and 
 must be conquered and crucified, if man would attain 
 to a conscious knowledge of his Creator; this is the 
 way of salvation. In a sense, we are bom amidst the 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 381 
 
 animals, and cradled in a manger. The shepherds 
 are the heralds of the child of promise; for they are 
 the keepers of the sheep. 
 
 The order of nature is: first the animal, and then 
 the human, or first the natural, and then the spiritual; 
 first Cain, the animal man, and then Abel; first Esau, 
 the hairy man, and then Jacob; first the Gentile, the 
 first-bom in time, and then the Israelite, the first-bom 
 of God. The soul's evolution has its invariable law. 
 The flesh and the Spirit, says Paul, "these are contrary 
 the one to the other." Paul tells the Galatians what 
 "the works of the flesh are, " and what " the fruit of the 
 Spirit is," and that they "that are Christ's have 
 cmcified the flesh" (Gal. 5:17, 19, 22, 24). Man, 
 would he be a man, must conquer and destroy the 
 vestiges of animalism that inhere in his soul. "Those 
 mine enemies, which would not that I should reign 
 over them, bring hither, and slay them before me'* 
 (Luke 19: 27). 
 
 The end and aim of religion is to humanize. No 
 man is bom out of the "Gentile state," the animalized 
 state, into the human state of Israel, except he pass 
 by the way of the wilderness. God led Israel "not 
 through the land of the Philistines, although that was 
 near, but through the way of the wilderness of the 
 Red Sea" (Ex. 13: 17, 18). All are destined to be led 
 by a way "which the vulture's eye hath not seen." 
 The wilderness is a symbol descriptive of a life of 
 affliction, of grief, and of provocation. Man is made 
 perfect by suffering. All the unregenerate are doomed 
 to crucifixion. The lower principles of the human 
 soul, the, seat of the carnal appetites, which correspond 
 to the body of flesh, must be made the willing and obe- 
 dient servant of right reason and a virtuous heart. 
 
382 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Reason is the governing principle of the human soul, 
 and the affections of a righteous heart are the faithful 
 handmaids of reason. 
 
 Plato in his Republic^ when speaking of the three 
 principles of the human soul, compares them to the 
 higher, the lower, and the middle notes of the scale of 
 music; and says that these principles must be attuned 
 one to the other; that they must be bound together, if 
 the soul would be entirely harmonious. But a thousand 
 years before the coming of Plato, Moses, the servant of 
 God, explained the nature of the human soul and the 
 mode and manner of its orderly evolution in a marvelous 
 and incomparable variety of symbols. It now remains 
 to be seen whether Jesus of Nazareth lived and taught 
 the Law of Human Life proclaimed by Moses and 
 restored by the prophet Elias; and in some measure 
 lived and taught by Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and 
 by all who "fear God, and worketh righteousness" 
 (Acts 10:35; Rom. 2: 13). 
 
 There is nothing in the Scriptures of a historical 
 nature to inform us as to the mode and manner of the 
 life of Jesus from his twelfth to his thirtieth year. 
 But it is written that when twelve years old he aban- 
 doned the company of his parents, and "their kinfolk 
 and acquaintance," and tarried behind in Jerusalem 
 in order to converse with the doctors of the Law in the 
 Jewish temple. This temple was the rendezvous of 
 the most devout and learned of Israel. All the people 
 of Israel, except those living in remote lands, were 
 expected to come to this temple, and participate in the 
 annual feast of the passover, and the other feasts 
 commemorative of the moral triumphs of Israel. 
 This temple was the central and dominant religious 
 institution in all Israel. It was given this prominence 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 383 
 
 for the purpose of uniting all Israel in One indissoluble 
 brotherhood, for the purpose of bringing together in one 
 place the most learned and pious, to the end that the 
 Law proclaimed by Moses might be faithfully inter- 
 preted. In a word, the temple at Jerusalem was the 
 rendezvous of the doctors of the Law, the most pious, 
 the most learned, and the most distinguished in all 
 Israel. 
 
 It stands to reason that Jesus was a boy of marvelous 
 intelligence, a religious enthusiast at the age of twelve; 
 and that he ardently desired to know what the doctors 
 in the temple taught; for it is said that he was found 
 "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing 
 them, and asking them questions." When we con- 
 sider this incident, and the answer he made to his 
 mother, when she reproved him because of the sorrow 
 he had brought on his father and herself; and when 
 we also consider the bold, the active, the strenuous 
 character of his ministry, we are not left in doubt as 
 to the mode and manner of his life during that period 
 of which we have no written account. 
 
 Jesus was evidently devoted to virtue from his 
 youth; he was a '*Nazarite unto God from his mother's 
 womb." Jesus desired above all to live in perfect 
 obedience to the Law of Human Life; and to illustrate 
 in his own life this Heaven-bom Law; and thus to prove 
 to all men the marvelous possibilities of man. The 
 glory of Jesus' life lies in the fact that he lived worthy 
 of the Law. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
 wondrous things out of Thy Law" (Ps. 119:18). 
 This is the prayer of all the great. In the life of 
 Jesus we behold the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus lived 
 and taught the Law of Human Life, "I am the way, 
 the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, 
 
384 The Law of Human Life 
 
 but by Me." No man attains to a true knowledge 
 of God except he fulfill the law which was demonstrated 
 in the life of Jesus. 
 
 It is written that Jesus came from Galilee tmto John, 
 to be baptized of him, " But John forbade him, saying, 
 I have need to be baptized of thee." "And Jesus 
 answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: jot 
 thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness^^ (Matt. 
 3 : 13-15). Jesus was circumcised when eight days old. 
 Circumcision of the flesh, and baptism with water, are 
 symbols expressive of the same truth, namely: the 
 "putting off" of the carnal life, "the putting off from 
 the body the sins of the flesh" (Col. 2:11). "We 
 are circumcised by baptism," said Justin Martyr. If 
 it be true that both circumcision and baptism certify to 
 the same truth, to wit: regeneration, the re-birth, the 
 resurrection, then why should Jesus ask to be baptized 
 of John? Jesus of Nazareth was a great prophet; he 
 came to live and teach the Law of Human Life; and 
 there were some among the Jews who were prepared in 
 a measure to receive the truth. The message of Jesus 
 was addressed first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles; 
 first to them that are near, and then, "to all that 
 are afar off" (Acts. 2:39). The Jews were the only 
 people who were prepared to receive the message of 
 a prophet. All of Jesus' disciples were Jews, The 
 most spiritually developed of Jesus' disciples were 
 Peter, John, and James the brother of John, and they, 
 because of their development, were most in the com- 
 pany and confidence of Jesus. " He suffered no man to 
 go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father 
 and the mother of the maid" (Luke 8: 51). 
 
 Baptism with water is the symbol whereby a Gentile 
 is changed into a Jew, an Israelite. Circumcision 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 385 
 
 related Jesus to the Jews; and baptism with water to the 
 Gentiles. Jesus lived and demonstrated in his life 
 what he taught; he did not assume to ask any man, 
 Jew or Gentile, to do anything other than what he had 
 first done himself; his life was identical with what he 
 taught. It becometh us first to do what we would ask 
 others to do ; "thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteous- 
 ness." It stands to reason that he is the greatest 
 teacher of the Law of Righteousness who reveals the 
 greatest virtue and perfection in his own life, and who 
 lives a life identical with what he teaches. 
 
 It is said that his presence conferred a benediction. 
 "And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for 
 there went virtue out of him, and healed them all." 
 The idea of a life lived in obedience to a heaven-given 
 Law, and far transcending in virtue, and power, and 
 glory the life of which the world has any real knowledge, 
 is intended to be and is illustrated in the lives of the 
 patriarchs, and the prophets. 
 
 The Greek philosophers had a knowledge of the Law 
 of Human Life; and it seems that Pythagoras, the sage 
 of Samos, and Socrates and Plato of Athens, and 
 perhaps many others, lived clean and orderly lives, 
 and attained to very great power and wisdom. They 
 taught, as did the Hebrew prophets, that knowledge 
 is bom of virtue; that he alone attains to wisdom and 
 power whose soul is conformed to the divine order. 
 In Plato's dialogue The Republic, is the following 
 passage: 
 
 Was Homer privately a guide or teacher of any? Had 
 he in his life-time friends and associates who loved him, 
 and handed down to posterity an Homeric way of life, as 
 Pythagoras was beloved and his sjxccessors, who at this 
 day call their way of life by his name (Pythagorians), and 
 25 
 
386 The Law of Human Life 
 
 who do appear to have a certain distinction above other 
 men? Nothing of the kind is recorded of Homer. . . . 
 And are we to believe that the contemporaries of Homer, 
 or again of Hesiod, would have allowed either of them to 
 beg their way as rhapsodists, if they had really been able to 
 improve mankind ? Would they not have been as unwilling 
 to part with them as with gold, and have compelled them 
 to stay at home with them? Or, if the Master would not 
 stay, then the disciples would have followed him about 
 everywhere until they got enough education? 
 
 Jesus, like all the great, taught and revealed in his 
 own life the glorious and godlike possibilities of man. 
 His way of life was in accord with the. Law given to 
 the people of Israel through Moses. "Did not Moses 
 give you the Law? and yet none of you keepeth the 
 Law" (John 7: 19). Jesus taught that they who live 
 the Law, who "keepeth the Law," which was de- 
 monstrated in his life, could know what he knew, 
 and could do what he did. He emphasized this truth. 
 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on 
 me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater 
 works shall he do" (John 14:12). If we assign to 
 Jesus a nature other than human, then religion becomes 
 a matter of speculation, and the Scriptures a book of 
 riddles ; but if we take the view that his soul was builded 
 "after the pattern which was shown Moses in the 
 mount";. in a word, that his soul was in its essential 
 principles like every other human soul, then it is sub- 
 mitted that the Hebrew Scriptures teach principles, 
 which are scientific, that they point the way of human 
 life, that they are teachable, and that religion , is, 
 therefore, not a matter of speculation. 
 
 Jesus' life was a demonstration of the Law. "I 
 am the way, the truth, and the life." Nothing is a 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 387 
 
 matter of speculation, that can be demonstrated. The 
 Scriptures teach that there is a Law of Human Life; 
 and that obedience to this Law will lead the faithful 
 into a conscious relation with the source of Being. " That 
 which may be known of God is manifest to the just: 
 for God hath showed it unto them" (Rom, 1:19). 
 The condition of knowing God is a life attuned to 
 justice. Let us contemplate what Justice is in the 
 light of Greek philosophy. The virtue of reason, 
 Plato calls Wisdom^ its seat is in the head, it is the 
 measuring and the directing virtue, since it must 
 govern the soul; the virtue of the heart is Valor, valor 
 is the handmaid of wisdom, the pure in heart are 
 dauntless; the virtue by which the sensuous desires in 
 the lower principle of the soul are restrained and girded 
 is Temperance; and lastly, the virtue that represents 
 the poise, the balance, the equity, and the divine 
 harmony of the soul is Justice. "If a man is at heart 
 just, then, in so far, is he God. The safety of God, the 
 majesty of God, do enter into that mind with Justice." 
 These are the inspired words of Emerson. The heart 
 is the life center. He who is just in his heart makes 
 manifest the Spirit of God. "He that hath seen me 
 hath seen the Father" Qohn 14: 9). The sword is an 
 ancient symbol of Justice; it is written that there is a 
 flaming sword at the entrance to paradise; and that it 
 points the way to the tree of Life (Gen. 3: 24). Jesus 
 admonished his followers to sacrifice all in order to be 
 just, "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, 
 and buy one." 
 
 Jesus, like all the great, had his wilderness experience. 
 It is written that after he was baptized of John, he 
 was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted 
 of the devil (Matt. 4: i). He is said to have "fasted 
 
388 The Law of Human Life 
 
 forty days and forty nights." This does not mean a 
 fixed time; it means a period of discipline and chastening. 
 Man is made perfect by suffering; and this period may 
 be long or short, according to the severity of the 
 discipline, and the character of the penitent. The 
 phrase, "Forty days and forty nights" is a figure of 
 speech which is intended to represent that period of 
 discipline and chastening which is necessary to ren- 
 der the soul of man just and harmonious in all of its 
 principles. 
 
 Jesus is represented by his biographers, Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke, and John, as teaching the same doctrine 
 concerning the nature of the human soul which was 
 first taught by Moses, and afterwards by the prophets, 
 and also by the Greek philosophers. It is evident that 
 all temptations may be summarized under one or 
 another of three heads: temptations that appeal to the 
 carnal appetites; temptations that tend to corruption 
 of the heart, 'the affections; and lastly, temptations 
 that tend to debauch and destroy the freedom of the 
 mind. Let us now contemplate the nature of Jesus' 
 threefold temptation in the wilderness: 
 
 (i) "And the devil said unto him, If thou be the 
 ^Son of God, command this stone that it be made 
 bread. And Jesus answered him, saying. It is written, 
 That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every 
 word of God" (Luke 4: 3, 4). This allegory represents 
 Jesus as being tempted to act in obedience to the lower 
 principle of his soul. This is the temptation that 
 malrked the fall of Adam; and of every Adam that 
 has fallen from the spiritual plane of consciousness to 
 the carnal plane. Satan tempts Jesus to sacrifice all 
 for the gratification of his carnal appetites. He who 
 abandons reason, and takes counsel of his carnal ap- 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 389 
 
 petites sacrifices Paradise, and is a fallen Adam. If 
 man would be great, and upright, and holy, and just, 
 he must be faithful to truth, to "every word of God"; 
 he must take counsel of reason that abideth at the sum- 
 mit of the temple, and not of Satan the destroyer, the 
 prince of the world. 
 
 (2) And the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of 
 the world, and said unto him, "All this power will I give 
 unto thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered 
 unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou, 
 therefore, wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And 
 Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, 
 Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord 
 thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Luke 4: 5-8). 
 This was an appeal to the affections. Set your heart 
 upon the things of the world, says Satan; and you shall 
 participate in its power and glory. 
 
 In the allegory of Adam, and Eve, and the Serpent, 
 Eve represents the heart, and the affections of the heart. 
 When the affections are enamored of the power and 
 glory of the world, then is Adam in peril, then is Adam 
 tempted to sacrifice Paradise, and fall with Eve into a 
 state of carnality and death. Paradise is a figtire of 
 speech that represents a high and holy state of con- 
 sciousness, that relates Man, Manas, to God. The 
 lower principle of the human soul in the unregenerate 
 man, is forever seeking to debauch the affections, and 
 dethrone Adam; man worships Satan, when his mind 
 and heart are set on things below. The power and 
 glory of the world "is delivered unto me," says Satan; 
 the world in which we live is animal, and sensuous, 
 Man, would he attain to his true inheritance, must 
 abandon the spirit of the world; and must set his mind 
 and heart upon things above. "My kingdom is not 
 
390 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then 
 would my servants fight." It is the duty of man to rise 
 above the carnal spirit of the world, and put it behind 
 him, and worship the Living God in Spirit and in truth. 
 It is the duty of man to set his affections upon things 
 above and not upon things below. '* Set your affections 
 on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 
 3:2), "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, 
 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and only Mm 
 shall thou serve.^^ 
 
 (3) In this allegory, Jesus is represented as being 
 at the top, or crown of the temple at Jerusalem. This 
 is significant, when we contemplate that this edifice, 
 like the tabernacle, was so constructed as to represent 
 the soul and body of man. Reason is godlike; it is 
 spiritual; and it should forever maintain itself at the 
 summit of the temple. When Jesus is sitting at the 
 summit of the temple, he is thus addressed by Satan: 
 ''If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from 
 hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels 
 charge over thee, to keep thee. And Jesus answering 
 said unto him, It is said. Thou shalt not tempt the 
 Lord thy God" (Luke 4: 9-12). The Scriptures speak 
 of God as mentality. "He is One Mind" (Job 23: 
 13). Abraham is commanded to divide the animals; 
 for they are symbols representing the principles of 
 the human soul itself; *'but the birds divided he not" 
 (Gen. 15: 10). The birds represent the spiritual; the 
 mentality of the universe is One and indivisible. In 
 Plato's Philebus, Socrates is reported as saying: "Do 
 not then suppose that these words are spoken rashly 
 by us, O Plotarchus, for they are in harmony with the 
 testimony of those who said of old time that mind 
 rules the universe." Man is the son of God because 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 391 
 
 he is endowed with mentality; because he partakes of 
 the nature of his Creator. The jusfare "partakers of 
 the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that 
 is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4). 
 
 When the lower principle of the soul, the seat of 
 the carnal desires, called Satan, counsels reason at the 
 summit of the temple to cast himself down, then is 
 the Lord tempted. Pure mentality, we believe to be the 
 first-bom of God, the Son of God, the only-begotten 
 of God. They who live in obedience to the Law of 
 Human Life are the sons of God. The sons of God 
 are the sons of Mind; they are those who live and abide 
 in a state of consciousness that transcends the subtle, 
 the sensual, the carnal consciousness, symbolized by the 
 serpent. "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth 
 the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, whereby ye 
 cry Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6; Col. 1:12, 13; i John 
 3 : 1,2). Reason is lordly; it is spiritual; and obedience 
 to it relates man to God. The Virtue of Reason is 
 Wisdom, All conscious evil is an offense against rea- 
 son; it is an offending against the Lord. We should 
 not do violence to reason by doing that which we 
 know to be wrong, nor should we tempt others to 
 do wrong. Heaven forbids the violation of reason. 
 "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.''' 
 
 This allegory, with its three-fold temptation, re- 
 sembles the story of Adam, and Eve, and the Serpent; 
 but Jesus, the second Adam, does not fall. He is not 
 the victim of the wiles of Satan. He triumphs over 
 Satan; he is his Master. "Get thee behind me, Satan." 
 None, it would seem, while living in this world, are 
 absolutely immune from temptation. "And when the 
 devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from 
 him for a season" (Luke 4: 13). Jesus is here repre- 
 
392 The Law of Human Life 
 
 sented as having attained to an exalted state of con- 
 sciousness, that makes man the master of all worldly- 
 temptations. Man must maintain himself at the sum- 
 mit of the temple, if he would be free and at peace; 
 he must sit enthroned at the summit if he would 
 command Satan. ''These things I have spoken unto 
 you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world 
 ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have 
 overcome the world" (John i6: 33). He has overcome 
 the world who is capable of resisting its every tempta- 
 tion. The son of man, the mentality of man, must be 
 lifted up, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 
 ness," if man would truly be a man. When man is 
 lifted up above the temptations of the sensuous world, 
 when he is bom of the Spirit, when he is related to the 
 Kingdom of God, then he realizes the Oneness of God, 
 and that he is an organ of the Holy Spirit, and that all 
 is of God. ''When ye have lifted up the son of man 
 [when ye have lifted up your own minds above the 
 things of the sensuous world], then shall ye know that 
 I am he, and that I do nothing of myself" (John 8: 28). 
 Jesus is faithful to the Law. Every time he is 
 tempted, he repUes with a command promulgated of 
 Moses. "Command this stone that it be made bread." 
 To this Jesus answers: "It is written. That man shall 
 not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" 
 (Deut. 8:3). When he is importuned to set his heart 
 upon the things of the world, he replies: " It is written, 
 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only 
 shalt thou serve" (Deut. 6: 13). When he is tempted 
 to debauch his mind, to cast himself down from the 
 summit of the temple, his answer is: "It is said. Thou 
 shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Deut. 6: 16), 
 Jesus was subjected to great trials and temptations; 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 393 
 
 and he proved himself a master, for it is said: that he 
 "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and 
 there went out a fame of him through all the region 
 round about. And he taught in their synagogues, 
 being glorified of all" (Luke 4: 14, 15). 
 
 It is a fact well known to students of Hebrew literature, 
 that the Jewish temple, or the principal house of wor- 
 ship in Jerusalem in* the time of Jesus' ministry was 
 fashioned in its form, structure, and appointments, after 
 the pattern of the tabernacle shown Moses on the 
 mount, and builded by the inspired artizan Bezaleel. 
 In a preceding chapter dealing with the life and 
 character of Moses, we have attempted in a general 
 way to explain the significance of the tabernacle; and 
 it is only necessary now to repeat, that the temple in 
 Jerusalem, in which Jesus is said to have "taught 
 daily " (Luke 19 : 47) , was in all respects a tjrpe or pattern 
 of the tabernacle, except that the tabernacle was port- 
 able, while the temple was concrete and immovable. 
 If it is true that the outer court of the tabernacle 
 represented the human body, and its inner structure 
 the nature of the soul itself, then it is apparent that 
 the Jewish temple in Jerusalem had a Uke significance. 
 
 In the second chapter of John, it is written, "And 
 the third day there was a marriage in Cana"; and 
 Jesus, and his disciples were called to the marriage; 
 and that Jesus turned water into wine. Water is 
 typical of carnal mind; and wine is a symbol of wisdom. 
 " The third day," and " the seventh day " are expressions 
 often used in the Scriptures to express perfection. 
 "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and 
 to-morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected" 
 (Luke 13:32). The feast of Cana, is the feast that 
 wisdom gives to all her votaries; it is the celebration of 
 
394 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the triumph of man over his animal nature. "Wisdom 
 hath builded her house";, she hath builded the spiritual 
 body; she hath made the soul perfect; "she hath killed 
 her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also 
 furnished her table" (Prov. 9: 1-3). This is the celes- 
 tial marriage which celebrates the unity, the concord, 
 and the harmony within the soul itself. The mind 
 and the heart of the truly great, of the intuitional and 
 the prophetic, act in perfect accord; for in such the 
 lower principle of the soul is the willing servant of 
 the higher. When Abraham returns from conquering 
 and destroying his five rebellious kings, a symbol of 
 his own animal nature, he is given a feast. Melchisedec 
 the king of wisdom, the priest of the Most High God, 
 "brought forth bread and wine" (Gen. 14: 18). "Your 
 father Abraham saw my day, and rejoiced" (John 
 8:56). Joseph, who ' ' ruled over all the land of Egypt ' ' 
 was an attendant at the feast of Cana (Gen. 40:20). 
 This feast may have been experienced by Joseph 
 while in prison, for in its real nature it is entirely 
 personal. The 'faithful Job, it seems, was banqueted 
 on the third day (Job 42 : 1 1). Jesus is here represented 
 as having attained to wisdom. "His mother saith 
 unto the servants. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do 
 it" (John 2:5). "Wisdom in all ages entering into 
 holy souls hath made them friends of God, and proph- 
 ets" (Wisd. of Sol. 7:27). What Jesus did at this 
 feast, is said to have marked the beginning of his 
 miraculous life; for it is written that he "manifested 
 forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him" 
 (John 2: 12). 
 
 After this, Jesus and his disciples went down to 
 Capernaum; and they continued there not many days. 
 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 395 
 
 up to Jerusalem; and found in the temple those that 
 sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of 
 money; and when he had made a scourge of small 
 cords, he drove them all out of the temple. And he 
 said unto them that sold doves. "Take these things 
 hence; make not my Father's house an house of mer- 
 chandise." Then answered the Jews and said unto 
 him, "What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that 
 thou doest these things. Jesus answered and said 
 unto them. Destroy this temple and in three days I 
 will raise it up." Then said the Jews, "Forty and six 
 years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear 
 it up in three days?" "But he spake of the temple 
 of his body." "Your body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost," said Paul, The temple at Jerusalem, the 
 symbol of the body, and the soul of man, is purged of all 
 animalism; all that is carnal and sensual is cast out. 
 "Make not my Father's house an house of merchan- 
 dise." This story is a repetition of the Law of Human 
 Life proclaimed by Moses, which is, that all vestiges 
 of animalism within the soul itself must be sacrificed. 
 This law points the way whereby man arises out of a 
 state of animalism into a state of humanism. Envy, 
 hate, malice, greed, lust, hypocrisy, falsehood, and 
 murder, are some of the animal traits that infest the 
 consciousness of unregenerate man; they are the 
 devils that are forever leading man in every direction 
 except the right one. There is a plane of consciousness 
 that transcends the carnal and animal. It is disclosed 
 in the lives of those who have purged the temple of the 
 animals, the money-changers, and them that sell doves, 
 and who sit composedly at the summit of the temple 
 and command and cast out devils; and all those that 
 abide at the summit of the temple are of one mind 
 
39^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 and of one spirit; they are so ^because they are the 
 organs of the Holy Spirit which is entirely given to holy 
 offices: to Truth, to Wisdom, to Love, and to Righteous- 
 ness and just Judgment. ''For as many as are led 
 by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God; and 
 the Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit that 
 we are the children of God" (Rom. 8: i6). The just 
 constitute a holy fraternity; there is no brotherhood, 
 except the brotherhood of the just. When man, the 
 son of man, is lifted up, and made free from the tor- 
 ments of obsessing devils, then it is that he beholds the 
 Kingdom of God wherein is life, and truth, and beauty, 
 and love, and harmony, and justice, "When ye have 
 lifted up the son of man, then shall ye know that I am 
 he, and that I do nothing of myself." 
 
 *'And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus 
 went up to Jerusalem" (John 2; 13). Why did Jesus 
 attend the feast of the passover? What does this feast 
 commemorate? It is a commemoration, a celebration, 
 of the escape of man out of the sensuous and fallen 
 state represented by the Egyptian^ life. All the faithful 
 are commanded to celebrate this glorious event in the 
 Hfe of man. "All the Congregation of Israel shall keep 
 the passover" (Ex. 12:47), ''Remember this day, in 
 which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of 
 bondage, . . . And it shall be a sign unto thee upon 
 thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that 
 the Lord's Law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong 
 hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou 
 shalt therefore keep this ordinance from year to year" 
 (Ex. 13:3, 9, 10). 
 
 "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
 it up" (John 2: 19). Whatever power man has over 
 his physical body is the result of the improvement of 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 397 
 
 his spiritual body. If man would be the master of his 
 outer body, he must first make perfect his inner body. 
 A heavenly work indeed is the building of the spiritual 
 body, the inner body, the soul; for it is the seat of 
 virtue; it is the abiding entity. 
 
 Dust thou art, to dust retumest, 
 Was not spoken of the soul. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 The world is full of people who are worried, and 
 hurried, and preoccupied; they are enamored of 
 sensuous things; they spend all their energies in feeding, 
 and clothing, and housing, and in giving pleasture to 
 their carnal bodies; and their spiritual bodies are weak, 
 blemished, deformed, and dead. Such people are 
 said to be dead and in their graves. "And ye shall 
 know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your 
 graves" (Ezek. 37: 13; Hosea 13: 14; Ps. 31: 17; Dan. 
 12:2; John 5:28), Life and death are states of the 
 soul, and not of the body. The work of man, which is 
 decreed of Heaven, and which takes precedence of all 
 other work, is the purification of the soul, the making 
 perfect of the spiritual body. This work ^ must be 
 concentered on the soul; for the purification of the 
 soul is necessary to the purification of the body. He 
 lives worthy of the privileges of life who finds delight in 
 the improvement of his soul, the inner man. " I delight 
 in the Law of God after the inner man" (Rom. 7: 22). 
 Nature works from the inside out. " He is good whose 
 soul is good," said Plato. The natural body is sensu- 
 ous; it cannot initiate the spiritual. "It is the Spirit 
 that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing. " " Cleanse 
 first that which is within the cup and platter, that the 
 outside of them may be clean also" (Matt. 23: 26). 
 
398 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
 it up" (John 2: 19). In the preceding chapters of this 
 book, which review the experiences of the patriarchs 
 and prophets, it is shown that there are three epochs in 
 the evolution of the human soul and these epochs are 
 often spoken of as "three days/' Jesus' life, like the life 
 of Moses and all the great, is an illustration of the 
 mode and manner of the soul's evolution. The life of 
 Moses reveals quite clearly the three epochs in the 
 soul's development. 
 
 (i) Moses is said to have lived forty years in 
 Egypt. This is the Egyptian epoch of his life, the 
 Gentile period. It is written that this period of his life 
 came to a tragic end, and that he fled from Egypt . 
 (2) It is said that Moses - was forty years in the 
 wilderness; that he led the flock to the back side of the 
 desert, to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. By 
 this we understand that Moses underwent a great 
 discipline and chastening. In a word, that he drank 
 the cup of adversity to its dregs. This period is fig- 
 uratively spoken of in the Scriptures as a fast of "forty 
 days and forty nights." (3) Jesus tells how Moses 
 was resurrected from the dead at Horeb. Moses' 
 escape from Egypt prefigures his resurrection; but his 
 illumination, his glorious resurrection was realized at 
 Horeb. "And as touching .the dead, that they rise: 
 have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush 
 God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, 
 and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not 
 the God of the dead, but of the living" (Mark 12:23- 
 27). God is said to be the God of the "living," of 
 the resurrected; for they alone are conscious of God; 
 those in the Gentile state are dead to God; they are 
 unmindful of God, and the Law of Human Life. It is 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 399 
 
 recorded that Moses lived forty years after his resur- 
 rection ; and that the Law of Life, or the Law of Jehovah 
 was given to the people of Israel through him during 
 this third and last epoch of his life on earth. Moses, it 
 would seem, attained to the Kingdom of God forty 
 years before he departed from the world. "Verily, 
 I say unto you, there are some standing here which shall 
 not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God" 
 (Luke 9: 27). 
 
 The Scriptures refer to the resurrection as occurring 
 at the beginning of the third day; Hezekiah was healed 
 on "the third day, " and went up into the house of the 
 Lord (2 Kings 20: 5) ; this is a brief way of saying that 
 the illumination, or resurrection, marks the beginning 
 of the third epoch in the evolution of the human soul, 
 as is illustrated in the life of Moses. It is evident that 
 Jesus taught the same doctrine concerning the nature 
 of the human soul and the mode and manner of its 
 evolution which was proclaimed by Moses, Jesus 
 referred to the three epochs that mark the journey 
 of the human soul to perfection in a single sentence. 
 "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and 
 to-morrow, and the third day I shaU be perfected" 
 (Luke 13:32). Jesus, like Hezekiah and all the great 
 of old, went "up into the house of the Lord" on the 
 "third day." 
 
 Jesus often referred to the "third day," or the day 
 wherein man is said to attain to perfection. "Your 
 father Abraham saw my day and rejoiced" Qohn 8: 
 56). The marriage feast in Cana on the third day 
 (John 2: i), was the celebration of Jesus' resurrection 
 from the dead; of his death to the sensuous world; and 
 of his birth into the spiritual life. On and after this 
 day, Jesus is a son of God; he is a prophet; he is an 
 
400 The Law of Human Life 
 
 organ of the Holy Spirit; he is a Master in Israel 
 and he is so recognized by his mother, and his discipiles. 
 "His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he 
 saith unto you, do it" (John 2:5). "This beginning 
 of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and he mani- 
 fested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on 
 him" (John 2: 11). 
 
 Jesus is said to have died twice. His first death 
 was a death to the world; and his second death was 
 upon the cross. "Jesus died unto sin once; but that he 
 liveth; he liveth unto God" (Rom. 6: 10). "For he 
 that is dead [to the world] is freed from sin" (Rom. 
 6:7). "He that hath suffered in the flesh [and died 
 to the world] hath ceased from sin" (i Peter 4:1). 
 "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the King- 
 dom of Heaven"; blessed are the poor in spirit: for 
 they have suffered in the flesh, and are depleted of the 
 spirit of the world. "He that overcometh [the world] 
 shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2:11). 
 It is written that Jesus was twice resurrected from 
 the dead. "The God of peace brought again from the 
 dead our master Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the 
 sheep" (Heb. 13:20). "Christ must needs have suf- 
 fered, and risen again from the dead" (Acts. 17: 3). 
 
 "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but 
 after this the judgment: So Jesus Christ was once 
 offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that 
 look for him shall he appear the second time without 
 sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:27, 28). This language 
 may be thus interpreted: Every man would he at- 
 tain to his true inheritance must die to the world; 
 he must experience a judgment, a crisis, a discipline, 
 a chastening; and he must be offered up "to bear the 
 sins of many"; he must suffer many and great tempta- 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 401 
 
 tions, as did Jesus Christ, to the end that he, like 
 Christ, may "appear [be resurrected] the second time 
 without sin unto salvation." Jesus Christ, like Moses, 
 was "a great shepherd of the sheep"; he Uved and 
 taught a life. "If any man serve me, let him follow 
 me; and where I am [the state of consciousness wherein 
 I abide], there shall also my servant be: if any man 
 serve me [if any man will live the life that I live], 
 him wiU my Father honour" (John 12:26). 
 
 "Jesus in the days of his flesh, when he had offered 
 up prayers and supplications with strong crying and 
 tears unto Him that was able to save him from death, 
 and was heard in that he feared ; though he were a Son, 
 yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered ; 
 and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal 
 salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God 
 an high priest after the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 
 5:7-10). This language admits of the following in- 
 terpretation: Jesus, in the days that he lived the 
 life of the flesh, the life of the natural man, offered 
 up prayers and supplications in great seriousness unto 
 Him that was able to resurrect him from the dead, and 
 was heard and was resurrected in that he feared God and 
 was faithful; though he were a son of God because of 
 such resurrection, yet learned he obedience during the 
 day of his judgment, of his chastening, by the things 
 that he suffered; and being made perfect, he became 
 the author of eternal salvation tmto all them who 
 obey him; and being called of God, being resurrected 
 from the state of death, he is an high priest after the 
 order of Melchisedec. 
 
 "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priest- 
 hood [for under it the people were taught the precepts 
 of the Law], what further need was there that another 
 
 s6 
 
4^3 The Law of Human Life 
 
 priest should arise after the order of Melchisedec, and 
 not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priest- 
 hood being changed, there is made of necessity a change 
 also of the Law, . . . For the Law maketh men high 
 priests which have infirmity, but the word of the oath, 
 which was since the Law, maketh the son which is 
 consecrated forevermore" (Heb. 7: 11, 12, 28)- "For 
 the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity 
 a change also of the Law"; the priesthood after the 
 order of Aaron were the teachers of the precepts of the 
 Law; they were of the order of the natural man, and 
 were possessed of his infirmities; but the writing of the 
 Law of God in the human heart is demonstrated by a 
 prieshood "after the order of Melchisedec." Jesus 
 belonged to "the order of Melchisedec." An order 
 bespeaks a class, a brotherhood, a fraternity. It 
 therefore follows that Jesus Christ belongs to the great 
 fraternity which the Scriptures describe as teachers 
 sent of God, Prophets, Masters, and Saviors, 
 
 "The word of the oath, which was since the Law, 
 maketh the son, who is consecrated forevermore." 
 The word of God, the promise of God is not realized 
 by the observance of precepts. The writing of the 
 Law in the heart supersedes the precepts, and make 
 man the son of God, "who is consecrated for evermore." 
 This transition from government by precepts; by 
 inhibitions and commands from without, to a righteous 
 government from within the soul itself, is graphically 
 described in the fortieth Psalm (6-8), and again in 
 Paul's letter to the Hebrews (10: i-io). 
 
 The priesthood of the order of Aaron teaches the 
 precepts of the Law, and perform offices that prefigure 
 the offices of the higher priesthood; this priesthood 
 prepares the way for the coming of a higher; and being 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 403 
 
 of the world, it suffers the mutations incident to the 
 life of the natural man (Heb. 7:23). Man's religion 
 consists first in outward forms and observances, but 
 if he be faithful, the day will come when he will know 
 that the whole drama of religion must be changed from 
 without to within the soul itself. "Sacrifice and offer- 
 ing thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: 
 burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 
 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the voltmie of the book 
 it is written of me, I delight to do Thy WiU, O my 
 God; yea, the Law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:6-8; 
 Heb. 10:6-9). When God hath opened the ears of 
 man, when, Lo, man comes to understand, then he 
 perceives that outward precepts must give place to the 
 inner Law, then he is moved to say, "I come, I under- 
 stand, in the volume of the book it is written of me [of 
 my soul]; I delight to do Thy Will, O my God: yea, 
 Thy Law is written in my heart." Then it is said, 
 "God taketh away the first [the precepts of the Law], 
 that he may establish the second" [the Law within the 
 heart] (Heb. 10: 9), 
 
 The name Melchisedec means "king of righteousness." 
 "Behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just; he 
 points the way of salvation; he is lowly, and rides upon 
 an ass" (Zech, 9:9). The priesthood after the order 
 of Melchisedec is the priesthood of the resurrected. 
 They who are resurrected from the dead are begotten 
 of God; they are the sons of God, and the organs of the 
 Holy Spirit. "Thou art my son; this day have I 
 begotten thee" (Ps. 2:7; Heb. 5:5). They of this 
 priesthood are "called of God," they are resurrected; 
 they are the great teachers, and masters sent of God 
 to point the way of salvation; their kingdom is not of 
 this world; they are our elder brothers; they belong to a 
 
4^4 The Law of Human Life 
 
 holy brotherhood, and are "an unchangeable priest- 
 hood" (Heb. 7: 24). "We have heard out of the Law 
 that Christ abideth forever" (John 12:34; Ps.^ 89:36, 
 37; 110:4; Isa. 9:7; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44). Mel- 
 chisedec, Moses, and Jesus are some of those who belong 
 to this high and holy order, "consecrated for evermore" 
 (Heb. 7: 28). They of this high, holy, and eternal order 
 are the great of Israel; they are all worshipers of the 
 One Living and Almighty God ; and they teach the same 
 truths concerning the human soul, and the mode and 
 manner of its evolution; and every member of this 
 brotherhood represents in his own life the fulfillment of 
 the Law; they all speak according to the Law and the 
 Testimony; they are attuned to Heaven's Law; they 
 are the organs of the Law and the Testimony. 
 
 Jesus told the Pharisees that men are held account- 
 able for the words they speak. This resembles the 
 thought of Socrates the sage of Athens: "False words 
 are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul 
 with evil." "It is by your order, O Lord," said St. 
 Augustine, "that all irregularity of mind should carry 
 its punishment along with it." The affirmance of 
 truth is mentality and life acting in obedience to 
 Heaven's Law, By the constant affirming of the 
 truth the soul of man is conformed to the divine order; 
 and thus we have the condition by which the soul of 
 man is established; the condition whereby he attains 
 to a larger and a fuller life; "and the Highest Himself 
 shall establish her," the soul of man (Ps. 87:5). "I 
 am come that ye may have life; and have it more 
 abundantly ' ' (John 10:10). He who violates the 
 privileges of life ; he who is a liar and a hypocrite ; he who 
 is knowingly unjust ; is on the side of confusion, atrophy, 
 and death. Every rational being by choosing to be 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 405 
 
 just can attain to the rest and peace of Heaven; and 
 every such being who chooses to do evil reaps confusion, 
 atrophy, and hell itself. 
 
 "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by 
 thy words thou shalt be condemned. Then certain of 
 the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, 
 we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and 
 said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation 
 seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given 
 to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas 
 was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; 
 so shall the son of man be three days and three nights 
 in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:37-40). Again 
 man's sojourn upon earth is likened to three days; and 
 again man is said to be resurrected on the third day. 
 
 "No sign shall be given, but the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas." The sign of the prophet Jonah is the sign of 
 the resurrection ; he declares this sign who makes mani- 
 fest in his own life "the power of God, and the wisdom 
 of God" (i Cor. 1 : 24). It is written that this sign was 
 gloriously demonstrated in the life of Jesus at the 
 feast of Cana, This is the miracle of miracles; because 
 it is a demonstration of the divinity of man. "This 
 beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, 
 and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples be- 
 lieved on him" (John 2:11). The whale, the fish, 
 is a symbol of the resurrection ; the water in which the 
 living fish abides typifies the carnal mentality of the 
 world. The fish when drawn out of the water dies. 
 Man must be drawn out of the water (2 Sam. 22: 17; 
 Ps. 18:16; 144:7); he must die to the spirit of the 
 world, if he would attain to the measure of the stature 
 of Christ (Eph. 4: 13)- Moses is the name of him who 
 was drawn out of the water of the Nile; and Jesus came 
 
4^6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 up out of the waters of the Jordan. This is the fate 
 of God's elect. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
 cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" Qohn 3:5). 
 
 There "is much in the Scriptures to indicate, that 
 Peter, John, and James the brother of John, were the 
 most spiritually developed of Jesus' disciples; and for 
 this reason they were most in his company and con- 
 fidence. "And he suffered no man to follow him, save 
 Peter, and James, and John the brother of James'* 
 (Mark 5 : 37) . Spiritual truths are spiritually perceived ; 
 they are, therefore, only apprehended by those who are 
 prepared to receive them. "Every one that is of the 
 truth heareth my voice," The three disciples named 
 were fishermen. In the fifth chapter of Luke, it is 
 written, that Jesus came to the lake of Gennesaret; 
 and that he taught the people out of the ship of Simon 
 Peter. "Now when he had left off speaking, he said 
 unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down 
 your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said 
 tmto him, Master, we have toiled all night, and have 
 taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down 
 the net." It is said that they drew out of the water 
 a great multitude of fish, enough to fill two ships. 
 "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' 
 knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, 
 O Lord, For he was astonished, and all that were with 
 him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 
 and so was James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, 
 which were partners with Simon, And Jesus said unto 
 Simon, Pear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch 
 men. And when they had brought their ships to land, 
 they forsook all and followed him," These fishermen 
 are the first to abandon their vocation, and forsake all, 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 407 
 
 and follow the Master; they are the first to "launch out 
 into the deep " ; and they are the first to be resurrected. 
 
 This is the story of the resurrection; it is the story of 
 him who has "toiled all night, and has taken nothing" 
 but has faith enough left to let down the net, to do his 
 duty. It is the story of man's awakening out of a 
 state of death into a state of life. Peter fell down at the 
 knees of Jesus, saying, " Depart from me ; for I am a sinful 
 man." This story, outwardly historical but inwardly 
 psychological, is a true portrayal of the way of salva- 
 tion. Man must be willing to forsake all, when he 
 goes in pursuit of the truth, if he would attain to a 
 glorious resurrection. "They forsook all, and followed 
 him"; they were drawn out of the water. Peter, 
 John, and James represent the character of their Master: 
 Peter stood for wisdom, the virtue of the head; John 
 for that goodness of heart that knows no fear; and 
 James for temperance, the restraint and mastery of the 
 lower principle of the soul. 
 
 Nothing can be more certain concerning the life of 
 Jesus than that he taught the Law of Human Life 
 proclaimed by Moses. "Think not that I am come 
 to destroy the Law or the prophets: I am come not to 
 destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till 
 heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in nowise 
 pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever 
 therefore shall break one of these least commandments, 
 and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in 
 the Kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and 
 teach them, the same shall be called great in the King- 
 dom of Heaven," The Scriptures announce principles 
 that point the way of salvation; and these principles 
 are called the "Law," and they must necessarily find 
 fulfillment in every life that attains to perfection. 
 
4o8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in 
 the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the 
 Psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44). If the Law 
 proclaims principles that point the way of the soul's 
 evolution, then can any human soul attain to perfec- 
 tion unless it religiously fulfills what is written in the 
 Law of Moses, and repeated and emphasized by the 
 prophets, and the psalmists? 
 
 The Torah was represented in the life of Moses; 
 he was and is the Law. His soul was attuned to the 
 Law (Ex. 20: 19). All the great prophets condemned 
 the Israelites because they did not obey the Law (Isa. 
 8:20; Jer. 8:8, 9; Amos 2:4; Hosea 8:1, 12; Dan. 
 9:11). Jesus stood firmly and unqualifiedly for the 
 Law. "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet 
 none of you keepeth the Law?" (John 7: 19). Jesus 
 was a great prophet, as Emerson has said. ''Jesus 
 Christ belonged to the true race of prophets. He saw 
 with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn 
 by its serene harmony, ravished by its beauty, he lived 
 in it, and had his being there. Alone of all humanity, 
 he estimated the greatness of Man." 
 
 The iniquities of the people are laid upon the prophet 
 (Isa. 53:11); they were laid ,upon Ezekiel (Ezek. 
 4: 4, 5) ; they were laid upon Moses (Num. 11 : 11, 12) ; 
 and " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many " 
 (Heb. 9:28). "To bear our sins" is to endure and 
 overcome temptations and trials; he who has attained 
 to the state of prophecy has passed through previous 
 states of trial and temptation. All the great have 
 borne the iniquities of the people; they were made 
 perfect by suffering. Man's death to his animal 
 nature, and his birth into the spiritual and the human 
 is necessarily attended with much suffering. Jesus 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 409 
 
 tells his followers that they must drink of his cup, and 
 be baptized of his baptism (Matt. 20: 22, 23). God's 
 elect are they who have fxxlfilled the Law. 
 
 "Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of prophets"; 
 and, like Moses and all the great, he was resurrected 
 from the dead on "the third day." He who would 
 attain to a glorious resurrection mu3t walk with God; 
 he must "bear the sins of many"; he must suffer sore 
 trials and temptations. "Nevertheless I must walk 
 to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following: for it 
 cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem" 
 (Luke 13:33). People often talk of going to another 
 and a better world. Moses and Jesus do not talk of 
 another world, but they did demonstrate in their lives 
 and teachings a high and holy state of consciousness; 
 they did demonstrate that the mentality of man, the 
 Son of Man, may be lifted up into a conscious relation 
 with the Source of Being; and when one attains to this 
 high and holy kingdom, old things are said to pass away ; 
 and the new condition is likened to "a new Heaven and 
 a new earth." Jesus, like Moses, and Elijah, and 
 Pythagoras, and all of God's elect taught the way of 
 human life. "Elias was zealous and fervent for the 
 ■Law " (i Mace. 2 : 58) . They who love the Law, and Hve 
 in obedience to It, teach a life. "I am the way, the 
 truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but 
 by me." No man can attain to the Kingdom of God 
 except he live in obedience to the Law of Human Life. 
 
 The simple, orderly, and righteous life of Jesus 
 has been obscured and clouded and made unthinkablcj 
 impractical, and inimitable by theological and meta- 
 physical abstractions. Prof. Max Muller, in a letter 
 to a Hindoo philosopher, said: "If you speak of Christ 
 as not perfectly human, in his own sense of the word, 
 
410 The Law of Human Life 
 
 you make an idol of him, and you utterly destroy the 
 very soul of his religion." It stands to reason that Jesus' 
 life is most persuasive for moral uplift, when regarded 
 as natural, imitable, and human. Righteousness 
 is righteousness because it is natural; "evil is evil 
 because it is unnatural." Evil is evil because it is 
 essentially animal, and not human. The simple, the 
 holy, the just life is one lived in obedience to Heaven's 
 law; the wicked, the false, the unjust life is one lived 
 in absolute disregard of the divine order. There is 
 nothing easy, frank, unrestrained, or natural, about the 
 conceited and worldly wise. Every soul that is attuned 
 to the divine order demonstrates the power and glory 
 of God; and is conscious of an unspeakable rest and 
 peace. "Every unordered life is its own punishment, " 
 said St. Augustine. Every such life is the victim of 
 suffering and torments. Every unordered life repre- 
 sents what Emerson called "arrested development." 
 
 It is, therefore, singular that the life of a great 
 prophet, so free, so natural, so orderly, so just, and 
 so divinely human, should be made so unnatural, so 
 mysterious, and so aloof from all human experience. 
 The natural is the knowable, the self-evident. The 
 unnatural is the mysterious, the fabulous, the false. 
 The just man is controlled of reason; reason is the 
 first-bom of God; and is One and inseparable in heaven 
 and earth. Truth is the Law of reason; "he that doeth 
 the truth cometh to the Light," to wisdom. The 
 unjust man is controlled by a horde of animal traits: 
 anger, hate, falsehood, hypocrisy, revenge, lust, malice, 
 greed, pride, and envy; and these several devils each 
 in turn being his master, it is impossible to predict 
 his conduct. "There is but one right," said Thomas 
 Huxley, "and the "possibilities of wrong are infinite," 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 411 
 
 That "Jesus belonged to the true race of prophets" 
 is told again and again in symbols; these symbols show 
 that he was resurrected, like all great teachers and 
 prophets, out of a state of death into a state of real life; 
 that he was bom of water and of the Spirit; that he was 
 possessed of a soul which conformed in its principles 
 to every other human soul; and that his soul was made 
 perfect by the fulfillment of the Law of Human Life. 
 In the twenty-first chapter of Matthew, it is written, 
 that Jesus rode into Jerusalem sitting upon an ass. 
 "Behold, thy king cometh to thee, meek, and sitting 
 upon an ass." "And the multitude said, This is 
 Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." The 
 horse is a symbol of war, and of the unrestrained 
 passions. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt; and 
 stay on horses " (Isa. 31:1; Deut, 17:16). The proud, 
 the conceited, the vain, and the warlike are said to put 
 their trust in chariots and horses (Ps. 20:7). The 
 domestic ass is the symbol of meekness, of obedience, 
 of patience, and of service. In a word, the ass is the 
 symbol of the lower principle of man in a state of 
 absolute restraint and subserviency to reason. That 
 which is above should be regnant; and that which is 
 below should be subservient. The prophets and wise 
 men of old are represented as riding upon asses. ' ' Speak, 
 ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment" 
 Qudges 5: 10). The wise man, the just man, he who is 
 fit to administer judgment, is said to come like a king. 
 "Behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just; he 
 points the way of salvation; he is lowly, and rides upon 
 an ass" (Zech. 9:9). 
 
 Symbols, like principles, give fixity to knowledge. 
 Many of the deepest and profoundest truths taught by 
 the prophets, and philosophers, and ancient sages would 
 
412 The Law of Human Life 
 
 be entirely lost to the people of to-day, if it were not 
 that these truths were taught in symbols. The conceits 
 of men are such that they are often willing to interpret 
 documents in a manner most comfortable to their own 
 prejudices and preconceived opinions; and no doubt 
 some have been so bold as to make interpolations 
 in furtherance of their opinions and conceits. The 
 Scriptures announce principles; and these deep truths 
 of human nature were necessarily taught in parables, 
 and in allegories, and in symbols; and if we would 
 understand the Scriptures this sign language must be 
 interpreted by a free mind wholly intent upon knowing 
 the truth for the truth's sake. Nothing is Scripture 
 except what is sound in principle. "Know this first, 
 that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private inter- 
 pretation" (2 Peter 1:20). 
 
 *'The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth 
 came by Jesus Christ" (John i: 17). The Law was 
 given by Moses, but mercy, truth, and wisdom were 
 made manifest in the life of Jesus Christ. "I had not 
 known sin but for the Law. . . . The Law is holy, . . . 
 The Law is spiritual" (Rom. 7:7, 12, 14). The Law 
 points the way of salvation. The Law and the Testi- 
 mony are revealed in the life of the prophet; therefore, 
 the Law and the Testimony are One. "The Law 
 of the Lord is perfect, transforming the soul: the Testi- 
 mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" 
 (Ps. 19: 7). "To the Law and the Testimony: if they 
 speak not according to this Word, it is because there is 
 no light in them" (Isa. 8:20). They who have ful- 
 filled the Law represent in their own lives "grace 
 [mercy] and truth." "I am the way, the truth, and 
 the life"; and by this we understand Jesus to say: 
 "I am the Law and the Testimony." 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 413 
 
 The Hebrew prophets and psahnists contemplated 
 the Law with inexpressible joy and thanksgiving; 
 they beheld in this Law the way of salvation; they be- 
 held in it untold and indescribable possibilities; they saw 
 that it pointed the way of human perfection; they saw 
 that this Law transcends time and place and postu- 
 lates the immortality of the human soul. What an in- 
 describable joy attends the contemplation of Heaven's 
 Law! "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won- 
 drous things out of Thy Law. . , . Thy Law is my 
 delight. . . . OhowIloveThyLaw;it is my meditation 
 alltheday. . . . Thy Law is the truth " (Ps. 119:18, 77, 
 97, 142). "This is the book of the commandments of 
 God, the Law that endureth forever; all they that keep 
 it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die. . . . 
 O Israel, happy are we: for the things that are pleasing 
 to God are made manifest unto us" (Baruch 4: 1-4). 
 
 When the human soul is made perfect by the ful- 
 fillment of the Law, then is it emancipated from the 
 precepts of the Law, then is the soul free and joyous, 
 then is the soul attuned to mercy, truth, and justice; 
 then is the Law written in the heart, then is the soul 
 involuntarily rnoved of a Spirit and an inner Law, 
 so universal, so subtle, so harmonious, so glorious, and 
 so unspeakably joyous, that nothing can know it, or 
 keep it, but a soul attuned to God Himself. 
 
 In a volume containing a course of Lectures entitled 
 Judaism and Its History, by Dr. Abraham Geiger, 
 Rabbi of an Israelite Congregation at Frankfort on the 
 Main, is the following observation concerning Jesus of 
 Nazareth: 
 
 He was a Jew, a Pharisean Jew with Galilean coloring 
 — a man who joined in the hopes of his time and who 
 
4^4 The Law of Human Life 
 
 believed that those hopes were fulfilled in him^ He did 
 not utter a new thought, nor did he break down the barriers 
 ofsnationality. When a foreign woman came to him with a 
 request to heal her daughter, he said, **It is not meet to 
 take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." He 
 did not abolish any part of Judaism; he was a Pharisee who 
 walked in the way of Hillel; and he did not set the most 
 decided value upon every single external form; yet he 
 proclaimed that *'not the least tittle" should be taken from 
 the Law ; ' * The Pharisees sit in Moses ' seat, and whatsoever 
 they bid you observe, that observe and do." 
 
 We believe it is fair to say, that Jesus, like Paul, was 
 a "Hebrew of the Hebrews; and as touching the Law 
 a Pharisee" (Phil. 3:5). Jesus accused the Pharisees 
 of having "omitted the weightier matters of the Law: 
 judgment [justice], mercy, and faith" (Matt. 23:23); 
 the attributes that make manifest the Law of God in 
 the human heart; and he condemned them for spending 
 their time in tithing "mint and anise and cummin." 
 This is evidently a figure of speech. It means that the 
 Pharisees, instead of teaching the Law, and living 
 worthy of the Law, were secular and worldly. "Did 
 not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you 
 keepeth the Law" (John 7: 19). Jesus found no fault 
 with the teachings of the Pharisees; but he did flay 
 them without mercy for saying one thing and doing 
 another. "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the 
 seat of Moses: therefore, whatsoever they bid you 
 observe, that observe and dp, but do not follow after 
 their works; for they say and do not" (Matt. 23: 2, 3). 
 
 Jesus, a Pharisee as touching the Law, accused the 
 Pharisees of his day of being liars, hypocrites, and 
 whited sepulchres. Perhaps nothing was more calcu- 
 lated to inspire hatred and revenge in the hearts of the 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 415 
 
 Pharisees, than to have one of their own faith utterly 
 repudiate their conduct, and tell the people openly that 
 they were worse than the publicans and the harlots. 
 "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and harlots , 
 go into the Kingdom of God before you" (Matt. 21; 
 31). Jesus believed that he who knows what is right 
 and assumes to be righteous; and is yet worldly and 
 sensual, is a hypocrite, and is deserving of punishment 
 above others. "That servant, which knew his Lord's 
 will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to 
 His will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he 
 that knew not . . . shall be beaten with few stripes." 
 
 "Jesus," said Rabbi Geiger, "joined in the hopes of 
 his time, and believed that those hopes were fulfilled in 
 him." This is evidently true. "This generation shall 
 not pass until all things be fulfilled" (Matt. 24:34). 
 Perhaps no man ever Uved who more perfectly demon- 
 strated the Law of Human Life, and the possibilities 
 of man, than did Jesus Christ. He did not assume to 
 teach a new and different doctrine from what was 
 taught in the Law; but he did assume to live a life in 
 absolute accord with the Law. "All things must be 
 fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, 
 and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning 
 me" [concerning my soul] (Luke 24: 44). 
 
 If Moses gave to the world the correct doctrine 
 as to the nature of the human soul; and the mode and 
 manner of its evolution, then it stands to reason, that 
 every rational being who would attain to perfection 
 must ftilfill what is written concerning the human soul 
 in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets, and in the 
 Psalms. What the prophets and psalmists taught after 
 the time of Moses is but a restatement and an amplifica- 
 tion of the Law. Jesus knew that religious principles. 
 
4i6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 like all other truths, exist independent of this or that 
 individual, or this or that institution; in a word, that 
 they are revealed in every human soul; and that they 
 are susceptible of an actual demonstration in a life 
 lived in obedience to them. 
 
 "It seems difficult to conceive," said Theodore 
 Parker, "why moral and religious truths should rest 
 for their support on the authority of their revealer any 
 more than the truths of Science on that of him who 
 makes them known first or most clearly." That which 
 is demonstrable is not a matter of speculation. Reli- 
 gion is not a matter of argument. When the soul of 
 man is virtuous and upright before God, he will find 
 rest, and peace, and comfort; and he will not be 
 solicitous about the future. "The just shall live by 
 faith." "That which may be known of God is made 
 manifest to the Just" (Rom. i: 19). The Law points 
 the way; and he who fulfills the Law will in the end 
 demonstrate that it is true. "Pythagoras, " said Plato, 
 "was beloved, and his successors, at this day call their 
 way of life by his namcj and they do appear to have a 
 certain distinction above other men." Jesus taught 
 the way of life; and his hfe was a glorious demonstra- 
 tion of the perfection of the Law, and of the possibilities 
 of every human soul. ' ' The most lamentable scepticism 
 on earth, and incomparably the most common, is a 
 scepticism as to the greatness, powers, and high desti- 
 nies of human nature. In this greatness I desire to 
 cherish an unwavering faith." These are the inspired 
 words of William EUery Channing, and we have quoted 
 them often hoping that they may impress the reader. 
 
 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; 
 but he that cometh after me is mightier than I; he shall 
 baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matt. 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 417 
 
 3:11). Baptism with water is a symbol of outward 
 cleanliness; baptism with fire suggests the sacrifice, the 
 burning up, the utter destruction of all that is impure, 
 and low, and animal within the depths of the soul. "I 
 am come to send fire on the earth. ... I have a baptism 
 to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be 
 accomplished?" (Luke 12:49, 50). "Many are called, 
 but few are chosen." Many are there who subscribe 
 to outward forms, but few are there who live superior 
 to all sensuous temptations. Many pass through the 
 water, many pretend to be virtuous; but few with- 
 stand every temptation, and abide the fire. "Re- 
 member what things God did to Abraham, and how He 
 tried Isaac, and what happened to Jacob in Mesopotamia. 
 . . . For He hath not tried us in the fire as He did them" 
 G'udith8:26). 
 
 Fire and water are the two great cleansing elements 
 in nature. Water cleanseth outwardly, and fire to the 
 innermost depths; water initiates, and fire completes 
 the work of purification. "All that abideth not the 
 fire ye shall make go through the water" (Num. 31: 
 23) . Spiritual development is attended by great 
 suffering; in being bom into the higher state of conscious- 
 ness, man must necessarily die to that which is low. 
 Jesus was made perfect by suffering. "Men and 
 women are only half human." Man must die to his 
 animal nature if he would be wholly just and entirely 
 human. This was demonstrated by the sacrifice of 
 the animals at the altar of the tabernacle, and it was 
 also taught and illustrated by Jesus when he drove the 
 animals and those that sold doves out of the temple at 
 Jersualem. This is the supreme ordeal : this is the burnt 
 offering: this is the baptism with fire. "These mine 
 
 enemies, which would not that I should reign over 
 27 
 
41 8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 theip, bring hither, and slay them before me" (Luke 
 19 : 27). Anger, hate, malice, revenge, lust, greed, 
 hypocrisy, falsehood, and murder: these animal traits, 
 these devils, *' these mine enemies " which would not that 
 reason should reign over them, bring hither, and slay 
 them before me. "Thou hast given me the shield of 
 Thy salvation; and Thy right hand hath holden me up, 
 and Thy gentleness hath made me great. ... I have 
 pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither 
 did I turn till they were consumed. I have wounded 
 them that they are not able to rise: they are fallen 
 under my feet. For Thou hast girded me with strength 
 unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those 
 that rose up against me" (Ps. 18:35-42). They who 
 have put an end to the worship of the golden calf; 
 they who have driven the animals out of the temple; 
 they who have gone to Horeb the mount of God, and 
 passed the ordeal of the storm, the earthquake, and the 
 fire, and have heard the still small voice, are the trans- 
 figured ones. 
 
 It is written in Matthew and in Mark that after 
 six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and 
 John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart 
 by themselves; and he was transfigured before them. 
 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as 
 snow. . . . And there appeared unto them Elias with 
 Moses: and they talked with Jesus. And Peter an- 
 swered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us 
 to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one 
 for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, In 
 Luke (9:28), it is said that this "came to pass about 
 the eighth day." The seventh day, like the third, is 
 indicative of perfection. It is the day when God's 
 image and likeness is made manifest in man; it is the 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 419 
 
 day when the power and glory of God is ultimated 
 and made manifest in the human. Divinity dwells in 
 and is xiltimated in glorified humanity. 
 
 The number eight, the eighth day, signifies the 
 beginning or the commencement of a new state. 
 "Among you, he that is eight days old shall be cir- 
 cumcised" (Gen. 17: 12). Circumcision is the dedica- 
 tion of the Jewish child to virtue ; it marks the beginning 
 of a new state. He who is baptized with water is dedi- 
 cated to virtue; this is the essence of the vow of baptism. 
 The transfiguration, it would seem, took place on the 
 seventh day, on the Sabbath Day, The word Sabbath 
 means rest; rest and peace come with the perfection 
 of character. The Law of Jehovah designates the 
 seventh day as a day of rest and peace. The seventh 
 day was not set apart for rest, and meditation, and 
 worship arbitrarily, as the vulgar have supposed; but 
 it was established in conformity with human nature 
 itself. The keeping of the Sabbath, of the seventh 
 day, is a perpetual commemoration of the perfection 
 of man, of his glorification and transfiguration. What 
 day in Heaven and earth is more worthy of a perpetual 
 celebration, than the day when man is said to attain to 
 perfection, than the day when both God and man are 
 said to have ceased from work, and to be at rest? All 
 they that seek to be just are said to be "co-workers 
 with God" (i Cor, 3:9). "Blessed is the man that 
 keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth 
 his hand from doing any evil" (Isa. 56: 2). 
 
 "And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is 
 good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; 
 one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias," 
 The tabernacle erected in the wilderness was intended 
 to represent, and did represent the human body and the 
 
420 The Law of Human Life 
 
 human soul. The care in building the tabernacle, 
 the perfection and purity of the materials used, its 
 rare and chaste furnishings, the sacredness with which 
 it was regarded, and the horror inspired by its desecra- 
 tion, all tend to prefigure the perfection of the human 
 soul -itself. Peter, it would seem, conceived the idea 
 that he, and John, and James should build three taber- 
 nacles like those of the glorified and transfigured Jesus, 
 Moses, and Elias. We sincerely believe that Peter, 
 John, and James did build, with the help of God, three 
 tabernacles resembling those of the three great masters; 
 for without this it was impossible that they should have 
 attained to a realization of the Kingdom of God. 
 "Master, it is good for us to be here." Nothing on 
 earth is so comforting, edifying, and inspiring as the 
 life of a good and holy person. A great human per- 
 sonality is a veritable river of divine life and power. 
 ''There went virtue out of him, and healed them all." 
 When a great prophet comes with his divine message, 
 it is written, "that God hath visited His people" 
 (Luke 7: i6; i : 68). The transfiguration was a revela- 
 tion of the power and glory of God made manifest in 
 righteous human souls; and this eternal Sabbath of 
 peace, and rest, and glory is the inheritance of all the just. 
 Edmund Hamilton Sears, in his estimable book, 
 Foregleams and Foreshadows of Immortality (of which 
 there are many editions) says: 
 
 We have referred to the transfiguration as an illustration 
 of the truth that marl's inward being is not a metaphysical 
 abstraction, but an organism in human form, and more 
 substantial than its material coverings. . . . Jesus took 
 his three favorite disciples behind the walls of sense, and 
 caught them up a moment within the sphere where he lived 
 with the prophets of old; and they said, "Let us pitch our 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 421 
 
 tents and dwell here," Was that shadowy? After the 
 nattiral body had been excluded, he broke upon Saul in a 
 light out of the heavenly state, and smote him blind to 
 the earth beneath the blaze. Was that shadowy? The 
 prophet of Patmos, by introversion among the eternal 
 verities, crossed the line which separates the objective 
 scenery of matter and Spirit, and saw **Him that was 
 dead and is alive again," and fell as beneath the stroke 
 of sunbeams. Was that shadowy? All the revealings of 
 Christ's resurrection, before and after, show that the inward 
 man is the real one, while the outward is the symbol. 
 
 That the human soul is "not a metaphysical ab- 
 straction, but an organism in human form, " was taught 
 by Moses, and Plato, and Jesus, and all the truly great. 
 "Thou son of man, show the house to the congregation of 
 Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: 
 and let them measure the pattern" (Ezek. 43:10). 
 Moses set the tabernacle, a symbol of a clean and 
 righteous soul before the children of Israel, and com- 
 manded them to make their souls "after the pattern 
 which was shown him in the mount." "He is my God, 
 and I will prepare him an habitation" (Ex. 15:2). 
 Jesus, when he had driven the animals and the changers 
 of money out of the temple at Jerusalem, said: "Take 
 these things hence; make not my Father's house an 
 house of merchandise" Qohn 2: 16). Plato in his dia- 
 logue, PhcedruSj says: "The soul that has never per- 
 ceived truth, cannot pass into the human form," 
 "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost" (i Cor. 
 6: 19). Perhaps it was Charles Eangsley, the famous 
 English clergyman, who said: "Your soul makes your 
 body as a snail makes its shell." The clear-seeing 
 Emerson, in his essay, The Poet, says: "The soul 
 makes the body, as the wise Spenser teaches." 
 
422 The Law of Human Life 
 
 For, of the soul, the body form doth take, 
 For the soul is form, and doth the body make. 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 "Thou son of man, show the house to the congrega- 
 tion of Israel." "To your tents, O Israel: now see to 
 thine own house, thou son of David. So Israel de- 
 parted into their tents" (i Kings 12:16). "Jesus 
 took his three favorite disciples behind the walls of 
 sense, and caught them up for a moment within the 
 sphere where he lived With the prophets of old." "And 
 the Lord appeared unto Isaac, and said, Go not down 
 into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of" 
 (Gen. 26:2). "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go 
 up to Bethel [the house of God, the Kingdom of God], 
 and dwell there" (Gen. 35:1). Jesus took his three 
 disciples who were most illumined, who were most 
 spiritually developed, who were most capable of seeing 
 "behind the walls of sense," and revealed to them the 
 high and holy and godlike possibilities of man. And 
 they said, "Let us pitch our tents and dwell here." 
 "They that be wise [they that be teachers of truth, 
 they that be just] shall shine as the brightness of the 
 firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness 
 as the stars forever and ever" (Dan. 12: 3; Prov. 4: 18). 
 Evil tends to darkness and confusion, to disfiguration, 
 within the soul; and truth and justice to transfiguration. 
 
 Seeing "behind the walls of sense" is not a matter 
 of favor; it is the privilege of those who are called of 
 God to "Go up to Bethel, and dwell there." 
 
 And since he kept his mind on one sole aim, 
 Nor ever touched fierce wine, nor tasted flesh, 
 Nor owned a sensual wish — to him the wall 
 That sunders ghosts and shadow-casting men 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 423 
 
 Became a crystal, and he saw them through it, 
 And he heard their voices talk behind the wall, 
 And learned their elemental secrets, powers, 
 And forces. 
 
 Tennyson: Merlin and Vivien. 
 
 Mortals that would follow me, 
 Love Virtue; she alone is free. 
 She can teach you how to climb 
 Higher than the sphery chime; 
 Or, if Virtue feeble were, 
 Heaven itself would stoop to her. 
 
 Milton: Comus. 
 
 Moses the Law of Life proclaimed ; 
 
 Elias the prophet restored the same. 
 
 Jesus fulfilled the Law, his life the demonstration; 
 
 And thus the three in transfiguration, 
 
 Peter, John, and James united stood. 
 They represent the brotherhood. 
 They faithful were to Heaven's call; 
 And thus they saw behind the wall. 
 
 The Spirit in Peter faith revealed ; 
 In John the love of God and man; 
 In James works and temperance bold ; 
 And thus the keys the Spirit holds. 
 
 Would man the keys of heaven arrest. 
 Let Virtue in his heart be blessed. 
 Would he the secrets of Heaven know, 
 Let him the seed of Virtue sow. 
 
 Moses, it would seem, was the first to teach a multi- 
 tude, a great congregation of people, the high and holy 
 possibilities of man ; he illustrated in his own life what 
 he taught; he was and is the ideal of his people. It is 
 
424 The. Law of Human Life 
 
 written that he stood before the assembled of Israel on 
 the day that he brought them the Law, in a state of 
 exaltation, in a state of transfiguration (Ex. 34:29- 
 35)- The Law and the Testimony are One; they were 
 revealed in the life of Moses; he was the Law and the 
 Testimony. "The Law of the Lord is perfect, trans- 
 forming the soul; the Testimony of the^ Lord is sure, 
 making wise the simple" (Ps. 19: 7). "To the Law and 
 the Testimony : if they speak not according to this Word, 
 it is because there is no light in tiiem" (Isa. 8:20). 
 The one infallible test of the prophet is: Is he a living 
 illustration of the Law and the Testimony? 
 
 It is written that Moses led twelve princes, and 
 their confederated tribes, out of the land of Egypt to 
 the end that they might honor and worship the Most 
 High God; and through this great prophet God "visited 
 His people" (Luke 7: 16) and gave to them the Law, 
 "the Law that endureth forever" (Baruch 4: i), the 
 Law of the Human Soul. Moses- had his seventy 
 elders; they were elders because they were eldest in 
 wisdom and justice. It is said that the spirit that was 
 upon Moses was commtmicated to the seventy, and 
 that they prophesied (Num. 11:25). Character is 
 communicable. Great is the glory of him who is the 
 organ whereby the Spirit and power of God is com- 
 municated to others; and accursed is he who communi- 
 cates sin, sickness, and death to his fellows. "They 
 that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the 
 stars of heaven" (Dan. 12: 3). 
 
 Every just person, every person who is governed 
 from within, and not from without; in a word, every 
 person who is self-governing is, according to the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, governed of God. All the just are related 
 to the Kingdom of God. "For in the division of nations 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 425 
 
 of the whole earth God set a ruler over every people; 
 but Israel is the Lord's portion" Qesus Son of Sir. 
 17:17; I Kings 8:53; Josh. 24:22; Amos 3:2). "I 
 will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over 
 you; the Lord shall rule over you" Qudges 8:23; 
 I Sam. 8:7; 10:19; 12:12). Moses sought to make 
 manifest the Kingdom of God on earth in the hearts 
 of men; the end and aim of his administration was to 
 develop a self-governing people; a people so wise, so 
 charitable, and so just that they each and all would act 
 in harmony with the will of Heaven. Moses sought to 
 make manifest the Kingdom of God on earth. "The 
 foundation of Church and State is not numbers or force, 
 but Character," said Emerson. "Character is the 
 true Theocracy; it will one day suffice for the govern- 
 ment of the world." 
 
 "Elias was zealous and fervent for the Law" (i Mace. 
 2:52). When the people in the northern kingdom of 
 Israel had fallen into a state of debauchery and idolatry 
 unexampled in the history of all Israel; and when 
 Jezebel the queen was about to abolish circumcision, 
 the mark that distinguished the children of the promise 
 from the children of the flesh ; and when she was leading 
 a campaign of extermination against all who stood for 
 the rehgion of the Law, Elijah appears upon the scene. 
 The God before whom he stands is revealed in his 
 name; "Jehovah is my God; Jehovah is my strength." 
 He is the Law and the Testimony; and he speaks 
 "according to this Word." He comes to restore 
 Heaven's Law, It is obedience to Heaven's Law 
 that restores all things to their right order. He meets 
 Ahab, the King, face to face and tells him of his infi- 
 delity. "Ye have forsaken the commandments of 
 the Lord" (i Kings 18: 18). He commands the King 
 
4^6 The Law of Human Life 
 
 to convene the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel; 
 and it is written that he exterminated these proph- 
 ets; that he said to the people: '*Let not one of 
 them escape." "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah 
 had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets 
 with the sword." The sword is an ancient symbol of 
 justice; it therefore seems that Heaven's justice was 
 administered to the leaders at the Bacchanalian feasts, 
 to the defamers of Israel's God. 
 
 Elijah is the great preaching prophet; he is the 
 voice in the wilderness calling all men to repentance; 
 he is the avowed enemy of the soft, the luxurious, and 
 the sensuous life of Egypt. Every man who makes no 
 compromise with evil, and proceeds fearlessly against 
 it with a drawn sword, belongs to the Elias ministry. 
 "Elias must first come and restore things" to their right 
 order (Matt. 17:10, 12). There is a tradition that 
 Elijah lives in the desert. According to the symbolism 
 of the Scriptures, the teacher of the Law abides in the 
 wilderness. They who repent offer their first sacrifice 
 in the desert. "Let us go, we pray thee, three days' 
 journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord 
 our God" (Ex. 5:3). He who makes no compromise 
 with evil must " bear the sins of many " ; the desert life is 
 descriptive of that period of the soul's evolution that is 
 attended with trials, provocation, and suffering. "Let 
 man deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me " 
 (Matt. 16:24). Elijah is the ever-recurring type of 
 him who prepares the way. "Behold, I will send you 
 Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and 
 dreadful day of the Lord" (Mai. 4: 5). Elijah is not 
 attended by twelve princes who are to represent the 
 government of God on earth; nor does he appoint 
 seventy wise men to administer justice without fear 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 427 
 
 or favor. His office is to prepare the way for the 
 coming of him who will seek to establish the Kingdom 
 of God on earth. 
 
 Jesus of Nazareth was the embodiment of the Law; 
 it was fulfilled in him; he was the Law and the Testi- 
 mony. He pointed to his own life as the demonstration 
 of what he taught. "I am the way, the truth, and the 
 life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me" Qohn 
 14: 6), Jesus had his seventy whom he sent forth "as 
 lambs among wolves"; they were his elders; they were 
 directed to heal the sick; and to say, "The Kingdom of 
 God is come nigh unto you" (Luke 10: 9). The King- 
 dom of God, the kingdom of reason and of wisdom, is 
 nigh unto all that are virtuous; it is nigh unto all who 
 obey the Law. It is realized by the just. "Seek ye 
 first the Kingdom of God." Jesus had his twelve; they 
 were his princes whom he led out of the Egyptian state 
 of consciousness; one of these, Judas, returned to the 
 Egyptian life. To the faithful ele^'-en, it is written, 
 that Jesus communicated the Holy Spirit ; and that he 
 commanded them, saying, "Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 
 
 16:15). 
 
 The intent and purpose of Jesus' mission was to 
 communicate the religion of Israel, the ancient wisdom 
 religion, the One religion that is in perfect accord with 
 human nature itself to every rational being. This 
 religion has for its aim the realization of the Kingdom of 
 God in the hearts of men. "Seek ye first the Kingdom 
 of God." The Law is addressed to "every one having 
 knowledge and having understanding" (Neh. 10:28; 
 Deut. 31: II, 12). "And Ezra the priest brought the 
 Law before the congregation both of men and women, 
 and all that could hear with understanding" (Neh. 
 
4^8 The Law of Human Life 
 
 8:2), This recalls the words of Plato in his dialogue 
 The Republic: "Nor must I forget to tell of the Uberty 
 and equality of the two sexes in relation to each other." 
 
 Jesus instructed his disciples to preach "repentance 
 and remission of sins in his name among all nations,, 
 beginning at Jerusalem " (Luke 24 : 47). This command 
 to "begin at Jerusalem" was in entire harmony with 
 the moral and religious condition then existing in the 
 world. The Jewish temple in Jersualem was the ren- 
 dezvous of the learned and devout of Israel. Jerusa- 
 lem was the rallying point of the brotherhood of Israel. 
 It was there that the faithful collected to celebrate the 
 moral triumphs of Israel. It was there that the con- 
 gregated thousands in unison sang hymns, and prayed, 
 and burned incense in honor of the One Living Almighty 
 God. It was there that the Pharisees who sat in 
 Moses' seat taught the precepts of the Law in an 
 acceptable way. "Whatsoever they bid you observe, 
 that observe and do" (Matt. 23: 3). 
 
 Jesus' insistence was that the Jews themselves 
 had fallen into a state of decadence ; that they did not 
 live lives consistent with what they knew and assiimed 
 in words to teach. " Did not Moses give you the Law, 
 and yet none of you keepeth the Law? Why go you 
 about to kill me?" Qohn 7:19). Jesus sought to 
 reform the Jews first; and then proceed to the reforma- 
 tion of the Gentiles; he sought first to reclaim "them 
 that were nigh, " and then proceed to them "which were 
 afar off" (Eph. 2: 17). "Repent, and ye shall receive 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, 
 and to your children, and to all that are afar q/f " (Acts 
 2:38, 39; 10:45). All of Jesus' disciples were Jews. 
 None are prepared to live and teach the religion of 
 Israel except those who are Israelites at heart. "They 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 429 
 
 are not all Israelites, which are of Israel" (Rom. 9:6). 
 "He is a Jew which is one inwardly" (Rom. 2:29). 
 He is a Jew whose soul is conformed to the Law; and he 
 is a Gentile who lives in disregard of Heaven's Law. 
 Remember this: "the giving of the Law, and the 
 service of God, and the promises" are all made to 
 Israel (Rom. 9:4). "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 
 4:22). 
 
 Moses and Jesus are the two great Masters that 
 stand in the very forefront of the religious world. 
 Moses is the central figure of Old Testament literature, 
 as Jesus is of the New. They both sought a like end, 
 to wit: the salvation of mankind. "In Abraham shall 
 aU families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). 
 "One Law shall be to him that is homebom, and to 
 the stranger that sojoumeth among you" (Ex, 12:49). 
 One Law shaU be to "him that is nigh," and to "him 
 that is afar off." Moses, and Elias, and Jesus, each 
 represented in his life the fulfillment of the Law; each 
 carried the Law and the Testimony in his heart; and 
 spoke "according to this word." 
 
 Religion is personal; goodness Is personal; wickedness 
 is personal. No one can fulfill the Law of Human Life 
 for another. "Though these three men: Noah, Daniel, 
 and Job were in it [the land of the wicked], they should 
 deliver but their own souls by their righteousness" 
 (Ezek. 14:14). "Though Moses and Samuel stood 
 before Me, yet My Mind could not be toward this 
 people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go 
 forth" Qere. 15: i). "God is no respecter of persons: 
 But In every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh 
 righteousness, is acceptable" (Acts 10:34, 35)- All 
 perfected lives are aUke in this, that they are conformed 
 to Heaven's Law; and are thus attuned to the One 
 
430 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Holy Spirit that is. "For had ye believed Moses, ye 
 would have believed me; for he wrote of me" (John 
 5: 46, 47). Moses wrote the story of the human soul; 
 he wrote of you, and "he wrote of me." 
 
 Jesus Christ, in his ministry, sought first the re- 
 formation of Israel, and through Israel the whole of 
 mankind, "Go first to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel." Elias must first come and restore Israel. 
 Jesus sought to communicate the religion of Israel to 
 every rational creature in the world; and thus to free 
 men from the obsessions of the animal world; and to 
 bring them into a conscious relation with the Kingdom 
 of God. "My kingdom is not of this world, if my 
 kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
 fight." Jesus sought to make men righteous and self- 
 governing. Divine government is revealed in individual 
 self-government. They who are pure in mind and 
 heart, they who live superior to the spirit of the world, 
 they who live and act in obedience to conscience and 
 reason, are governed of God, and not of men. The 
 office of Jesus Christ, like that of all the great, is to 
 lead men to live above the spirit of the world. "Lo, 
 I am with you always, even to the end of the world" 
 (Matt. 28: 20). 
 
 Man attains to self-mastery, not by imitating an- 
 other, but by living and acting in obedience to the 
 highest within his own soul. Man, Manas, the image 
 and likeness of God, was put into the human soul, 
 "into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it" 
 (Gen. 2:15). Jesus sought to establish the Kingdom of 
 God in the hearts of men on earth. "Our Father 
 which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy 
 kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in 
 Heaven." Jesus sought to bring all men into a knowl- 
 
Jesus of Nazareth 431 
 
 edge of the Law of Human Life, the Law of Righteous- 
 ness. "It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" 
 (Matt. 3: 15). In a word, Jesus sought to bring all 
 men into a realization of the Fatherhood of God and 
 the brotherhood of man. "Have we not all One 
 Father? Hath not One God created us all?" (Mai. 
 2: 10). "Call no man your father upon earth: for one 
 is your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 23: 9). 
 
 Our estimate of the Life and Character of Jesus of 
 Nazareth is fairly summed up in the following excerpts 
 taken from an article by James Freeman Clarke 
 entitled, The Originality of Jesus, 
 
 Highest of all are the souls who have become fountains 
 of spiritual life, satisfying the longing of the human heart 
 for goodness and God. Those who have held up the great 
 Law of Righteousness, who have taught mankind Justice, 
 who have inspired the heart with generosity, who have 
 awakened and satisfied the thirst for divine things, — these 
 are the most original of all, for to them men trace the origin 
 of the noblest work done on earth. These sit in the highest 
 places, among the immortals, the prophets, saints, pacifiers 
 of the world. They have been sent of God in every time 
 and to every land, divine teachers to lift men above what 
 is merely earthly, and to show them the eternal world in 
 which God dwells. . . . This was the type of originality of 
 which Jesus was the loftiest specimen ever shown on earth. 
 He went up by going down. He went down in sympathy 
 with the poor, the lepers, the publicans, the hard worldly 
 men, the weak sinful creatures around him. . . . He came 
 to fulfill all righteousness. . . . This was the originality of 
 Christ; not discovering some truth never thought of before, 
 but Slimming up into one fulness and harmony all the great 
 truths; uniting this life and the next; making time and 
 eternity one. We call one man a saint, another a hero, 
 another a martyr, another a sage, another a reformer 
 
432 The Law of Human Life 
 
 another a philanthropist. We never think of giving any of 
 these names to Jesus, but yet all of them were in him. . . , 
 This is his perfection. It is fullness; the complete^^^well- 
 rounded, entire human life, in which man, being perfect, 
 becomes one with God. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 PAUL 
 
 "Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing" 
 (Phil. 3:16). 
 
 Saul of Tarsus, surnamed Paul, was a Grecian Jew. 
 He was a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin; he was a 
 Pharisee. "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: 
 of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in 
 question" (Acts 23:6). He belonged to that class of 
 Jews who taught that man is resurrected out of a state 
 of carnality and death into a state of life and spirituality. 
 "My manner of life from my youth, which was first 
 among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the 
 Jews; which knew from the beginning, if they would 
 testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion 
 I lived a Pharisee And now I stand and am judged 
 for the hope of the promise made of God unto our 
 fathers: . . . Why should it be thought a thing in- 
 credible with you, that God should raise the dead"? 
 (Acts 26: 4-8). The dead here spoken of are they who 
 are dead in sin and carnality; they who are dead to 
 the spiritual state of consciousness. Life and death 
 are states of the soul, and not of the body. They who 
 have no knowledge of spiritual things are said to be 
 dead and in their graves. "When I have opened your 
 28 433 
 
434 ■ The Law of Human Life 
 
 graves, My people^ and brought you up out of your 
 graves; . . . then shall ye know that I the Lord have 
 spoken it" (Ezek. 37:12, 13; John 5:28; I John 5: 
 16, 17; Ps. 31: 17; Hosea 13: 14; Dan. 12:2). He who 
 lives in obedience to the desires of the flesh is dead to 
 the spiritual state. "If ye live after the flesh ye shall 
 die," 
 
 The foolish, the conceited, the sensual, the animalized 
 are always attempting to account for the works of 
 nature, and for life and mentality in some way other 
 than that pointed out by religion. But it can be said 
 with perfect truthfulness that many of the profoundest 
 physical scientists have unqualifiedly confirmed the 
 Scriptural doctrine, to wit : that all things proceed from 
 One Eternal Source. Herbert Spencer, when criticizing 
 the Positivists, the French School of Secularists who 
 contended that "veneration and gratitude" are not 
 due to God, but to the Great Being Humanity, said: 
 "If veneration and gratitude are due at all, they are due 
 to that ultimate cause from which humanity as a whole, 
 in common with all other things, has proceeded. . . . 
 If we take the highest product of evolution, civilized 
 human society, and ask to what agency all its marvels 
 must be credited, the inevitable answer is, To that 
 unknown cause of which the cosmos is a manifestation." 
 
 "All things proceed from One Universal Energy," 
 said Herbert Spencer. "I can see nothing at last in 
 success or failure," said Emerson, "than more or less 
 of vital force supplied by the Eternal." Alfred Russel 
 Wallace, the principal coadjutor of the late Charles 
 Darwin, said: 
 
 We find that the Darwinian theory, even when carried 
 out to its extreme logical conclusion, not only does not 
 oppose, but lends a decided support to, a belief in the 
 
Paul 435 
 
 Spiritual nature of man. It shows us how man's body- 
 may have been developed from that of the lower animals 
 under the Law of natural selection; but it also teaches us 
 that we possess intellectual and moral faculties which could 
 not have been so developed, but must have another origin, 
 and for this origin we can find an adequate cause only in 
 the unseen universe of Spirit, 
 
 All truth is One; Science is the ally of religion; the 
 day is near when Psychology, the science of the human 
 soul, will be called the first science. Religion will be 
 taught as a science from the standpoint of Psychology; 
 and Psychology will take precedence of all other science 
 because of its immediate and direct relation to religion 
 itself. When all the great colleges and institutions of 
 learning in the world teach the truth concerning human 
 nature, then "everyone having knowledge and having 
 understanding" (Neh. 10:28) will know that the religion 
 of the Jews is true and eternal; and that it is founded 
 upon the nature of the soul itself. Men will then 
 know that there is a Law of Human Life. "One Law 
 shall be to him that is homeborn, and to the stranger" 
 (Ex, 12:49). There is One Law alike applicable to 
 the Jew, and the Gentile. When science becomes the 
 faithful handmaid of religion, then will the teachings of 
 Moses, and of Elias, and of Jesus be heralded as the 
 truth the world over, then will men seek to relate their 
 lives to the primal and adequate cause of all, "the 
 unseen universe- of Spirit," then will men realize the 
 profound significance of Jesus' words: "Seek ye first 
 the Kingdom of God." 
 
 Spencer has told us that "all things proceed from 
 One Universal Energy, " and Wallace has said that the 
 intellectual and moral nature of man is not an evolution 
 
436 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of his animal body, but that this high and godlike 
 nature "finds an adequate cause only in the unseen 
 universe of Spirit." Things outward, things carnal 
 that we see in the world are representative of the 
 animal kingdom. Malice, hate, envy, revenge, lust, 
 hypocrisy, greed, cruelty, and murder are animal 
 traits; these traits still adhere in the souls of unregener- 
 ate men. "My kingdom is not of this world: if my 
 kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
 fight" (John 18:36). That there is a kingdom tran- 
 scending the animal kingdom is not a matter of specula- 
 tion; all the virtuous and just have testified that there 
 is such a kingdom; and with them it is not a matter of 
 conjecture, but of knowledge. 
 
 The Scriptures teach that the mind of man, the son 
 of man, must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent 
 in the wilderness, if man would escape the obsessions of 
 animalism, and would be related to the kingdom of 
 life and peace. "To be carnally miiided is death, but 
 to be spiritually minded is life and peace." This lifting 
 of man out of a state of carnality, out of a state of 
 animalism, into a spiritual state of consciousness is the 
 resurrection spoken of by Paul. "Why should it be 
 thought a thing incredible with you, that God should 
 raise the dead?" (Acts 26: 8), "When I have opened 
 your graves, My people . . . then ye shall know that 
 I the Lord^have spoken it, and performed it" (Ezek. 
 37; 13, 14), All honor and glory to God for it is His 
 Spirit and Power that giveth the resurrection and the 
 life; it is the Lord God Jehovah that leadeth man out 
 of Egypt. "I made you go up out of Egypt^^ (Judges 
 2:1). This is the reason that the resurrected, the 
 elect of God, in all ages have raised their voices in 
 prayer, in "veneration and gratitude" to the One 
 
Paul 437 
 
 Almighty God; for they recognize that it is the "Lord 
 that hath spoken it, and performed it." "All things 
 proceed from One Eternal Energy." 
 
 "My kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom 
 were of this world, then would niy servants fight." 
 The Scriptures teach that in passing from the plane of 
 the animal sensuous world to the Mental, or Moral 
 plane of consciousness, we pass at once from the phe- 
 nomenal to the Real; from the successive to the Con- 
 tinuous; from the many to the One; from an endless 
 chain of mutual dependence to an Organizing, Controll- 
 ing, and Self-Determining Source of Power and Wisdom. 
 The cultivation of virtue, the prayers of men, in a word, 
 all the works of religion are intended to bring man into 
 a conscious relation to the Mental, or Moral plane of 
 consciousness, called iil the New Testament Scriptures 
 the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, 
 
 In the twenty-seventh chapter of Acts is the story 
 of the shipwreck of Paul and others. The writer of 
 this story tells how they were overtaken by a wind- 
 storm coming from the east, called Euroclydon. It is 
 evidently true that Paul was taken from Caesarea in 
 Palestine to the City of Rome as is here described; and 
 it is equally true, without reference to who wrote the 
 book entitled "The Acts of the Apostles," that Paul 
 was entirely familiar with the ancient story of the human 
 soul, and the mode and manner of its evolution. Paul's 
 eventful journey to Rome was used to the end that this 
 story might be preserved in the book of the "Acts of the 
 Apostles." There is reason to believe that Paul wrote 
 this chapter, for his admitted writings and the experi- 
 ence of his life are in entire harmony with it. In this 
 chapter is a veiled description of the tempest, the 
 Euroclydon, that every human soul in the process of its 
 
438 The Law of Human Life 
 
 evolution is destined to encounter; the story of Paul's 
 experience here related, and what he says in his several 
 letters proves conclusively that Paul was an adept in 
 religion, that he taught the same truths concerning 
 the nature of the hiunan soul, and the Law of its 
 evolution, proclaimed by Moses, and that he was a 
 master of the art of allegorical composition. 
 
 This storm, this Euroclydon, that descended upon 
 Paul and all aboard the ship with such ceaseless fury, 
 came from the east. They who have read the Scriptures 
 thoughtfully have observed this singular fact, that 
 what is weak, or inharmonious, or least efficient, or 
 threatening, is often represented as being on the east 
 side, or coming from the east. Cain, when he had done 
 violence to his brother Abel, "went out from the 
 presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, 
 on the east of Eden" (Gen. 4: 16). This is evidently 
 a figure of speech showing that Cain, like all the wicked, 
 is in a state of inharmony. Eden, it would seem, is 
 but another name for wisdom, and Nod indicates in- 
 harmony; therefore, they that live in the land of Nod 
 have gone out from the presence of the Lord. They 
 who attempted to build the tower of Babel, they who 
 brought their bricks and stone and slime, their false 
 opinions and conceits, and attempted to find Heaven 
 by a process of speculation, they who have filled the 
 world with their animalized conceits, contentions, and 
 with death, "journeyed from the east" (Gen, 11:2). 
 When God disciplined Jonah, and compelled him to go 
 to Nineveh against his will, and when Jonah insisted 
 that it is better to be dead than alive, it is written 
 that he went out, arid "sat on the east side of the city" 
 Qonah 4:5). 
 
 The door of the tabernacle was towards the east, 
 

 Paul 439 
 
 and a short way westward from this door was the altar, 
 where the blood of the sacrificed animals was poured out, 
 and a short distance west of the altar was the Holy- 
 Place, and still more westward and inward was the 
 Holy of Holies. The blood is the life of the flesh; the 
 pouring out of blood at the altar is a symbol descriptive 
 of the sacrifices of the animal nature of man. The 
 animals were led to the altar from the east; and they 
 represent those vestiges of animalism within the 
 soul of man which are destined to destruction: "For 
 we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians," 
 said Moses (Ex. 8:26). Those animal traits which 
 sensuous men love and adore Israel sacrificed. The 
 question may be asked. Is there any process in natiure 
 which suggests that the least perfect, the least in power 
 is in the east, and the more perfect toward the west? 
 The east is the first of the cardinal points of the horizon. 
 It is there that the sun is seen to rise; and the heat 
 and light increase as the sun approaches the meridian. 
 It would therefore seem that the Scriptures in their 
 every essential detail are attuned to the processes of 
 nature. 
 
 It is written that this dreadful east wind, called 
 Euroclydon, bore down upon the ship, and that she 
 was tmable to stand against it, and "we let her drive," 
 but after "much work" a haven was reached; and the 
 ship was undergirded lest those on board should fall 
 into the quicksands. When undergirded the ship 
 again breasts the storm ; the Scriptures teach that man 
 must gird his loins, if he would escape the sensuous 
 life of Egj'pt. The Israelites were commanded of 
 Moses to eat the "Lord's passover," their last repast 
 in Egypt, with their loins girded, their shoes on their 
 feet, and with staff in hand (Ex. 12: 11). The staff 
 
440 The Law of Human Life 
 
 is a sjnnbol of right reason. When the loins are girded 
 reason is in the ascendancy; reason governs. The 
 storm continues to beat upon the ship. The second day, 
 "they lightened the. ship; and the third day we cast 
 out with our own hands the tackling of the ship." 
 The darkest days are come; the storm bears down upon 
 the ship with an appalling fury. "All hope that we 
 should be saved was then taken away" (Acts 27: 1 8- 
 20). 
 
 Every human soul is destined to be driven before 
 an east wind; it is destined to undergo great trials and 
 temptations; but if it be faithful to its high destiny,, 
 and do "much work," it will find a haven where it 
 can gird itself, and make ready for the "coming of the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord." The third day 
 is the day of the resurrection; on this day the tempest 
 redoubles its fury ; on this day "the tackling of the ship " 
 is cast overboard; and "neither sun nor stars appear 
 through many days." This mysterious chapter in its 
 outward sense is the history of Paul's eventful journey 
 by- sea to the City of Rome, but in its depths it is the 
 story of the human soul, and of every human soul. 
 
 Perhaps a brief review of the life of Moses will aid 
 us in understanding the singular language of the 
 chapter before us. According to the symbolism of the 
 Scriptures, man's sojourn on earth is often spoken of as 
 three days; and the last day of the three completes his 
 education. "Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures 
 to-day and to-morrow, axid the third day I shall be per- 
 fected" (Luke 13: 32). The first day of Moses' life is 
 represented in the forty years that he resided in Egypt; 
 the second day represents his forty years in the wilder- 
 ness, and in this day he "lightened the ship, " he girded 
 himself, he prepared himself for the "coming of the 
 
Paul 441 
 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord"; and the third day 
 begins with his experience at Horeb, he is then resur- 
 rected from the dead, he is then commissioned the 
 savior of his people, he is then to bear the sins of his 
 people. 
 
 It is at Horeb that he bids adieu forever to the 
 luxurious and sensuous life of Egypt; it is at Horeb 
 that he becomes conscious of the Kingdom of God; 
 it is at Horeb that he casts overboard every hindrance 
 to a holy and righteous work. He who would lead 
 others to Sinai must first be free himself. The third 
 day of Moses' life was to him "the great and dreadful 
 day of the Lord"; and during this forty years, there 
 were times "when neither sun nor stars appeared for 
 many days" and all hope that he should save his people 
 was then taken away. There were times when the soul 
 of this great and godlike man was tried to its very 
 depths. "And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore 
 hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I 
 not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden 
 of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this 
 people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldstsay 
 unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father 
 beareth a sucking child, unto the land which thou 
 swearest to give unto their fathers?" (Num. ii:ii, 
 12; 21:5; Ps. 95:8-10). 
 
 "And it is appointed unto man once to die [to the 
 world, to cast the tackling of the ship overboard], but 
 after this the judgment " (Heb. 9 : 27). The third day of 
 Moses' life, the last forty years of his life on earth, was 
 his day of judgment. The third day is the day of judg- 
 ment, the crisis, the harvest time when the last of the 
 tares are separated from the wheat, and burned. The 
 tares are the animal traits that inhere in the soul of 
 
442 The Law of Human Life 
 
 unregenerate man; they are "the children of the wicked 
 one, " and when the human soul is freed from the ves- 
 tiges of animalism, it has attained to "the end of the 
 world" (Matt. 13:38, 39). Man would he attain to 
 the end of the world must "put away sin by the sacri- 
 fice of himself" (Heb. 9:26); he must "bear the sins 
 of many." On the "third day the tackling of the 
 ship" is cast overboard. How cheap the things of the 
 world become, how cheap the animalized world appears, 
 when man is resurrected from the dead, and is con- 
 sciously related to the spiritual kingdom, the kingdom 
 "of the living" (Mark 12:27), the kingdom of the 
 purely human, the kingdom of the just, the kingdom 
 wherein the elect are led and taught of the Holy Spirit, 
 and are the organs of It, 
 
 Paul speaks of those "that obey not the Gospel of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 1:8). What is the 
 Gospel? The Gospel, the name given to the New 
 Testament Scriptures, is derived from the Greek word 
 Evangel, and means: Good tidings of the Kingdom of 
 God to all people. It is good to know, it is of the 
 first importance to know, that there is a kingdom that 
 transcends the animal, where the souls of men are 
 free, and just, and where there is unity, harmony and 
 peace, and where the Fatherhood of God and the 
 brotherhood of man are realized. Paul, like Moses, and 
 Elijah, and Jesus, and all the elect of God, is a messenger 
 of the Kingdom of God. He brings good tidings to those 
 aboard the foundering ship; he tells them that every 
 one shall be saved. "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: 
 for I beHeve God, that it shall be even as it was told 
 to me" (Acts 27:25). The Kingdom of God tran- 
 scends the animal kingdom of this world. "If my 
 kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
 
Paul 443 
 
 fight." Man becomes human and divine to the 
 extent that he escapes from the animal kingdom of 
 the world, and is related to the spiritual kingdom, the 
 Kingdom of God. The end and aim of religion is to 
 bring man into a conscious relation to this high and 
 holy kingdom. 
 
 It is written, that when Paul had arrived in Rome 
 after his eventful voyage that he put his case before 
 the chief of the Jews. "And it came to pass, that after 
 three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and 
 when they were come together, he said unto them, Men 
 and brethren, though I have committed nothing against 
 the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was I de- 
 livered a prisoner . . . into the hands of the Romans" 
 (Acts 28:17). Notice this singular language: ^^ after 
 three days Paxil called the chief of the Jews together"; 
 this expression is evidently used advisedly;, and it 
 means that he called together those who had knowledge 
 of the resurrection on the third day. This voyage to 
 Rome is said to have been near the end of Paul's life 
 on earth. He now tells his brethren, "the chief of the 
 Jews," that he has done nothing against the "customs 
 of our fathers." In a word, he says that he has done 
 nothing contrary to the teachings of the elect of Israel. 
 A day is appointed when he is to address the people of 
 Rome. "There came many into his lodging; to whom 
 he expotmded and testified the Kingdom of God, 
 persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law 
 of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning to 
 evening " (Acts 28 : 23) . 
 
 Paul testifies of the Kingdom of God. He persuades 
 the people concerning the life of Jesus Christ, both out of 
 the Law of Moses, and out of the prophets. Thus it is 
 seen that Paul pointed to the life of Jesus as an illustra- 
 
444 The Law of Human Life 
 
 tion of the fulfillment of the Law. "All things must be 
 fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and 
 the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 
 24:44). Moses wrote the story of the human soul; 
 therefore, he wrote concerning you, and "concerning 
 me," They who believe in the Kingdom of God, 
 and who try to live worthy of It are not under the 
 Law; they are said to have passed beyond the obser- 
 vance of the precepts of the Law; they are those who 
 are seeking to have the Law of God written in their 
 hearts. "Do we make void the Law through faith? 
 God forbid: yea, we establish the Law'' (Rom. 3:31). 
 He who believes in his heart that the Kingdom of 
 God is an existing fact, and lives worthy of it, is said 
 to have the Law of God established in his heart. When 
 man sincerely believes that God is, and wills to live a 
 virtuous and just life, then it is said that the Law of 
 God is established in his heart. "Then said he, Lo, I 
 come to do Thy will, O God, He taketh away the 
 first [the precepts of the Law], that He may establish 
 the second" [the Law within the heart] (Heb. 10:9; 
 Ps.4o:7, 8), 
 
 Paul, like all the wise of Israel, taught the Law 
 of Human Life; he knew that the Law points the way; 
 that the precepts of the Law are an essential and in- 
 dispensable part of human knowledge. According to 
 the teachings of Paul, the ten commandments recorded 
 in the Pentateuch should be as faithfully obeyed 
 to-day as in the palmy days of Israel. Righteousness 
 is righteousness because it is natural; "evil is evil 
 because it is unnatural." The precepts of the Law 
 inhibit the unnatural; they inhibit the exercise of 
 animal traits; and they cpmmand the exercise of the 
 graces that are human; wisdom, courage, temperance, 
 
Paul 445 
 
 and justice. They inhibit the sensual, the animal, 
 and command obedience to reason. Truth is revealed 
 in the moral order of the universe. Truth is not the 
 creation of man; it exists, and has forever existed; 
 and when the soul of man is related to the Kingdom 
 of God, it is the organ of truth; it is through the lives 
 of the virtuous that the grace and the power and the 
 glory of God are made manifest. "For the life was 
 manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, 
 and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the 
 Father, and was manifested unto us" (i John 1:2). 
 I Joseph Cook, of Boston, in one of his Monday lectures 
 (winter of 1876-77), said: "The universe must have 
 conditions of salvation in it if it is made on a plan. 
 Religious Science springs out of the universality of 
 Law. If there is a soul, and the soul is made on a 
 plan, if there is a God who is all order and holiness, then 
 it is incontrovertible that there are natural conditions 
 of salvation." This is precisely what the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures teach. "Sin is not imputed where there is no 
 Law" (Rom. 5: 13). Sin is sin because it is an offend- 
 •ing against God, against the moral order. The pre- 
 cepts of the Law tell us what sin is; they tell us what it 
 is that constitutes a violation of the divine order. 
 "For I was alive once: but when the commandment 
 came, sin revived, and I died" (Rom. 7:9). A simple 
 rendering of this would be: I once believed that I was 
 alive to God, and the truth, but when I came to under- 
 stand the Law, I discovered that I was sinful and in 
 a state of death. 
 
 "The Law [the precepts] made nothing perfect" 
 (Heb. 7: 19). When the precepts are mastered, then 
 the dream of salvation is transferred from without to 
 within the himian soul itself. Paul, like all the elect 
 
446 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of Israel, knew that precepts: inhibitions, restraints, 
 and commands from without can never make the soul 
 of man perfect; that perfection can only come of a 
 righteous self-direction from within the soul; that the 
 soul, if it would be perfect, must conform to the inner 
 Law that determines its perfection. The habitual 
 speaking of the truth is a high and godlike virtue, and 
 it is an inward, natural, orderly, and human function 
 of the soul. "He that doeth the truth cometh to the 
 Light" (John 3:21), He that is faithful to truth 
 attains to wisdom, '*When the habit of speaking the 
 truth is neglected, the capacity of perceiving it is gradu- 
 ally lost." The heart is the life center within the soul; 
 it is the seat of courage, and of valor; it is the Holy 
 Spirit that reveals the truth to man. The Spirit only 
 communicates the truth to those who have the courage 
 to assert it, and even to die for it. The liar is more 
 animal than human; with the ascent of the human 
 comes the ascendancy of truth. Pepple do not know 
 the truth because they do not live worthy of it; they 
 are not willing to suffer for it; they do not know it 
 because they love and live the sensuous life; because 
 they compromise themselves with evil. A virtuous 
 and upright soul is the organ of truth. '*To this 
 end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, 
 that I should bear witness unto the truth." The soul 
 of man must be virtuous and upright, if it would be an 
 organ of the Holy Spirit, and a witness unto the truth. 
 R, J. Campbell, Minister of the City Temple, Lon- 
 don, in his book. The New Theology, says : "The soul is 
 yihsii we make it; the Spirit we can neither make nor 
 mar, for it is at once our Being and God's. What we 
 are here to do is to grow the soul, that is to manifest 
 the true nature of the Spirit." The soul has its Law; 
 
Paul 447 
 
 and the precepts of the Law are but means to an end; 
 and their office is to lead man Until reason, the mascu- 
 line principle of the soid, at the summit of the temple, 
 assumes his righteous function. When reason attains 
 to his own, then is the soul governed from within, and 
 not from without. Precepts are for those who are 
 incapable of righteous action because of their inward 
 deformity; but when reason compels the soul to virtue, 
 and maintains his righteous supremacy, then is man 
 freed from the precepts of the Law, then is the soul 
 true to its high destiny, then is the soul on its way to a 
 conscious unity with God. 
 
 "If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not tmder [the 
 precepts of] the Law" (Gal. 5:18). Christ, or right 
 reason, subjects man to a severe discipline. "We suffer 
 with him, that we may reign with him." The conceited, 
 the animalized, the unreasoning, the selfish expect the 
 joys of Heaven to descend upon them; they do not 
 know that the building of character is personal and 
 psychological; they do not know that reason is given 
 to the end that man may be a co-worker with God in 
 making perfect his soul. The first duty of every man 
 is the making perfect of his own soul. "Now look 
 to thine own house, thou son of David." The kingdom 
 of harmony and of peace, the Kingdom of God when 
 found is within the human soul itself; and this kingdom 
 is only found of him who has worked incessantly to 
 attime his soul to wisdom, truth, and justice. When 
 reason attains to his own, then the precepts of the 
 Law, the outward forms of religion are no longer re- 
 quired; for man is then governed from within his soul 
 and not by inhibitions and commands from without. 
 "Mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin 
 offering hast thou not required" (Ps. 40:6; Heb. 
 
44^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 10:4-8). Religion does not consist in dogma, or in 
 outward observances, but in personal goodness, in 
 perfection of life; all else are but means to an end. 
 
 "The Law is not of faith: but the man thatdoeth 
 them [the precepts] shall live in them; but it is evident, 
 that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God: 
 for, The Just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11; Rom. 
 1 : 17; Heb. 10: 38). Who are the just? Who are they 
 that ''live by faith?" Paid evidently used the word 
 "just" in the sense that all the wise have used it; 
 for in his letter to the Romans (i : 19) he said: "That 
 wliich may be known of God is manifest in them 
 [the just]; for God hath showed it unto them." Plato 
 tells us that the virtue of reason is Wisdom, and that 
 this virtue has its seat in the head, and is the governing 
 and measuring virtue; that Valor is the virtue of the 
 heart, that the affections of a pure heart are the faithful 
 allies of reason; that Temperance is the virtue of the 
 lower principle of the soul. When the lower principle 
 is girded and obedient to reason, then is man temperate. 
 Justice is that virtue that represents all of the principles 
 of the soul in perfect harmony and balance. The 
 perfection of the soul, the harmony of the soul, its 
 htmianization, is stimmed up in the word Justice. 
 Perhaps it was St. Clement of Alexandria who spoke of 
 the faith of knowledge as distinguished from the faith 
 of conjecture. When the soul is just and upright, it 
 attains to the faith of knowledge. 
 
 Then faith, it would seem, is what the Rev. George 
 Putnam, late of Roxbury, Mass., says it is: "Faith 
 can be nothing less than that state of the soul which 
 generates personal goodness, that inner fountain of 
 spiritual life which is called the gift or inspiration of 
 God's Spirit, and out of which proceed holy desires, 
 
Paul 449 
 
 just purposes, loving affections, piety, meekness, 
 
 patience,, truthfulness, all noble actions, all beautiful 
 
 living." Faith and justice are represented in the soul's 
 
 perfection. It is, therefore, inconceivable that man 
 
 should be just in the Scriptural and Platonic sense, and 
 
 not be possessed of the faith of knowledge, or that man 
 
 should be possessed of the faith of knowledge and not 
 
 be just. They who do not believe in God are unjust; 
 
 their souls are in a state of deformity. Their souls 
 
 are not upright (Habak. 2:4). The word "upright" 
 
 is often used like the word "just" to describe the soul's 
 
 perfection. "I will praise the Lord with my whole 
 
 heart in the assembly of the upright" (Ps. iii:i; 
 
 19:13), God reveals Himself to the just, to the 
 
 upright. "If thou wert pure and upright; surely now 
 
 He would awake for thee" (Job. 8:6). 
 
 Paul tells us again and again that the precepts 
 
 of the Law: inhibitions and commands from without, 
 
 can never make the sotil of man perfect; that perfection 
 
 can only come of a righteous self-direction from within 
 
 the soul itself. Reason is the governing principle of the 
 
 soul. When reason sits composedly at the summit 
 
 of the temple, and refuses to be tempted or debauched 
 
 of Satan, and girds and commands Satan, then is man 
 
 governed from within, then is man the master of himself, 
 
 then is the son of man lifted up, then is man acting 
 
 in obedience to the Will of God, then is man true to the 
 
 one living Law that inheres in his soul, then is man led 
 
 "by a new and living way" (Heb. 10: 20), then is man 
 
 in the strait and narrow way, "which leadeth unto life." 
 
 Paul, like all the great of Israel, found inexpressible 
 
 delight in the inner Law, the law of the mind, that 
 
 ministers to the sotd's perfection. "I delight in the 
 
 Law. of God after the inward man" (Rom. 7: 22-25). 
 39 
 
450 The Law of Human Life 
 
 Several passages of Scripture, attributed to Paul, 
 have been construed as announcing doctrine unfriendly 
 to women. It is often said that Paul spoke disparag- 
 ingly of women preaching, and of their performing 
 religious functions in public meetings. When the 
 Scriptures in question are viewed from a psychological 
 standpoint, it will be seen that this criticism is entirely 
 erroneous; that Paul made no discrimination invidious 
 to women. 
 
 *'I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp author- 
 ity over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was 
 first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, 
 but the woman being deceived was in the transgres- 
 sion" (i Tim. 2: 11-14). This language is not to be 
 taken literally. For it is entirely evident that Paul 
 did suffer women to teach. This is the story of the 
 human soul. Adam is the representative of mind, 
 manas, man; and Eve, of the heart and the affections; 
 the mind is masculine, the heart is feminine. *'I 
 suffer not the woman to usurp authority over the man." 
 Reason is entitled to govern. Suffer not the emotions, 
 the feelings, and the affections to usurp the office of 
 reason. In the order of nature, the feelings, the 
 affections are the first to be deceived, the first to trans- 
 gress. When the affections are unfaithful to reason, 
 then is Adam imperiled, then is Adam tempted to 
 throw himself down from the summit of the temple. 
 
 " Man is the image and glory of God; but the woman 
 is the glory of the man. Neither was the man created 
 for the woman; but the woman for the man. . . Neither 
 is the man without the woman, neither is the woman 
 without the man, in the Lord" (i Cor. 11:7-11). 
 This strange language we would interpret as follows: 
 A holy and chaste mind is the image and glory of 
 
Paul 451 
 
 God, but a pure and virtuous heart is the glory of the 
 man. Neither was man created to be governed of 
 his emotions and feelings, but they were created to be 
 governed of man. Neither is a holy mind without a 
 pure heart, neither is a virtuous heart without a just 
 mind, before God. 
 
 Paul's profound observations concerning the nature 
 of the human soul recalls the words of a famous English 
 divine, the late Frederick W. Robertson of Brighton. 
 "Every great poet is a ' double-natured man*; with the 
 feminine and manly powers in harmonious balance; 
 having the tact, and the sympathy, and the intuition, 
 and tenderness of woman, with the breadth and massive- 
 ness of the manly intellect, besides the calm justice 
 which is almost exclusively masculine." 
 • The Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, 
 has always insisted that there is nothing in the writings 
 of Paul that inhibits women from participation in all 
 the offices of religion in common with men. George 
 Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, laid it 
 down unqualifiedly that men and women are alike 
 entitled and obligated to teach religion. Fox affirmed 
 that the true teacher of every man is the Spirit of God 
 within his soul; and that if man will be faithful to the 
 light that God gives him, he can attain to perfection, 
 in a word, that God aids His own to make the ascent 
 of the Spiritual moimtain. Fox in his autobiography 
 said: 
 
 ■ For this thing [hiring ministers] has spoiled many by 
 hindering them from improving their own minds; whereas 
 our labor is to bring every one to his own teacher in himself. 
 . . . Women . . . being partakers of the same precious 
 Faith, and heirs of the same everlasting gospel of life and 
 salvation with men, might in like manner come into the 
 
452 The Law of Human Life 
 
 possession and practice of the same gospel order. ... So 
 all the family of God, women as well as men, might know, 
 possess, perform, and discharge their offices and services 
 in the House of God, that the poor might be better taken 
 care of, the young instructed, informed, and taught in the 
 way of God; and the loose and disorderly reproved and 
 admonished in the fear of the Lord. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Arnold, of Rugby, England, though he 
 died at the age of forty-seven, in 1842, proved himself 
 to be a man of real virtue and power; and like all such, 
 it is said that he turned many to righteousness. James 
 Martineau, when commenting on his simple and ex- 
 emplary life, said: "Arnold has lived and shown how 
 nobleness and strength may maintain itself in an age of 
 falsehood, negligence and pretense. . . . His under- 
 standing was too robust, and his moral affections too 
 decided, to be turned from their natural direction by 
 any external agency." "It gives me no pain and no 
 scruple whatever," said Dr. Arnold, "to differ from 
 those whom I cannot find to be worthy of admiration. 
 Nor does their number affect me." Martineau, in his 
 essay on Arnold, quotes the famous words of Milton : 
 
 Abdiel, faithful found 
 Among the faithless, faithful only he 
 Among innumerable false, unmoved, 
 Unshaken, unsubdued, unterrified. 
 
 What was it that made Arnold a member of the 
 royal race? What was it that distinguished him from 
 the great mass of mankind among whom he lived? 
 What was it that made his life so simple, so noble, so 
 strong, and so memorable? It was the living of a life 
 faithful to the highest within the soul itself. This is 
 
Paul 453 
 
 the secret of human greatness. Nothing is comparable 
 to a noble self-direction from within. This idea was 
 well phrased by Dr. Arnold himself; 
 
 The needle may point due south if you hold a powerful 
 magnet in that direction. Still, the compass, generally 
 speaking, is a true and sure guide, and so is the conscience; 
 and you can trace the deranging influence on the latter 
 quite as surely as on the former. Again, there is confusion 
 in some men's minds, who say that, if we so exalt conscience, 
 we make ourselves the paramount judges of all things, and 
 so do not live by faith and obedience. But he who believes 
 his conscience to be God's Law, by obeying It obeys God. 
 . . . And as for Faith, there is again a confusion in the use 
 of the term. It is not Scriptural, but fanatical, to oppose 
 faith to reason. Faith is properly opposed to sense, and is 
 the listening to the dictates of the higher part of the mind, 
 to which God alone speaks, rather than to the lower part of 
 us, to which the world speaks. 
 
 Paul did not believe that a religious meeting should 
 be made the occasion of asking questions, and of dispu- 
 tation and debate (2 Cor. 12: 19, 20.) The object of a 
 religious meeting is the worship of God, and the cultiva- 
 tion of the spirit of brotherhood. "We do all things, 
 dearly beloved, for your edifying," for your moral 
 uplift. Paul, therefore, advised the women to forego 
 the asking of questions in public meetings (i Cor. 
 14:34). He cautions Timothy not to "give heed to 
 fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, 
 rather than edifying" (i Tim. 1:4); "foolish and un- 
 learned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender 
 strifes" (2 Tim. 2:23). Paul gives' the same advice 
 to Titus (3:9), that he gave to Timothy. In his letter 
 to the Philippians (4: 3) he requests help for the women 
 
454 The Law of Human Life 
 
 who had been co-laborers with him. "Help those 
 women which labored with me in the gospel." Paul 
 was accompanied for a time by Priscilla and Aquila 
 who were the religious teachers of the eloquent ApoUos 
 (Acts 1 8 : 1 8 , 24, 26) . Miriam , and Deborah, and 
 Huldah are some of the women who taught and proph- 
 esied in the ancient days of Israel; and it would 
 seem that there were women of like character in the 
 days of Paul; and that he approved and complimented 
 them as co-laborers in the work of spreading the gospel. 
 Paul lodged for a time at the house of Philip who had 
 four daughters "which did prophesy" (Acts 21:9). 
 Paul speaks kindly of Phoebe, "our sister," a deaconess 
 in a church in Corinth ; and in like terms of other women 
 whom he denominates "those women which labored 
 with me in the gospel." (Rom 16: 1-3, 12; Phil. 
 4: 2, 3). The religion of Israel is addressed to "every 
 one having knowledge and having understanding" 
 (Neh. 10:28; 8:2; Deut. 31:11, 12). Paul, like all 
 the wise, recognized that fitness to perform the offices 
 of religion is not determined by sex, but by qualifica- 
 tion, by character. They alone are fit to teach the 
 religion of Israel who know its doctrine, and live 
 worthy of it. What is great in religion is revealed not 
 in argumentation, nor in speculation, but by actual 
 demonstrations of power (Mark 16:20; Acts 5:12; 
 I Cor. 2:4). 
 
 "For other foundation can no man lay than that is 
 laid, which is Jesus Christ. . . . Know ye not that ye 
 are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, 
 him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, 
 which temple ye are" (i Cor. 3: 11, 16). Paul is here 
 re-stating the ancient idea so elaborately presented 
 
Paul 455 
 
 in the teachings of Moses; and demonstrated in the life 
 of Jesus, to wit: that the soul and body of man is a 
 temple wherein dwelleth the Spirit of God; and that the 
 making perfect of this temple is the true work of man. 
 '*The Lord is my strength; and He is my salvation; He 
 is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation" 
 (Ex. 15:2). "We are labourers together with God" 
 (i Cor. 3:9). Jesus drove the animals, the money 
 changers, and the sellers of doves out of the temple; 
 Jesus freed the temple from all that is animal. "He 
 spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:21). All 
 evil in man is chargeable to his animal nature; therefore, 
 the sins of mankind are laid upon the head of the 
 goat. He who desecrates and defiles his soul and body, 
 the temple of God, he who persists in living the sensuous 
 life, "him shall God destroy." Paul says tmqualifiedly 
 that there is "no other foundation" for human perfec- 
 tion than that demonstrated in the life and character 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is manifest that Paul taught the same doctrine 
 concerning the human soul, and the mode and manner 
 of its evolution, that was taught by Moses, and Jesus, 
 and all the elect of Israel. He taught the ancient 
 wisdom religion, the religion that is founded upon 
 human nature itself. Paul pointed to the life of Jesus 
 Christ as a fulfillment of the Law of Human Life. 
 "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus" 
 (2 Cor. 4:5). He spoke of Christ as representing 
 "the power, of God, and the wisdom of God" (i Cor. 
 1:24). They that are resurrected from the dead, 
 and are made perfect by suffering, represent "the 
 power of God, and the wisdom of God." 
 
 "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek 
 after wisdom : But we preach Christ crucified, unto the 
 
45^ The Law of Human Life 
 
 Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; 
 but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, 
 Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" 
 (i Cor. 1:22-24). Paul, like Jesus, accused the Jews 
 of having lapsed into the Gentile. state; they require 
 an outward sign; and the Greeks are secular and 
 worldly, and given to speculative thought. "But we 
 preach Christ crucified"; Christ is forever crucified 
 by the conceited and animalized spirit of the world. 
 "But to them which are called [to them that are 
 resurrected], both Jews and Greeks," we preach that 
 Christ represents "the power of God, and the wisdom 
 of God." 
 
 Paul in the twelfth chapter of first Corinthians 
 says that "there are diversities of gifts, but the same 
 Spirit" is the giver of all. To one is given wisdom, 
 illumination, to another knowledge, to another faith, 
 to another the gift of healing; and thus after recounting 
 at some length the gifts of the Spirit, he says: "and 
 yet show I unto you a more excellent way" (i Cor. 
 12:31). Immediately following in the first verses of 
 the next chapter, the thirteenth of i Corinthians, 
 Paid explains the "more excellent way." He would 
 have us know that the more excellent way is made 
 manifest in an unfeigned love of God and of man. 
 "Though I [assume to] speak with the tongues of men 
 and of angels, and have not Love, I am become as 
 sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" (i Cor. 13: 1-3). 
 *'Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Rom. .13: 10). 
 ' Paul would have us know that the two great com- 
 mandments proclaimed by Moses (Deut. 6:4, 5; Levit. 
 19: 18, 34), and affirmed by Jesus (Mark 12:28-31), 
 represent the end and aim of religion, "the more 
 excellent way." "And these words which I command 
 
Paul 457 
 
 thee this day, shall be in thine heart** (Deut. 6:6). 
 *' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the 
 prophets" (Matt. 22:40). How many people have 
 read, and seriously contemplated, the sixth chapter of 
 Deuteronomy and the nineteenth of Leviticus, and 
 the twelfth of Mark? It does not seem that human 
 language could more emphatically teach the Oneness of 
 God, and the unfeigned love of God, than the sixth 
 chapter of Deuteronomy and the twelfth of Mark. 
 He that hath in his heart an unfeigned love of God, 
 and of his neighbor, is resurrected from the dead, and 
 hath realized "the more excellent way." "We know 
 that we have passed from death unto life, because we 
 love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother 
 abideth in death" (i John 3: 14). 
 
 He that is faithful to conscience and reason is led 
 and taught of the Spirit of God; for man is possessed of 
 power and wisdom according to the Spirit of holiness 
 within him (Rom 1:4; i Kings 3:6; Ps. 62: 12; Prov. 
 24: 12; Hosea 12:2; Job 34: 11). "If we live in the 
 Spirit, let. us walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). "For 
 I deUght in the Law of God after the inward man" 
 (Rom. 7:22). Paul taught, as did the masters, that 
 man should be governed from within, by the inner 
 Law, "the Law of God"; and not by precepts: com- 
 mands and inhibitions imposed from without. The 
 conduct of man is uncertain and far from good so long 
 as he is in need of government by precepts. Man is 
 only good when he is governed involuntarily of the 
 Spirit (John 21: 18; i Kings 18: 12; Matt. 4: i). The 
 precepts of the Law are many, but the inner Law, 
 the Law of the Spirit is One (Ps. 37: 31 ; 40: 8). 
 
 The mind which is most godlike is most simple; the 
 mind is most simple which is most free from the obses- 
 
458 The Law of Human Life 
 
 sions of the sensuous animal world. Man is dead, man 
 is asleep, as long as he abides in the carnal sensuous 
 state of consciousness. "Jonah . . . was fast asleep. 
 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, 
 What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, 
 if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish 
 not" (Jonah 1:5, 6). Man is not truly man until his 
 mind in some measure becomes the likeness and image 
 of his Creator. ' ' I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with 
 thy likeness " (Ps. 17:15). Paul speaks of the mentality 
 of Jesus Christ as "the image of the invisible God, the 
 first-bom of every creature" (Col. i : 15). It stands to 
 reason that a pure mind is the first-born, the highest 
 born of every rational creature, and that it represents 
 the glory of God. "For man indeed is the image and 
 glory of God" (i Cor, 11:7). Paul taught, as did 
 Peter, John, and James, that the life and character of 
 Jesus Christ represented the simplicity of man, the 
 freedom of man, the liberty of man, and above all the 
 indescribable glory of God. "Stand fast therefore 
 in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and 
 be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" 
 
 (Gal. 5: 1). 
 
 When the mind of man is lifted up above the things 
 of the sensuous animal world, when it becomes the 
 image and likeness of its Creator, then is man just, 
 then is man meek, then can his conduct be predicted. 
 But when his affections are beguiled by the subtlety' 
 of the serpent, when he falls a victim to the seed of 
 Satan: anger, hate, lust, revenge, greed, envy, malice, 
 hypocrisy, falsehood, and superstition, then is his life 
 complex, sensuous, and animalized, then his conduct 
 cannot be predicted; and thus the simplicity that 
 was made manifest in the life of Christ is absent. Paul 
 
Paul 459 
 
 told the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:3), that he feared that 
 the serpent would beguile Eve, "so that their minds 
 should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
 Christ." 
 
 In the drama of salvation, man lives first in obedience 
 to precepts: commands and inhibitions; and lastly, in 
 obedience to an inner and a living Law, "the Law of the 
 mind" (Rom. 7:23), a Law so divine, so holy, so 
 perfect, that none can keep it; but they who walk 
 with God. Man, would he be a man, must escape 
 government by precepts, government from without; he 
 must be governed from within; he must realize and 
 manifest righteous self-government. In a word, he 
 must live worthy of the One Living Law, the Law of 
 God, that finds fulfillment in the depths of the human 
 soul itself. The soul of man must conform to the 
 divine order, it must be related to the Kingdom of 
 God, it must be attuned to the Infinite, if it would be an 
 organ of the Holy Spirit, and would attain to "the 
 simplicity that is in Christ." It is only when we 
 regard Joseph, and Moses, and Jesus, and all the elect 
 of God, as our elder brothers, that their lives become 
 real, and practicable, and comprehensible, and imitable. 
 
 James, a servant of God and of Jesus Christ, addressed 
 his letter "to the twelve tribes which are scattered 
 abroad" (James i: i). Peter, who seemingly occupied 
 the first place among the disciples of Jesus and who was 
 the first to "launch out into the deep, " and the first to 
 be bom into the higher life, is denominated, "the apostle 
 of the circumcision," and Paul, "the apostle of the 
 tmcircumcision " (Gal, 2:7.) Peter is sumamed Bar- 
 jona (the son of the dove). The dove is a symbol 
 of the Holy Spirit. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- 
 jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
 
460 The Law of Human Life 
 
 thee, but my Father which is in Heaven" (Matt. 
 16: 17). From this we infer that Peter was the first 
 to be born of water and of the Spirit; he was the 
 first upon whom the dove descended (John 3:5), 
 the first to be born into the higher life. 
 
 "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded 
 them, saying, Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and 
 into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But 
 go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And 
 as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at 
 hand?" (Matt. 10:5, 6, 7). The name Samaria means 
 "the land of the nations," the land of a mixed people. 
 Jesus regarded the Jewish people of his day as superior 
 to the Gentiles; for aU of his disciples were Jews; 
 and he advised the people to conform to the teachings 
 of the scribes and Pharisees, but not to their con- 
 duct (Matt. 23: 1-3). In a word, Jesus regarded the 
 Pharisees of his time as false and hypocritical in this, 
 that they taught correct doctrine, but failed to live 
 worthy of it. "Did not Moses give you the Law, 
 yet none of you keepeth the Law? Why go you about 
 to kill me?" (John 7: 19). The Pharisees taught the 
 resurrection of the dead. "I am a Pharisee, the son 
 of a Pharisee: of the hope of the resurrection of the 
 dead I am called in question" (Acts 23:6). "Why 
 should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that 
 God should raise the dead?" (Acts 26: 8). 
 
 It, therefore, seems plain that the twelve, they 
 "of the circumcision, " they who seek "the lost sheep of 
 the house of Israel, " are of those who live and teach 
 the "common faith" (Titus 1:4) of Israel; they are 
 those who abide in "the hope of the resurrection of the 
 dead." The true teachers of religion are the resurrected- 
 " Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22). Salvation 
 
Paul 461 
 
 is of the resurrected. The restoration of Israel is the 
 first requisite toward the salvation of mankind. "Israel 
 is my son, even my first-born" (Ex. 4:22). "Elias 
 must first come . . . and restore all things" (Matt. 
 17: 10, ii), Israel restored, Israel resurrected, is the 
 nucleus necessary to the reformation of the people of 
 the world. "In Abraham shall all families of the 
 earth be blessed" (Gen. 12: 3). "But tmto the wicked 
 God saith. What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, 
 or that thou shouldst take my covenant into thy mouth? 
 Seeing that thou hatest instruction, and casteth my 
 words behind thee?" (Ps. 50: 16). 
 
 The wicked, the sensuous, the dead, are not called 
 of God to teach "the holy scriptures, which are able 
 to make thee wise unto salvation through that faith 
 which was made manifest in Jesus Christ" (2* Tim. 
 3:15). Th^ truth, the word of God is not in the 
 mouth of the wicked; but it is in the mouth of the 
 "living," of the resurrected; it is in the mouth of 
 Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob (Matt. 22:31, 
 32). This recalls the parable of the tribute-money. 
 It is written that Simon Bar-jona (the son of the 
 dove) found the tribute-money in the mouth of a fish 
 (Matt. 17:24-27). The fish drawn out of the water 
 is a symbol of the resurrection of man, and the tribute- 
 money of the divine word. The word of God is found 
 in the mouth of the resurrected, in the mouth of him 
 upon whom the dove hath descended. The glory of 
 religion and of God is made manifest in the lives of 
 the resurrected. "I am the resurrection and the life." 
 Peter, it would seem, was the first of Jesus' disciples 
 to find the tribute-money. "God hath spoken by the 
 mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the 
 world began" (Luke i : 70; Neh. 9: 30; 2 Kings 17: 13). 
 
462 The Law of Human Life 
 
 "There shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John 
 10: 16). All the righteous are of one fold, the fold of 
 Israel, and are led and taught by the Holy Spirit, the 
 One Shepherd of all the sheep. The resurrected are 
 they that feed the sheep, that dispense the divine 
 word. "So when they had dined, Jesus saith unto 
 Simon Peter, Simon, the son of Jonas [the son of the 
 dove], lovest thou me more than these? He saith 
 unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. 
 He saith unto him. Feed my lambs" (John 21 : 15-18). 
 This command of Jesus in the form of a question is 
 emphasized; for it is thrice asked, and thrice answered. 
 "Lovest thou me more than these." The love of God, 
 and the love of man is what constitutes one a true 
 keeper of the sheep; the resurrected, the sons of God, 
 are they that make manifest the "power of God, and 
 the wisdom of God" (i Cor. 1:24). Jesus Christ 
 was "declared to be the son of God with power, accord- 
 ing to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from 
 the dead" (Rom. 1:4). 
 
 Paul, "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts 
 23: 6) and who believed in the resurrection of the dead, 
 is sent "far hence unto the Gentiles" (Acts 22: 21) ; he 
 is the apostle of "the uncirctimcision" (Gal. 2:7); he is 
 commissioned to carry the "common faith" of Israel 
 to the Gentiles to the end that they also may be led 
 to the fold of Israel to the One Shepherd. "Behold 
 my servant, Mine Elect, in whom My Soul delighteth; 
 I have put My Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth 
 judgment to the Gentiles" (Isa. 42: i). The soul of 
 God is said to hate the wicked and violent. "The 
 Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that 
 loveth violence His soul hateth" (Ps. 11:5). The 
 twelve that Jesus sent forth sought first "the lost 
 
Paul 463 
 
 sheep of the house of Israel"; they sought "them that 
 were nigh" (Eph- 2: 17); they sought "a people near 
 unto God" (Ps. 148: 14), but Paul was specially com- 
 missioned to preach to them ' ' which were afar off " (Eph. 
 2:17). All truth is of God. "I create the fruit of the 
 lips ; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that 
 is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the 
 wicked are like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, 
 whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no 
 peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isa. 57: 19-21.) 
 
 The literature of the Bible, or rather the fundamental 
 principles of the Scriptures, were given to the people 
 of the world by the resurrected. They are the organs of 
 the Holy Spirit; they of this high and holy fraternity 
 teach the same doctrine; or rather, the Spirit hath 
 spoken the same doctrine through them. Truth is a 
 manifestation of the Spirit; truth is given by the 
 Spirit. "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of 
 God" (2 Tim. 3:16). 
 
 The coming of the Kingdom of God, the realization 
 of His kingdom in the soul of man, is a central idea of 
 the sons of God, of the restu*rected; but the day and 
 hour when this high and holy state of consciousness is 
 realized in the soul of man, is not known even to the 
 angels of Heaven, neither to the son of man, "but the 
 Father only" (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32; Mai. 3: i). 
 '.'Therefore be ye ready, for in an hour that ye know 
 not, the son of man cometh" (Matt. 24:44; Luke 12: 
 35, 36; Eph. 6: 14). The great are they who realize 
 the Kingdom of God while abiding in the flesh. "But 
 I tell you of a truth, there are some standing here, which 
 shall not taste death, till they see the Kingdom of 
 God" (Luke 9: 27; Matt. 16: 28; Mark 9: i). 
 
 The f tmdamental principles of religion taught in the 
 
464 The Law of Human Life 
 
 New Testament Scriptures are identical with those of 
 the Old; they are in harmony with, all truth; for truth is 
 of God. "Order is Truth," said Thomas Carlyle. 
 Truth is revealed in the divine order. All the faithful 
 revelations of science are aids to religion; for truth is 
 indispensable to human salvation. It is the truth 
 that makes the Mind and soul of man clean (John 
 15:3). It is the truth that liberates man from the 
 thralldom of ignorance, and makes him free. "Know 
 the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 
 
 8:32). 
 
 What is religion for? The end and aim of religion 
 is the perfection of the Mind and soul of man, Man, 
 Manas, Mentality, is put into the human soul, "into 
 the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it " (Gen. 2 : 
 15). Man is made in the image and likeness of his 
 Creator; and is given dominion over all below him, over 
 all things in the animal world (Gen. 1:26; Ps. 8:6); 
 and thus he is made a co-worker with God (i Cori 3:9), 
 in the attainment of his own perfection. The word of 
 God is given that "ye may stand perfect and complete, 
 and in accord, with the will of God" (Col. 4:12; 
 Gen. 17: 1 ; Matt. 5: 48; Lev. 11 : 44; 19: 2). Truth is 
 revealed in the divine order; and when the sovd of man 
 is attuned to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of 
 Order, then it is that he makes manifest the will of 
 God. The truth of religion, the verity of the divine 
 word, is not a matter of speculation, for it is taught 
 and demonstrated in the lives of the resurrected, in 
 the lives of the just. "Because that which may be 
 known of God is made manifest in the lives of the 
 just; for God hath showed it unto them" (Rom. i : 19)- 
 " Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin 
 against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will 
 
Paul 465 
 
 teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the 
 Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for 
 consider what great things he hath done for you" 
 (i Sam. 12 : 23, 24). The resurrected are they that live 
 and teach "the good and the right way." "I am the 
 way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the 
 Father, but by me" Qohn 14: 6). 
 
 The Scriptures teach that God hath committed all 
 judgment unto the Son, unto the Mind of man. Man is 
 endowed with the capacity to judge, to choose, between 
 good and evil, between life and death. "I call heaven 
 and earth to record this day against you, that I set 
 before you life and death, good and evil: therefore, 
 choose life, choose good" (Deut. 30:15, 19), The 
 weal or woe of man depends upon the use he makes of 
 the mentality God has given him. He that is faithful 
 to his light shall have more; but he that is unfaithful 
 shall have his light taken away (Matt. 25:29; Rev. 
 2:5). Mentality is given that man may make his soul 
 the chaste temple of the living God. "If any man 
 defile the temple, him shall God destroy" (i Cor. 
 3: 17). Every rational being is charged with Heaven 
 imposed duties. Man is godlike or satanic, according 
 as he chooses. Man is to take counsel of God, and 
 not of Satan. "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, 
 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only 
 shalt thou worship " (Matt. 4: 10; Deut. 6: 13). "For 
 the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all 
 judgment unto the Son, " unto the Mind of man Qohn 
 5: 22;, Matt. 11:27). 
 
 It is the Law that fixes responsibility; it is the Law 
 
 that points the way of life and of good; and of evil and 
 
 of death. "I had not known sin, but by the Law" 
 
 (Rom. 7:7). " Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth 
 30 
 
466 The Law of Human Life 
 
 the Law: for sin is the transgression of the Law" 
 (i John 3:4).' Every observance of Heaven's Law is 
 rewarded, and every transgression is punishe^d. ' ' Think 
 not that I shall accuse you to the Father: there is one 
 that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. 
 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed 
 me :for he wrote 0} me. But if ye believe not his writings, 
 how* shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:45-47). 
 The Law bespeaks the divine order to which every 
 human soul should conform. ''The Law of the Lord 
 is perfect, Mstoring the soul: the testimony of the Lord 
 is sure, making wise the simple" (Ps. 19:7). The 
 testimony is the revelation of the Law, The Law is 
 revealed in the life, and in the words of the resurrected. 
 "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed 
 me: lEor he wrote of me." Moses wrote of each and 
 every htiman soul. "To the Law and the Testimony: 
 if they speak not according to this word, it is because 
 there is no light [wisdom] in them" (Isa. 8: 20). 
 
 He that believes in the high and holy possibilities 
 of Man, and Uves worthy of his godlike capacities, is 
 destined to attain to the higher life, the spiritual life; 
 but he that persists in leading a false and wicked hf e, is 
 destined to unutterable woe. "He that believeth on 
 the Son [he that believes in the divinity of his own 
 mind, and lives worthy of it] hath everlasting life: and 
 he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life; but 
 the wrath of God abideth on him" 0ohn 3: 36; 6:47). 
 He that is faithful to his own soul, to "the inward 
 man, is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4: 16; 3:18). 
 Man has as much faith in God as there is virtue in him. 
 "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to 
 faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" 
 (Rom. l: 17). 
 
Paul 467 
 
 Wisdom says that God is Good, 
 That He is known by what He is. 
 Let man from wiles and conceits flee; 
 And seek by righteousness to see. 
 
 Paul tells us that man is a co-worker with God in the 
 perfection of his own life, and in the moral uplift of 
 others (i -Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 6: i), "but God giveth the 
 increase." Paul would have us know that it is the 
 Spirit of God in the souls of men that is to reform 
 the world. ' * By the grace of God I am what I am : and 
 His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in 
 vain; for I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet 
 not I, but the grace of God which was with me" 
 (i Cor. 15: lo). It would seem that Paul established 
 many religious societies, or churches. Speaking in an 
 outward sense there are many churches, but in an in- 
 ward, and spiritual sense there is but one Church, but 
 "one fold," and one Shepherd of the sheep. The 
 Church, the true Church, the Church invisible, is not 
 an organization of the world. It is a fraternity, a 
 brotherhood. It represents that great body of persons 
 carnate and disincarnate who have so far lived above 
 the sensuous carnal spirit of the world as to be organs 
 of the Holy Spirit. They of this fraternity "are no 
 more strangers and foreigners to the Kingdom of God, 
 but fellow-citizens with the saints," They of this 
 brotherhood are likened to a temple "fitly framed 
 together"; and thus they "are builded together for an 
 habitation of God through the Spirit "(Eph. 2: 18-22). 
 "I will declare Thy name unto my brethren; in the 
 midst of the Church [the congregation, the fraternity], 
 will I sing praise unto Thee" (Ps. 22: 22), "But ye 
 are come unto Mount Sion [the Church, the fraternity 
 
468 The Law of Human Life 
 
 of the just], and unto the city of the living God" (Heb. 
 12 : 22). The visible church of Israel, or of Christ, is a 
 congregation of faithful people who seek to know the 
 truth, and to live and act worthy of it; and who rever- 
 ently recognize that all truth and reality is of God. 
 
 It is the Spirit of God in the soul of man that con- 
 stitutes him an "overseer to feed the Church of God" 
 (Acts 20:28). The son of the dove, the son of the 
 Spirit, is the true overseer of the sheep. Fitness, or 
 qualification, for this high and holy office is not given 
 or bestowed of men, or of institutions. "For it is God 
 that giveth the increase." This Heaven-descended 
 office can only be fittingly filled by him whose soul is 
 related to the Kingdom of God. "Simon, the son of 
 Jonas," is the true type of the overseer of the sheep 
 (John 21: 17). It is the Holy Spirit that leads and 
 teaches and lights the way of God's elect. "The 
 nations of tiiem that are saved shall walk in the Light 
 of It" (Rev. 21:24), and the "gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against It" (Matt. 16:18), "For I have 
 laboured," says Paul, "more abtmdantly than they 
 all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with 
 me." Paul, like all the elect of Israel, taught that the 
 Spirit of God is in the hearts of the faithful. "God 
 is in you of a truth" (i Cor. 14: 25; Zech. 8: 23; Gen. 
 41 : 38). "Behold, the tabernacle of God [the abiding 
 place of God], is with men, and He will dwell with 
 them" (Rev. 21:3). How these inspiring ideas 
 harmonize with the intuitive flashes of the illustrious 
 Emerson: "All writing comes by grace of God, and 
 all doing and having. I can see nothing at last in 
 success or failure than more or less of vital force sup- 
 plied by the Eternal." The Spirit of God imposes 
 the highest obligation. None are at liberty to disobey 
 
Paul 469 
 
 It. "Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, 
 if I preach not the gospel" (i Cor. 9: 16). 
 
 Unity and brotherhood represented in the Church of 
 God are not possible among unrelated souls. Souls 
 that are related to the Holy Spirit, to God's kingdom, 
 represent the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood 
 of man. Every brotherhood otherwise founded is but 
 an imitation of this celestial fraternity. The Kingdom 
 of God does not partake of the nature of sensuous 
 things, but of the Divinity. "The Kingdom of God 
 is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). This 
 glorious kingdom transcends the things of the sensuous 
 animal world. "My kingdom is not of this world, 
 if my kingdom were of this world, then would my ser- 
 vants fight." The sensuous power, or force of the 
 world, is controlled of the old animal god Satan. It 
 is " delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give 
 it" (Luke4:6), 
 
 Men or institutions cannot qualify man to be an 
 overseer of the sheep, except in the most outward 
 way. It is the Spirit of God in the soul of man that 
 represents religious authority and power; all else is but 
 an imitation and a passing show. "For the King- 
 dom of God is not in words, but in power" (i Cor. 
 4:20). Broadly speaking, it would seem that there 
 are but three religious orders : first the Levites ; sec- 
 ondly, the priesthood, the order of Aaron; and lastly 
 the order of Melchisedec, According to the Old 
 Testament Scriptures, the Levites were priests in 
 making; in a sense, every priest was a Levite, but 
 every Levite was not a priest. The principal office of 
 the Levites was to wait upon the priests; and to assist 
 them in the service of the tabernacle, or in the service 
 
47€> The Law of Human Life 
 
 of the temple which supplanted the tabernacle when 
 the children of Israel had attained to a settled abode 
 in the promised land. 
 
 The deacons in the churches organized by the disciples 
 of Jesus corresponded to the Levites; the elders, the 
 presbyters, and bishops, to the priesthood, the order of 
 Aaron; but the third, or last order, the order of Melchis- 
 edec, remains the same forever. It is **an unchange- 
 able priesthood consecrated for evermore" (Heb. 7: 
 24, 28). The first two orders above named represent 
 means to an end, but the last order represents an end 
 in itself. He who is a good deacon hath "earned a 
 good degree" (i Tim. 3:13) ; he hath taken "an honour- 
 able step." The elders and presbyters, like the priests 
 of Israel, were overseers, and were commanded to 
 "feed the flock of God" (i Peter 5:2). In the days 
 of Jesus and his disciples, civil government, ais now, 
 arrogated to itself the right to inflict pains and penalties 
 for overt acts of wrong; but Jesus and his disciples 
 did not assume to usurp the power of Caesar. Their 
 discipline consisted in ' ' admonitions, " " reproofs, " 
 "sharp rebukes," and finally, if necessary, "exorcism 
 froni the society" (i Cor. 5:13). None but the 
 spiritual, none but the meek, none but the self-governing 
 and righteous are fit to administer the discipline of tlie 
 congregation, "Ye which are spiritual, restore such 
 an one in the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). 
 
 Nothing, it would seem, that Jesus or his disciples 
 did, was intended to be subversive of the ideas and 
 principles of the religion of ancient Israel, but all was 
 done, to use the language of Paul, "after [the manner 
 of] the common faith" (Titus 1:4). Paul, near the 
 end of his life in the world, when a prisoner in the 
 hands of the Romans, denied that he had done any 
 
Paul 471 
 
 thing subversive of the customs of the fathers of Israel- 
 " After three days Paul called the chief of the Jews 
 together: and he said unto them, Men and brethren, 
 though I have committed nothing against the people, 
 . or customs of our fathers j yet was I deHvered a prisoner 
 from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans" (Acts 
 28:17), 
 
 THE END 
 
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