BD701 .C9 Copy 1 'SI* Seep S©u^diRgS II I Illliif IJE11 fit 111, £ f j. d. -4* uyyvvV'Li'Vq/K'Cori'V. PRICE 30 CENTS. DEEP SOUNDINGS —IN— PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS, —BY— J. A. CUNNINGHAM. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, >^7oy OF CO 1 ; - No. 850 Sixth Street, Louisville, Ky, /\<$ < y C. L. Hefner, Printer, Savannah, Tenn- Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, BY J. A. CUNNINGHAM, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. TO THE READER. WHETHER you may be young or old, rich or poor, bond or free, a believer in our Fa- ther's Revelation and a future existence or a disbeliever, a moralist or a libertine, a servant of the Almighty God-head or a follower of all unrighteous- ness, it matters not; for it is the object and de$ire, all the same, of the author of the thoughts and rea- sonings set forth in this work, to render you, if pos- sible, a better and happier individuality; since it is, most certainly, a very correct and proper principle, that no individual, of intelligent creation, should live for himself or herself alone. It, therefore, be- comes us, as accountable human beings, to attempt, as we journey on the voyage of life, to lessen the burdens, and eliminate the difficulties of our fellow- mortals; rendering their lives more tolerable, while living here on this sin-cursed world, amid the cries of sorrow, pain and death; and leading them to look forward to a higher and holier home eternal, within our "Father's house," amid the starry realms of celes- tial expansion. In short, it is our duty, as branches of one common ancestral vine, to feel and realize that every individual human being, no difference how low and degraded, is in a general sense, either a brother or a sister, and, therefore, entitled to our love and compas- sion upon the basis of kinship; even should we be dis- ^ 4 TO THE READER. posed not to extend our clemency, through pure love for all, and ill will for none. It is furthermore ex- ceedingly desirable, to so direct our lives and actions, as to rise above little things, and all fault-findings, en- vy ings, selfish strivings, and general exclusiveness ; and to become magnanimous, grand, and god-like; realiz- ing that spiritual existence, or life in its highest sphere, is eternal; and that the happiness and sun- shine, we instill into the lives of others, while jour- neying down the stream of time, never fail to return blessings to its, even in this short life; and that the memory of such benevolence and loving-kindness upon our part, will be as a fountain of bliss within our immortal souls, forever and forever. And it is this feeling of universal love for all mankind, that causes the writer to extend to you, and the entire Avorld, the following thoughts, arguments, and conclusions, with a view to cast light upon many wonders and mysteries, both in creation, and in revelation, thai are not generally understood by Hie masses of mankind, and about which there are extant and circulating, many incorrect ideas, and absurd opinions, even among some of the SO called educated. And. as the object in v'ew tends toward the universal ((melioration, salvation, and glorification of fallen humanity; it i;; to lie fondly hoped this labor, will not have been put forth to consummation, withoul effecting, at least to some extent, the design of the writer; who greatly lint you, as well as every other accountable human being, may, before the journey of life 1m done, be able to mosl truthfully and earnestly say with the author, in the language of poesj : TO THE READER. This world is not the land I love, I seek a land far, far above. It lies beyond the darksome cloud, That rolls aloft, and thunders loud, It lies beyond the gentle moon, That makes the night forsake its gloom, It lies amid the ether blue, A land for me, a land for you. The King thereof, is good and wise; His laws uphold the lofty skies; And from his throne extend afar, And guide the out-most twinkling star; Control each world, and make it run, Around its own appointed sun. He's Lord of heav'n, he's Lord of earth, He gave to all creation, — birth. The universe is all his own, And all that is, to him is known. His righteous eye. sees all that's done, In heav'n or hell, on world or snn. There's not a thought, there's not a word, Indulged by man, by God unheard; The softest breathings of the soul, To him like peals of thunder roll. At his command, the angels fly, Throughout the endless star-lit sky; And even to this mundane sphere, They come, and help us, year by year: Amid the sunshine, 'mid the gloom, They watch us journey to the tomb; And if in Christ, our race we end, Their shouts of joy, to heav'n ascend. TO THE READER. Oh, how I long to dwell on high, And leave this world, where all must die. Up there, it's life, eternal life; But here, it's death, and woe, and strife. Help me, O Lord, /# act aright, And save me from eternal night; Protect me, while on earth I roam, And when thou wilt, oh, take nic home! Yours, J. A. Cunningham, .No. 850 Sixth Street, Louisville, Ky PREFATORY. O my immortal spirit, that within me lives, and thinks, and loves, and hales ; And flies upon the golden wings of thought, to heaven's own e'er-lasting gates. Behold the world of mortals, my companions on the road to keav'n, or hell; Are careless of their future, and for earthly joys, their souls to Satan sell. Now I would save these brethren, from the endlesswoes of hell'* unseen abyss; And nceu the help of Savior Jesus, in a work sublimely grand as this. Fly! fly!! away to heaven therefore, and amid the starry orbs of light. Implore the holy Clod-head, that an angel guide may keep us in the right; Then come and let us put our thoughts together, and with all our strength and pow'r, "We'll write a book our friends may read with profit, when they have a leisure hour. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE. Philosophy of the existence of God, as the only reliable baxin of all entity, and all science. 11 CHAPTER II. Philosophical conceptions of Almighty God, of the kingdom of spirituality, and the solution of the problem of life 23 CHAPTER III. Philosophy of the condensation of the king- dom of materiality, from the kingdom of spiritu- ality 34 CHAPTER IV. Philosophy of the present increase of consoli- dated matter. 43 OHAPTBB V. Philo tophy of the transformation and Bpiritn- alizatioi) of matter. 48 CHAPTEB VI. Philosophical conceptions of the original for- mation oi' the material heavens. 07 INDEX. 9 CHAPTER VII. PAGE. The design of the God-head in creation 71 CHAPTER VIII. A period of universal spiritual peace and har- mony. « 77 CHAPTER IX. The origin of evil. 80 CHAPTER X. The necessity for the creation and forma- tion of hell 89 BEEP SOUNDINGS IN PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. CHAPTER I. PHILOSOPHY OF THE EXISTENCE OF ONLY RELIABLE BASIS OF ALL ENT SCIENCE, "He that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek aiter him." Heb. xi. 6, 7. THE PROBLEM OF ORIGIN. O mortal man! of Adam's fallen race, Behold the wondrous things, before thy face. The earth below, with all its varied show, The heav'n above, with countless scenes aglow. Materiality, is all in motion; And rest within its bound'ry, has no portion; For onward, onward! is the law of spheres, As onward, onward! rolls the tide of years. O mortal man! canst thou presume to trace, Whence came these wond'rous things, displayed in spaced Whence came the star -suns? that bedeck the sky. Whence came the planet-worlds ? that roll on high. Whence came the mighty hosts? of heav'n and earth, ' Where is the fountain head? their place of birth. Did law of chance, from unseen mystic lore, Produce these wond'rous things, from unknown store? Or did an ancient minute protoplasm, Evolve them all by lapse of time, or spasm ? 12 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN O mortal man! let not thy judgment stray, From Revelation's golden trtiths away, To feed upon the husks of foolish doubt, And drift as chaff before tJie winds about; For reason leads thy soul from earthly sod, And solves the problem, by revealing God. v^jttHERE cannot possibly exist as an original $\(s) an( l absolute foundation for thought-building -* and philosophical reasoning, any truth other than the existence of an all-wise, all-powerful, all- pervading, eternal, self-existent, and unchangeable Intelligence ; who has made himself known to us through two great channels of information — univer- sal material creation, and Revelation. For, if we were to construct a theory of philosophy upon the hy- pothesis that all entity came into being, and contin- ues in existence by an imaginary late of chance, we would be Table any morning to awake and find that ail creatures, all laws, and all reality itself, had radi- cally changed ; and therefore, under a law of chance, we could never be certain of any thing whatever ; hence, no intelligent philosopher will attempt to formulate even a theory upon such an uncertain foun- '»n aa a beginning. Possibly the unreasonable ; theist, and the hard pressed infidel, might attempt io build a theory upon the hypothesis of the existence of natural law without a Law-giver, as revealed in the Holy Bible; but such an idea cannot be considered permissible, nor worthy of the least degree of inves- tigation, unless these disbelievers in Revelation, can prove that ■ The law of nature is itself existent, and supremely true; And has established its unbending and e'erlasting sway, PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 13 From depths of minute unsuspected microscopic view, To realms of worlds and suns amid the starry milky way : or, that natural law is not only self-existent, but is possessed of all the wonderful attributes, believers in Revelation assign to Almighty God. But they cannot however possibly prove any thing of this sort, since it cannot be shown, that late is self -exist- ent, nor that it ever originated any tiling, nor that it is within the hounds of possibility for it ever to do so, be- cause of the undeniable truth, that law is never un- der any circumstances any thing more than a rulo by which an intelligent being, either seen or unseen, either material or spiritual, or both, works out de- signs, not existent in the rule or law, but produced in the mind of the designer. Wherefore, the idea that the existence of God is the only reliable foun- dation of all entity, and all science, is certainly an invulnerable hypothesis ; and yet, as there are some members of the human family so exceedingly de- praved and misguided, as to attempt to call in ques- tion even the sublime existence of the great Creator of absolutely all entity, both material and spiritual, outside of his own personality; I desire to offer to the reader and the world, a few thoughts and reas- onings tending toward the positive and unimpeach- able establishment of this grand, glorious, and spirit- consoling truth, without relying upon the Holy Bible for the burden of evidence. And with this noble ob- ject in the prospective, let us turn our attention to the investigation of the available evidence that surrounds us, in the midst of which " we move, breathe and have our being ;" more insignificant however t6 the vast whole of the great material universe, than animalcules 14 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN to the mighty ocean they inhabit. Let us elevate our understandings to the contemplation of our sub- lime surroundings; to the mighty earth beneath our unhallowed feet, with its wonders of material con- struction and organized life; to the innumerable starry hosts of heavenly spheres ; In motion all, ten thousand thousand moving trains, Around the endless cycles of our God's domains; All heav ; n ablaze, ten thousand thousand orbs of light, That guide all righteous spirits in their lofty Might; "While earth beneath the mighty "handi-work" of God, Shoots forth ten thousand thousand wonders from its sod, Which clearly God's sublime existence demonstrate, In spite of atheistic thought, and demon hate; For every blade, and every leaf, we may conceive, To be a witness, to the truth we should believe. There is unquestionably no reason, nor philoso- phy that can possibly justify descendants of father Adam and mother Eve, in denying the exceedingly evident trnth, that as fallen or separated mortal;', from the tree of life, we are living in the very midst o! great and manifold wonders and mysteries, that axe above our comprehension and understanding, and are exceedingly sublime; and yet, notwithstand- ing this well known truth, there is not a single wonder, nor a tingle mystery', thai may not be accounted for, if we will only admit the unexplainable and unap- proachable existence of an all-wise, all-powerful, all- pervading, eternal, self-existent, and unchangeable Intelligence; whom we have the honor and privilege ording to the Holy Bible, of calling "our Father," 1 and "our God." The existence, however, of such an Intelligence, regardless of ii being believed or dii be- lieved, i. unquestionably a mosl glorious and uueur- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 15 passably sublime truth, most thoroughly made known, both by the wonders of creation, and by the mysteries of Eevelation ; although it is a truth so exceedingly profound and primitive, that created minds cannot possibly conceive of any thing beyond it; and as to accounting for it, there is absolutely no foundation upon which the most learned philoso- pher can even begin the construction of a plausible theory. The existence of God, should be acknowl- edged, by all persons, to be unreservedly the su- premely grand mystery of mysteries, and the super- latively sublime wonder of wonders; since this most glorious truth stands alone, the one and only unac- countable and unapproachable mystery of absolutely all existence, both in the kingdom of materiality and spirituality; and it is, therefore, certainly permissi- ble to conclude, that no reasonable mortal who truly loves philosophical thought-building, and elevating science, will attempt to call in question this great and incomparable truth; this original and self-exist- ent foundation of all other existence, within the bounds of visible and invisible creation. For, it is at this deep and impassable point of inquiry, that the great philosopher, or searcher after hidden won- ders and mysteries, finds the outside boundary of possible investigation, beyond which he cannot at- tempt to reckon, even by theory ; because he cannot find any semblance of a basis for a theory, as that being Revelation calls our Creator, and our God, is from eternity to eternity y without beginning of time, or ending of ages. Wherefore, it is self-evident, that his existence is the only true and absolutely reliable foundation for all correct and philosophical reason- ing, and all science, as no philosophy can be accept- 1G DEEP SOUNDINGS IN ed, or even favorably entertained, unless it is found ed upon known truth, or that which at least har- monizes with discovered or revealed truth; and reason certainly demonstrates that there cannot possibly be any fact nor truth, superior nor prior to ihe existence of God, since this must be the original of all truths, as we should certainly understand, from the signification of one of the revealed Hebrew names of God, that is, Jehovah — the self-existent. We insignificant mortals may presume to reason from cause to effect, and from effect to cause ; from the vis- ible to the invisible, from the known to the unknown, and from the material to the spiritual ; but never un- der any circumstances can we even attempt to rea- 'son from a nonentity to a reality, or from no God to a real God. The unexplainable and unapproachable existence of the God revealed by nature and the Ho- ly Bible, must certainly be accepted as our original and invulnerable foundation for all entity, and all scientific and ethic philosophy; because it is un- questionably ;in impossibility, that a nonentity could in any way have ever produced a reality, or that cha- os could in any manner, have ever brought order ont of confusion. Wherefore, it is exceedingly nec- for all philosophers and scientists to recog- nize the existence of God, as an indisputable and in- evitable basis tor the beginning of things ; ho that in building their temples of thought, theory, and glory, they ni'.\ not be found to have constructed their monuments apon foundations of sand. But should weae wi e architects, choose the existence of an all-wise, all-powerful, all-pervading, eternal, self- tent, nud unchangeable Intelligence, as an im- movable and eternally invulnerable basis, for any PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 17 and all structures of philosophy, we may see proper at any time to advance, relative to the most grand and wonderfully sublime subjects conceivable, we can never become uneasy about our wisely chosen foundation ; which would forever be all-sufficient for all wandering footsteps among the sublime records of creation. For upon such a glorious and intelli- gently unquestionable basis, as the beginning of things, we could branch out upon the golden wings of philosophical thought-building with confidence; and soar above our earthly ball, like an eagle whose nest is built upon the towering mountain rock, that has weathered the rage of a thousand storms ; or like an angel upon spirit wing, fly with lightning ve- locity through the sublime depths of celestial expan- sion, among the millions of glorious suns, and sys- tems of heavenly worlds, that constitute our "Fath- er's house f knowing that the eternal and superla- tively glorious throne of Jehovah, exists within the midst of universal creation, resting securely upon the unexplainable and unapproachable existence of God, as a foundation, not only immovable, but to our un : derstandings wholy incomprehensible. Grand, glo- rious, and exceedingly sublime truth to contemplate, is the wonderful existence of a self-existent Intelli- gence ; and yet, the evidences overwhelm us with unavoidable conviction. In fact, the existence of God is so manifested throughout immeasurable cre- ation, and the belief in his existence is so nearly uni- versal, that it is only now and then, that a human be- ing is met among the enlightened portion of man- kind, who is so exceedingly unreasonable and mis- guided as to deny it; and none are met at all amors ^ the uneducated, as such folly and infidelity originate 18 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN only from a false and erroneous education, to which, some of our high colleges seem unfortunately to have a tendency; and not ours of America alone, but the same may be said of many institutions of learning throughout the entire world, as is fully indicated and demonstrated by the great number of learned in- fidel scientists of modern times. Bui notwithstand- ing all the array of the unreasonable worldly wise men, against the existence of God, and the astonish- ing lamentations of the evolution infidels, because they cannot find the so called "missing link" of tran- sition, and prove that they and all the human race descended from the poor and insignificant monkey; it is exceedingly easy to vindicate and demonstrate the existence of God from the wonderful and harmonious movements and adaptations of absolutely all tangi- ble creations. For order and design, so universally pervade the material universe, that no intelligent creature, not hopelessly blinded by unbelief? nor tly ignorant, can do otherwise than see in the kingdom of materiality a wonderful and sublimely beautiful adaptation of intelligent means to the con- summation of benevolent ends, and hence, the belief in the existence of God, or a great and all-wise De- signer and Systematizer, becomes to a reasonable mortal an absoluti and unavoidable necessity, and in no sense an optionary matter. For there is not a plant in the entr're vegetable kingdom, from the smallest lichen of the frozen north, used for subsist- ence by the arctic explorer Greeley and his starving comrades, to the beautiful and many-bodied banyan tree of the torrid /.one, thai shelters the resting car- avan; nor an animal in the entire animal kingdom, from the Insignificant animalcule, that disports itself PHILOSOPHICAL WATEH3. 19 in a drop of water, like a whale in an ocean, to the huge and clumsy elephant upon the "dry land," crashing- through a tropical jungle like amoving av- alanche, that does not indicate in its wonderful con- struction, a most beautiful arrangement of intelligent means adapted to the consummation of beneficial ends ; a truth that is undeniable, and, therefore, it most thor- oughly proves the existence of an all-ivise Designer and Creator, when these two kingdoms of organized ma- terial life were brought into being. So also, when we raise our eyes toward the celestial heavens, the "handi-icorh" of Almighty God according to. the sa- cred poet, David, and observe the movements of the heavenly worlds and systems of worlds and suus ; we still find that marvelous order and intelligent ar- 1 rangement pervade the entire material universe, so far as mortals can possibly examine it with the most powerful telescopes, and we are therefore, irresistibly constrained and led to admit and maintain, that such unlimited and wonderfully sublime arrangement of in- telligent means adapted to the consummation of benev- olent ends, could never have come into being by mere chance, nor as the work of a minute oceanic moneron, supposed by some misguided scientists to have come into existence spontaneously, under natural law, with- out a Law-giver, as the ultra evolution theory would have us to believe; but must be most certainly and unquestionably attributed to the most glorious ex- istence of a great intelligent Originator and Builder, whom we should truly honor and adore as the one and only incomprehensible Fountain-head of all pos- sible existence, both material and spiritual. Revela- tion does not even attempt to account for the ex- istence of God, but takes his existence to be an ad- 20 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN mitted, and undeniable truth ; because his being is so thoroughly demonstrated by his works ; that not one of all the demons with all their cunning deception and intolerable wickedness, has ever attempted to deny it. This folly of follies, and absurdity of absur- dities, has been left by Satan and all his unholy an- gelic followers, to the unenviable atheist ; if indeed, there is truly such a personage in existence other- wise than in name and teaching only, which is some- thing that may certainly be doubted, since it is so exceedingly unreasonable that any intelligent creat- ure can live amid the grand and unsurpassably sub- lime machinery of the great tangible universe, and not perceive the existence of an invisible intelligent and omnicient Power behind the wonderful cycles of rolling spheres that decorate the immeasurable expanse of celestial space. It is true that matter acting upon itself produces visible results, and that by an examination and study of such effects, we can generally discover the inert material agents; but as all Knch agents are never intelligent actors, we are still under the necessity in all cases where intelligence or design is apparent, of considering them as nothing more than instruments in the hands of some intelli- gent being, which intelligence if spiritual only, we cannot possibly perceive otherwise than through the luntd-irriting of design. Wherefore, if we are at any time so fortunate as to discover some of the profound laws of the great material universe, we are I till nevertheless tinder the necessity of looking be- yond all BUOh laws to find their origin, and in doing this we arc led face to face with Almighty God, the great Belf-existent and eternal Law-giver to all entity, and /row all lime to all eternity. For we can certain- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 21 ly no more assign intelligence to law, than we can assign design to inert matter; because intelligence is never an attribute of any thing short of mind organism, or spirit organism; and law is always a production of understanding; wherefore, it evidently and un- questionably follows, that if we admit the existence of natural law, we must certainly also admit the ex- istence of a Law-giver ; for otherwise, we would not be consistent and logical In short, it is utterly im- possible tc philosophically reason about matter, life, and spirit, without admitting the existence of the '"poor Indian's" "Great Spirit" at the outset, as a foundation; and there is no use for any person to at- tempt it, even if he had the intellect of a thousand infidels comb'ned to support him; for. God is abso- lutely the incomprehensible Spirit Fountain-head of all possible, as well as all conceivable existence and life. And, therefore, with the unexplainable and un- approachable existence of an all-wise, all-powerful, all-pervading, eternal, self-ex r stent, and unchangea- ble Intelligence, as an indestructible foundation; we may venture to reason about all the sublime ivonciers of Creation and Revelation, with some degree of satis- faction and plausibility. For, upon such a glorious and eternally invulnerable basis, we can build the grandest, and most profound ideals and monuments of thought and philosophy, possible to finite minds; and can rise above our earthly ball, with its crosses, and losses, and sorrows, and pains, and dissolutions ; and soar among the distant cycles, constellations, and nebulae of the celestial heavens; and hold inex- pressibly sweet spiritual communion with the innu- merable hosts of heaven ; without ever becoming the least uneasy about the foundation of our faith 22 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN and our philosophy. Grand, truth! glorious truth!! is the existence of God. A truth, that is everlastingly sweet, and inexpressibly consoling, to those who believe his Kevelatlon, and fondly trust his com- forting prom; ses; and yet, there are mortals, who rather than admit this grandest of grand, sublimest of sublime, most wonderful of wonderful truths; are tear- ing up the crust of mother earth, exploring the hidden depths of the mighty ocean, searching the archives of philosophical mysticism; in short, moving all avail- able powers of earth and hell, to attempt to prove that there is no God ; and that they themselves together with all the diversified human race, descended, far bade in the cycles of time, from the poor monlcey, and the monkey from the moneron. And all this is being done in the hallowed name of science. O science ! thou sweet fountain of the sages, That honored mighty minds in ancient ages, How art thou fallen down to ends so vile, That even devils can look on and smile? PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 23 CHAPTER II. PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF ALMIGHTY GOD, OF THE KINGDOM OF SPIRITUALITY, AND THE SO- LUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF LIFE. "God is a spirit ; and they that worship him, must worship in spirit and truth." John iv. 24. EVEN admitting the unexplainable and unap- proachable existence of God, and that he is the originator and builder of the two great king- doms of materiality and spirituality, correct and prop- er conceptions of the Almighty, of the unseen king- dom of spirituality, and of the wonderful problem of life, are certainly very necessary to enable us to intelligently and successfully reason about any ab- stract and difficult theological and scientincal ques- tions, we may happen at any time to undertake to fathom for ourselves, or expound for the benefit of others. Now we must necessarily conceive of the great Jehovah, as a being all-wise, all-powerful, all- pervading, eternal, self -existent, and unchangeable ; be- cause, if not all-wise, he would be liable to fatal errors; if not all-powerful, he would be subject to be overcome ; if not all-pervading, there would be a possibility of es- caping his control and authority; if not eternal, there was certainly time when he did not exist, and time icill undoubtedly come, ichen he will no longer exist; if not self -existent, we could neither consider him as infinite,' 24 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN nor as all-powerful ; for there icould of necessity hare been a self-existent Intelligence previous to him, who caused his existence; and finally, if not unchangeable, we could never have any assurance of the fulfillment of any of his promises, nor of the continuance of life here and hereafter ; nor in short, any assurance of the sta- bility of any thing whatever ; and life would be at the utmost, but A life of chance. And while we must recognize a plurality of persons constituting the God- head, or the Hebrew Elohim, as taught in Revela- tion, yet we must as certainly conceive of the Deity as one God-head in purpose, one God-head in icorlc, and one Deity, God, or God-head in every thing ex- cept personality ; for otherwise, there would be a possi- bility of confusion and clash of will-poicer in the great Fountain-head of all existence, and all government To remain in harmony with Revelation, we must not ev- en attempt to conceive of God as one in personality ; no more than to attempt to conceive of man, as one in personality ; since to so attempt to conceive of God, would render the prayers of Jesus the Christ to the divine Father, an absurdity, as they under BUch a conception, would have been delivered to himself, and the whole of the Christian Dispensa- tion, an utter imposition; since the divine Son could no1 possibly have been the divine Father of himself ; ; ikI therefore, all passages of the New Testament, or the C □ Scriptures, that speak of the Father and I he Son as one, mast be interpreted and under- stood to teach, that these divine persons are one in \tual principle, our in spiritual work, but never one in spiritual personality. This hypothesis is made very self-evident in the gospel according to John; Where it in said by the Savior, that "In that day ye PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 25 shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you;" which language most clearly refers to spiritual principle, and not in any sense to indi- vidual personality. And in harmony with the fore- • going conclusions, we should certainly understand the language, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; " which is recorded in the book of Genesis, as dimly shadowing forth the doctrine of the trinity of God in personality; for there is cer- tainly no philosophy in concluding, as some persons have unwisely done, that the Almighty hereby con- nects with himself unorganized entities of some Itind, as assistant creators. And furthermore, while we must undoubtedly conceive of God, as all-pervading in perception, knowledge and power, we must as ev- idently avoid conceiving of him, as all-pervading in personality; for to so conceive of God, would un- questionably necessitate the idea that he is consti- tuted of spiritual entity in a state of universal expan- sion; a conception that is wholly incompatible with any intelligent idea of personality, and is in fact, al- most in harmony with the erroneous and absurd doctrine of pantheism. And yet, it is by no means an easy matter, for a finite mind to conceive how God can be a personal being, in any accepted sense of personality, and at the same time all-pervading, or omnipresent, even in perception, knowledge and pow- er. For if we should place a human being upon the summit of a lofty mountain, the perception and knowledge of one so situated, could not possibly ex- tend beyond that distance in which the faculty of vision could clearly distinguish and classify individ- ual objects; and without the aid of the telescope, this distance would undoubtedly be very insignifi- 26 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN cant, wherefore, we may most reasonably conclude, that the human faculties of perception and knowl- edge, measured by the capacity of material organ- isms, afford a very humble foundation upon which to build a philosophical hypothesis, relative to the capabilities of spiritual organisms untrammcled by materiality, and especially, of the eternal organism of the self -existent Jehovah. Some few years ago, while traveling in the State of Alabama, I had the pleas- ure of reading a small book bearing the remarkable title of X-fY=Z; giving a history of possibly the most wonderful case of genuine inner or spiritual sight, known in modern times. The individual whose unaccountable conditions, statements, and strange actions, form the subjects of this work, was a Mr. Saunders, a Presbyterian minister, who at that time resided in the town of Athens. The book in- forms us, that this man began to go into involuntary trance states when he arrived at about the age of manhood; and that he continued to be subject to these peculiar abnormal phenomena for many years, although contrary to his will; and that while in these exceedingly remarkable conditions, he was en- abled 1o see and understand through invisible, and to material entity, unknown sight and power, and to describe transactions taking place hundreds of miles away. In fact, the wonderful things recorded of this individual, are so for beyond the capabilities of the human faculties through their normal and material action, that I could not believe the state- ments to be reliable until overwhelming testimony by the citizens of Alliens, mid by a large number of other unimpeachable witnesses throughout North Alabama, left no possible foundation for the support PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 27 of a doubt. And judging from the history of this case, and from many others that might be adduced, in which spiritual phenomena are undeniable ; we are certainly justifiable in concluding, that the Holy Bible is truly correct, in representing man as consti- tuted of something more than mere materiality; and thatthe organism of a created spiritual being, enables the spiritual individual to be present in perception and knowledge throughout a vast region; and that the organism of Almighty God himself, is such, that his perception, knowledge, and power, are absolute- ly without limit. And yet, this idea, to my under- standing, seems an utter impossibility, unless there is: in existence, a universal unorganized and greatly attenuated material entity, intervening between the millions of systems of worlds and suns; or more probably, a. universal unorganized spiritual entity, ab- solutely existing throughout all creation, connecting Al- mighty God with all material and spiritual existence, and acting as a sublime and unlimited spiritual medium of communication, centering in the throne of God. For surely, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility, nor overreaching the conception of finite minds, to conclude, that there is unorganized spiritual entity, as ivell as unorganized material entity ; and that the former absolutely fills universal expansion, and all ma- terial existence, constituting an unorganized spiritual kingdom in the midst of the material ; and acting, most probably, as a universal medium of convey- ance of the words and thoughts of spiritual beings from one to another, and connecting the Almighty God-head with all material and spiritual creation, throughout absolutely all space; rendering the om- nipresence of the Deity in perception, knowledge 28 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN and power, a practical philosophical possibility. But in suggesting to mankind the hypothesis, that there is such an existence as unorganized and all-pervad- ing spiritual entity, can I, by any philosophical rea- soning, account for its origin? It is with great pleasure that I am enabled to answer this question in the affirmative, with the utmost confidence ; for the acceptance of this theory enables me to advance reasonable ideas about many mysteries, that other- wise would be entirely beyond the reach of finite understanding. In philosophizing about such pro- found and abstract theories as the above hypothe- sis, we should always reason from the seen to the un- seen, and from the known to the unknown ; and enter- ing into an investigation of the material universe, following this rule as a guide-board, pointing to something higher and holier beyond the material; we find that there is not a single organism, through- out the entire height, length, and breadth of mate- rial entity, that does not throtc off and surround, itself with an emanation of some hind; and if this law of or- ganisms in the kingdom of materiality, is also a law of organisms in the kingdom of spirituality, we are under the necessity of concluding, that Almighty (Jod himself, is not an exception to this law, which he lias established ; because his laws ai-e always in har- mony with his being, and therefore, we are com- pelled to believe and maintain, that there has been an emanation of unorganized spiritual entity thrown out from Almighty Hod constantly, from eternity in the \ and tint such an emanation will continue to be thrown out from him forcrcr and forcrcr. And that thi i spiritual unorganized emanation, is absolute spir- itinit entity, and therefore never becomes annihila- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 29 ted, but upon the contrary, continues to accumulate, forming the vast store house of the Deity, from which he probably creates and formulates spiritual beings, as angels, and the spirits of human beings ; from which he possibly creates spiritual worlds, and systems of tvorlds; and from ichich he must have undoubtedly condensed, far back in the cycles of ages past, the wonderful king- dom of materiality. For I am of the opinion, that we may most reasonably conclude, that in like man- ner, as a great material sun, throws its rays of illu- minating power into all surrounding space for trill- ions and trillions of miles away, making glad its sur- rounding worlds, so may we conceive of the great and Almighty Creator, as the one august and incom- prehensibly wonderful spiritual Light, and Fountain- head of absolutely all existence, constituted of real spiritual entity, so exceedingly and superlatively glo- rious, that there is continually real spiritual efful- gence, emanating from the self-existent God-head, and filling the absolute whole of universal expan- sion. And this unending spiritual emanation, of un- organized spiritual entity, is no more to be consid- ered a part of Almighty God, after it has been thrown out into immeasurable space, than an emana- tion from any other living entity, is to be reckoned as a part of its producing organism, after separation; or than the effulgent heat of a glorious sun, shining upon distant worlds, is to be conceived of as a part of the body of the luminary from which it emanated, even should we look upon effulgent heat, or light, as a real entity, subject to transformations, in har- mony with the conservation of forces, and like v elec- trical and magnetic entities, capable of being carried from point to point by conductors, possibly not in 30 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN wavelets, as generally supposed, nor by the laws of gravitation, but in straight lines, as light is known to travel in a medium of equal density. This grand and profoundly sublime conception of the Deity, and this wonderful hypothesis, that there is unor- ganized spiritual entity, thrown off from the person- ality of Almighty God, certainly harmonize most beautifully with Eevelation ; for in the writings of St. John, in speaking of the glorious condition of the saved, it is said : " There shall be night no more ; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light; and they shall reign forever and forever." From which it ap- pears, that the millions of blazing suns, were never created to give effulgent heat to the realms of the material heavens, to render them glorious habita- tions for angels ; that the everlasting bliss of heav- enly spheres adapted to the wants and needs of spiritual beings, does not rest upon such a flimsy foundation as the burning out of a sun; that material worlds were certainly created for material beings; thai spiritual beings must undoubtedly inhabit spir- itual worlds; and finally, that there is unquestionably a spiritual universe in the midst of the material. And hence, we may most reasonably believe and main- tain, thai the kingdom of spirituality is not consti- fcuted of organized spiritual beings alone; no more so in t i'ii Hi, than that the kingdom of materiality is constituted of organized material beings alone; which we nil know, is an utter impossibility; since trized material entity, cannol exist, vnthout un~ (M uized substance to sustain and run the organ- If m. And as this is unquestionably true of materi- ality, we must as certainly understand the same is PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 31 true of spirituality ; for otherwise, the two kingdoms would not be in harmony with each other. Now this reasoning leads us to conclude, that the hey which ivill marvelously unlock and solve the great prob- lem of life, is unquestionably organism. For, since life in the kingdom of materiality, does not exist, and cannot exist, without material substance, and material organism, ice may most logically conclude, by reason- ing from the seen to the unseen, from the known to the unknown, and finally, from the material to the spiritual, that life in the kingdom of spirituality, does not exist, and cannot exist, without spiritual entity, and spiritual organism. Hence, the great problem of life is absolutely compelled to depend upon real entity, and real organism. And therefore, whenever material organisms become broken, material life be- comes destroyed, and even annihilated-, for life is not an entity of itself alone, but a condition, that may be wiped out of the kingdom of materiality, but not out of the kingdom of spirituality, unless God himself should so determine ; for all Eevelation, and all dis- covered knowledge indicate, that it is an impossibil- ity to break and destroy spiritual organism, or life, since this is alone in the keeping of Almighty God. This philosophy of reasoning from the seen to the unseen, from the known to the unknown, and from the material to the spiritual, is in harmony with the teaching of the Apostle Paul ; for in writing to the Roman brethren, he says : "The wrath of God is revealed 'from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness ; because that which may be known of God is* manifest in them ; for God mani- fested it to them ; for the invisible things of him 32 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN • since the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse; because that knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their sens- less heart was darkened." This certainly estab- lishes the truth, that we are expected to look through nature, to nature's God, and through the kingdom of materiality, to the kingdom of spiritu- ality. Xow, while the above solution of the problem °f W e > is exceedingly logical, as well as sublimely beautiful, it may possibly be objected to as applica- ble to the kingdom of spirituality, since Ave do not know that the conditions of life in the spiritual, are in unison with the conditions of life in the material; yet, as the two kingdoms are equally the creation of the same all-wise Intelligence, who is the God of design, order, and harmony, we are undoubtedly compelled to believe that all his works, as well as all his laws, are in absolute harmony with each Other, and with himself, and therefore, the solution of the great problem of life herein offered, should be universally accepted, unless the basis upon which it is founded, can be overthrown. And upon this wonderful solution of the grand problem of life as a basis, we are certainly justifiable in concluding and maintaining, that Almighty God himself, is con- stituted of self-existent entity, in a state of self- ent, cisc, all-powerful, eternal, and unchange- able organism ; and that all created spiritual beings, art spiritual organisms, constituted of absolute spiritual entity, which was possibly separated from the greal spiritual Fountain-head, during millions PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 33 of millions of ages past; that all newly created spir- its, sent from the Father of spirits, are brought into being as spiritual individuals, from the same grand and universally diffused ocean of unorganized spirit- ual entity ; and are therefore, like all other created spiritual beings, immortal, because spiritual organ- isms cannot possibly be broken, or destroyed, by any being inferior to Almighty God himself, who wills, so far as we know, that this high order of organisms, shall remain unbroken forever and forever. 34 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN CHAPTEE III. PHILOSOPHY OF THE CONDENSATION OF THE KING- DOM OF MATI SPIRITUALITY. "In the beginning God (Hebrew Elohim — God-head) cre- ated the heaven and the earth." Gen. i. I. \ I /HE origin of the kingdom of materiality is a & I question of considerable importance to stu- -* dents of creation and Revelation, fromthe fact that if we should conclude matter to have been un- created, we would thereby make it to have been co- eternal with Almighty God himself, and not attribu- table therefore to him, as its originator; thus we would establish two grand nnexplainable and unap- proachable mysteries instead of one. Hence, with the purpoi e of setting aside this theory, and demon- strating that the only nnexplainable and unapproach- able mystery of the entire universe of absolute enti- ty, organized or unorganized, material or spiritual, iw the undeniable existence of an all-wise, all-power- ful, all-pervading, eternal, self-existent, and unchange- able God-head; I shall endeavor to prove the prob- ability . -it least, thai the kingdom of materiality is a condensation wad formation, from the kingdom of spir- ituality through an unorganized spiritual emanation from the personality of Almighty Qod, and thus indi- rectly, from the eelf-cxistenl Jehovah Elohim him- philosophical watees. 35 self. For the fact that we cannot annihilate matter, is no absolute proof of its existence as matter, from eternity; since it is certainly very reasonable, that any thing the Almighty One created by mechanical and chemical laws, or by profound spiritual powers and laws, to us possibly entirely unknown, or by all these combined ; would be in our hands indestruct- ible, so far as material atoms are concerned; and yet, it does not therefore follow, that matter is inde- structible as material entity, to the all-powerful God- head; for if materiality was originally condensed from spirituality, as I believe, and shall labor to prove, God can most assuredly transform it aga'n into spiritual entity; for it is certainly correct philos- ophy to maintain, that the thing created or evolved, can never become superior to its Originator. And we may furthermore undoubtedly conclude, that since God, a spiritual being, created or evolved ma- terial entity, he must have done so for a material purpose; and that whenever this purpose becomes consummated, there will, in all probability, no long- er remain any necessity for the kingdom of material- ity ; and it may therefore, be finally transformed in- to the kingdom of spirituality; unless the purpose of its creation requires its existence as matter through all eternity, which is improbable. For since Revelation propounds through the doctrine of a res- urrection of the human dead, that the real material entity of the entire Adamic race, separated from continually changing earth-matter, is sometime in the future to be transformed and elevated into the great kingdom of spirituality; indicating most as- suredly, that the highest standard of happiness is not attainable in the state of materiality ; we are 36 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN certainly justifiable in concluding, that the icholc of the material universe, after fulfilling the purpose of its Creator, may be transformed and elevated by Al- nf ghty God into tlie kingdom of spirituality, just the same as the materiality of the human race; for we must not understand it to be any more difficult for the Deity to transform a material world, into a spiritual world, than to transform a material human body, into a spiritual angelic body; as the body of the Christ was certainly rendered in the transfigura- tion. But coming forward out of such great depths of profound thought, into the light of modern inves- tigation and analytical study of the kingdom of ma- teriality, we find, that there is not a molecule of mat- ter, nor a particle of organized or unorganized mate- rial not subject to what ice call natural law; and since we have already gone beyond natural law in our philosophical investigations of nature, and found the eternal Jehovah at the helm of the great tangible uni- vei c, wo may most certainly and undoubtedly con- clude, thai all matter, whether in man or beast, whether organized or unorganized, is wholly and un- changeably subject to his all-powerful will and uuiver- i :;1 omnipotence, constituting the foundation of what we call natural law. For it is not admissible, as I have already demonstrated in chapter L, for us to conclude thai materiality established its own law, since we cannot possibly .recognize in its unorgan- ized entity any degree of intelligence, and in its lower nil ins. onlj thai degree of knowledge known as instinct, or the intelligence imparted by tin* Almighty tor through organism to a living animal or veg- etable machine; the former being made to act through its animal propensities, while the latter re- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 37 sponds to chemical laws ; and hence materiality has absolutely no intelligence of its own, and we therefore are certainly compelled to take cognizance of the design set forth in the arrangement and adaptation of its particles, constituting means capable of benev- olent ends, as attributable only, and wholly to an all-wise, and all-powerful God, who in the creation and formation of the kingdom of materiality, had in view evidently, the happiness of material organisms. Wherefore, it follows as a logical consequence, that if time ever arrive when there shall no longer remain any material organisms, no reason appears within the grasp of finite minds, why God should permit the material universe to remain in a state of materiality, since it seems more probable, that like human materiality, he will transform it into spiritu- ality, so that it may harmoniously subserve the use and purposes of angelic spiritual beings. The theo- ry that materiality was originally a condensation from spirituality, as the work of Almighty God, is not a new idea, that has never before been advanced; for the doctrine of a'personal resurrection of the dead, embraces the possibility of such a theory, as all rules must work both ways; and therefore, if God can transform the material into the spiritual, he can as certainly also condense the spiritual into the material, as his wisdom and purposes may determine. But the first championship of this profound hypoth- esis in cold type, possibly belongs to the great logi- cian, and sublime christian philosopher, Joseph Cook; for he says : "Matter is an effulgence of the Divine Nature, and so is all finite mind." And again, he says : "The body itself, and all other substance we call matter, are a revelation of Almighty God. All 38 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN matter, as surely as all finite mind, originated in him." While in another place he says : "So I sup- pose Almighty God evolves the seen universe of mat- tor, and the unseen of finite force, from himself." "My weed is the reverse of pantheistic," Heredity, pp. 120, 121, and Biology, p. 270, by Joseph Cook, D. D. and L. L. D. The profound writer, A. Wilford Hall, in his Problem of Human Life, also most ably ad vo- cal es the same grand hypothesis; and I have noth- ing* to add to what has already been given to the world upon this sublime theory, other than that the emanation, or as Cook says, "effulgence" from Al- mighty God, has been, and will forever be separated from the living God-head, in harmony with a well- known law of organisms, as observed in the king- dom of materiality. For in reasoning from the seen to the unseen, from the known to the unknown, and from the material to the spiritual, we cannot do oth- erwise Mian conclude, there is unorganized spiritual entity in the kingdom of spirituality, as well as unor- •• aized material entity in the kingdom of materiali- ty; becau le we know material life does not exist, and cannot exist, without material substance, and materi- al organism, certainly leading us to understand that spiritual life does not exist, and cannot exist, without gpiritual entity and spiritual organism; and where life i m exists, emanation of some hind must also exist, as a consequence, Now if 1 can, by any means, blish the fact, that a particle of material entity ever condensed or evolved by emanation, or otherwi e,from God, the Bpiril Father of all created tence; I will certainly thereby provi the possibil- ity, &BweU as demonstrate the probability, that the kingdom of materiality wm originally condensed or PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 3& evolved from the divine God-head, through the uni- versal ocean of unorganized spiritual entity, already mentioned in chapter II., as certainly in existence, as an emanation from the Almighty God-head, in ac- cordance with a law of organisms. And this sub- lime achievement I propose to accomplish by using the history of the origination of the human body of Jesus the Christ ; as to render it possible for the Redeemer of mankind to have been in his humanity or body, "the only begotten Son of God," the divine Spirit Father, it most undoubtedly becomes abso- lutely necessary according to natural law governing the propagation of the human species, that a material germ of life or organism,, should have been condensed, or in some way evolved from the august Spirit Father, and caused, to have embraced and vivified a receptive life germ of the chosen Virgin; for the simple reason, that material germs of life, certainly originate mate- rial organisms, and spiritual germs of life, if any ex- ist, must as undoubtedly produce spiritual organ- isms; and since the body of the Savior was material, the same as our own bodies, we are absolutely com- pelled to conclude and maintain, that the germs of organism that originated it, were also material. The basis upon which this argument is constructed, is certainly scriptural, and indisputable: and therefore, the conclusion is truly inevitable, and the fact be- comes completely established beyond the possibility of refutation from a biblical standpoint, that God, the divine Spirit Father, did actually and really evolve from himself in this instance, a material germ of life, to originate a material human body, as a tab- ernacle for the promised Messiah, whom a virgin should bring forth, as made known by Isaiah, vi~., 40 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN 14.; and having herein and hereby proven the orig- ination of one germ of materiality from the divine Spirit Father, the possibility and probability, that the kingdom of materiality was originally evolved or condensed from the Deity through unorganized spir- itual entity, becomes certainly an exceedingly logic- al hypothesis, if not an absolutely undeniable con- clusion. And notwithstanding this wonderful con- densation of a material germ of life from God, and the origination of a material body under natural law without a material father, as the word material is commonly understood and restricted; consummated the grand mystery of mysteries of modern times, that is, a human body without a human father— "God manifested in the flesh," a wonder that even " the angels desire to look into," a mystery which we, as mortal beings, cannot fully comprehend and under- stand, aided by all the explanations of the sacred Scriptures, nevertheless, this great wonder, is cer- tainly the very foundation of all revealed redemption, restoration and salvation, from Genesis to the end of the Holy Bible, for the philosophical reason, that the Christ must necessarily have been really and literally the >S'o/i of God the Father, in his humanity, as well as a descend (nit of Mother Eve, to have constituted an available Redeemer of condemned mankind, and an ac- ceptable Propitiator of divine justice, consigning erring mortals to everlasting banishment from the heavenly re- gions of space. And all hough the theory, that the kingdom of materiality was originally condensed or evolved from the kingdom of spirituality, has not been boldly advocated by any pen ".on so far as I know, except the learned Joseph Cook, and the sub- lime A. Wilford Hall, yet the doctrine lg certainly a PHILOSOPHICAL WATEES. - 41 much more reasonable hypothesis, than that the Al- mighty God-head created the material universe, and all entity, both material and spiritual, out of non-en- tity or nothing; a philosophy, unfortunately, taught by many professors of Christianity, and deservedly and severely criticised by the well-known great Amer- ican master of -sarcasm and ridicule, Robt. G. Inger- sol, who unhappily made the mistake in one of his works, of attributing this exceedingly absurd idea to the Holy Bible, as one of its doctrines, while Reve- lation is wholly silent as to the source from which God created the kingdoms of materiality and spiritu- ality, outside of his own spiritual personality, which was self- existent. And while all reasonable mortals must certainly perceive the fallacy of even attempt- ing to conclude that God created any real entity, or- ganized or unorganized, spiritual or material, out of non-entity or nothing, the hypothesis that unorgan- ized spiritual emanation from his own august and self-existent personality, constitutes the great inex- haustable and everlasting universal ocean of real spiritual entity, from which absolutely all creations have been consummated, either directly or indirect- ly, is a theory so exceedingly deep and profound, as well as logical and sublimely beautiful, that it cer- tainly cannot, and will not, produce any tendency toward sarcasm and ridicule, even in the mind of a devil, and much less in that of an intelligent mortal. And, as further proof of the doctrine herein advo- cated, I may call to our aid the teaching of the Apostle Paul, in discussing the resurrection of the dead ; for in 1 Cor., xv. 44., he says of the human body; "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is 42 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN also a spiritual body." Now the pronoun it, does not here stand for spiritual body, as those persons who do not believe in a bodily resurrection of the dead are blindly led to maintain ; for under this hy- pothesis, according to an indisputable rule Qf lan- guage, we should read — the spiritual body is sown a natural spiritual body ; it is raised a spiritual spiritual body. This is sufficiently absurd, to show the fallacy of such a conclusion ; and those who do not belieAe in a resurrection of the dead bodily, may also aban- don belief in the Holy Bible, for otherwise, they will not be in harmony with themselves. And, since the idea is herein certainly taught by the Apostle, that our natural material bodies shall be changed in the resurrection into what Paul calls spiritual bodies; we may fully understand, that the doctrine of a transformation from the material into the spiritual, is undoubtedly Sustained, and in fact, proclaimed by Revelation ; making it absolutely necessary to enter- tain the hypothesis of evolution of the material from the spiritual, to render belief in the Holy Bible cou- nt with itself, as all rules must work both ways; while at the same time, we hereby avoid the absurd- ity of concluding, that God originally created the universe of material and spiritual entity, out of non- entity, or nothing. PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 43 CHAPTER IV. PHILOSOPHY OF THE PRESENT INCREASE OF CON- SOLIDATED MATTER. "And the earth was waste and void." Gen. i. 2. AYINGr philosophically and scientifically ac- counted for the origin of matter, so far as the lamps of science and reason shine toward the beginning of things; I proceed to the vindication of the proposition, that the solidification of matter is on the increase, or that the solid body of our earth is gradually becoming larger; and in fact, that tan- gible matter is not only on the increase on our world, but must be so on all worlds, where the laws of growth and decay obtain, as well as where chem- ical condensation is at work. For the remains of all deceased members of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, have continually added particles of con- solidated tangible substance to the solidity of our earth from ages far back in geological cycles of time; and scientists have concluded that our atmos- phere has also undergone, and is still undergoing changes, that have rendered, and are still rendering it much more rarified than it was in prehistoric ages, which are known only from the records of rock mak- ing, and mineral formations. In fact, the sublime science of geology teaches us, that our earth was 44 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN once in a state of universal fusion, melted by incandes- cent heat, glowing like a moulder's furnace ready for a run of metal, shining like an infant sun, among the orbs of the Solar System ; and, that in the course of ages, it gradually cooled, forming a molten crust surface, beginning, in all probability, at the poles, and finish- ing at the equator. And, since this science also further teaches, that this molten unstratified crust, does not at present constitute our earth's outer sur- face, except in a few upheaved spots, although it is covered in some other places only by the Archrean or ancient formation, where mineral treasures are always to be found in more or lees abundance, we are necessarily driven into the conclusion, that the stratified conglomerations now overlying the original molten crust, and known to geologists as the Arenas - an, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Keptilian, Mammalian, and Quaternary formations; did not exist from the beginning of creation as tangible solid- ified substance; first, because their present stratified condition clearly indicates that they were once in ence as separate atoms of matter, which dem- onstrates thai they were gases, as otherwise they would have fallen to the earth as one mass of dust; and secondly, because they are now found to be overlying the original molten crust, which could never have taken place if they had not at one lime been gases surrounding the consolidated body of our world. Now, thai formation immediately over- ly ing the original earth crust, is called by geologists the Archaean, which means the ancient formation; It contains HO remains Of organisms, and hence, no living thing had at this remote period been created; and t her clore. thi> early strata was evidently evolved PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 45 by condensation of gases floating above our earth's molten surface. The next formation in the ascend- ing series, is the Silurian, or that part of the earth's crust well represented in a portion of England and Wales, inhabited hundreds of years ago by a people called the Silures, thus giving their name to that di- vision of the earth's crust upon which they dwelt. The Silurian is furthermore, that formation in which the remains of organisms first appear, and in the lat- ter part of which, that type of animal life known as the Molluskan, or shell cased, predominated. Next comes the Devonian formation, or that strata of earth crust, that forms a large part of the surface of the country in Devonshire, England; hence, Eng- land has the honor of giving names to the second and third divisions of the earth's crust, counting from the original molten crust upward. This period is also known as the age of fishes; because their re- mains predominate over all others in this formation. The Carboniferous, or coal strata, overlies the De- vonian ; and is the period in which the world was so adapted to continued vegetable growth, that vast re- gions were covered with immense vegetable depos- its, that became sunken beneath the ocean, and again upheaved in those unstable times of earth crust, fi- nally forming our stone coal. Overlying the Car- boniferous strata, is the Eeptilian formation, or that period of earth crust making, in which the remains of reptiles are so numerous as to indicate that rep- tilian life- predominated over all other types. Next upward comes the Mammalian strata, or that forma- tion in which the remains of mammals predominated. And finally, the Quaternary strata of earth crust forming, in which age man was created ; and which 46 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN embraces the present consolidations of fluids and gases. If certain kinds of.roek had been formed on- ly in certain periods, then it would have been better to have named the different stratas after the rock formations ; but this was not the case, the same kinds of rock have been produced in different ages, and geologists have been governed more by the re- mains of the animal kingdom found imbedded in the earth's crust, in giving names to its different stratas, than by any other one thing. Now all these vast accumulations of matter, have undoubtedly been consolidated and added to the earth's tangible solid- ity since the period in which the earth existed as a molten mass ; hence, the fact that the visible solidity of our earth is on the increase, is unquestionable, and undeniable, from any intelligent basis of reason- ing. And furthermore, notwithstanding the above formations are not known to all exist over any one rpot of the entire original molten earth crust, never- theless, there is no foundation for even a doubt as to the conclusion, that if all stratified material of the earth's present crust, was universally and equally ar- ranged all over the original molten crust, the amount of (ratified matter would be so immense, that its depth would amount to possibly about five miles, or one-fourth of the estimated depth of all the stratas taken together; forweare certainly justifiable in supposing, thai the stratified formations under the pre fiit oceans, are fully equal to the same forma- tions upon the "dry land," If not even superior. Hence, there in no possibility of philosophically avoiding the conclusion, thai the solidification of matter is certainly on the in crease; or thai our earth Is slowly, lint surely growing larger, under the com- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 47 bined effects of several natural laws, that work out this result. For the simple fact, that the remains of animal and vegetable organisms, are found imbedded within stratified rock formations thousands of feet, and even mjles below the earth's present surface, conclusively and unquestionably demontrates that matter in a tangible solidified form is undoubtedly on the increase, even if we had no other grounds for coming to the same conclusion, which are, howev- er, very bountiful. For, all observation, and all dis- covered knowledge, lead us to this conclusion, inso- much, that it is not at all necessary, nor even desir- able, that any thing like an elaborate defense of this proposition should here be made; especially, since the stratified formations of our earth's present crust, including the coal measures, as well as millions and millions of tons of soil, constituted largely out of disintegrated animal and vegetable organisms, and finally, the living millions of the human race, all de- cendants of one original pair , cannot be accounted for, nor scientifically explained, upon any other hy- pothesis, than that solidified matter is on the increase; and that our old world is, therefore, growing larger, every hour, and every day. £8 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN CHAPTER V. PHILOSOPHY OF THE TRANSFORMATION AND SPIR- 1TITALIZATION OF MATTER. "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual tody." I Cor, xv. 44. iyCE it is quite evident to any man who will observe his surroundings, that solidified sub- stance is on the increase, both in a state of nism and inertia; it certainly becomes an inter- esting problem to ascertain with scientific precision, from what intangible source the increase is trans- formed: as well as to philosophically examine the doctrine of a spiritualization of matter, as is taught in the resurrection of the dead. For, notwithstanding* we know thai the stratified formations of the earth's crust, mentioned in chapter iv., are very extensively co*j tit ulcd out of the remains of deceased material organisms, nevertheless, it certainly follows, that Bince all life in the animal and vegetable kingdoms begins with insignificant germs, possibly one hun- dred thoui and limes as 8 mall as the mature and ful- pown organii m themselves, we must necese lv look beyond, and outside of the germs, for the wonderful ource of increase of mass and weight, as we must undoubtedly understand, that no created i in has ever originated and added one particle 01 m c material entity to the great visible and invisible PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 49 universe of Almighty God. And although it is an un- questionable fact, that these two kingdoms of organ- ized material life, take up and combine into living organisms, atoms of material entity that previously helped to constitute former living organisms, that have passed into dissolution ; yet, the increase of tangi- ble substance still remains as great a mystery as be- fore, since to simply evolve unorganized visible ma- terial entity into organized tangible matter, does not, and cannot add one single particle to the general mass of solidified material itself ; and whereas solid matter, both in a state of organism and inertia, has increased, and is still increasing, ive must unquestionably loolc out- side of the animal and vegetable Mngdoms, regardless of whether they are organized or unorganized, to find the hidden fountain, from which this undeniable increase of visible matter is derived. For, if we should con- clude, that Almighty God implanted a multitude of vegetable germs within the virgin soil, formed by chemical condensations from the earth's gaseous covering, possibly combined with ocean silt washed from the earth's Archaean or ancient crust, with a view to bring into being the beautiful and original vegetable kingdom; there would not to-day, be any more tangible matter in existence on account of the Creation of the vegetable germs, unless God, through the mysterious law of growth, transforms atoms of invisible, as well as tang'xble substance, outside of veg- etable germs themselves, into vegetable matter. For, if we should conclude that only visible atoms are so transformed, then it would follow, that there could not possibly be any increase of tangible consolidated material by means of vegetable growth ; and since geology fully demonstrates that visible matter has 60 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN been increased very extensively by the remains of vegetable organisms, we are driven into the conclu- sion that vegetable growth is a means used by Almighty God to transform invisible entity into tangible substance. And the same may be said as pertaining to the law of growth, relative to the animal kingdom. Now, while scientists claim to have discovered a great deal about hoic life in animal and vegetable organ- isms is maintained, by keeping the organs of these living machines in natural operation, there seems nevertheless, to be no hypothesis that is in all par- ticulars satisfactory and conclusive, as regards the source from which living animals and vegetables themselves are increased, from mere almost micro- scopic germs, to huge and fully grown organisms. And yet, there is no great latitude for a diversity of opinion ; for, since the original earth crust, was a molten consolidated crust, which now lies beneath many later stratified formations, it certainly becomes self-evident, that the substance of these later forma- tions, was not taken from beneath the original mol- ten crust to any extent further, than that gases es- caping through it, and combining with gases above it, must have undoubtedly formed the great reservoir of gases, from which all subsequent formations have unquestionably been derived; regardless of whether constituted of animal or vegetable matter, or formed directly from the gases, by chemical condensation. Hence, we must necessarily conclude, that all ani- mal and vegetable organisms, that have existed since the geological Archaean or ancient period, have certainly been in some ivay condensed from invis- ible gases, existing as pure gases, or in combination witli tangible substances. For it is a very generally PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 51 admitted theory, that on this world there is only an evolution of matter, that no new material has been added to our earth, since its original formation, ex- cept the meteors, meteoric stones, or fire-halls that .have fallen upon its surface, coming from interplan- etary space; and, therefore, we are certainly justifi- able in concluding, that the laws of animal and veg- etable growth, are, in all probability, only mysteri- ous processes by which the Creator is condensing more or less of the elements in which living material or- ganisms flourish, into more substantial entities. If we accept this theory, we must maintain that the earth cannot remain forever an inhabitable globe; for the continued condensation of particles or portions of its gaseous covering, into tangible animal and veg- etable material entity, would, in the course of ages, render its remaining atmosphere too thin or attenu- ated, to admit of the existence of organized life, even without taking into consideration chemical condensation of gases. And the same principle may be applied to the mighty ocean; for the continued condensation of particles of its general volume into animal and vegetable organisms, could have but one result in the lapse of ages, that is, the destruction of the "great deep ;" and, therefore, we should not look ttpon any material and tangible entity, as intended by Almighty God to last through all eternity. And in har- mony with this hypothesis, Eevelation informs us, this earth is to have a change from its present state; for the 'Apostle Peter says: " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 52 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly de- siring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter iii. 10-14. These new heavens, or in all probability, new heavenly bodies ; since an alternate translation, is heavenly bodies, instead of elements; and this new earth, as one among other heavenly bodies; are to undoubtedly constitute worlds of habitation, or mansions of heaven for the saved, or spiritual be- ings; and if these heavenly worlds, are not abso- lutely transformed into spiritual icorlds, they are at the least greatly refined, so as to be suitable habita- tions for resurrected spiritual beings ; and unless we can conceive that angels, and all intelligent crea- tures, in the spiritual state, require material worlds as homes, we must look forward to the transforma- tion and spiritualization of absolutely all materiality; because of the undeniable truth, that immortality be- longs wholly to the kingdom of spirituality, and nev- er under any circumstances to the kingdom of mate- riality, lint, as further evidence, that the increase of tlic mat 8 and weight of animal and vegetable or- g 'in' ,ii through the mysterious processes of growth, i extensively taken froin the fluid material entities in which these living machines flourish, we may bring forward tii<" doctrine of a personal resurrection of i he (hud. as plainly taught in Revelation, and abso- lutely demonstrated by the resurrection, spiritualiza- . and translation of the body of Jesus the Christ; PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 53 and the probable resurrection, spiritualization, and translation of the body of Moses; since we cannot conceive why Michael, the archangel, should have had a contention with the Devil, about the body of Moses, unless we conclude, that God chose to resur- rect, spiritualize, and translate the body of this serv- ant, before Christ had conquered Satan's power over bodily death, by the resurrection of his own body ; and the Devil objected, claiming that he had a right to hold the body of Moses in the embrace of death, un- til his power over bodily dissolution of humanity, obtained by means of his deception of Mother Eve, shall have been conquered in actual fact, and not merely in promise. For, if we conclude that the an- imal and vegetable kingdoms are formed and re- formed from substance existing within themselves, it certainly follows, not only that there cannot be any increase of their material entity, but that there can be no personal resurrection of the dead; because, under such a law, there could not possibly be any thing more than an evolution of animal and vegetable matter, with- out any increase from outside sources, and the same atoms of material entity would necessarily form parts of different bodies at dissolution ; and as the same en- tity cannot be resurrected in different bodies, we are compelled to conclude, that the increase of the material entity of the animal and vegetable king- doms is taken from some fountain outside of these won- derful kingdoms themselves ; or, that the doctrine of a personal- resurrection of the dead, is a delusion and a cheat. And, even if we should conclude, that solid inert matter is the source from which the increase of material organisms is taken, there could be no ac- cumulation of the mass and weight of inert substance 54 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN from animal and vegetable remains, as these disor- ganized bodies under this hypothesis could only re- store to solid inert matter, what they had taken from it, when in a state of organism ; and, therefore, we are absolutely and unavoidably driven to the gaseous state of material entity to find the source from which tangible solid substance is increased. And in harmony with this conclusion, it is well-known, that if a few air-breathing animals be shut up in an air-tight room, they will, by respiration, soon destroy the equilibri- um of the gases constituting the room full of air, so that death will speedily take place, because of an in- sufficiency of oxygen gas; and the same result hap- pens to water-breathing animals, if confined to a small portion of water; wherefore, it is exceedingly evident, that animal life feeds not alone upon the contents of the stomach, but that the oxygen gas taken up by the lungs, enters into the chemical process of making new and healthy blood. And since scientists admit, that the composition of the earth's atmosphere, was once different from what it now in; Large portions of carbonic acid gas having been condensed from it through the vegetable king- dom into stone coal, as made known by geology, we , : re under the necessity of concluding, that our at- mosphere is doomed to destruction, through con- densation; as when animal and vegetable organisms become disorganized or die, their remains still retain, in a solid state, more or less of gases, thai formerly con tituted atoms of air or water. For, since ani- mal and vegetable organisms certainly do not re- t tore lo the general volume of* gases, at death, the same amount of invisible material entities, as is to- ken up by them in life; we are driven into the con- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 55 elusion, that all gases absorbed and condensed by them through the mysterious laws of growth, either from the ocean of water, or the mighty ocean of common air, and retained after death within their sol- id remains, must unquestionably constitute a con- tinued diminution of the respective volumes of wa- ter and air ; and that this result must continue so long as animal and vegetable life continue. Now it does not follow, that whereas the animal kingdom principally consumes oxygen gas, and the vegetable kingdom carbonic gas, that the continuance of or- ganized material life depends upon nothing more than a sufficiency of invisible gases ; for if this was the case, a member of either kingdom undisturbed, would certainly live until the earth's supply of gases should become practically obliterated, or condensed; but, on the contrary, the animal organism, and the vegetable organism, both being living machines, motor power to run their organized parts, is just as necessary as steam to run a locomotive ; and, therefore, we find that the former is provided with a stomach, or di- gestive apparatus, while the latter has its fibrous roots implanted within the soil of mother earth, or is arranged as a parasite. And just as a locomotive cannot carry a train of cars with an insufficiency of steam, neither can an animal organism badly fed prosper, nor a vegetable organism implanted within a poor soil flourish, although they may have all the gases of* the entire world at their disposal. Where- fore, it is exceedingly evident, that a machine must have the necessary moving force to properly run its organized parts ; and it does not matter whether the machine is an animal, vegetable, or an inert machine ; the motor power is all the same, a necessity. And 5G DEEP SOUNDINGS IN as the locomotive in the course of time becomes old and useless, from the effects of ivear and tear ; so also, animal and vegetable machines become old and die; because the loss of fluid entity finally becomes greater than the supply, both being dependent upon the machine's motor power. For, as long as the motor waste, is fully counter-balanced by motor growth, it is impossible for an organized machine to die for want of energy. Hence, if we could discov- er some wonderful elixir, that would enable the ani- mal organism to digest and disseminate a greater amount of fluid entity, we would certainly thereby become enabled to ward off old age with its twinkles, and live for hundreds of years as did the ancients. For, since our forefathers attained to such great longevity, as is represented in biblical history, we should understand that the period of bodily life might be greatly extended, if we only understood and obeyed perfectly, the laws that control it. Yet we could not avoid death ultimately; for, as the sap is the life of the tree, and enables it to put forth new twigs raid leaves every spring, but does not make anew its consolidated trunk and fibrous limbs, w hCli grow old, and finally incapable of affording a age to the life-giving sap, and death is the con- sequence; bo the blood is the life of the animal body, which is certainly not renewed or made anew, ome scientists assume, and try to teach; but, upon the contrary, becomes old, debilitated, and too feeble to perform the functions of organism, and death is the result; ao1 because of the want of blood, but for the wanl of vigorous muscular organs ble of using, and renewing it ; as otherwise, the two kingdoms would not be in harmony. Now, PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 57 while it is evident, that all the fluids of a human be- ing-are so far as known transitory; nevertheless, the whole human body cannot be considered transi- tory, without setting aside the doctrine of a person- al resurrection of the dead ; since, if the theory is true, that we are made entirely anew in periods of about seven years, from the food we eat and the at- mosphere we breathe, we must necessarily confess that the doctrine of a personal resurrection of the dead, is undoubtedly the grand absurdity of absur- dities, and the great folly of follies, it is believed by some to be. For, if our bodies at death, are wholly constituted out of animal, mineral, and vegetable substances, as well as gases, that certainly belong to the general volume of earth matter; and are also largely constituted of atoms which possibly helped to form other disorganized bodies; then there is certainly no philosophy in expecting an all-wise God-head to raise up such a body spiritualized and fitted for heavenly spheres; because there can be nothing original, containing the elements of individual- ity in such a body ; and the Almighty One may just as well form the new body out of any other material entity belonging to the common volume of earth matter, and not have any so-called resurrection about it. But fortunately, there is positive evidence of the fallacy of this renewal of the body theory, as a fact in the abstract, both philosophical and practi- cal, that can be easily seen and appreciated, when properly set forth. For, if we are absolutely made wholly anew, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, in periods of about seven years; then it certainly follows as an inevitable consequence, that no portions of our bodies can possibly ever become o8 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN older than about seven years, and death from old age must be an impossibility ; but since experience has clearly demonstrated, that we do grow old and die, we perceive that the renewal theory does not, and cannot possibly hold good as applicable to the whole body. And as further indisputable and prac- tical proof of its absurdity, we may bring forward the well-known and undeniable inheritance of traits of character, tendencies to brain derangement, scrof- ulitic, and pulmonic poisons, microscopic disease germs, or tendencies, whichever the producing cause of these misfortunes may be; and also in- stance the poisonous bite of the rattle-snake, and contend, that under the renewal of the body theory, we would undoubtedly get rid of all these poisons, disease germs, or tendencies, in about seven years, as well as all inherited traits of character, and would be liable to become entirely changed by circumstan- ces surrounding the new creation. Experience here again becomes an unimpeachable witness ; and tes- tifies that traits of character are not only inherited, but, cannot be changed, except by brain culture for the better, or beastly activity for the worse; that disease poisons, germs, or tendencies, are certainly inherited; and can only be overcome by scrupulous obi ervance of the laws of health, combined with in- termarriage with persons free from such misfort- unes, and even following these directions, genera- tions are required to consummate success. And, that in the case of the poison of the cattle-snake, while it Is certainly non-inheritable, yet it new p leaves the body into which it is once introduced; hm continues to be more or less active, and espe- cially, in period:, of one icvolnt ion of the earth PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 50 around tlie sun, counting- from the time of its in- troduct'on. All of which facts, are indisputable; and hence, the inherited elements of individual materi- ality are never displaced by new material elements, formed out of the food we eat, and the atmosphere we breathe; and the body is not, therefore, renewed, or made anew, beyond its transitory entities, which are mostly, if not altogether, liquids and gases. Wherefore, we may undoubtedly conclude, that there is, notwithstanding all theories to the contra- ry, something forming at least the foundation of ichab we call our ho dies, which we may reasonably expect the Almighty God-head to resurrect spiritualized, and fitted for heavenly mansions, as Eevelation makes known. And, furthermore, from all the fore- going facts, we are certainly justifiable in conclud- ing, that, in like manner, as there is a circulation of fluids, both visible and invisible in mother earth ; so also is there a circulation of fluids, both visible and invisible in organisms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms; but as the earth is not made anew by euch circulation, neither are organisms of these two kingdoms made anew; yet, as the earth without this circulation, would become uninhabitable; so also, these living machine organisms, without this circu- lat'on, would become inert and dead. And, as all the known fluids of the animal and vegetable organ- isms, are certainly transitory; producing during their passage through the living machines, the nec- essary motor power, by which the various parts are run ; just as water in the boiler of a locomotive, produces the moving force by which a train of cars is run, and this water is no part nor particle of the body of the locomotive itself; so also, the transito- CO DEEP SOUNDINGS IN ry fluids passing through animal and vegetable or- gair'sms, should by no means be considered as abso- lute parts nor particles of those living machines themselves. For, as an inert machine is distinct from the moving power that runs it; so also, are liv- ing machine organisms, distinct from the motor force that runs them. This truth is demonstrated in the vegetable kingdom, through the process of en- grafting; since the same sap, or motor force that en- ables an apple tree to produce apples, also enables a quince graft within this tree to produce quinces. And in harmony with the foregoing facts ; in the case of a human machine body, we may conclude, that no reasonable mortal will be so absurd as to contend, that in the resurrection, all transitory fluids that have passed through the individual organism, from the time of its birth to the time of its death, are to be counted or considered as parts or particles of the body to be made anew spiritualized; so also, may we conclude, as pertaining to all transitory entities on their pas- sage, at the time of dissolution. Hence, we may ap- preciate the philosophy of the declaration of the Apostle Paul, that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" for the latter is wholly a transi- tory fluid, and there would be just as much good round reai on, for the resurrection of a drop of blood that passed (tut of a human being in infancy, as for the resurrection of a drop overtaken on its passage through the some individual in adult age, by death ; and even if the flesh or muscle, is not transitory as flesh, ii is, neverthele a, certainly constituted of atoms of mate- rial entity t hal belong to the common volume of gross master, and is, therefore, unquestionably subjed to material evolutions through the laws of growth and PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 61 decay ; and hence, cannot retain the characteristics of individuality, rendering it necessary for us to look deeper than the flesh and blood, to find the body des- tined to be resurrected spiritualized ; because reason leads us to conclude, that the new body must be certainly formed from the non-transitory, and un- changeable portion of the human organism, to pre- serve the real elements of individuality. And, therefore, we may maintain, that it is the original or- ganized entity, that forms at least the basis of the new spiritualized body; just as the germ entity of the grain of wheat, mentioned by the Apostle Paul, forms the basis of the new vegetable stalk. For Almighty God may be trusted to look after the in- crease of both, where increase of mass is necessary; yet, the original elements of real entity are absolutely necessary, to preserve the individuality of the organ- ism. This much we can perceive through the gates of reason; and this much ought to at least bring us forward toward perfect satisfaction, especially, since we have certainly logically seen, that there is some- thing within us, which unquestionably holds the ele- ments of individuality from generation to generation. Now, to ascertain with absolute certainty, just what parts or particles of the human organism, retain and transmit good or bad traits of character in families, retain and transmit microscopic disease germs, or tendencies for ages, and are possibly to the human organism in a state of dissolution, (so far as compar- ison is permissible), the same as germ entities are to vegetable seeds undergoing transformation into a higher state of active organized vegetable life ; it is certainly impossible for a finite mind to discover; and yet, they cannot possibly exclude the foundation en- G2 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN tity of the exceedingly wonderful human organism, as otherwise, individuality ivould necessarily be lost. Hence, we must look far within the outward tangi- ble human body to find the original elements of in- dividuality, destined to form at least the basis of the new organism spiritualized; spoken of by the Apostle Paul as "sown a natural body," and "raised a spiritual body;" all the time using the present tense, seeing through his faith the raising, as well as through his knowledge, the sowing. In discussing the transformation and spiritualization of matter, and particularly the doctrine of a personal resurrec- tion of the dead, I am driven so far within the hu- man organism, searching for the foundation at least, of the spiritualized body, seeing that it is unscientif- ic, and unreasonable to entertain the idea, that any material entity belonging to the general volume of known matter, and continually changing from one state into another, as well as from one body into another, can possibly constitute the basis of the new resurrected body, since the elements of individuality cannot un- der the conditions of dissolution, be retained within such material substance; that I am most forcibly and favorably reminded of the old Hebraic idea, that man in his construction is a trinity, as taught by Jo- sephus, the Jewish historian, saying: "God made man, taking dust from the ground, and placed in him a sonl and a spirit." This idea! of the construction of* man, must have also been entertained by the Apostle Paul; for in closing his first letter- to the Thessalonian brethren, he says : "And the God of peace himself sanctify yon wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, with- out blame ut the coming of OUT Lord Jesus Christ." PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 63 This idea of the construction of man, is in all proba- bility the correct one; for, since man was made in the image of the Elohim, or God-head, it is certainly philosophical, that man like God, should be a trinity. If we accept this hypothesis, as the only reasonable basis for a reconciliation of the doctrine of a person- al resurrection of the dead with modern science, or the ascertained laws of gross matter; we should certainly conclude that the soul spoken of by Jo- sephus and Paul, is an organism separate from the organized body originally constituted of dust; and from the spirit of man, which is evidently an immor- tal organism constituted or created out of unorgan- ized spiritual entity; and not only separate from these two organisms, but constructed of material substance, so refined and wonderfully attenuated, as to be wholly free from the discovered laws of gross matter; and, therefore, never becomes incorporated into other organisms after a dissolution of the hu- man body, soul, and spirit. If a human being is in- deed so constructed, then it is not the gross dust body, that is to be resurrected spiritualized, nor any part or particle of it ; but the refined, and intangible, yet mate- rial soul body, the immediate tabernacle of the immor- tal, and invisible spirit With such a conception of the construction of man, all difficulty in reconciling the doctrine of a personal resurrection of the dead with the ascertained laws of gross matter, passes away; for we have under this hypothesis, an atten- uated material body, containing the elements of in- dividuality, so closely allied to the spiritual, that it never becomes incorporated into other bodies through the laws of growth and decay. Whether this Hebraic idea is correct or otherwise, we are 04 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN certainly compelled to maintain, that the elements of the body to be resurrected spiritualized, containing the characteristics of individuality, must be above the laics of gross matter, that would incorporate them into other human bodies through the process of groivth ; for with- out the preservation of material individuality, there cannot possibly be any material individual resurrection ; and since the spirit does not die, the resurrection cannot under any circumstances be applied to it, as some per- sons have unfortunately attempted. But it may be said, that in the three instances of transformation and spirituatization, recorded in the scriptures; namely, Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus the Christ; their whole bodies, flesh, bones, and fluids, all seemed to have been transformed. To this we may answer, that since no reason appears, why transitory entities within the body to-day, should be considered as any more parts, or particles of the real body, than enti- ties that passed out of it yesterday, we are certainly justifiable in concluding, that in the transformation and spiritualization of the bodies of Enoch, Elijah, and the beloved Savior, all transitory entities con- stituting parts of their tangible material bodies, were in all probability caused to pass into their re- spective elements; and that only the real, original, (t/id possibly in risible life entities of their material bod- ies, or, their Hebraic seul bodies, containing the ele- ments of their bodily individualities, were trans- formed and spiritualized, and no part nor particle of material entity belonging to the common rolume of earth matter, that may hare constituted their risible bodies at the time of the wonderful change. For, hav- ing shown that there is something in man that retains and transmits characteristics for ages; that also re- PHILOSOPHICAL WATEKS. 65 tains and transmits microscopic disease germs, or possibly only tendencies ; and having further shown, that the elements that retain and transmit these things, must necessarily he above the laws 'of gross matter, that would incorporate them into other bod- ies, through the laws of growth; we are philosoph- ically driven into the conclusion that man is Indeed a trinity; and all the lower animals are dualities ; as is indicated by the language of Solomon, saying: "Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward ; and the spirit of the beast, whether it go- eth downward to the earth?"; since Solomon could not, by the expression, "spirit of the beast," have had reference to the air breathed by a beast; as to so interpret his language, would make it merely a trifling with words. And in harmony with this conclusion, the fact that the feet of salamanders, and the tails of some species of scorpions, will grow out anew if cut off, as well as the fact, that a human being can feel pain in a limb that has been amputa- ted ; are thought by some scientists, to indicate that there is, in every member of the entire animal king- dom, an attenuated and intangible organism, answer- ing in every particular to the visible structure. This is, in all probability, a correct hypothesis ; since to simply form anew human bodies by collecting their pro- portions of known elements out of the general volume of earth matter, could not possibly be called a resurrec- tion; as the new duplicate bodies, might contain atoms of material entity that constituted parts of different bodies in past ages, as well as other atoms, that never before entered into the formation of hu- man bodies at all. Let these last suggestions be as they may ; we have nevertheless certainly seen by 66 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN means of our philosophical investigation of the nat- ural laws of life, that we, as well as all other living organisms, are not made wholly anew, in periods of seven years, or any other length of time, through the processes of absorbing and consuming nutrition ; and hence, we are unquestionably justifiable in conclud- ing, that there is certainly something in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, that is not renewed, or made anew otherwise than through a process of a death and a resurrection ; that is, a dying as germs, and a becoming alive as living organisms, as is de- clared by the Apostle Paul, in reference to the grain of wheat: and, therefore, the doctrine of a personal resurrection of the dead, cannot, in the face of such demonstration, be said to be unscientific, and un- reasonable. Wherefore, let infidel scientists, whose boasted wisdom, compared to the knowledge of Al- mighty God, is as the breath of grasshoppers to the tornado that carries them from the green herbage of the flowery field, and drops them upon the bosom of the turbulent ocean, be careful how they call in question, and denounce as impossibilities, the revela- tions of the Holy Bible; since by their opposition to them, nothing can be gained, while their happiness can, and will be destroyed forever and forever. PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 67 CHAPTEK VI. PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE ORIGINAL FORMATION OF THE MATERIAL HEAVENS. "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork." Psalms xix I. T^ ASSIKG on down the stream of time, after the w^s evolution of material entity from spiritual entity, >fl ^ 5 according to the theory advanced, regardless of whether the ideas I have set forth and advocate! relative to the origin, transformation and final spint- italization, or at the least, a refinement of matter, are correct or otherwise ; after its origin, or creation, possibly in a state of universally diffused and incon- ceivably attenuated entity; reason leads us to con- clude, that the Almighty God- head, or Hebrew Elo- him, proceeded to formulate and arrange it into ce- lestial nebulosity, since astronomical science teaches, that there are wonderfully attenuated nebulae, even at the present time; and from the immeasurably ex- panded nebulous state, into sphereoidal cometary, or sun masses ; as comets are evidently only fragments of suns, thrown off by centrifugal tendency, possibly aided by some powerful repulsive force, independent of the laws of motion, that even up to the present time probably produces the tail of the comet; and the individual sun masses, into marvelous systems of 68 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN sublime worlds and suns, each with its central lumi- nary, similar to our Solar System ; and these exceed- ingly grand and innumerable systems, into constella- tions of heavenly systems ; and finally, these magnifi- cent and incomparably grand constellations of systems, into wonderfully sublime celestial cycles, surrounding the eternal throne of the ever adorable Jehovah. Thus forming, and constituting the superlatively won- derful, and incomparably sublime substantial universe of God; or heaven without a hell) there being at this early period of the dominions of the God-head, no necessity for a place of separation, on account of spiritual rebellion. Such is a grand ideal of materi- al creation and formation, based upon the wonderful revelations of the ever glorious, and most sublimely elevating science of astronomy. And we may most reasonably conclude, therefore, that heaven alone, was the original creation and formation after the ev- olution of unorganized entity, both spiritual and ma- terial ; and that it comprised the absolute whole of the substantial universe, whether constituted out of unorganized spiritual, or material substance; and that it was in all probability millions of millions of ages in existence and construction, prior to the cre- ation and formation of our Solar System, of which the earth forms a very insignificant part. Moses, (lie greal Hebrew law-giver, says: "In the begin- ning God (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth." And in another place lie says: "Thesearethe gen- eration:, of I lie heaven and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven." The word heaven is in all prob- ability lore used by Moses in what we would call, witli our advanced knowledge of heavenly spheres, a PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 69 restricted sense; for in studying the Mosaical history of creation, we must bear in mind the fact, that the ancient Hebrews had no correct idea of the con- struction of the heavens, but looked upon the celes- tial regions as a kind of crystal canopy, in which the sun, moon and stars were set like diamonds in a blue vault; and therefore, Moses evidently mentions the sun, moon and stars as created on the fourth day or period, because, up to this time they had not appeared in the revealing vision of creation, granted to father Adam, or some one of the ancient patri- archs. We may accept this conclusion, as certainly worthy of confidence; because the book of Genesis bears indisputable internal evidence of compilation from records already in existence in the day and age of Moses. Hence, we may most reasonably con- clude, that the history of creation as written by Mo- ses, should be limited to the evolution or develop- ment of our earth, and its aerial surroundings ; or, that the phrase, "In the beginning," should be inter- preted to cover millions of ages, from the evolution of unorganized spiritual entity from the personali- ties of the God-head, and the creation of the first material nebula, to the formation of our Solar Sys- tem, and the development of our earth into a habit- able planet; for even our wonderful sun, is so great- ly inferior to thousands upon thousands of others within the immeasurable depths of distant celestial expansion, that it is wholly improbable that the six periods of creation mentioned by Moses, have refer- ence to anything more extensive, than the evolution of our earth, and its atmosphere, from a state of waste and chaos, into an inhabited world. To rec- oncile the Mosaical account of creation with modern 70 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN science, is a grand problem, that many christian phi- losophers have unsuccessfully attempted to solve, because they have not started oat upon a correct and reasonable foundation for reckoning; and having fallacious premises, their conclusions have necessari- ly been of a like character. But, I nevertheless promise a complete and logical, as well as biblical and scientifical solution of this sublime problem in a later work, entitled, Moses and Science Reconciled, anfl therefore, will only state here, that the manner in which the Mosaical account of creation was given to mortals, must be taken into careful consideration, as affording the only key that will unlock the myste- ries, and harmonize the seeming contradictions be- tween Genesis and the sciences of astronomy and geology. And, since logical reasoning indicates the probability that the biblical history of creation was given through panoramic vision; and since the lan- guage of Moses harmonizes with this hypothesis, certainly making it possible upon this basis, to har- monize Revelation and science; I announce before- hand, that the promised solution will be founded up- on the theory, that the whole history of creation was given through vision; and that things are, therefore, necesi arily mentioned ichen first seen, and as seen, al- though some of bhem may have been Li existence for ages previous; as for instance, the sun, moon and stars, mentioned as created on the fourth day or pe- riod oi* Mot.es, while astronomy clearly demonstrates, thai the sun and stars were certainly in existence lor ages previous to this period of Moses. PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 71 CHAPTER VII. THE DESIGN OF THE GOD-HEAD IN CREATION. "Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Fa- ther feedeth them." Matt. vi. 26. WHILE it is abundantly evident, that the kingdom of materiality is universally filled with wonderfully intelligent means, most beautifully adapted to a multiplicity of unmistakable, and greatly diversified ends; most conclusively prov- ing the existence of an all-wise Designer, whom we gladly recognize and acknowledge as our Father, and our God, who is more fully made known to us through Eevelation; we at the same time most clear- ly perceive that these identical ends are always un- surpassably beneficial and benevolent; leading us to understand that the Designer and Builder of the kingdom of materiality, is not only all-icise, and all- powerful, but wholly beneficent, and superlatively good, in all his sublime and wonderful formations ; and therefore, we may most wisely conclude, that the design of the God-head in creation, was the uni- versal happiness of sentient creatures ; and especially the happiness of intelligent beings, both human and angelic. For, since we know that our earth consti- tutes a home for millions upon millions of living creatures, that are unquestionably happy while liv- 72 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN ing in unison and harmony with the laws governing their existence, as animal organisms; we are cer- tainly justifiable in concluding, that all other worlds were doubtless created for a similar purpose to that of mother earth; and therefore, that all creatures throughout all celestial space, that are living in ac- cordance with the laws of their being, and harmony with the design of their Creator, are certainly, and unquestionably happy. I believe it was Robt. G. In- gersol, who expressed the idea, that if he had been in the place of Almighty God, in the construction of the universe, with its innumerable hosts of inhabit- ants, he would have made the sensation of pain a pleasure, instead of a misery. This is an exceeding- ly absurd idea; for, since pain is caused by injury to the body, or tendency to injury; to make its sensa- tion a pleasure, would be to offer a strong induce- ment to bring about self-destruction, and the extinc- tion of all living creatures of a lower order than the angelic. The fact that the sensation of anything that injures, or tends to injure the body, is one of pain, establishes the all-searching wisdom and incal- culable benevolence of Almighty God, even if we did not have other proofs of his boundless love, and immeasurable goodness toward his creatures; for, this sensation is certainly given as an omnipresent guardian of animal life. The fact that the lower ani- mals feed upon each other, together with the fact thai death has been a reigning law of the animal kingdom from unknown geological eras of time ; do not indicate anything contrary to the boundless be- neficence of Almighty Godj for, both of these pro* visions are nee e • n to prevent such an accumula- tion of animal life upon the earth, as would result in PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 73 its utter destruction. So far as we can see, it ap- pears that it would have been better, if God had not created poisonous insects and reptiles, as well as de- structive wild beasts ; but doubtless these creatures subserve benevolent ends in the economy of nature, that we are unable to fully fathom ; for, since this life is only intended by the Almighty, as a short pe- riod of trial, to develop our characters ; it is certain- ly reasonable, that it should be interspersed with difficulties and dangers, as there is no questioning the boundless benevolence of Almighty God; al- though we may sometimes be unable to see the good end intended, by the means established. For the wonderful construction of insects, their means of de- fense, as well as their instinctive mechanical powers, indicate that the love of God is so exceedingly uni- versal, that it takes cognizance of the animalcule, as well as the whale ; and feeds the mite, as well as the elephant. In short, the proposition, that the design of the God-head in the creation and formation of the original kingdoms of material and spiritual entity, or heaven without a hell, was the happiness of sentient creatures, is so exceedingly self-evident to any en- lightened mind, that it seems almost irreverent to even discuss the subject; since to deny the propo- sition, is to certainly call in question the universal goodness, and boundless beneficence of Almighty God; a thing which no creature but a demon, either of human or angelic origin, can possibly stoop to perform.' The unlimited harmony and order that pervade the entire tangible universe ; the universal adaptation of sublimely wonderful and all-sufficient means, to the consummation of unquestionably be- nevolent ends ; and finally, the actual and unspeaka- 74 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN ble happiness of all intelligent beings living in per- fect unison and harmony with God ; or even such ap- proaches to perfection and harmony as may be ex- pected while incorporated with the flesh ; absolutely and unreservedly forbid the acceptation of any oth- er conclusion, than that the ever glorious God-head, in the creation and formation of universal material and spiritual entity, had in view the happiness of seiv- tient creatures, and especially the glorification of in- telligent beings, both human and angelic. And in harmony with this undeniable hypothesis, Jesus the Christ, the only Mediator between God the Father, and sinful mortals; said to his disciples, while on earth: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you ; I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." From which we may un- doubtedly conclude, that our Father's house, or the immeasurable heavenly universe of both material and spiritual entity; was not only created and ar- ranged to serve as a grand and glorious habitation for intelligent beings, of different orders, from hu- man creatures to at least Archangels; but, that changes are still undoubtedly in progress, in some portions of its blessed realms, adding new glories, new wonders, and new magnificence, to its already incomparable grandeur and sublimity; rendering it more and more perfectly adapted to become the eternal home of the innumerable hosts destined to have an everlasting abode within its blissful courts of boundless line, and indescribable glory. And PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 75 these preparations, or changes, possibly consist in the gradual spiritualization and elevation of the kingdom of materiality, into the kingdom of spiritu- ality ; one material system after another, as they may have served the purpose of their original condensa- tion, and formation; just the same, as the spirituali- zation in the resurrection, of our bodies, separated from all transitory earth matter, that does not con- stitute parts nor particles of our real material per- sonalities, containing and retaining the elements of our bodily characteristics, after dissolution or death. Or, if not absolute transformation of material worlds and systems, into spiritual worlds and systems of worlds ; we may at the very least certainly look for- ward to many material changes of a refining and beautifying character; as for instance, the conflagra- tion and making anew of this earth, and its surround- ing "elements," or possibly, the entire Solar System, predicted by the Apostle Peter, as certainly to take place in the distant future. But, it matters not, whether the preparations in our Father's house, mentioned by our Savior, and the change of this old earth, with its surrounding "elements," or "heavenly bodies," as rendered in the margin, spoken of by the Apostle Peter, are to be mere refining changes of matter, or a transformation of material entity into spiritual entity, for, the fulfillment of either one of these theories of advancement, is all-sufficient for the support of the proposition under investigation. And, in conclusion, we may undoubtedly maintain that the all-pervading benevolence of Almighty God, is so exceedingly manifest throughout the entire vis- ible universe, that it is absolutely unnecessary to of- fer additional evidence to prove that the design of 7G BEEP SOUNDINGS IN the God-head in universal and original creation, was the happiness of sentient beings; for a creature who will deny this superlatively glorious proposi- tion, in the midst of such unlimited surrounding proofs of its reliability, will, in all probability, stoop to the greater absurdity of denying the existence of Almighty God himself; a folly, that is never com- mitted in enlightened lands, by any mortal who does not think himself or herself to be exceedingly and un* commonly smart PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 77 CIIAPTEE VIII. A PERIOD OF UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL PEACE AND HARMONY. "When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job xxxviii. *J. IKCE we must necessarily conclude, that the universal happiness of all sentient beings was undoubtedly the grand, and ever glorious pur- pose of the adorable God-head in original creation; and since the opposite to good, could not have ex- isted from eternity in fact, or action, without an ac- tor; and since there is absolutely no foundation for a belief in the existence of a wicked and rival self- existent creator, as taught by the Hindoos ; we may most certainly, and most reasonably conclude and maintain, that there was unquestionably once a peri- od of time, far back in the cycles of ages unreve&led, since the creation and formation of the kingdoms of spiritual and material entity, when there was universal spiritual peace and harmony throughout the immeasur- able dominions of the eternal Jehovah. A period of time, in the language of Almighty God himself, the book of Job being admitted as authority: "When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy." 7S DEEP SOUNDINGS IN A period of time, when Satan and all the fallen an- gels, were obedient messengers of God ; angels of light, angels of glory, living in unison and harmony with their ever benevolent Creator. O what a sub- lime and transcendently glorious period this must have been throughout the incomprehensible and in- comparable realms of celestial creation! Absolute- ly no evil in existence! Nothing to disturb nor make afraid throughout the mighty universe ! No adversary of the God-head, and the heavenly angels ! No hell, nor any necessity for one ! But upon the contrary to any thing evil, there was all peace, all love, all harmony, all happiness, throughout all heav- en, and all creation. Such was the will and purpose of the benevolent Jehovah. Such was the original unmarred, and glorious universe of heavenly realms ; there being absolutely nothing to disturb and annoy, or in any way to curtail, or diminish universal happi- ness throughout all regions of God's wonderful do- minions. And such will be the house of God, or the heavenly universe of celestial mansions of the blessed, after it shall have had all its contaminated portions renovated, and made anew spiritualized, or at the least, greatly refined, as for instance, our Bin-cursed earth; and after all evil creatures shall have been judged, and driven from within its bliss- ful boundaries, into "outer darkness,*' and into the eternal fire, "prepared for the Devil and Ins angels;" as made known in Mat I. XXV. 11. What a pity, this glorious period of linn 1 , ever became disturbed! W'li.'ii a pity, ili ; s i nblime period of ages, blessed with universal spiritual peace and harmony, ever became broken! Wha1 a great pity, that foul re- bellion, ever showed its uncomely face within the PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 79 courts of bliss ! Nevertheless, such was undoubted- ly the case; for evil, or wrong* action, is not as some unfortunately imagine, a necessity ; as to so conclude, would certainly annul forever, the possi- bility and justice of its punishment. 80 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN CHAPTER IX. THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. "And angels who kept not their own principality, T»nt hd their proper habitation, he hnth kept in everlasting bonds un- der darkness unto the judgement of the great day. Jude 6. w HILE we are in the midst of great iniquity, and multiplied evil, to our sorrow and shame ; we must not conclude evil to be a necessity ; for, if we were to so reason, we would thereby set aside the justice of Almighty God in holding intelligent creatures as accountable beings, together, with the wisdom and justice of all the law* he has established; as well as the wisdom and jus- tice of all laics tending toward morality, both human and divine; and therefore, it is the most extreme limit of absurdity, to imagine that evil is a necessity, But, notwithstanding, evil is not a necessity, and did not exist from eternity, but had an origin this side of the beginning of time; yet, the possibility of evil, or wrong action, in thought, word and deed, must cer- tainly have always existed; since we cannot by any philosophy, conceive of the possibility of good, oth- erwise than through a mere machine, as a tree, with- out at the same time conceiving the possibility o1 evil. For we must undoubtedly understand, that sc far ms power and ability are concerned, it must not be considered at all impossible, for even the Al PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 81 mighty One Himself to do evil; for otherwise, we could not have any proper basis, for attributing glo- ry and honor to the adorable God-head for being good, and continuing from eternity to eternity to do good, and nothing that is not absolutely just and good. All of which reasoning, harmonizes with the history of the 'temptation of the Lord Jesus the Christ; since, if it had been utterly impossible, so far as freedom of action was concerned, for our Sav- ior to have committed iniquity; then his temptation must have been an utter farce, and an absolute fraud. Now the Holy Bible, makes known but little about the origin or beginning of evil, or wrong action, within the heavenly universe of Jehovah; yet, a suf- ficient declaration is recorded to justify us, in un- questionably attributing the origin of wrong action to the chief spiritual adversary of God and humani- ty, and the great prime actor and leader in the won- derful rebellion against the goodness and sovereign- ty of Almighty God, now in progress ; and which has been in continued action ever since the angelic prince, now known as the Devil, and Satan, con- ceived and committed the first action of disobedi- ence, whatever that action may have been, against the government and sovereignty of the eternal God- head. There can be no question about this conclu- sion; for the beloved Jesus, the promised seed of the Woman Eve ; he who was to bruise the head or power of the adversary, Satan, the "Old Serpent," as denominated in the Apocalypse ; in speaking of the Devil, says : "He was a murderer from the be- ginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speak- eth of his own ; for he is a liar, and the father there- 82 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN of.' 7 John viii. 44. Now this is exceedingly strong language to have proceeded from the lips of one, whose spirit is self-existent; from one, who could not have been mistaken; and from one, whose state- ments could not have been the out put of preju- dice. Therefore, since we learn from this unques- tionable source, that the Devil was a murderer from the beginning, and is the father of falsehood ; we cannot philosophically do otherwise than conclude, that this same Devil, and adversary was the origina- tor of rebellion against the sovereign authority of Almighty God, as is indicated by his present pre- eminent position in unrighteousness, as the unques- tionable and universally acknowledged leader of all wickedness, and all wrong action, throughout the whole of God's immeasurable universe, where iniq- uity has gained a foot-hold. The language stating that he was a murderer from the beginning, must not be understood to mean from the beginning of his creation ; for, he was certainly, far back in unre- vealed ages, an angel of glory, as well as all his an- gelic followers; but a murderer, possibly in intent and will, from the beginning of his opposition to righteousness, and his straight-out rebellion against the sovereignty of Almighty God; and certainly a murderer in actual fact, from the beginning of the human race; since lie procured the death of father Adam and mother Eve, as well as that of all their descendants, through his persnasion of the first hu- man pair to disobey the Lord God ; thus acquiring the power of bodily death over the human race, which is spoken of in Hebrews ii. 1 1. For, since mortality is nnque itionably a law of the animal king- dom; and since death has reigned overall animal PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 83 creation from unknown geological eras of time, as is demonstrated by the records of rock formation; we must necessarily conclude that the tree of life, spoken of as being in the garden of Eden, could not have been any thing else than a real tree, through the fruit of which, as a means, God would have, when necessary, imparted immortality to Adam and Eve, if they had not disobeyed Him ; and that the Devil, fully understanding all this, led them into disobedi- ence, with the intention of causing their banishment from the garden of Eden and the tree of life ; and is> therefore, a murderer of the entire human race, to all intents and purposes, by procurement, Now, we should most evidently understand, that in the crea- tion of intelligent beings, it was absolutely necessa- ry, that the Almighty God-head, should have en- dowed them with the power to act for themselves; or have granted them the grand prerogative, com- monly spoken of as "free moral agency ; " for the exceedingly philosophical reason, that without the power to act for themselves, they would have been nothing more than mere living machines, wholly in- capable of any merit or demerit, and God himself, would have been the only intelligent actor from a basis of motive, or purpose, throughout all celestial creation; as the very expression, intelligent creature, without the ability to exercise intelligence, is an ut- ter absurdity, since intelligence without power to use it, cannot be of any possible benefit. Neverthe- less, we must not conclude, that because God has granted intelligent beings the power to act for them- selves, and endowed them with wonderful powers of understanding, capable of penetrating into the sub- lime heights of celestial expansion, measuring the 81 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN distance by means of angles, to many of the scintil- lating star suns, and even of casting themselves prostrate in spiritual adoration, before the eternal throne of Jehovah, in the midst of heavenly constel- lations of systems of worlds ; that they will not, in the face of all this exaltation, be held strictly account- able to the Almighty God-head, for the manner in which this great prerogative of freedom of action is used; unless it could be shown, that God has left them absolutely free to act, without law ; to be their own masters, and amenable to no principality, pow- er, nor intelligence whatever. And, since nothing of this kind can be demonstrated, nor even intelligent- ly advocated, it may be taken as an accepted fact, that all intelligent creatures, throughout all creation, are, and forever will be, held accountable to their all-wise and righteous Creator, for the manner in which they exercise the gift of liberty of action; and that Satan, having power to act improperly, as well as properly, chose the former; and thereby, became the father of all evil, and in a moral sense, the father of all unrighteous intelligent beings. Such is un- doubtedly a correct hypothesis relative to the origin of evil. Its introduction upon the earth, among the human family, was accomplished through deception; this same wicked angel Satan, stooping to the use of a he ist of the earth, as a means of literal communica- tion; showing thai nothing is too vile, or base, to be used by him, if he can thereby carry out his pur- poses. This beast, was of the serpent species, and was a boast of the field; which shows it to have been a dry-land serpent It was also "the serpent;" which indicates, thai it ws the largest of the serpent spe* eies, then existing on the -dry land."' it was con- PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 85 demned to go upon its belly; which shows that it evidently had legs. It wa& also condemned to eat dust y all the days of its life; wiiich certainly points to a humiliation in its mode of life, brought about by the probable atrophy, or perishing of its legs. Now, all these particulars clearly point to the Boa- Constrictor species of the serpent family; for this is the largest of the dry land serpents existing, since the creation of man ; and Darwin has clearly shown that this monster species of the snake family has an atrophied pelvis, and also atrophied leg bones ; thus aiding to vindicate the reliability of the Scriptures, although an infidel himself. The learned A. Wilford Hall, takes advantage of this discovery, and admis- sion of Darwin, and shows that reduction from com- plexity to simplicity, or a going backwards, is certainly the very opposite to evolution ; and that Mr. Dar- win in this instance, therefore, disproved his own pet theory. Possibly it is necessary to here explain, that the curse and sentence of condemnation pro- nounced by the Lord God against "the serpent/ 7 ap- plies entirely to the beast of the field, made use of by the Old Serpent, that is, Satan ; while the proph- esy, correctly translated as follows: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. Thou shalt bruise his heel ; he shall bruise thy head ; " applies as exclusively to Satan and his followers upon the one hand, and to the woman and Jesus the Christ, her promised seed, upon^he other. Here is the first promise of bodily and spiritual redemption, for the Adamic race ; and as we find the children of Adam and Eve soon after this time, offering sacrifice, we naturally conclude the Lord God instituted, and explained the signifi- SG DEEP SOUNDINGS IN catice of animal sacrifice, when he obtained the skins of animals, out of which he made clothing for father Adam and mother Eve. Be this as it may; Hebrews and Christians both look upon this prophesy, as con- taining the promise of a Eedeemer; and the latter understand that Satan bruised the heel, put meto- nymically for the body of Christ, the seed of the woman, by causing it to be necessary for Christ to take upon himself humanity, and in his humanity to suffer and die, in order to consummate two purpos- es; first, to conquer Satan's power over bodily death of the human race, and thereby assure a gen- eral resurrection of the dead; and secondly, to so satisfy the law of divine right, by voluntarily offer- ing himself and his righteousness upon the altar of absolute justice, as the Son of God, and son of man, for erring humanity, that God the Father, may con- tinue absolutely just, and yet justify, or pardon the iniquity of any mortal, who has accepted, or may ac- cept, the freely offered righteousness of the Son of heaven and earth. While the Messiah is understood to have bruised the head or power of the Devil; first, by actually conquering the power of Satan over bodily death, by the resurrection of his own mate- rial body, as the first fruits of a universal resurrec- tion of the entire Adamic race; and secondly, by act- ually satisfying the claims of divine justice against all human sinners, who have accepted him through the promises of spiritual redemption under the Pa- triarchal, Mosaical and Christian dispensations of God's favor, or may in the future accept him as the only begotten Son of God in humanity, and the only Redeemer of mankind; and will put on Irs right- eousness as a garment, by becoming his follower/. PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 87 A great deal has been said and written about the in- troduction of evil upon earth, and the fall of the first human pair; but waiving all objection on account of speculation, Milton's wonderfully sublime poem, Paradise Lost, certainly excels any thing in the En- glish language, upon this particular subject. Let no person imagine that Adam and Eve were created, so 3S to be any more prone to evil than to good; for to so conclude, would be to do injustice to Almighty God, by uur philosophy. And, even to-day, the brain organisms of human beings, are evenly and properly balanced between good and evil, if not de- teriorated by immorality and beastiality of past gen- erations. Man, in his construction, has many pro- pensities, or brain compartments, that are found in the lower animals ; these constitute the camel, or animal irind of man, which is neither subject to the laws of God, nor humanity; because carnality, or the merely animal, cannot possibly recognize law; this is the office of spirituality; and hence, our spir- its are held accountable for all our bodily actions. Our great trouble in regard to evil action, is that we are often led by our carnality instead of by our spir- ituality, as Almighty God intended we should be led. For, even mother Eve, when deceived by the Old Serpent — Satan, "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes; and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat;" and her children, to this day, have never forgotten how to show their relationship. The principal reasou why human beings are so easily led by their carnality, in- stead of by their spirituality, is that the satisfaction of the former, is a thing of the present ; while that 83 DEEr SOUNDINGS IN of the latter, is a thing of future promise; truly the righteous must walk by faith; and the grand foun- tain of their happiness in this life, must he one of a loving and trusting spirituality, which has to be re- alized, before it can be understood and appreciated. PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 89 CHAPTER X. THE NECESSITY FOR THE CREATION AND FORMATION OF HELL. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand; Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels; for I was an hun- gered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in priion, and ye visited me not." Matt. xxv. 41-43. INGE multitudes of both human beings and angels, have of their own voluntary will, cho- sen to disobey and trample under foot the au- thority and benevolence of the eternal God, regard- less of his having made known the consequence ; which is banishment from the realms of heaven and eternal light, into regions of outer darkness, as is taught in Matt. xxii. 13. ; even "into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels ;" as made known in Matt. xxv. 41-43. ; there can be no question as to whether there is a hell, awaiting the wicketl in future ages, after "the judgment of the great day," mentioned by the Apostle Jude, say- ing: "Now I desire to put you in remembrance, though ye know all things once for all, how that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of 90 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And angels who kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlast- ing bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Jude, 5, 6. But a thought of rebellion arises in the minds of many persons, causing them to attempt to imagine why it was necessary, that Al- mighty God should prepare a place of "outer dark- ness," or "the Gehenna of fire," for the wicked? This is undoubtedly a very important question; since there are many misguided people, who claim to know so much about the attributes of God, as to say in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that it is impos- sible that the Almighty should ever have created and formulated any such a place as a hell. Now, no one can possibly deny the divine right of these de- luded creatures to th'nk and act for themselves; for this power is necessarily granted to all intelligent beings the Almighty One has ever created, or may hereafter create; as has already been demonstrated; but at the same time, we, as the servants of God, cannot do otherwise than regret, and deplore the truth, that some of our fellow-mortals are so blinded, and wonderfully entangled within the soul-traps of the Devil, that they have actually persuaded them- selves to claim and insist, that there is certainly no hell, Thei e persons rely upon and extol the mercy and love of God; not perceiving that even with God, it is impossible to extend mercy without the sat- i faction of divine ju (ice; for God cannot be merci- ful at the &rpe?wc of justice, since God musl undoubt- edly continue absolutely just, to remain God. They do not therefore, under' land the attributes of the Almighty, and harmonize them all together; for Je- PHILOSOPHICAL WATEES. 91 hovah is evidently the God of righteous, as well as all wise principles and laws, within the bounds of which he lives himself; not doing as some mortals do, teach good principles and laws to others, but disobey these same principles and laws themselves. Wherefore, it should be undoubtedly admitted, as exceedingly evident, that since the Creator is the God of laics, there must of necessity be penalties for the violation of his laws, as even human beings have greater understanding, than to make laws, without attaching penalties, in case of violation ; hence, hell, banishment from heaven, or some kind of penalty for the violation of God's moral laws, is clearly an undeniable necessity; that no mortal, governed by philosophical reasoning, can possibly set aside. And since hell was, and is a necessity; why may we not conclude, it will always remain a necessity? For, it is undoubtedly the duty of all created intelli- gent beings, to do right; and, therefore, if we as in- telligent and accountable creatures do wrong willing- ly and knowingly, even once ; we are thereby made unrighteous forever, unless means can be found to wipe out the unrighteous acts; and since we do on- ly our duty, when we do right, ten thousand thou- sand good acts upon our part, cannot obliterate or cancel one bad act. This principle lies at the foun- dation of all revealed religion ; and necessitated in- tervention upon the part of the God-head, in behalf of mankind, to enable God the Father to forgive sin- ful mortals willing to turn from iniquity, and at the same time remain absolutely just, as the author of divine law. This intervention, so far as Eevelation makes known, has been made only for the race of Adam. Whether there is any possibility of so satis- 92 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN tying divine justice, that God the Father can remain wholly just, and yet forgive a repentant fallen angel, it is impossible for us to know, without further reve- lation from heaven ; but we do know, that without the satisfaction of divine justice, there can be no forgiv- ness of sins, nor release from their penalty; because both philosophy and the Holy Bible, clearly teach this truth ; though it may be ever so unwelcome to the disobedient. While it would be exceedingly in- teresting to give this plan of intervention by the God-head, in behalf of fallen humanity, I will not herein do so; because this subject belongs to a work I have under way, entitled Sin and its Reme- dy; yet, I may be permitted to state even now, that Revelation makes known to mortals the glad tidings, that one of the divine persons of the God-head, namely, that Prophet, promised by Jehovah to Isre- al, as made known by Moses in Deut. xviii. 18.; and referred to by the Apostle Peter, in his address de- livered in Solomon's porch, or portico of the Jewish temple, as recorded in Acts iii. 22, 23. ; the Son of the virgin, mentioned by Isaiah, chapter viii. 14., and by Matt., chapter i. 23. ; even the "only begotten Son" of God, spoken of by John, chapter iv. 9.; has under- taken to conquer the power of Satan over bodily death ; to satisfy the claims of divine justice against all erring mortals, who will accept him as the Son of God the Father, and only Redeemer of mankind; to put in subjection nil creatures, principalities, and powers; not as some suppose in will only, but in liberty of action, so far as the disobedient are con- cerned; by banishment from heavenly realms, "into outei darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth : " and when nil these things, shall PHILOSOPHICAL WATERS. 93 have been accomplished, then the beloved Son will lay his scepter at the foot of the throne of heaven, and become himself subject to the august and om- nipotent Spirit Father; to whom be glory, and hon- or, and adoration, forever and forever. See I. Cor. xv. 25-28. But as some may attempt to deny that Satan was once an angel of glory, as claimed in chapter ix., and upon the contrary, may therefore conclude, he must have existed as a wicked rival creator, from eternity, as claimed by the Hindoos; it is probably expedient, that some proof that Satan was once an angel of light, be herein set forth. With this end in view, we find that when our beloved Savior was on earth, engaged in the work of his ministry; the Jews accused him of casting demons, out of demoniacs, through Beelzebub, the prince of the demons ; thus ignorantly committing the unpar- donable sin, of attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. See Matt. xii. 23-33. Now, from this scripture, we learn, that Satan is the prince of the de- mons ; and since the demons are unquestionably fal- len angels, or devils, as is indicated by Matt. viii. 16.; it certainly follows, that their prince is also a fallen angel. Wherefore, there is no doubt about Satan having been once an angel of glory, as well as all the other devils, unless demons and fallen angels constitute two different classes of beings, which is unquestionably not the case, since the Devil is called "the angel of the abyss," in Bev. ix. 11. This argu- ment has the Holy Bible for a basis, and there can be no doubt whatever, that Satan and all other de- mons were once, far back in unrevealed cycles of time, angels of light, angels of glory, angels of God; during that happy era, when all was peace and har- 94 DEEP SOUNDINGS IN raony; when all creatures were living under the ban- ner of universal love, and in unison with Almighty God. But Satan having most probably through un- holy pride, conceived rebellion against the sover- eignty of the God-head, led many other angels to foolishly side with him in an attempt to throw ofl the government of their Creator; and having by such rebellion, fallen from that exalted and exceed- ingly glorious estate, or condition in which the Al- mighty One had placed them ; and having trampled under foot the benevolence, and loving-kindness ol Jehovah ; and having undertaken to set aside, and defy his sovereignty; the ever adorable, and perfect- ly righteous Creator was certainly under the neces- sity of preparing some region, or regions of outer space, as a suitable home, and prison, for these fallen and misguided subjects; as well as for all creatures who may yet be led by them into this unholy and unnatural rebellion. And that God was not only under the necessity of creating and preparing a place suitable for these rebellious creatures; but of adapt- ing and arranging it to meet the demands of the di- versified inhabitants, destined by their own conduct to obtain a dwelling place therein; so that all class- es of the condemned, may reap the legitimate conse- quence of the degree of rebellion, they have volun- tarily chosen. For there is a time appointed, in the unknown future, al the consummation of God's ex- ceedingly wonderful long suffering, «>>l l}od. ,, -—CAfis:ian Evangelist, St. Louis, Mo. i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 027 275 748 3