,modern ,religious ,cults and ,movements
    ,works by  ,gaius ,glenn ,atkins    
,modern ,religious ,cults and ,movements
  ,dr4 ,atkins has written a noteworthy 
and valuable book dealing with the new  
cults some of which have been much to   
the fore for a couple of decades past1  
such as3 ,faith ,healing2 ,christian    
,science2 ,new ,thought2 ,theosophy and 
,spiritualism1 etc4 #b4ej  ,the         
,undiscovered ,country  ,dr4 ,atkins'   
work1 throughout1 is marked by clarity  
of presentation1 polished diction and   
forceful phrasing4 ,a firm grasp of the 
elemental truths of ,christian belief   
together with an unusual ability to     
interpret mundane experiences in terms  
of spiritual reality4 #a4ej  ,jerusalem3
 ,past and ,present  ,one of the books  
that will help to relieve us of the     
restless craving for excitement1 and to 
make clear that we can read history     
truly only as we read it as ',his       
,story'--and that we attain our best    
only as the hope of the soul is realized

 by citizenship in 'the ,city of        
,god4'--,baptist ,world4 #a4be          
,pilgrims of the ,lonely ,road  ,a very 
unusual group of studies of the great   
mystics1 and shows real insight into the
 deeper experience of the religious     
life4--,christian ,work4 #b4jj  ,a      
,rendezvous with ,life  ,life is        
represented as a journey1 with various  
'inns' along the way such as ,day's     
,end1 ,week's ,end1 ,month's ,end1      
,year's ,end--all suggestive of certain 
experiences and duties4 ,paper1 #be cts4
     ,modern ,religious ,cults and      
,movements  ,by  ,,gaius ,,glenn        
,,atkins1 ,d4,d41 ,l4,h4,d4  ,minister  
of the ,first ,congregational ,church1  
,detroit1 ,mich4  ,author of ,pilgrims  
of the ,lonely ,road1 ,the ,undiscovered
 ,country1 etc4  ,new ,york ,chicago    
,fleming ,h4 ,revell ,company  ,london  
and ,edinburgh  ,copyright1 #aibc1 by   
,,fleming ,h4 ,,revell ,,company  ,new  
,york3 #aeh ,fifth ,avenue ,chicago3 #ag
 ,north ,wabash ,ave4 ,london3 #ba      

,paternoster ,square ,edinburgh3 #ge    
,princes ,street  ,to ,e4,m4,c4  ,whose 
constant friendship through changing    
years has been like the fire upon his   
hearthstone1 a glowing gift and a       
grateful memory     ,introduction   ,the
 last thirty years1 though as dates go  
this is only an approximation1 have     
witnessed a marked development of       
religious cults and movements largely   
outside the lines of historic           
,catholicism and ,protestantism4 ,one of
 these cults is strongly organized and  
has for twenty years grown more rapidly 
in proportion than most of the          
,christian communions4 ,the influence of
 others1 more loosely organized1 is far 
reaching4 ,some of them attempt to give 
a religious content to the present trend
 of science and philosophy1 and1        
generally1 they represent the free      
movement of what one may call the       
creative religious consciousness of our 
time4  ,there is1 of course1 a great and
 constantly growing literature dealing  

with particular cults1 but there has    
been as yet apparently no attempt to    
inquire whether there may not be a few  
unexpectedly simple centers around      
which1 in spite of their superficial    
differences1 they really organize       
themselves4  ,what follows is an        
endeavour in these directions4 ,it is   
really a very great task and can at the 
best be only tentatively done4 ,whoever 
undertakes it may well begin by         
confessing his own limitations4         
,contemporaneous appraisals of movements
 upon whose tides we ourselves are borne
 are subject to constant revision4      
,one's own prejudices1 no matter how    
strongly one may deal with them1 colour 
one's conclusions1 particularly in the  
region of religion4 ,the really vast    
subject matter also imposes its own     
limitations upon even the most sincere  
student unless he has specialized for a 
lifetime in his theme2 even then he     
would need to ask the charity of his    
readers4  ,ground has been broken for   

such an endeavour in many different     
directions4 ,broadly considered1        
,william ,james' ,varieties of          
,religious ,experience was perhaps the  
pioneer work4 ,professor ,james'        
suggestive analyses recognize the       
greatly divergent forms religious       
experience may take and establish their 
right to be taken seriously as valid    
facts for the investigator4 ,the whole  
tendency of organized ,christianity--and
 ,protestantism more largely than       
,catholicism--has been to narrow        
religious experience to accepted forms1 
but religion itself is impatient of     
forms4 ,it has its border-lands1 shadowy
 regions which lie between the          
acceptance of what ,sabatier calls the  
religions of authority on the one hand  
and the conventional types of piety or  
practical goodness on the other4 ,those 
who find their religion in such         
regions--one might perhaps call them the
 border-land people--discover the       
authority for their faith in            

philosophies which1 for the most part1  
have not the sanction of the schools and
 the demonstration of the reality of    
their faith in personal experience for  
which there is very little proof except 
their own testimony--and their testimony
 itself is often confused enough4  ,but 
,james made no attempt to relate his    
governing conceptions to particular     
organizations and movements save in the 
most general way4 ,his fundamentals1 the
 distinction he draws between the       
once-born and the twice-born1 between   
the religion of healthy-mindedness and  
the need of the sick soul1 the          
psychological bases which he supplies   
for conversation and the rarer religious
 experiences are immensely illuminating1
 but all this is only the nebul out of  
which religions are organized into      
systems2 the systems still remain to be 
considered4  ,there has been of late a  
new interest in ,mysticism1 itself a    
border-land word1 strangely difficult of
 definition yet meaning generally the   

persuasion that through certain         
spiritual disciplines--commonly called  
the mystic way--we may come into a      
first-hand knowledge of ,god and the    
spiritual order1 in no sense dependent  
upon reason or sense testimony4 ,some   
modern movements are akin to mysticism  
but they cannot all be fairly included  
in any history of mysticism4 ,neither   
can they be included in any history of  
,christianity2 some of them completely  
ignore the ,christian religion2 some of 
them press less central aspects of it   
out of all proportion2 one of them      
undertakes to recast ,christianity in   
its own moulds but certainly gives it a 
quality in so dealing with it which     
cannot be supported by any critical     
examination of the ,gospels or          
considered as the logical development of
 ,christian dogma4 ,here are really new 
adventures in religion with new gospels1
 new prophets and new creeds4 ,they need
 to be twice approached1 once through an
 examination of those things which are  

fundamental in religion itself1 for they
 have behind them the power of what one 
may call the religious urge1 and they   
will ultimately stand as they meet1 with
 a measure of finality1 those needs of  
the soul of which religion has always   
been the expression1 or fall as they    
fail to meet them4 ,but since some      
limitation or other in the types of     
,christianity which are dominant amongst
 us has given them their opportunity    
they must also be approached through    
some consideration of the ,christianity 
against which they have reacted4        
,unsatisfied needs of the inner life    
have unlocked the doors through which   
they have made their abundant entry4    
,since they also reflect1 as religion   
always reflects1 contemporaneous        
movements in ,philosophy1 ,science1     
,ethics and ,social ,relationship1 they 
cannot be understood without some       
consideration of the forces under whose 
strong impact inherited faiths have1    
during the last half century1 been      

slowly breaking down1 and in answer to  
whose suggestions faith has been taking 
a new form4  ,a rewarding approach1     
then1 to ,modern ,religious ,cults and  
,movements must necessarily move along a
 wide front1 and a certain amount of    
patience and faith is asked of the      
reader in the opening chapters of this  
book3 patience enough to follow through 
the discussion of general principles1   
and faith enough to believe that such a 
discussion will in the end contribute to
 the practical understanding of         
movements with which we are all more or 
less familiar1 and by which we are all  
more or less affected4  ,g4,g4,a4       
,detroit1 ,michigan4     ,contents   ,i4
 ,,forms ,,and ,,backgrounds ,,of       
,,inherited ,,christianity              
#ac  ,certain ,qualities ,common to ,all
 ,religions--,christianity ,historically
 ,organized ,around a ,transcendent ,god
 and a ,fallen ,humanity--,the          
,incarnation2 the ,cross the ,supreme   
,symbol of ,western ,theology--,the     

,catholic ,belief in the ,authority of  
an ,inerrant ,church--,the ,protestant  
,church ,made ,faith the ,key to        
,salvation--,protestantism and an       
,infallibly ,inspired ,bible--,the      
,strength and ,weakness of ,this        
,position--,evangelical ,protestantism  
the ,outcome--,individual ,experience of
 the ,believer the ,keystone of         
,evangelical                            
,protestantism--,readjustment of ,both  
,catholic and ,protestant ,systems      
,inevitable4  ,,ii4 ,,new ,,forces ,,and
 ,,old ,,faiths                         
#df  ,the ,far-reaching ,readjustments  
of ,christian ,faith in the ,last ,fifty
 ,years--,the ,reaction of ,evolution   
,upon ,religion--,the ,reaction of      
,biblical ,criticism ,upon ,faith--,the 
,average ,man ,loses ,his               
,bearings--,the ,new ,psychology--,the  
,influence of ,philosophy and the       
,social ,situation--,an ,age of         
,confusion--,the ,lure of the ,short    
,cut--,popular ,education--,the         

,churches ,lose ,authority--,efforts at 
,reconstruction--,an ,age of ,doubt and 
a ,twilight-,zone in ,history--,the     
,hunger of the ,soul and the ,need for  
,faith--,modern ,religious ,cults and   
,movements3 ,their ,three ,centers      
,about ,which ,they ,have ,organized    
,themselves4  ,,iii4 ,,faith ,,healing  
,,in ,,general                          
#hb  ,the ,bases of ,faith and ,mental  
,healing--,cannon's ,study of ,emotional
 ,reactions--,the ,two ,doors--,the     
,challenge of ,hypnotism--,changed      
,attention ,affects ,physical           
,states--,the ,power of ,faith to       
,change ,mental ,attitudes--,demon      
,possession--,the ,beginnings of        
,scientific ,medicine--,the ,attitude of
 the ,early and ,medieval               
,church--,saints and ,shrines--,magic1  
,charms1 and the ,king's ,touch3 ,the   
,rise of the ,faith ,healer4  ,,iv4     
,,the ,,approach ,,to ,,christian       
,,science ,,and ,,mary ,,baker ,,eddy   
#ajh  ,mesmerism--,the ,scientific      

,investigation of ,mesmerism--,mesmerism
 in ,america2 ,phineas ,quimby an       
,important ,link in a ,long             
,chain--,quimby is ,led to ,define      
,sickness as ,wrong ,belief--,quimby    
,develops ,his ,theories--,mary ,baker  
,eddy ,comes ,under ,his                
,influence--,outstanding ,events of ,her
 ,life3 ,her ,early ,girlhood--,her     
,education3 ,shaping ,influences--,her  
,unhappy ,fortunes4 ,she is ,cured by   
,quimby--,an ,unacknowledged ,debt--,she
 ,develops ,quimby's ,teachings--,begins
 to ,teach and to ,heal--,early ,phases 
of ,christian ,science--,she ,writes    
,science and ,health and ,completes the 
,organization of ,her ,church4  ,v4     
,,christian ,,science ,,as ,a           
,,philosophy                            
#acf  ,christian ,science a ,philosophy1
 a ,theology1 a ,religion and a ,system 
of ,healing--,the ,philosophic ,bases of
 ,christian ,science--,it ,undertakes to
 ,solve the ,problem of                 
,evil--,contrasted ,solutions--,the     

,divine ,mind and ,mortal ,mind--,the   
,essential ,limitations of ,mrs4 ,eddy's
 ,system--,experience and               
,life--,sense-,testimony--,the          
,inescapable ,reality of ,shadowed      
,experience4  ,,vi4 ,,christian         
,,science ,,as ,a ,,theology            
#afc  ,science and ,health ,offered as a
 ,key to the ,scriptures--,it ,ignores  
,all ,recognized ,canons of ,biblical   
,interpretation--,its ,conception of    
,god--,mrs4 ,eddy's ,interpretation of  
,jesus ,christ--,christian ,science ,his
 ,second ,coming--,christian ,science1  
the ,incarnation and the                
,atonement--,sin an ,error of ,mortal   
,mind--,the ,sacraments ,disappear--,the
 ,real ,power of ,christian ,science4   
,,vii4 ,,christian ,,science ,,as ,a    
,,system ,,of ,,healing ,,and ,a        
,,religion          #ahe  ,christian    
,science the ,application of ,philosophy
 and ,theology to ,bodily               
,healing--,looseness of ,christian      
,science ,diagnosis--,the ,power of     

,mental ,environment--,christian        
,science ,definition of ,disease--,has a
 ,rich ,field to ,work--,a              
,strongly-,drawn ,system of             
,psycho-therapy--,a ,system of          
,suggestion--,affected by ,our ,growing 
,understanding of the ,range of         
,suggestion--,strongest in ,teaching    
,that ,god ,has ,meaning for the ,whole 
of ,life--,exalts the ,power of ,mind2  
the ,processes--,is ,not ,big ,enough   
for the ,whole of ,experience4  ,,viii4 
,,new ,,thought                         
#baj  ,new ,thought ,difficult to       
,define--,the ,rediscovery of the ,inner
 ,life--,spinoza's ,quest--,kant        
,reaffirms the ,creative ,power of      
,mind--,utilitarianism1 ,deism and      
,individualism--,the ,reactions ,against
 ,them--,new ,england                   
,transcendentalism--,new ,thought ,takes
 ,form--,its ,creeds--,the ,range of the
 ,movement--,the ,key-,words of ,new    
,thought--,its ,field of ,real          
,usefulness--,its ,gospel of ,getting   

,on--,the ,limitations and ,dangers of  
,its ,positions--,tends to ,become a    
,universal and ,loosely-,defined        
,religion4  ,,ix4 ,,the ,,return ,,of   
,,the ,,east ,,upon ,,west4 ,,theosophy 
,,and ,,kindred ,,cults                 
#bde  ,historic ,forces ,carried ,early 
,christianity ,west and ,not ,east--,the
 ,west ,rediscovers the ,east2 the ,east
 ,returns ,upon the ,west--,chesterton's
 ,two ,saints--,why the ,west ,questions
 the ,east--,pantheism and ,its         
,problems--,how the ,one ,becomes the   
,many--,evolution and                   
,involution--,theosophy ,undertakes to  
,offer ,deliverance--,but ,becomes      
,deeply ,entangled ,itself--,the ,west  
,looks to ,personal ,immortality--,the  
,east ,balances the ,accounts of ,life  
in a ,series of                         
,reincarnations--,theosophy ,produces a 
,distinct ,type of ,character--,a ,tour 
de ,force of the ,imagination--,a       
,bridge of ,clouds--,the ,difficulties  
of ,reincarnation--,immortality ,nobler1

 ,juster and ,simpler--,pantheism at    
,its ,best--and ,its ,worst4  ,x4       
,,spiritualism                          
#bhd  ,the ,genesis of ,modern          
,spiritualism--,it ,crosses to          
,europe--,the ,beginnings of            
,trance-,mediumship--,the ,society for  
,psychical ,research ,begins ,its       
,work--,confronts                       
,difficulties--,william ,james ,enters  
the ,field--,the ,limitations of        
,psychical ,investigation--,the ,society
 for ,psychical ,research ,gives        
,intellectual ,standing to              
,spiritism--,the ,very ,small ,number of
 ,dependable ,mediums--,spiritism a     
,question of ,testimony and             
,interpretation--,possible ,explanations
 of ,spiritistic ,phenomena--,myers'    
,theory of                              
,mediumship--,telepathy--,controls--,the
 ,dilemma of ,spiritism--,the ,influence
 of ,spiritism--,the ,real ,alternative 
to ,spiritism--,the ,investigations of  
mile ,boirac--,geley's                  

,conclusions--,the ,meaning of          
,spiritism for ,faith4  ,,xi4 ,,minor   
,,cults3 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,the     
,,cults ,,for ,,the ,,church            
#cbf  ,border-land                      
,cults--,bahaism--,the ,bab and ,his    
,successors--,the ,temple of            
,unity--,general ,conclusions--,the     
,cults ,are ,aspects of the ,creative   
,religious ,consciousness of the        
,age--,their ,parallels in the          
,past--,the ,healing ,cults ,likely to  
be ,adversely ,influenced by the        
,scientific ,organization of            
,psycho-therapy--,new ,thought ,will    
,become ,old ,thought--,possible        
,absorption of the ,cults by a ,widening
 ,historic ,christianity--,christianity 
,influenced by the ,cults--,medical     
,science and the ,healing ,cults--,a    
,neglected ,force--,time and the        
,corrections of ,truth4     ,i  ,,the   
,,forms ,,and ,,backgrounds ,,of        
,,inherited ,,christianity              
,chronologically the point of departure 

for such a study as this is the decade  
from #ahhj to #ahij4 ,this is only an   
approximation but it will do4 ,it was a 
particularly decorous decade4 ,there was
 no fighting save on the outposts of    
colonial empires1 the little wars of    
,soldiers ,three and ,barrack ,room     
,ballads--too far away for their guns to
 be heard in the streets of capital     
cities1 but lending a touch of colour to
 newspaper head-lines and supplying new 
material for rising young writers4 ,it  
was the decade of triumphant ,democracy 
and triumphant ,science and triumphant  
,industrialism and1 among the more      
open-minded1 of triumphant ,evolution4  
,western ,civilization was sure of its  
forces1 sure of its formul1 sure of its 
future2 there were here and there clouds
 no bigger than a man's hand against    
particularly luminous horizons1 but     
there was everywhere a general agreement
 that they would be dissolved by the    
force of benign development4 ,the world 
seemed particularly well in hand4  ,the 

churches generally shared this          
confidence4 ,catholicism and            
,protestantism had reached a tacit      
working agreement as to their spheres of
 influence and were even beginning to   
fraternize a little4 ,the divisive force
 of ,protestantism seemed to have spent 
itself4 ,since ,alexander               
,campbell--dead now for a decade and a  
half--no ,protestant sect of any        
importance had been established4 ,the   
older denominations had achieved a      
distinctive finality in organization and
 doctrine4 ,evolution and ,biblical     
criticism were generally the storm      
centers of controversy and though these 
controversies were severe enough they   
produced no schisms in the churches     
themselves4 ,a few religious leaders    
were urging a more thoroughgoing social 
interpretation and application of the   
teachings of ,jesus2 such as these were 
really looked upon with more suspicion  
than the propagandists of a liberal     
theology4  ,we see now with almost      

tragic clearness that1 beneath the      
surface of the whole interrelated order 
of that tranquil afternoon of the       
,victorian epoch1 there were forces in  
action working toward such a challenge  
of the accepted and inherited as        
cultures and civilizations are asked to 
meet only in the great crises of history
 and bound to issue1 as they have issued
 in far-flung battle lines1 in the      
overthrow of ancient orders and new     
alignments along every front of human   
interest4 ,it will be the task of the   
historians of the future who will have  
the necessary material in hand to follow
 these immense reactions in their       
various fields and they will find their 
real point of departure not in dates but
 in the human attitudes and outlooks    
which then made a specious show of being
 final--and were not final at all4      
,just there also is the real point of   
departure for a study like this4 ,we may
 date the rise of modern religious cults
 and movements from the last decades of 

the nineteenth century1 but they are    
really reactions not against a time but 
a temper1 an understanding of religion  
and a group of religious validations    
which had been built up through an      
immense labour of travailing generations
 and which toward the end of the last   
century were in the way of being more   
seriously challenged than for a thousand
 years 7and if this seems too strong a  
statement the reader is asked to wait   
for at least the attempted proof of it74
 ,we shall have to begin1 then1 with a  
state of mind which for want of a better
 name ,i venture to call the            
representative orthodox religious       
consciousness of the end of the         
nineteenth century4 ,that this          
consciousness is ,christian is of course
 assumed4 ,it is ,protestant rather than
 ,catholic1 for ,protestantism has      
supplied the larger number of followers 
to the newer religious movements4  ,to  
begin with1 this representative         
religious consciousness was by no means 

simple4 ,professor ,james ,harvey       
,robinson tells us that the modern mind 
is really a complex1 that it contains   
and continues the whole of our          
inheritances and can be understood only 
through the analysis of all the         
contributive elements which have        
combined to make it what it is and that 
the inherited elements in it far        
outweigh more recent contributions4 ,the
 religious mind is an equally complex   
and deep-rooted inheritance and can best
 be approached by a consideration of the
 bases of religion4   ,certain          
,qualities ,common to ,all ,religions   
,we are but pilgrims down roads which   
space and time supply2 we cannot account
 for ourselves in terms of what we know 
to be less than ourselves1 nor can we   
face the shadow which falls deeply      
across the end of our way without       
dreaming1 at least1 of that which lies  
beyond4 ,whence8 ,whither8 and ,why8 are
 insurgent questions2 they are voices   
out of the depths4 ,a very great        

development of intelligence was demanded
 before such questions really took      
definite shape1 but they are implicit in
 even the most rudimentary forms of     
religion1 nor do we outgrow them through
 any achievement of ,science or         
development of ,philosophy4 ,they become
 thereby1 if anything1 more insistent4  
,our widening horizons of knowledge are 
always swept by a vaster circumference  
of mystery into which faith must write a
 meaning and beyond which faith must    
discern a destiny4  ,religion begins1   
therefore1 in our need so to interpret  
the power manifest in the universe#a as 
to come into some satisfying            
relationship therewith4 ,it goes on to  
supply an answer to the dominant        
questions--,whence8 ,whither8 ,why8 ,it 
fulfills itself in worship and communion
 with what is worshipped4 ,such worship 
has addressed itself to vast ranges of  
objects1 fulfilled itself in an almost  
unbelievable variety of rites4 ,and yet 
in every kind of worship there has been 

some aspiration toward an ideal         
excellence and some endeavour1 moreover1
 of those who worship to come into a    
real relation with what is worshipped4  
,it would need a detailed treatment1    
here impossible1 to back up so general a
 statement with the facts which prove   
it1 but the facts are beyond dispute4   
,it would be equally difficult to       
analyze the elements in human nature    
which lead us to seek such communion4   
,the essential loneliness of the soul1  
our sense of divided and warring powers 
and the general emotional instability of
 personality without fitting objects of 
faith and devotion1 all contribute to   
the incurable religiosity of human      
nature4  ,footnote #a3 ,i have taken as 
a working definition of ,religion a     
phrase quoted by ,ward ,fowler in the   
introduction to his ,gifford ,lectures  
on ,the ,religious ,experience of the   
,roman ,people4 ,religion is the        
effective desire to be in right         
relationship to the power manifesting   

itself in the ,universe4 ,this is only a
 formula but it lends itself to vital   
interpretations and is a better approach
 to modern cults1 many of which are just
 that endeavour1 than those definitions 
of religion just now current which      
define it as a system of values or a    
process of evaluation4  ,the value which
 religion has for those who hold it is  
perhaps as largely tested by its power  
to give them a real sense of communion  
with ,god as by any other single thing1 
but this by no means exhausts the value 
of religion for life4 ,all religions    
must1 in one way or another1 meet the   
need of the will for guidance and the   
need of the ethical sense for right     
standards4 ,religion has always had an  
ethical content1 simple enough to begin 
with as religion itself was simple4     
,certain things were permitted1 certain 
things prohibited as part of a cult4    
,these permissions and prohibitions are 
often strangely capricious1 but we may  
trace behind taboo and caste and the    

ceremonially clean and unclean an always
 emerging standard of right and wrong   
and a fundamental relationship between  
religion and ethics4 ,religion from the 
very first felt itself to be the more   
august force and through its superior   
authority gave direction and quality to 
the conduct of its devotees4 ,it was    
long enough before all this grew into   
,decalogues and the ,sermon on the      
,mount and the latter chapters of       
,paul's great letters to his churches   
and our present system of ,christian    
ethics1 but we discover the beginning of
 the lordship of religion over conduct  
even in the most primitive cults4  ,we  
shall find as we go on that this        
particular aspect of religion is less   
marked in modern religious cults and    
movements than either the quest for a   
new understanding of ,god or new answers
 to the three great questions1 or the   
longing for a more satisfying communion 
with ,god4 ,they accept1 for the most   
part1 the generally held standards of   

,christian conduct1 but even so1 they   
are beginning to develop their own      
ethical standards and to react upon the 
conduct of those who hold them4  ,as has
 been intimated1 however1 the appeal of 
religion goes far deeper than all this4 
,if it did no more than seek to define  
for us the power not ourselves          
everywhere made manifest1 if it did no  
more than answer the haunting questions3
 ,whence8 and ,whither8 and ,why81 if it
 did no more than offer the emotional   
life a satisfying object of worship and 
communion with the ,divine1 supplying at
 the same time ethical standards and    
guiding and strengthening the will in   
its endeavour after goodness1 it would  
have done us an immense service4 ,but   
one may well wonder whether if religion 
did no more than this it would have     
maintained itself as it has and renew   
through the changing generations its    
compelling appeal4 ,more strong than any
 purely intellectual curiosity as to a  
first cause or controlling power1 more  

haunting than any wonder as to the      
source and destiny of life1 more        
persistent than any loneliness of the   
questing soul is our dissatisfaction    
with ourselves1 our consciousness of    
tragic moral fault1 our need of         
forgiveness and deliverance4 ,this      
longing for deliverance has taken many  
forms4  ,henry ,osborn ,taylor in a fine
 passage has shown us how manifold are  
the roads men have travelled in their   
quest for salvation4#b ,for one man     
shall find his peace in action1 another 
in the rejection of action1 even in the 
seeming destruction of desire2 another  
shall have peace and freedom through    
intellectual inquiry1 while another must
 obey his ,god or love his ,god and may 
stand in very conscious need of divine  
salvation4 ,the adjustment sought by    
,confucius was very different from that 
which drew the mind of ,plato or led    
,augustine to the ,city of ,god4 ,often 
quite different motives may inspire the 
reasonings which incidentally bring men 

to like conclusions4444 ,the life       
adjustment of the early ,greek          
philosophers had to do with scientific  
curiosity4444 ,they were not like       
,gotama seeking relief from the tedious 
impermanence of personal experience any 
more than they were seeking to insure   
their own eternal welfare in and through
 the love of ,god1 the motive around    
which surged the ,christian yearning for
 salvation4 ,evidently every religion is
 a means of adjustment or deliverance4  
,footnote #b3 ,deliverance1 pp4 #d and  
#e4  ,professor ,james in his chapter on
 ,the ,sick ,souls deals most           
suggestively with these driving longings
 and all the later analyses of the      
psychology of conversion begin with the 
stress of the divided self4 ,the deeper 
teaching of the ,new ,testament roots   
itself in this soil4 ,the literature of 
confession is rich in classic           
illustrations of all this1 told as only 
,st4 ,augustine more than a thousand    
years ago or ,tolstoy yesterday can tell

 it4 ,no need to quote them here2 they  
are easily accessible for those who     
would find for their own longings       
immortal voices and be taught with what 
searching self-analysis those who have  
come out of darkness into light have    
dealt with their own sick souls4  ,every
 religion has in some fashion or other  
offered deliverance to its devotees     
through sacrifice or spiritual          
discipline1 or the assurance that their 
sins were atoned for and their          
deliverance assured through the         
sufferings of others4 ,all this1        
needless to say1 involves not only the  
sense of sin but the whole reach of     
life's shadowed experiences4 ,we have   
great need to be delivered not only from
 our divided selves but from the burdens
 and perplexities of life4 ,religion    
must offer some explanation of the      
general problem of sorrow and evil2 it  
must1 above all1 justify the ways of    
,god with men4  ,generally speaking1    
religion is very greatly dependent upon 

its power so to interpret the hard      
things of life to those who bear them   
that they may still believe in the      
,divine love and justice4 ,the          
generality of doubt is not philosophical
 but practical4 ,we break with ,god more
 often than for any other reason because
 we believe that ,he has not kept faith 
with us4 ,some of the more strongly held
 modern cults have found their          
opportunity in the evident deficiency of
 the traditional explanation of pain and
 sorrow4 ,religion has really a strong  
hold on the average life only as it     
meets the more shadowed side of         
experience with the affirmation of an   
all-conquering love and justice in which
 we may rest4  ,broadly considered1     
then1 the elements common to all        
religions are such as these3 a          
satisfying interpretation of the power  
manifest in the universe1 the need of   
the mind for an answer to the questions 
,whence8 and ,whither8 and ,why81 the   
need of the emotional life for such     

peace as may come from the consciousness
 of being in right relationship and     
satisfying communion with ,god1 the need
 of the will and ethical sense for      
guidance1 and a need including all this 
and something beside for spiritual      
deliverance4 ,the representative        
religious consciousness of the end of   
the nineteenth century in which we find 
our point of departure for the religious
 reactions of the last generation       
naturally included all this1 but        
implicitly rather than explicitly4 ,the 
intellectually curious were more        
concerned with science and political    
economies than the nature or genesis of 
religion1 while the truly devout1 who   
are not generally given to the critical 
analysis of their faith1 accepted it as 
a ,divine revelation needing no         
accounting for outside their ,bible4    
,moreover such things as these were not 
then and never can be held abstractly4  
,they were articulate in creeds and     
organized in churches and invested with 

the august sanction of authority1 and   
mediated through old1 old processes of  
religious development4   ,christianity  
,historically ,organized ,around the    
,conception of a ,transcendent ,god and 
a ,fallen ,humanity  ,for in its        
historic development religion has       
naturally taken distinctly divergent    
forms1 conditioned by race1 environment1
 the action and reaction of massed      
experience and by the temper and insight
 of a few supremely great religious     
leaders4 ,but centrally1 the whole      
development of any religion has been    
controlled by its conception of ,god    
and1 in the main1 three different       
conceptions of ,god give colour and     
character to the outstanding historic   
religions4 ,pantheistic religions have  
thought of ,god as just the whole of all
 that is2 they widen the universe to the
 measure of the ,divine1 or narrow the  
,divine to the operations of the        
universe4 ,pantheism saturates its whole
 vague content with a mystical quality  

of thought1 and colours what it sees    
with its own emotions4 ,the religions of
 the ,divine ,immanence conceive ,god as
 pervading and sustaining all that is   
and revealing ,himself thereby1 though  
not necessarily confined therein4 ,the  
religions of the ,divine ,transcendence 
have believed in a ,god who is apart    
from all that is1 who neither begins nor
 ends in ,his universe1 and from whom we
 are profoundly separated not only by   
our littlenesses but by our sin4  ,all  
this is a bare statement of what is     
almost infinitely richer as it has been 
felt and proclaimed by the devout and we
 shall see as we go on how the newer    
religious movements take also their     
colour and character from a new emphasis
 upon the nature of ,god1 or else a     
return to understandings of ,him and    
feelings about ,him which have been lost
 out in the development of              
,christianity4  ,historically ,christian
 theology1 particularly in the ,west1   
has centered around the conception of a 

,transcendent ,god4 ,as far as doctrine 
goes ,christianity took over a great    
inheritance from the ,jew1 for          
arrestingly enough the ,jew1 though he  
belongs to the ,east1 had never anything
 in common with ,eastern ,pantheism4 ,on
 the contrary we find his prophets and  
lawgivers battling with all their force 
against such aspects of ,pantheism as   
they found about them4 ,the ,god of the 
,old ,testament is always immeasurably  
above those who worshipped ,him in      
righteousness and power2 ,he is their   
,god and they are ,his chosen people1   
but there is never any identification of
 their will with ,his except in the rare
 moments of their perfect obedience4    
,true enough1 through the insight of the
 prophets and particularly the          
experience of psalmists1 this conception
 of the ,apart-,god became increasingly 
rich in the persuasion of ,his unfailing
 care for ,his children4 ,none the less1
 the ,hebrew ,god is a ,transcendent    
,god and ,christianity inherits from    

that4 ,christianity took over what      
,judaism refused--,jesus ,christ and    
,his ,gospel4 ,but out of the           
immeasurable wealth of ,his teaching    
apostolic thinking naturally            
appropriated and made most of what was  
nearest in line with the prophets and   
the lawgivers of their race4 ,judaism   
refused ,christ but the ,twelve         
,apostles were ,jews and the greatest of
 the group--,st4 ,paul--was a ,jewish   
,rabbi before he became a ,christian    
teacher4 ,he had been nurtured and      
matured in the schools of his people and
 though he was reborn1 in renunciations 
and obediences distinctly ,christian1   
there were in his very soul inherited   
rigidities of form in conformity to     
which he recast his faith4  ,more       
distinctly than he himself could ever   
have known1 he particularized the       
,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,doubtless   
his own experience was the deeper       
directing force in all this4 ,theologies
 always1 to begin with1 are the molten  

outpouring of some transforming         
experience and they are always1 to begin
 with1 fluid and glowing4  ,such glowing
 experiences as these are hard to       
communicate2 they1 too1 soon harden down
 and we inherit1 as cold and rigid form1
 what was to begin with the flaming     
outcome of experience4 ,st4 ,paul's own 
struggle and the bitterness of a divided
 self which issued in his conversion    
naturally gave content to all his after 
teaching4 ,he worked out his system     
strangely apart from the other group of 
disciples2 he had probably never heard a
 word of ,christ's teaching directly    
from ,christ's lips2 he naturally fell  
back1 therefore1 upon his ,jewish       
inheritance and widened that system of  
sacrifices and atonements until he found
 therein not only a place for the ,cross
 but the necessity for it4 ,he made     
much1 therefore1 of the sense of        
alienation from ,god1 of sin and human  
helplessness1 of the need and           
possibility of redemption4   ,the       

,incarnation as the ,bridge ,between    
,god and ,man2 the ,cross as the        
,instrument of ,man's ,redemption4 ,the 
,cross the ,supreme ,symbol of ,western 
,theology  ,here1 then1 are the two     
speculative backgrounds of historic     
,christianity1--,god's apartness from   
man in an inconceivable immensity of    
lonely goodness1 man's alienation from  
,god in a helpless fallen estate4 ,for  
the bridging of the gulf between ,god   
and ,his world ,christianity offers the 
incarnation2 for the saving of man from 
his lost estate ,christianity offers the
 ,cross4 ,the incarnation is the rentry 
of ,god into a world from which1 indeed1
 according to the ,christian way of     
thinking1 ,he has never been entirely   
separate1 but from which ,he has1 none  
the less1 been so remote that if ever it
 were to be rescued from its ruined     
condition there was needed a new        
revelation of ,god in humanity2 and the 
,atonement is just the saving operation 
of ,god thus incarnated4  ,eastern      

,christianity has made most of the      
incarnation4 ,the great ,greek          
theologies were built around that4 ,they
 exhausted the resources of a language  
particularly fitted for subtle          
definition in their endeavour to explain
 the mystery of it1 and1 after more than
 a century of bitter debate about the   
nature and person of ,christ1 contented 
themselves with affirming the reality   
both of the human and divine in ,his    
nature1 neither confounding the persons 
nor dividing the substance1 nor indeed  
making clear in any truly comprehensible
 way the truth which they so sought to  
define1 or the faith to which they so   
passionately held4 ,but though their    
keen dialectic broke down under the     
burden they laid upon it1 they did1     
nevertheless1 keep alive just that      
confidence in ,god as one come into     
human life and sharing it and using it1 
without which there would have been in  
all the faith and thinking of the ,west 
for more than a thousand years an       

unbridged and unbridgeable gulf between 
,god and man4  ,indeed1 when we turn    
back again to the great ,greek symbols  
with that conception of the immanence of
 ,god which the truer insights of our   
own time have done so much to supply1 we
 find these old forms and phrases       
unexpectedly hospitable to our own      
interpretations4 ,if the ,western       
,church had been more strongly          
influenced by the philosophical insight 
of the early ,eastern ,church1 ,western 
,christendom might have been saved from 
a good deal of that theological hardness
 from which great numbers are just now  
reacting4  ,but ,western ,christendom   
took the ,cross for the central symbol  
of its faith4 ,what would have happened 
to ,western ,christendom without        
,augustine we do not know1 and it is    
idle to try to guess1 but ,europe in its
 religious thinking followed for a      
thousand years the direction he gave it4
 ,his theology is only the travail of   
his soul1 glowing and molten4 ,his      

,confessions reveal to us more clearly  
than any other record we have ,paganism 
becoming ,christian4 ,in the travail of 
his spirit we see something vaster than 
his own conversion1 we see the          
formulation of new spiritual            
experiences1 the birth of new spiritual 
relationships1 the growth of new moral  
orders and consecrations4 ,he bridges   
for us the passages between ,paganism   
and ,christianity4 ,he reveals what     
rebirth meant for men to whom it was no 
convention but an agonizing recasting of
 both the inner and outer life4 ,he     
shows us what it meant to put aside the 
inheritances and relationships of an    
immemorial order and to stand as a      
little child untaught1 undisciplined and
 unperfect in the presence of the new4  
,the spiritual attitude which ,augustine
 attained was to be for long the        
dominant spiritual attitude of ,europe1 
was to govern medieval conceptions1     
inspire medieval actions1 colour with   
its flame the mystic brooding of the    

medieval mind4  ,in the end the         
sovereignty of ,god became for          
,augustine supreme and over against this
 he set with strong finality man's      
hopeless fallen state4 ,he was doubtless
 in debt to ,st4 ,paul for these        
governing conceptions but they took new 
character as they passed through the    
alembic of his own experience4 ,the one 
pervading thought of the ,greek fathers 
concerning the redemptive work of       
,christ is that men are thereby brought 
into unity with ,god4 ,they do not      
hesitate to designate this unity to be  
as a deification 444 they dwell on the  
idea that we become partakers of the    
,divine nature4#c ,the emphasis here is 
not so much upon sin to be atoned for or
 punishment to be avoided1 as           
reconciliation to be achieved4          
,footnote #c3 ,fisher1 ,history of      
,christian ,doctrine1 p4 #afb4  ,after  
,augustine the interpretations of the   
,cross take a new direction4 ,now men   
are thereby not so much to be made      

partakers of the divine nature as to be 
saved from hell4 ,the explanations of   
the way in which this salvation is      
really achieved change with the changing
 centuries but through shifting         
theologies there is one constant4 ,all  
men are lost and foredoomed to an       
eternal punishment from which they are  
saved only in that ,christ suffered for 
them and they1 through their faith and  
obedience1 have availed themselves of   
,his vicarious death4 ,the varying      
theological interpretations are         
themselves greatly significant as if    
here were something whose meanings no   
single explanation could exalt1         
something to be felt rather than        
understood4 ,the ,cross so seen is the  
symbol at once of love and need1 of     
moral defeat and moral discipline1 of   
suffering helplessness and overcoming   
goodness4 ,we cannot overstate the      
influence of this faith upon the better 
part of ,western civilization4  ,it has 
kept us greatly humble1 purged us of our

 pride and thrown us back in a          
helplessness which is1 after all1 the   
true secret of our strength1 upon the   
saving mercy of ,god4 ,the story of it1 
simply told1 has moved the hard or      
bitter or the careless as nothing else  
can do4 ,its assurances of deliverance  
have given new hope to the hopeless and 
a power not their own to the powerless4 
,it has exalted as the very message of  
,god the patient enduring of unmerited  
suffering2 it has taught us how there is
 no deliverance save as the good suffer 
for the bad and the strong put their    
strength at the service of the weak2 it 
has taught us that the greatest sin is  
the sin against love and the really     
enduring victories for any better cause 
are won only as through the appeal of a 
much enduring unselfishness new tempers 
are created and new forces are released4
 ,nor is there any sign yet that its    
empire has begun to come to an end4     
,the ,catholic ,church ,offered         
,deliverance in ,obedience to the       

,authority of an ,inerrant ,church      
,nevertheless the preaching of the      
,cross has not commonly taken such forms
 as these2 it has been rather the appeal
 of the ,church to the individual to    
escape his sinful and hopeless estate   
either through an obedient              
self-identification with the ,church's  
discipline and an unquestioning         
acceptance of the ,church's authority1  
or else through an intellectual         
acceptance of the scheme of redemption  
and a moral surrender to it4 ,here are  
really the two lines of approach through
 the one or the other of which          
,christianity has been made real to the 
individual from the time of ,st4 ,paul  
till our own time4 ,during the early    
formative period of the ,church it was a
 matter between the individual and his  
,god4 ,so much we read in and between   
the lines of the ,pauline ,epistles4 ,as
 far as any later time can accurately   
recast the thought and method of a far  
earlier time evangelical ,protestant    

theology fairly interprets ,st4 ,paul4  
,faith--a big enough word1 standing for 
both intellectual acceptance and a kind 
of mystic receptivity to the love and   
goodness and justice of ,god revealed in
 the ,cross of ,christ--is the key to   
salvation and the condition of          
,christian character4 ,it is also that  
through which religion becomes real to  
the individual4 ,but since all this lays
 upon the individual a burden hard      
enough to be borne 7as we shall see when
 we come back to ,protestantism itself7 
the ,church1 as her organization became 
more definite and her authority more    
strongly established1 took the          
responsibility of the whole matter upon 
herself4 ,she herself would become      
responsible for the outcome if only they
 were teachable and obedient4  ,the     
,catholic ,church offered to its        
communicants an assured security1 the   
proof of which was not in the           
fluctuating states of their own souls   
but in the august authority of the      

,church to which they belonged4 ,as     
long1 therefore1 as they remained in    
obedient communion with their ,church   
their souls were secure4 ,the ,church   
offered them its confessional for their 
unburdening and its absolutions for     
their assurance1 its sacraments for     
their strengthening and its penances for
 their discipline and restoration4 ,it  
took from them in spiritual regions and 
maybe in other regions too1 the         
responsibility for the conduct of their 
own lives and asked of the faithful only
 that they believe and obey4 ,the       
,church1 as it were1 stepped down       
religion to humanity4 ,it did all this  
with a marvellous understanding of human
 nature and in answer to necessities    
which were1 to begin with1 essential to 
the discipline of childlike peoples who 
would otherwise have been brought face  
to face with truths too great for them1 
or dismissed to a freedom for which they
 were not ready4  ,it was and is a      
marvellous system2 there has never been 

anything like it and if it should wholly
 fail from amongst us there will never  
be anything like it again4 ,and yet we  
see that all this vast spiritual        
edifice1 like the arches of its own     
great cathedrals1 locks up upon a single
 keystone4 ,the keystone of the arch of 
,catholic certainty is the acceptance of
 the authority of the ,church           
conditioned by belief in the divine     
character of that authority4 ,if        
anything should shake the ,catholic's   
belief in the authority of his ,church  
and the efficacy of her sacraments then 
he is left strangely unsheltered4       
,strongly articulated as this system is1
 it has not been untouched by time and  
change4 ,to continue our figure1 one    
great wing of the medieval structure    
fell away in the ,protestant            
,reformation and what was left1 though  
extensive and solid enough1 is still    
like its great cathedrals--yielding to  
time and change4 ,the impressive force  
and unity of contemporaneous            

,catholicism may lead us perhaps to     
underestimate the number of those in the
 ,catholic line who1 having for one     
reason or another lost faith in their   
,church1 are now open to the appeal of  
the newer movements4 ,for example1 the  
largest non-,catholic religious group of
 ,poles in ,detroit are ,russellites4   
,there are on good authority between    
three and four thousand of them4   ,the 
,protestant ,church ,made ,faith the    
,key to ,salvation with ,conversion the 
,test for the ,individual of the        
,reality of ,his ,religious ,experience 
,if religion has been made real to the  
,catholic through the mediation of his  
,church1 ,protestantism1 seeking to     
recreate the apostolic ,church1 has made
 the reality of religion a matter       
between the individual and his ,god4    
,and yet ,protestantism has never dared 
commit itself to so simple a phrasing of
 religion as this1 nor to go on without 
authorities of its own4 ,protestantism  
generally has substituted for the       

inclusive authority of the ,catholic    
,church the authority of its own creeds 
and fundamentally the authority of the  
,bible4 ,as far as creeds go            
,protestantism carried over the content 
of ,latin ,christianity more largely    
than we have generally recognized4      
,luther was in direct line with         
,augustine as ,augustine was in direct  
line with ,st4 ,paul1 and ,luther's     
fundamental doctrine--justification by  
faith--was not so much a rewriting of   
ancient creeds as a new way of          
validating their meaning for the        
individual4 ,faith1 in our common use of
 the term1 has hardened down into an    
intellectual acceptance of ,protestant  
theologies1 but certainly for ,st4 ,paul
 and probably for ,luther it was far    
more vital than this and far more       
simple4 ,it was rather a resting upon a 
delivering power1 the assurance of whose
 desire and willingness to deliver was  
found in the ,new ,testament4 ,it was an
 end to struggle1 a spiritual victory   

won through surrender4  ,the ,latin     
,catholic system had come to impose upon
 such tempers as ,luther's an           
unendurable amount of strain2 it was too
 complex1 too demanding1 and it failed  
to carry with it necessary elements of  
mental and spiritual consent4 7,st4     
,paul had the same experience with his  
own ,judaism47 ,what ,luther sought was 
a peace-bringing rightness with ,god4   
,he was typically and creatively one of 
,william ,james' divided souls and he   
found the solution for his fears1 his   
struggles and his doubts in simply      
taking for granted that a fight which he
 was not able to win for himself had    
been won for him in the transaction on  
the ,cross4 ,he had nothing1 therefore1 
to do but to accept the peace thus made 
possible and thereafter to be           
spiritually at rest4  ,now since the    
whole of the meaning of the ,cross for  
,christianity from ,st4 ,paul until our 
own time is involved in this bare       
statement and since our theologies have 

never been able to explain this whole   
great matter in any doctrinal form which
 has secured universal consent1 we must 
simply fall back upon the statement of  
the fact and recognize that here is     
something to be defined in terms of     
experience and not of doctrine4 ,the    
validating experience has come generally
 to be known as conversion1 and         
conversion has played a great part in   
evangelical ,protestantism ever since   
the ,reformation4 ,it has become1       
indeed1 the one way in which religion   
has been made real to most members of   
evangelical churches4 ,so sweeping a    
statement must be somewhat qualified1   
for conversion is far older than        
,luther2#d it is not confined to        
,protestantism and the ,protestant      
churches themselves have not agreed in  
their emphasis upon it4 ,yet we are     
probably on safe ground in saying that  
religion has become real to the average 
member of the average ,protestant       
,church more distinctly through         

conversion than anything else4          
,footnote #d3 ,but rather in the        
discipline of the ,mystic as an         
enrichment of the spiritual life than as
 a door to the ,communion of the        
,church4  ,conversion has of late come  
up for a pretty thoroughgoing           
examination by the psychologists1 and   
their conclusions are so generally      
familiar as to need no restatement here4
 ,william ,james1 in a rather informal  
paragraph quoted from one of his        
letters1 states the psychologist's point
 of view more simply and vividly than   
either he or his disciples have defined 
their position in their more formal     
works4 ,in the case of conversion ,i am 
quite willing to believe that a new     
truth may be supernaturally revealed to 
a subject when he really asks1 but ,i am
 sure that in many cases of conversion  
it is less a new truth than a new power 
gained over life by a truth always      
known4 ,it is a case of the conflict of 
two self-systems in a personality up to 

that time heterogeneously divided1 but  
in which1 after the conversion crisis1  
the higher loves and powers come        
definitely to gain the upper hand and   
expel the forces which up to that time  
had kept them down to the position of   
mere grumblers and protesters and agents
 of remorse and discontent4 ,this       
broader view will cover an enormous     
number of cases psychologically and     
leaves all the religious importance to  
the result which it has on any other    
theory4#e  ,footnote #e3 ,letters of    
,william ,james1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #eg4    
,in ,luther1 ,augustine and ,st4 ,paul1 
and a great fellowship beside1 this     
stress of the divided self was both     
immediate and intense4 ,such as these   
through the consciousness of very real  
fault--and this is true of ,augustine   
and ,st4 ,paul--or through a rare       
spiritual sensitiveness and an unusual  
force of aspiration--and this is true of
 many others--did not need any          
conviction of sin urged upon them from  

the outside4 ,they had conviction enough
 of their own4 ,but all these have been 
men and women apart1 intensely devout by
 nature1 committed by temperament to    
great travail of soul and concerned1    
above all1 for their own spiritual      
deliverance4 ,but their spiritual       
sensitiveness is by no means universal1 
their sense of struggle not a normal    
experience for another type of          
personality4 ,the demand1 therefore1    
that all religious experience be cast in
 their particular mould1 and that       
religion be made real to every one      
through the same travail of soul in     
which it was made real to them1 carries 
with it two very great dangers3 first1  
that some semblance of struggle should  
be created which does not come vitally  
out of experience2 and second1 that the 
resultant peace should be artificial    
rather than true1 and therefore1 should 
not only quickly lose its force but     
really result in reactions which would  
leave the soul of the one so misled1 or 

better perhaps1 so mishandled1 emptier  
of any real sense of the reality of     
religion than to begin with4            
,protestantism ,found ,its ,authority in
 an ,infallibly ,inspired ,bible  ,now  
this is too largely what has happened in
 evangelical ,protestantism4 ,the       
twice-born have been set up as the      
standard for us all2 they have demanded 
of their disciples the same experience  
as those through which they themselves  
have passed4 ,since this type of        
religious experience has always been the
 more ardent and vivid1 since the       
churches in which least has been made of
 it have generally tended to fall away  
into routine and some want of real      
power1 we have had1 particularly since  
,jonathan ,edwards in ,america and the  
,wesleys in ,england1 a recurrent       
insistence upon it as the orthodox type 
of religious experience4 ,partly through
 inheritance and partly in answer to its
 own genius ,protestantism has built up 
a system of theology tending to         

reproduce the sequence of conviction of 
sin1 aspiration1 repentance1 and        
conversion by doctrinal pressure from   
the outside4 ,the foundations of it all 
are in the ,new ,testament and somewhat 
in the ,old1 but what has been built    
upon these foundations has been either  
too extended or too one-sided4 ,in order
 to include in one general sense of     
condemnation strong enough to create an 
adequate desire for salvation1 all sorts
 and conditions of people1 theology has 
not only charged us up with our own sins
 which are always a sad enough account1 
but it has charged us up with ancestral 
and imputed sins4  ,this line of        
theology has been far too rigid1 far too
 insistent upon what one may call the   
facts of theology1 and far too blind to 
the facts of life4 ,it has made much of 
sin in the abstract and sometimes far   
too little of concrete sin2 it has made 
more of human depravity than social     
justice2 it has failed to make allowance
 for varieties of temper and condition2 

it is partly responsible for the        
widespread reaction of the cults and    
movements of our own time4  ,since so   
strongly an articulate system as this   
needed something to sustain it1         
,protestantism has constantly supported 
itself in the authority of the ,old and 
,new ,testaments4 ,it displaced one     
authority by another1 the authority of  
the ,church by the authority of the     
,book1 and in order to secure for this  
authority an ultimate and unquestioned  
power it affirmed as the beginning and  
the end of its use of the ,scriptures   
their infallibility4 ,the growth of     
,protestant teaching about the ,bible   
has necessarily been complicated but we 
must recognize that ,protestant theology
 and ,protestant tradition have given   
the ,bible what one may call read-in    
values4  ,at any rate after affirming   
the infallibility of the text           
,protestantism has turned back to the   
text for the proof of its teaching and  
so built up its really very great       

interrelated system in which1 as has    
already been said1 the power of religion
 over the life of its followers and the 
reality of religion in the experiences  
of its followers locked up on just such 
things as these3 ,first1 the experiences
 of conversions2 second1 conversion     
secured through the processes of        
,protestant indoctrination1 backed up by
 the fervent appeal of the ,protestant  
ministry and the pressure of ,protestant
 ,church life2 and third1 all this      
supported by an appeal to the authority 
of the ,bible with a proof-text for     
every statement4  ,all this is1 of      
course1 to deal coldly and analytically 
with something which1 as it has worked  
out in religious life1 has been neither 
cold nor analytical4 ,underneath it all 
have been great necessities of the soul 
and issuing out of it all have been     
aspirations and devoutnesses and        
spiritual victories and new             
understandings of ,god and a wealth of  
love and goodness which are a part of   

the imperishable treasures of humanity  
for three centuries4 ,this faith and    
experience have voiced themselves in    
moving hymns1 built themselves into rare
 and continuing fellowships1 gone abroad
 in missionary passion1 spent themselves
 for a better world and looked unafraid 
even into the face of death1 sure of    
life and peace beyond4 ,but behind the  
great realities of our inherited        
religious life one may discover         
assumptions and processes less sure4    
,the ,strength and ,weakness of ,this   
,position  ,once more1 this inherited   
faith in the ,bible and the systems     
which have grown out of it have been    
conditioned by scientific and           
philosophic understandings4 ,the        
,protestant doctrine of the             
infallibility of the ,bible assumed its 
authority not only in the region of     
religion but in science and history as  
well4 ,the inherited theologies really  
went out of their way to give the       
incidental the same value as the        

essential4 ,there was no place in them  
for growth1 correction1 further         
revelation4 ,this statement may be      
challenged1 it certainly needs to be    
qualified1 for when the time for        
adjustment and the need of adjustment   
really did come the process of          
adjustment began to be carried through1 
but only at very great cost and only    
really by slowly building new           
foundations under the old4 ,in fact the 
new is not in many ways the old at all1 
though this is to anticipate4  ,it is   
directly to the point here that the     
whole scheme of religion as it has come 
down to us on the ,protestant side till 
within the last fifty years was at once 
compactly interwrought1 strongly        
supported and unexpectedly vulnerable4  
,the integrity of any one part of its   
line depended upon the integrity of     
every other part2 its gospel went back  
to the ,fall of ,man and depended1      
therefore1 upon the ,biblical theory of 
the ,creation and subsequent human      

history4 ,if anything should challenge  
the scientific or historical accuracy of
 the book of ,genesis1 the doctrine of  
original sin would have either to be    
discarded or recast4 ,if the doctrine of
 original sin were discarded or recast1 
the accepted interpretations of the     
,atonement went with it4 ,with these    
changed or weakened the evangelical     
appeal must either be given new         
character or lose force4 ,a system which
 began with the ,fall on one side went  
on to heaven and hell on the other and  
even heaven and hell were more dependent
 upon ancient conceptions of the        
physical structure of the world and the 
skies above it than the ,church was     
willing to recognize4 ,the doctrine of  
eternal punishment particularly was open
 to ethical challenge4   ,evangelical   
,protestantism the ,outcome of the      
,whole ,process  ,of course all this is 
rather an extreme statement of the      
situation fifty years ago4 ,the churches
 did not all agree in insisting upon a  

conversion2 some evangelic churches were
 beginning to place their emphasis upon 
,christian nurture2 they sought what is 
secured for the emotionally twice-born  
through guided growth and a larger      
dependence upon normal spiritual        
conditions1 though they were at least   
one with their brethren in believing    
that those who come into ,christian     
discipleship must in the end be greatly 
changed and conscious of the change2    
they too must possess as an assurance of
 the reality of their religious life a  
sense of peace and spiritual well-being4
  ,the high ,anglican ,church approached
 the ,latin ,catholic ,church in its    
insistence upon sacramental             
regeneration4 ,this wing of the ,church 
believed and believes still that baptism
 truly administered and the ,holy       
,communion also administered in proper  
form and accepted in due obedience by   
priests belonging to some true          
succession1 possess a mystic saving     
power4 ,just why all this should be so  

they are perhaps not able to explain to 
the satisfaction of any one save those  
who1 for one reason or another1 believe 
it already4 ,but those who cannot       
understand sacramentarianism may dismiss
 it far too easily1 for though there be 
here danger of a mechanical formulism1  
the sacraments themselves may become    
part of a spiritual discipline through  
which the lives of men and women are so 
profoundly changed as in the most clear 
case of conversion1 manifesting often a 
spiritual beauty not to be found in any 
other conception of ,christian          
discipleship4 ,our differences here are 
not so great as we suppose them4  ,there
 have always been liberal reactions     
within the ,church herself1 tending     
either toward relaxation of discipline  
or the more rational and simple         
statements of doctrine4 ,what has been  
so far said would not be true of        
,unitarianism and ,universalism in the  
last century4 ,but these movements have 
been somehow wanting in driving power1  

and so1 when all these qualifications   
are made1 evangelical ,protestantism has
 resulted in a pretty clearly           
recognizable type4 ,the representative  
members of the representative           
evangelical churches all had a religious
 experience2 some of them had been      
converted after much waiting at the     
anxious seat1 or long kneeling at the   
altar rail2 others of them had been     
brought through ,christian teaching to  
the confession of their faith1 but all  
of them were thereby reborn4 ,they were 
the product of a theology which taught  
them their lost estate1 offered them for
 their acceptance a mediatorial and     
atoning ,christ1 assured them that      
through their faith their salvation     
would be assured1 and counselled them to
 look to their own inner lives for the  
issue of all this in a distinct sense of
 spiritual peace and well-being4 ,if    
they doubted or questioned they were    
answered with proof-texts2 for their    
spiritual sustenance they were given the

 services of their churches where       
preaching was generally central1 and    
exhorted to grow in grace and knowledge 
through prayer and much reading of their
 ,bible4   ,the ,individual ,experience 
of the ,believer the ,keystone of       
,evangelical ,protestantism4 ,its       
,openness to ,disturbing ,forces  ,now  
fine and good as all this was it was1 as
 the event proved1 not big enough to    
answer all the needs of the soul1 nor   
strong enough to meet the challenge of  
forces which were a half century ago    
shaping themselves toward the almost    
entire recasting of great regions of    
human thought4 ,it was1 to begin with1  
unexpectedly weak in itself4            
,evangelical ,protestantism1 as has been
 noted1 throws upon the members of      
,protestant churches a larger burden of 
individual responsibility than does the 
,catholic ,church4 ,the typical         
evangelical ,protestant has had little  
to sustain him in his religious life    
save his sense of reconciliation with   

,god1 from whom possibly he never       
vitally thought himself to have been    
estranged1 and a consequent spiritual   
peace4  ,his church promises him nothing
 except teaching1 inspiration1          
comradeship1 an occasion for the        
confession of his faith and some        
opportunity for service4 ,his ministers 
are only such as he2 they may exhort but
 they dare not absolve4 ,he is greatly  
dependent1 then1 for his sense of the   
reality of religion upon his own        
spiritual states4 ,if he is spiritually 
sensitive and not too much troubled by  
doubt1 if he possesses a considerable   
capacity for religious understanding1 if
 his ,bible is still for him the        
authoritative word of ,god1 if his      
church meets his normal religious needs 
with a reasonable degree of adequacy1 if
 he is resolute in purpose and if he has
 no excessively trying experiences in   
the face of which his faith breaks down1
 and if the cares of this world1 the    
deceitfulness of riches1 or the strain  

of poverty do not too much distract him 
7and this is a long and formidable list 
of ifs7 then he is faithful in his      
church relationships and personally     
devout4 ,he grows in grace and knowledge
 and the outcome of it all is a         
religious character admirable in        
manifold ways1 steadfast and truthful in
 good works4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,the fact that in 
spite of all hindrances the ,protestant 
churches do go on1 registering from     
decade to decade a varying statistical  
growth with a strongly organized life   
and a great body of communicants who    
find in the religious life thus secured 
to them the true secret of interior     
peace and their true source of power1 is
 itself a testimony to the massive      
reality of the whole system4 ,and yet   
the keystone of the great structure is  
just the individual experience of the   
individual believer1 conditioned upon   
his longing for deliverance and his     
personal assurance that he has found1   

through his faith in his church's       
gospel1 what he seeks4  ,if anything    
should shake the ,protestant's          
confidence in his creed or his ,bible1  
or if his own inner experiences should  
somehow fail in their sense of          
sustaining reality1 then all the        
structure of his religion begins to     
weaken4  ,if one may use and press a    
suggestive figure1 here is a religious  
structure very much like ,gothic        
architecture2 its converging arches of  
faith and knowledge lock up upon their  
keystones and the thrust of the whole   
great structure has been met and        
conquered by flying buttresses4 ,in     
other words1 sustaining forces of       
accredited beliefs about science1       
history and human nature have been a    
necessary part of the entire system and 
the temple of faith thus sustained may  
be weakened either through some failure 
in the keystone of it which is inner    
experience1 or the flying buttresses of 
it which are these accepted systems of  

science1 history1 philosophy and        
psychology4   ,readjustment of ,both    
,catholic and ,protestant ,systems      
,inevitable  ,out of such elements as   
these1 then1 through such inheritances  
and disciplines the representative      
religious consciousness of ,american    
,protestantism of the end of the        
nineteenth century had been created4 ,it
 rooted itself in elements common to all
 religion1 it inherited practically the 
whole content of the ,old ,testament1 it
 invested ,hebraic systems of sacrifice 
with typical meanings and ,jewish       
prophecy with a mystic authority4 ,it   
was in debt to ,st4 ,paul and ,augustine
 for its theology4 ,its cosmogony was   
#d1jjj years old and practically        
uninfluenced by modern science1 or else 
at odds with it4 ,it was uncritical in  
its acceptance of the supernatural and  
trained on the whole to find its main   
line of evidence for the reality of     
religion in the supernatural4 ,it made  
more of the scheme of deliverance which 

,st4 ,paul found in the ,crucifixion of 
,jesus than the ethics of the ,gospels4 
,it was mystic in its emphasis upon an  
inner testimony to the realities it     
offered4 ,for the ,protestant it locked 
up unexpectedly upon the infallible     
authority of the ,bible and for the     
,catholic upon the inerrancy of the     
,church4 ,it was out of the current of  
the modern temper in science and        
philosophy generally4 ,its conceptions  
of the probable fate of the world were  
,jewish and of the future life were     
medieval1 and perhaps the strangest     
thing in it all was the general         
unconsciousness of its dependence upon  
assumptions open to challenge at almost 
every point and the process of profound 
readjustment upon the threshold of which
 it stood4  ,it is almost impossible to 
disentangle the action of the two sets  
of strain which have within the last    
half century been brought to bear upon  
it4 ,each has reacted upon the other4   
,perhaps the best thing to do is to     

consider the forces which for the last  
two generations have been challenging   
and reshaping inherited faiths1 and then
 to consider the outcome of it all in   
the outstanding religious attitudes of  
our own time4     ,,ii  ,,new ,,forces  
,,and ,,old ,,faiths   ,within the last 
fifty years particularly the            
fundamentals of the ,christian faith    
have not only come up for rexamination  
but have been compelled to adapt        
themselves to facts and forces which    
have gone farther toward recasting them 
than anything for a millennium and a    
half before4 ,the ,reformation went deep
 but it did not go to the bottom4 ,there
 are differences enough in all reason   
between ,protestantism and ,catholicism1
 but their identities are deeper still4 
,the world of ,martin ,luther and ,john 
,calvin was not essentially different in
 its outlook upon life from the world of
 ,augustine and ,athanasius4 ,the world 
of ,jonathan ,edwards was much the same 
as the world of ,john ,calvin and the   

world of #ahej apparently much the same 
as the world of ,jonathan ,edwards4     
,there was1 of course1 an immense       
difference in the mechanism with which  
men were working but an unexpectedly    
small difference in their ruling ideas4 
,the ,readjustments of ,christian ,faith
 ,more ,far-reaching in the ,last ,fifty
 ,years ,than for a ,thousand ,years    
,before2 ,science ,releases the         
,challenging ,forces  ,we should not1 of
 course1 underestimate the contribution 
of the ,reformation to the breaking up  
of the old order4 ,it left the          
theologies more substantially unchanged 
than ,protestantism has usually         
supposed1 but it did mark the rise of   
changed attitudes toward authority4 ,the
 reformers themselves did not accept    
without protest the spirit they         
released4 ,they imposed new authorities 
and obediences upon their churches2 they
 distrusted individual initiative in    
spiritual things and the more democratic
 forms of church organization4 ,john    

,calvin sought in his ,institutes to    
vindicate the law-abiding character of  
his new gospel2 ,luther turned bitterly 
against the ,german peasants in their   
demand for a most moderate measure of   
social justice2 the ,anglican leaders   
exiled the ,pilgrims2 the ,puritan drove
 the ,quaker out of ,boston through an  
instinctive distrust of inward          
illumination as a safe guide for faith  
and religious enthusiasm as a sound     
basis for a new commonwealth4 ,but the  
spirit was out of the bottle and could  
not be put back4  ,the right of the     
individual to make his own religious    
inquiries and reach his own religious   
conclusions was little in evidence for  
almost two hundred years after the      
,reformation1 partly because the        
reactions of the post-,reformation      
period made the faithful generally      
content to rest in what had already been
 secured1 partly because traditional    
authority was still strong1 and very    
greatly because there was neither in    

history1 philosophy nor science new     
material upon which the mind might      
exercise itself4 ,we may take #ahei1    
almost exactly two hundred years after  
the final readjustments of the          
,reformation period1 as the point of    
departure for the forces which have so  
greatly modified our outlook upon our   
world and our understanding of          
ourselves2 not that the date is         
clean-cut1 for we see now how many      
things had already begun to change      
before ,darwin and the ,origin of       
,species4  ,darwin's great achievement  
is to have suggested the formula in     
which science and history have alike    
been restated4 ,he had no thought at all
 that what he was doing would reach so  
far or change so much4 ,he simply       
supposed himself1 through patient and   
exhaustive study1 to have accounted for 
the rich variety of life without the    
supposition of a special creation for   
each form4 ,but the time was ripe and   
longing for what he supplied and his    

hypothesis was quickly taken and applied
 in almost every field of thought4 ,nor 
does it greatly matter that ,darwinism  
has been and may be still greatly       
modified4 ,we have come under the spell 
of evolution4 ,our universe is no longer
 a static thing2 it is growing and      
changing4 ,our imaginations are         
impressed by long sequences of change1  
each one of them minute in itself but in
 the mass capable of accounting for     
immense transformations4 ,darwin's      
initiative released the scientific      
temper which has been the outstanding   
characteristic of our own age4 ,the     
physicist1 the chemist and the biologist
 re-related their discoveries in the    
light of his governing principle and    
supplied an immense body of fact for    
further consideration4 ,geology was     
reborn1 the records of the rocks came to
 have a new meaning1 every broken fossil
 form became a word1 maybe a paragraph1 
for the retelling of the past of the    
earth4  ,astronomy supplied cosmic      

backgrounds for terrestrial evolution   
and ,physics became a kind of court of  
appeal for both4 ,the physicist         
proclaimed the conservation of energy1  
reduced seeming solidities to underlying
 force and resolved force itself into   
ultimate and tenuous unities4 ,the      
processes thus discovered and related   
seemed to be self-sufficient4 ,no need  
to bring in anything from the outside2  
unbroken law1 unfailing sequence were   
everywhere in evidence4 ,where knowledge
 failed speculation bridged the gap4    
,one might begin with a nebula and go on
 in unbroken sequence to ,plato or      
,shakespeare without asking for either  
material1 law or force which was not in 
the nebula to begin with4 ,man himself  
took his own place in the majestic      
procession2 he1 too1 was simply the     
culmination of a long ascent1 with the  
roots of his being more deeply in the   
dust than he had ever dreamed and       
compelled to confess himself akin to    
what he had aforetime scorned4   ,the   

,reaction of ,evolution ,upon ,religion 
,all our old chronologies became        
incidental in a range of time before    
which even imagination grew dizzy4 ,we  
found fragments of the skulls of our    
ancestors in ancient glacial drifts and 
the traditional #f1jjj years since      
creation hardly showed on the dial upon 
which ,geology recorded its conclusions4
 ,there is no need to follow in detail  
how all this reacted upon religion4 ,the
 accepted religious scheme of things was
 an intricately interlocking system     
irresistible in its logic as long as the
 system remained unchallenged in its    
crucial points4 ,if these should begin  
to be doubted then the ,christian appeal
 would have lost1 for the time at least1
 a most considerable measure of its     
force4 ,the inner peace which we have   
already seen to be the keystone of the  
,protestant arch grew in part out of the
 sense of a universal condemnation from 
which the believer was happily saved2   
this in turn was conditioned by the     

unquestioned acceptance of the ,genesis 
narrative4 ,we can see clearly enough   
now that ,christianity1 and ,protestant 
,christianity especially1 really        
depended upon something deeper than all 
this4 ,still for the time being all     
these things were locked up together and
 once the accepted foundations of       
theology began to be questioned         
far-reaching adjustments were inevitable
 and the time of readjustment was bound 
to be marked by great restlessness and  
confusion4  ,the evolutionary hypothesis
 profoundly affected man's thought about
 himself4 ,it challenged even more      
sharply his thought about ,god4         
,atheism1 materialism and agnosticism   
are an old1 old trinity1 but they had up
 to our own time been at the mercy of   
more positive attitudes through their   
inability to really answer those        
insurgent questions3 ,whence8 ,whither8 
and ,why8 ,creation had plainly enough  
demanded a creator4 ,when ,napoleon     
stilled a group of debating officers in 

,egypt by pointing with a ,napoleonic   
gesture to the stars and saying1        
,gentlemen1 who made all these8 his     
answer had been final4 ,paley's         
old-fashioned turnip-faced watch with   
its analogies in the mechanism of       
creation had supplied an irresistible   
argument for a creation according to    
design and a designing creator4 ,but now
 all this was changed4 ,if ,napoleon    
could have ridden out from his august   
tomb1 reassembled his officers from the 
dust of their battlefields and resumed  
the old debate1 the officers would have 
been apparently in the position to      
answer--,sire1 they made themselves4    
,our universe seemed to be sufficient   
unto itself4  ,we have reacted against  
all this and rediscovered ,god1 if      
indeed we had ever lost ,him1 but this  
ought not to blind those who have       
accomplished the great transition to the
 confusion of faith which followed the  
popularization of the great scientific  
generalizations1 nor ought it to blind  

us to the fact that much of this        
confusion still persists4 ,christian    
theism was more sharply challenged by   
materialism and agnosticism than by a   
frankly confessed atheism4 ,materialism 
was the more aggressive2 it built up its
 own great system1 posited matter and   
force as the ultimate realities1 and    
then showed to its own satisfaction how 
everything that is is just the result of
 their action and interaction4 ,nor did 
materialism pause upon the threshold of 
the soul itself4 ,consciousness1 so     
conceived1 was a by-product of the      
higher organization of matter1 and we   
ourselves a spray flung up out of the   
infinite ocean of being to sparkle for a
 moment in the light and then fall back 
again into the depths out of which we   
had been borne4  ,those who so defined  
us made us bond-servants of matter and  
force from birth to death though they   
drew back a little from the consequences
 of their own creeds and sought to save 
a place for moral freedom and           

responsibility and a defensible         
altruism4 ,it is doubtful if they       
succeeded4 ,materialism affected greatly
 the practical conduct of life4 ,it     
offered its own characteristic values2  
possession and pleasure became          
inevitably enough the end of action1 and
 action itself1 directed toward such    
ends1 became the main business of life4 
,science offered so fascinating a field 
for thought as to absorb the general    
intellectual energy of the generation   
under the spell of it2 the practical    
application of science to mechanism and 
industry with the consequent increase in
 luxury and convenience1 absorbed the   
force of practical men4  ,it naturally  
went hard with religion in a world so   
preoccupied4 ,its foundations were      
assailed1 its premises questioned1 its  
conclusions denied1 its interests       
challenged4 ,the fact that religion came
 through it at all is a testimony both  
to the unconquerable force of faith and 
the unquenchable need of the soul for   

something greater than the scientific   
gospel revealed or the achievements of  
science supplied4   ,the ,reaction of   
,biblical ,criticism ,upon ,faith  ,the 
first front along which the older faith 
met the impact of new forces was        
scientific2 the second drive was at a   
more narrow but1 as far as religion     
goes1 an even more strategic front4 ,the
 ,bible had to submit to those processes
 of inquiry and criticism which had so  
greatly altered the scientific outlook4 
,the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 as has  
been said1 supplied really the basal    
authority for the whole ,protestant     
order1 and speaking merely as a         
historian one is well within the facts  
when one says that even before the      
enlightenment of the last two           
generations the traditional way of      
thinking about the ,bible had not proved
 satisfactory4 ,the more free-minded    
were conscious of its contradictions2   
they could not reconcile its earlier and
 later moral idealisms2 they found in it

 as much to perplex as to help them4    
,some of them1 therefore1 disowned it   
altogether and because it was tied up in
 one bundle with religion1 as they knew 
religion1 they disowned religion at the 
same time4 ,others who accepted its     
authority but were unsatisfied with     
current interpretations of it sought    
escape in allegorical uses of it4 7,we  
shall find this to be one of the        
distinct elements in ,christian         
,science47 ,but after all it did answer 
the insistent questions1 ,whence8 and   
,whither8 and ,why8 as nothing else     
answered them4 ,therefore1 in spite of  
challenge and derelict faith and        
capricious interpretations and forced   
harmonies it still held its own4        
,directly science began to offer its own
 answers to ,whence8 and ,whither8 and  
,why8 curiosity found an alternative4   
,science had its own book of genesis1   
its own hypothesis as to the creation of
 man1 its own conclusions as to his     
ascent4 ,these had a marvellously       

emancipating and stimulating power2 they
 opened1 as has been said1 vast         
horizons2 they affected philosophy2 they
 gave a new content to poetry1 for the  
poet heard in the silences of the night3
            onian music measuring out   
,the steps of ,time--the shocks of      
,chance--           ,the blows of       
,death4  ,the challenge of science to   
the book of ,genesis specifically and to
 the miraculous narratives with which   
both the ,old and the ,new ,testaments  
are veined more generally1 doubtless    
stimulated ,biblical criticism1 but the 
time was ripe for that also4 ,the       
beginnings of it antedate the scientific
 ,renaissance1 but the freer spirit of  
the period offered criticism its        
opportunity1 the scientific temper      
supplied the method and the work began4 
,inherited faith has been more directly 
affected by ,biblical criticism than by 
the result of scientific investigation  
and the generalizations based thereon4  
,the ,bible had been the average man's  

authority in science and history as well
 as faith4 ,that statement naturally    
needs some qualification1 for before    
evolution took the field it was possible
 not only to reconcile a fair knowledge 
of the natural sciences with the ,bible1
 but even1 as in the argument for       
design1 to make them contributory to    
,bible teaching4 ,but evolution changed 
all that and it was really through the  
impact of the more sweeping scientific  
conclusions upon his ,bible that the    
average man felt their shock upon his   
faith4 ,if he had been asked merely to  
harmonize the genesis of the new science
 with the genesis of the ,old ,testament
 he would have had enough to occupy his 
attention1 though perhaps he might have 
managed it4 ,the massive mind of        
,gladstone accomplished just that to its
 own entire satisfaction4  ,but the     
matter went deeper4 ,a wealth of slowly 
accumulated knowledge was brought to    
bear upon the ,scriptures and a critical
 acumen began to follow these old       

narratives to their sources4 ,there is  
no need here to follow through the      
results in detail4 ,they#f were seen to 
have been drawn from many sources1 in   
some cases so put together that the     
joints and seams were plainly           
discernible4 ,one wonders how they had  
so long escaped observation4 ,the ,bible
 was seen to contain contributory       
elements from general ancient cultures2 
its cosmogony the generally accepted    
cosmogony of the time and the region2   
its codes akin to other and older codes4
 ,it contained fragments of old songs   
and the old lore of the common folk4 ,it
 was seen to record indisputably long   
processes of moral growth and spiritual 
insight4 ,its prophets spoke out of     
their time and for their time4 ,it was  
plainly enough no longer an infallible  
dictation to writers who were only the  
automatic pens of ,god1 it was a growth 
rooted deep in the soil out of which it 
grew and the souls of those who created 
it4 ,the fibres of its main roots went  

off into the darkness of a culture too  
long lost ever to be quite completely   
understood4 ,it was no longer ultimate  
science or unchallenged history4        
,footnote #f3 ,the ,old ,testament      
narratives particularly4 ,the results of
 ,new ,testament criticism have not yet 
fully reached the popular mind4  ,we    
have come far enough now to see that    
nothing really worth while has been lost
 in this process of re-interpretation1  
and much has been gained4 ,if1 as the   
,french say in one of their luminous    
proverbs1 to understand is to pardon1 to
 understand is also to be delivered from
 doubts and forced apologies and        
misleading harmonies and the necessity  
of defending the indefensible4 ,in our  
use of the ,bible1 as in every other    
region of life1 the truth has made us   
free4 ,it possesses still--the          
,bible--the truth and revelation and    
meaning for life it always possessed4   
,we are gradually realizing this and    
gaining in the realization4 ,but the    

,bible has been compelled to meet the   
challenge of an immensely expanded      
scientific and historical knowledge4 ,we
 have had to test its supposed authority
 as to beginnings by ,astronomy1        
,geology and ,biology2 we have had to   
test its history by the methods and     
conclusions of modern historical        
investigation4 ,the element of the      
supernatural running through both the   
,old and ,new ,testaments has been      
compelled to take into account that     
emphasis upon law and ordered process   
which is1 perhaps more than any other   
single thing1 the contribution of       
science to the discipline of            
contemporaneous thought4   ,the ,average
 ,man ,loses ,his ,bearings  ,the whole 
process has been difficult and          
unsettling4 ,there was and is still a   
want of finality in the conclusions of  
,biblical scholars4 ,it needed and needs
 still more study than the average man  
is able to give to understand their     
conclusions2 it needed and it needs     

still a deal of patient1 hard1          
clear-visioned thinking to win from the 
newer interpretations of the ,bible that
 understanding and acceptance of its    
value which went with the inherited     
faith4 ,the more liberal-minded         
religious teachers doubtless very       
greatly overestimate the penetration of 
popular thought already accomplished1 by
 what seems to them a familiar          
commonplace4 ,the ,new ,testament is    
still1 even for the scholar1 a          
challenging problem4 ,conclusions are   
being bitterly contested and where the  
specialist is himself in doubt the      
average man is naturally in utter       
confusion4 ,the more conservative       
communions neither accept nor teach the 
results of the higher criticism1 and so 
it reaches the body of their            
communicants only as rumour and a       
half-understood menace to the truth4    
,religion is naturally the most         
conservative thing in the world and even
 when we think ourselves to have utterly

 changed our point of view something    
deeper than mere intellectual acceptance
 protests and will not be dismissed4 ,we
 pathetically cling to that to which we1
 at the same time1 say good-bye4 ,the   
average man somewhat affected by the    
modern scientific spirit is greatly     
perplexed by the miraculous elements in 
the ,bible and yet he still believes the
 ,bible the word of ,god with an        
authority nothing else possesses4 ,in   
fact1 by a contradiction easy enough to 
understand1 what puzzles him most seems 
to him the clearest evidence of the     
supernatural character of the narrative 
itself4 ,his religion is not so much the
 interpretation of what he does         
understand as the explanation of what he
 does not understand4 ,if he gives up   
the supernatural his faith goes with it1
 and yet the other side of him--the     
scientifically tempered side--balks at  
the supernatural4  ,it is hard to know  
what to do with such a temper4 ,indeed1 
just this confused temper of believing  

and doubting1 with miracles for the     
storm center1 has offered a rich field  
for those interpretations of the        
miraculous1 particularly in the ,new    
,testament1 in terms of faith and mental
 healing1 to which ,christian ,science  
and ,new ,thought are so much given4 ,we
 may conclude in a sentence by saying   
that since the infallibility of the     
,bible was one of the flying buttresses 
which upheld the inherited structure of 
religion1 those changes and confusions  
which have grown out of two generations 
of ,biblical criticism have greatly     
affected the popular faith4   ,the ,new 
,psychology ,both a ,constructive and   
,disturbing ,influence  ,a third        
influence tending to break up the       
stability of the old order has been the 
new psychology4 ,so general a statement 
as this needs also to be qualified1 for1
 suggestively enough1 the new psychology
 has not so much preceded as followed   
the modern multiplication of what1 using
 ,james' phrase1 we may call the        

,varieties of ,religious ,experience4   
,it has been1 in part1 a widening of our
 conclusions as to the mind and its     
processes to make room for the puzzling 
play of personality which has revealed  
itself in many of these experiences4    
,hypnotism necessarily antedated the    
interest of psychology in the hypnotic  
state2 it compelled psychology to take  
account of it and for the explaining of 
hypnotism psychology has been compelled 
to make a new study of personality and  
its more obscure states4 ,the           
psychologists have been far more        
hospitable to the phenomena of mental   
healing than have the faculties of      
medicine4 ,they took them seriously     
before the average doctor would even    
admit that they existed4 ,their study   
led them to a pretty thoroughgoing      
consideration of the power of suggestion
 upon bodily states1 and eventually to  
formulate1 as they have been able1 both 
the laws of suggestion and the secret of
 its power4 ,telepathy and psychic      

phenomena generally have also offered a 
rich field to the student of the        
abnormal and psychology has broadened   
its investigations to include all these 
conditions4 ,that is to say1 the        
border-land phenomena of consciousness  
as stressed and manifested in the more  
bizarre cults have really supplied the  
material upon which the new psychology  
has been working1 and the psychologist  
to-day is seriously trying to explain a 
good many things which his predecessors1
 with their hard and fast analyses of   
the mind and its laws1 refused to take  
seriously4  ,they concede that a        
complete psychology must have a place in
 it for the abnormal as well as the     
normal1 and for the exceptional as well 
as for the staid and universally        
accepted4 ,those who have been fathering
 new religions and seeking to make the  
abnormal normal have been quick to avail
 themselves of the suggestions and      
permissions in the new psychology4 ,once
 we have crossed the old and clearly    

defined frontiers1 almost anything seems
 possible4 ,personality1 we are now     
taught1 is complex1 far-reaching1 and is
 really1 like a floating iceberg1 more  
largely below the sea level of          
consciousness than above it4 ,how far it
 extends and what connections it makes  
in these its hidden depths1 no one of us
 may know4 ,normal consciousness1 to    
change the figure1 is just one          
brilliantly illuminated center in a     
world of shadow deepening into darkness4
 ,the light grows more murky1 the       
shadows more insistent1 as we pass down1
 or out1 or back from that illumined    
center4 ,we cannot tell how much of the 
shadow is really a part of us1 nor do we
 dare to be dogmatic about what may1 or 
may not1 there be taking place4         
,indeed1 we may fill the shadows with   
almost anything which caprice or desire 
may suggest4 ,our curiously inventive   
minds have always loved to fill in our  
ignorances with their creations4 ,we    
formerly had the shadowed backgrounds of

 the universe to populate with the      
creatures of our fear or fancy1 but now1
 strangely enough1 since science has let
 in its light upon the universe         
psychology has given us the subconscious
 as a region not yet subdued to law or  
shot through with light4 ,and the       
prophets of new cults and border-land   
movements have taken advantage of this4 
,since there is1 they say in substance1 
so much in life of which we are not     
really conscious1 and since there are   
hints within us of strange powers1 how  
can we set limits to what we may either 
be or do1 and may not one man's caprice 
be as reasonable as another man's       
reason8  ,the popularization of the new 
psychology has thus created a soil      
finely receptive to the unusual4        
,without understanding what has been    
accomplished in the way of              
investigation1 and with little accurate 
knowledge of what has actually been     
tested out1 there is amongst us a       
widespread feeling that almost anything 

is possible4 ,here also we may end in a 
sentence by saying that present-day     
psychology with its wide sweep of law1  
its recognition of the abnormal1 its    
acceptance of and insistence upon the   
power of suggestion1 its recognition of 
the subconscious and its tendency to    
assign thereto a great force of personal
 action1 has broken down old certainties
 and given a free field to imagination4 
,it has1 more positively1 taught us how 
to apply the laws of mental action to   
the more fruitful conduct of life1 and  
so supplied the basis for the cults     
which make much of efficiency and       
self-development4 ,it has also lent new 
meaning to religion all along the line4 
,the ,influence of ,philosophy and the  
,social ,situation  ,how far            
contemporaneous philosophy has affected 
inherited faith or supplied a basis for 
new religious development1 is more      
difficult to say4 ,beyond debate        
philosophic materialism has greatly     
influenced the religious attitude of    

multitudes of people just as the        
reactions against it have supplied the  
basis for new religious movements4      
,pragmatism1 affirming that whatever    
works is true1 has tended to supply a   
philosophic justification for whatever  
seems to work1 whether it be true or    
not1 and it has beside tended to give us
 a world where little islands of        
understandings have taken1 as it were1  
the place of a continuous continent of  
truth4 ,the tendencies of the leaders of
 new cults have been to take the        
material which science and psychology   
have supplied and build them into       
philosophies of their own2 they have not
 generally been able or willing to test 
themselves by the conclusions of more   
disciplined thinkers4  ,new ,thought has
 undoubtedly been affected by the older 
idealisms--,berkeley's for              
example--while ,james and ,royce have   
supplied congenial material4 ,the       
movements are generally selective4 ,new 
,thought uses ,james' applied psychology

 and possibly ,royce's ,absolute1 but   
does not consistently confine itself to 
any one system4 ,philosophy also has    
been itself of late working in a pretty 
rarified region4 ,its problems have not 
been the problems of the common mind4   
,it has been trying to find out how we  
know1 to relate the inner and the outer 
world1 and in general to account for    
things which the average man takes for  
granted1 and in the understanding of    
which he is more hindered than helped by
 the current philosophy of the schools4 
,it takes philosophy a good while to    
reach the man in the street1 and even   
then its conclusions have to be much    
popularized and made specific before    
they mean much for him4 ,we shall know  
better fifty years from now what        
philosophy is doing for religion and    
life than we know to-day4 ,there are1   
however1 as has been said1 aspects of   
philosophy which religion generally is  
beginning to take into account4  ,the   
failure of ,christianity to create for  

itself a distinctly ,christian          
environment has also had much to do with
 dissolving old religious stabilities4  
,strongly felt social injustices are    
releasing forces of discontent and      
creating a fertile soil for             
revolutionary experiment1 though it must
 be said that modern religious cults and
 movements have not gained so much from 
this particular form of discontent as   
have those movements which look toward  
radical social readjustment4 ,but the   
whole situation has created a shaken    
state of public opinion4 ,the fierceness
 of modern competition1 industrially and
 economically1 finally carried through  
to the tragic competition of a world    
war1 has put our tempers on edge4 ,the  
extremes of wealth and poverty and the  
baffling fluctuations in modern industry
 have brought the existing order into   
disrepute4 ,the very great number of the
 socially unfit and the grievous number 
of social misfits1 along with crime and 
poverty and the deposit of human        

sediment in our cities1 not only trouble
 men of good will but create a human    
element easily misled4 ,such conditions 
as these are in such painful contrast   
with the ideals of the ,gospel1 the     
spirit of ,christianity and even the    
potential productive force of modern    
society as to lead many to believe that 
something is radically wrong4 ,many are 
persuaded that ,christianity as now     
organized and led is socially sterile2  
they have withdrawn themselves from the 
church2 many of them have become its    
mordant critics2 the more extreme of    
them have disowned religion as well as  
its organized form1 and the violently   
radical would dethrone any conception of
 the ,divine and take the word ,god out 
of our vocabulary4 ,this extreme group  
has not for the most part associated    
itself with the new religious movement1 
but here at least has been a            
disintegrating force4   ,an ,age of     
,confusion  ,in such ways as these1     
then1 the accepted religious order      

identified with historic ,catholicism   
and ,protestantism has in the last fifty
 years been greatly altered4 ,science1  
,biblical criticism1 psychology and     
philosophy1 and social unrest have all  
had their share in making people        
impatient of the inherited order1 or    
doubtful or defiant of it4 ,we have been
 asked to relate our old creeds and     
confidences to new insights and         
understandings4 ,the old answers to the 
questions ,whence8 and ,whither8 and    
,why8 have been challenged by new       
answers2 our horizons have been pushed  
back in every direction and a strange   
sense of mystery both in personality and
 the external order has perplexed and   
stimulated us4 ,along with all this and 
in no little way growing out of it1 has 
gone impatience of discipline and an    
undue haste to gain the various goods of
 life4  ,evolution misled us1 to begin  
with4 ,if the longing for deliverance be
 one of the driving forces in religious 
life1 then the vaster scientific        

conclusions of the latter part of the   
nineteenth century offered a new        
definition of deliverance4 ,it was not1 
after all1 so much in the travail of the
 soul as in a serene and effortless     
self-commitment to a power1 not         
ourselves1 which makes for              
righteousness1 that we were to be saved4
 ,we had only to push out upon tides    
which asked of us neither rudder nor    
oar1 to be brought to our appointed     
havens4 ,how greatly we have been       
disillusioned in all this and how       
bitterly we have been taught that life  
is not so much a drifting with the tide 
as making brave headway against it1 we  
all know well enough to-day4 ,somewhere 
back of a vast deal in these modern     
religious cults and movements1 is the   
smug optimism1 now taking one form and  
now another1 which was the misleading   
bequest of the nineteenth century to the
 twentieth4  ,the great scientific      
discoveries and their application to the
 mechanism of life led the nineteenth   

century to believe that nothing was     
impossible4 ,everything we touched      
became plastic beneath our touch save   
possibly ourselves2 there seemed to be  
no limit to what man might do and he    
consequently assumed that there was no  
limit to what he might become4 ,he      
disassociated his hopes from both his   
disciplines and experiences2 everything 
seemed not only possible but easily     
possible4 ,a general restlessness of    
temper1 due in part to the breaking up  
of the inherited order1 in part to the  
ferment of new ideas and in part to a   
general relaxing of discipline1 began to
 manifest itself4  ,the demoralizing    
influence of migratory populations ought
 not to be overlooked in this           
connection4 ,in all the ,western nations
 there has been an outstanding growth of
 industrial city populations due to     
changing economic conditions4 ,the      
steadying influences of old environments
 have been lost1 the influence of the   
new environment is too stimulating at   

its best and demoralizing at its worst4 
,our cities are not kind to home life2  
too often they do not supply a proper   
physical setting for it4 ,the           
specialization of hard driven industries
 takes the creative joy out of work and 
leads to an excess of highly            
commercialized pleasure4 ,the result is 
the modern city worker1 never living    
long enough in one place to create for  
himself a normal social environment1    
always anxious about his economic       
future1 restless1 too largely           
alternating between strenuous work and  
highly coloured pleasure and much open1 
through temperament and circumstance1 to
 the appeal of whatever promises him a  
new experience or a new freedom4   ,the 
,lure of the ,short ,cut  ,dean ,inge in
 a recent study of the contribution of  
the ,greek temper to religion has drawn 
a strong1 though deeply shadowed picture
 of the disorganization of modern life  
through such influences as these4 ,the  
industrial revolution has generated a   

new type of barbarism1 with no roots in 
the past4 ,for the second time in the   
history of ,western ,europe1 continuity 
is in danger of being lost4 ,a          
generation is growing up1 not           
uneducated1 but educated in a system    
which has little connection with        
,european culture in its historical     
development4 ,the ,classics are not     
taught2 the ,bible is not taught2       
history is not taught to any effect4    
,what is even more serious1 there are no
 social traditions4 ,the modern townsman
 is dracin3 he has forgotten the habits 
and sentiments of the village from which
 his forefathers came4 ,an unnatural and
 unhealthy mode of life1 cut off from   
the sweet and humanizing influences of  
nature1 has produced an unnatural and   
unhealthy mentality1 to which we shall  
find no parallels in the past4 ,its     
chief characteristic is profound        
secularity or materialism4 ,the typical 
town artisan has no religion and no     
superstitions2 he has no ideals beyond  

the visible and tangible world of       
senses4#g  ,footnote #g3 ,the ,legacy of
 ,greece1 p4 #ch4  ,writing as an       
,englishman ,dean ,inge did not note the
 equally unsettling influence of        
migratory races4 ,the ,european peasant 
in ,detroit or ,chicago or ,new ,york is
 still more dracin4 ,he has not only    
left the soil in whose culture his      
ancestors had been established for      
generations1 he has left the tradition  
and the discipline which have made him  
what he is4 ,the necessary readjustments
 are immensely difficult4 ,for the first
 generation they are largely a dumb     
puzzle1 or a dull1 aching homesickness  
or a gray laborious life whose outcome  
must be often strangely different from  
their dreams1 but for the second        
generation the whole experience is a    
heady adventure in freedom not easy to  
analyze though social workers generally 
are agreed that the children of the     
immigrant1 belonging neither to the old 
nor the new1 are a disturbing element in

 ,american life4 ,a city like ,detroit1 
in which this is being written1 where   
both movements combine1 the ,american   
country and village dweller coming to a 
highly specialized industrial center and
 the ,european immigrant to an entirely 
new environment1 illustrates the complex
 issue of the whole process4  ,it is    
just to note that the ,catholic         
immigrant1 finding in his ,church the   
one homelike thing1 is often a better   
,catholic in ,america than he was at    
home4 ,a ,protestant writer without     
accurate information would not dare to  
generalize on the religious dislocation 
of the second ,catholic generation4 ,but
 there must be a very great loss4 ,the  
large non-churched elements in our      
population must be in part due to       
,catholic disintegration as they are    
certainly due to ,protestant            
disintegration4 ,and new movements find 
their opportunity in this whole group4  
,in general1 society1 through such      
influences1 has grown impatient of      

discipline1 scornful of old methods1    
contemptuous of experience and strangely
 unwilling to pay the price of the best4
 ,the more unstable have surrendered    
themselves to the lure of the short cut2
 they are persuaded that there are quick
 and easy roads to regions of well-being
 which had before been reached only     
through labour and discipline and much  
travail of body1 mind and soul4         
,popular ,education ,has ,done ,little  
to ,correct ,current ,confusions  ,nor  
has the very great extension of popular 
education really done much to correct   
this2 it seems rather to intensify it1  
for education shared and shares still   
the temper of the time4 ,our education  
has been more successful generally in   
opening vistas than in creating an      
understanding of the laws of life and   
the meaning of experience2 it has given 
us a love of speculation without        
properly trained minds2 it has furnished
 us with the catch words of science and 
philosophy but has not supplied1 in the 

region of philosophy particularly1 the  
corresponding philosophic temper4 ,it   
has1 above all1 been fruitful in        
unjustified self-confidence1            
particularly here in ,america4 ,we have 
confused a great devotion to higher     
education and the widespread taking of  
its courses with the solid fruition of  
it in mental discipline4 ,america       
particularly has furnished for a long   
time now an unusual opportunity for     
bizarre and capricious movements4       
,nothing overtaxes the credulity of     
considerable elements in our population4
 ,whatever makes a spacious show of     
philosophy is sure to find followers and
 almost any self-confident prophet has  
been able to win disciples1 no matter to
 what extremes he goes4  ,this has not  
been equally true of older civilizations
 with a more clearly defined culture or 
a more searching social discipline4     
,something must be lacking in the       
education of a people in which all this 
is so markedly possible4 ,the play of   

mass psychology 7one does not quite dare
 to call it mob psychology7 also enters 
into the situation4 ,democracy naturally
 makes much of the verdict of           
majorities4 ,any movement which gains a 
considerable number of adherents is     
pretty sure to win the respect of the   
people who have been taught to judge a  
cause by the number of those who can be 
persuaded to adopt it4 ,this generally  
unstable temper1 superficial1 restless1 
unduly optimistic1 open to suggestion   
and wanting in the solid force of great 
tradition has joined with the recasting 
of ,science1 ,theology1 ,psychology and 
,philosophy1 to open the door for the   
entrance of new religions1 and in       
general1 to so unsettle the popular mind
 as to make almost anything possible4   
,the ,churches ,lose ,authority  ,in the
 field of religion certain well-defined 
consequences have either followed or    
accompanied the whole process4 ,there   
has been1 to begin with1 a loosening of 
church ties4 ,the extent of all this has

 been somewhat covered up by the        
reasonable growth of the historic       
churches4 ,in spite of all the          
difficulties which they have been called
 upon to face1 the statistics generally 
have been reassuring4 ,the churches are 
attended in the aggregate by great      
numbers of people who are untroubled by 
doubts4 ,such as these have little      
sympathy with the more restless or      
troubled1 and little patience with those
 who try to understand the restless and 
troubled2 they do not share the         
forebodings of those who look with a    
measure of apprehension upon the future 
of ,christianity4 ,as far as they       
recognize disturbing facts at all they  
are very much like ,carlyle who1 when   
told that ,christianity was upon its    
last legs1 said1 ,what of that8         
,christianity has always been upon its  
last legs4 ,and perhaps their simple    
faith and hope are more to the point    
than many opposing attitudes4 ,the      
churches have grown faster than the     

population1 or at least they had at the 
last census4 ,more than that1 there has 
been a marked increase in church        
activity4 ,the churches are better      
organized2 they are learning the secret 
of coperation2 they are reaching out in 
more directions and all of them1 even   
the more democratic1 are more hard      
driven from the top4  ,the result of all
 this has been a great show of action1  
though it is difficult now to say       
whether the real results of this        
multiplied activity have been           
commensurate in spiritual force and     
ethical fruitage with the intensity of  
their organized life4 7,the writer      
thinks not47 ,but through all this we   
discern1 nevertheless1 a marked         
weakening of authority as far as the    
,church goes and a general loosening of 
ties2 though the churches in the regions
 of finance and organization drive      
harder than they used to drive1 in the  
matter of creed and conduct they are    
driving with an easy rein4              

,denominational loyalties are relaxed2  
there is much changing from one         
denomination to another and within the  
denominations and individual churches   
there is1 of course1 a substantial      
proportion of membership which is only  
nominal4   ,efforts at ,reconstruction  
,within the ,church  ,there are those   
who view with apprehension the whole    
future of religion4 ,they believe that  
the foundations of the great deep are   
breaking beneath us1 that ,christianity 
must be profoundly recast before it can 
go on prevailingly1 and they are        
reaching in one direction and another   
for constructive changes1 but all this  
within the frontiers of historic        
,christianity and the ,church4 ,they    
want church unity but they still want a 
church2 they want a new theology but    
still a theology2 they want new         
applications of religion but still      
substantially the old religion4 ,there  
was more of this during the war than    
just now4 ,such a book as ,orchard's    

,future of ,religion1 perhaps the most  
thoughtful analysis of conditions given 
us for a long time1 was born of the war 
itself and already many of its          
anticipations seem to miss the point4   
,such expectations of wholesale         
religious reconstruction leave out of   
account the essential conservatism of   
human nature1 a conservatism more marked
 in religion than anywhere else4  ,there
 is also a strong and telling group     
which is seeking so to recast and       
interpret inherited faiths as to make   
them more consonant to modern needs and 
more hospitable to new understandings4  
,such as these have accepted gladly the 
tested conclusions of science1 the      
results of ,biblical criticism and the  
revealing suggestion of both psychology 
and philosophy2 they have sought to     
disentangle the essential from the      
unessential1 the enduring from the      
transient4 ,they have found in science  
not the foe but the friend of religion4 
,those intimations of unfailing force1  

those resolutions of the manifold phases
 of action and reality toward which     
science is reaching have seemed to them 
a discovery of the very presence and    
method of ,god1 and they have found in  
just such regions as these new material 
for their faith4 ,they have dealt       
reverently with the old creeds1 for they
 have seen that the forms which         
,christianity has taken through the     
centuries have grown out of enduring    
experiences and needs never to be       
outgrown1 and that their finality is the
 finality of the deep things of the soul
 itself4 ,they have been able1          
therefore1 to make new truth tributary  
to old faith and to interpret the       
central affirmations of ,christianity in
 terms of present-day facts4 ,they have 
sought to share their conclusions with  
others and they have really been able to
 carry ,christianity through the        
transitional period of the last fifty   
years and continue it open-minded1      
strongly established1 reverent and      

enriched rather than impoverished4      
,what they have done has been doubly    
hard1 once through the sheer difficulty 
of the task itself1 and once through the
 hostile and too often abusive temper   
with which they and their endeavours    
have been opposed4 ,none the less1 they 
have saved for ,christendom a reasonable
 faith4 ,science has of late gone       
half-way to meet them4 ,it is rather    
painfully revising a good many of its   
earlier conclusions and on the whole    
walking rather humbly just now before   
its ,god1 recognizing that the last word
 has not yet really been said about much
 of anything4   ,an ,age of ,doubt and a
 ,twilight-,zone in ,history  ,but the  
apparently unchanged traditions of the  
older forms of faith and the relatively 
strong position of the ,church must not 
blind us to the generally disorganized  
condition of religion to-day4 ,there is 
much in evidence a body of doubt which  
clouds the outlook of multitudes upon   
religion generally4 ,beyond debate a    

kind of eclipse of faith began to draw  
across the ,western world so early as   
the middle of the last century4 ,the    
militant skepticism of the brilliant    
group of younger poets who sang their   
defiances in the first two decades of   
the nineteenth century to a world which 
professed itself duly shocked1 is wholly
 different from the sadness with which  
the more mature singers of two          
generations later announce their        
questioning and their disillusionment4  
,the difference is just the difference  
between ,shelley and ,matthew ,arnold4  
,there is a philosophic depth in this   
later music which the former wholly     
lacked4 ,arnold speaks for his time when
 he announces himself as standing       
between two worlds1 one dead1 the other 
powerless to be born4 ,a profound       
disillusionment expressed itself in     
great ranges of later nineteenth century
 literature and confirmed the more      
sensitive and despairing in a positive  
pessimism1 strangely contrasted to the  

self-assertive temper of the science and
 industry of the period4 ,it would need 
a pretty careful analysis to follow all 
this to its roots4 ,something of it no  
doubt was due to the inability of poet  
and philosopher to reconcile their new  
understanding of life and the universe  
with the old religious forms but more of
 it was likely due to some deep         
exhaustion of spiritual force1 an       
exhaustion which has from time to time  
marked transitional periods in the      
development of cultures and             
civilizations4  ,there have always been 
twilight zones in history1 times in     
which the force of the old had spent    
itself and nothing new had come to take 
its place4 ,we are beginning to see now 
that we too have been passing through a 
twilight zone whose contrasts are all   
the more dramatic through the more than 
tropic swiftness with which the high    
lights of the ,victorian period darkened
 into the distractions and              
disillusionments of our own time4 ,the  

best one can say is that there was on   
the part of the more sensitive a        
widespread anticipation of all this1 as 
if the chill of a coming shadow had     
fallen first of all upon them1 and      
beyond debate1 not a little of the doubt
 which has been so marked a feature of  
the last two generations in literature  
generally1 and in the attitude of a     
great number of people toward religion1 
has been due to just this4   ,the       
,hunger of the ,soul and the ,need for  
,faith ,persist  ,and yet1 since        
religion is so inextinguishable a thing1
 changing forces and attitudes have     
still left untouched the hunger of the  
soul and the need of men for faith4     
,indeed the very restlessness of the    
time1 the breaking up of the old orders1
 the failure of the old certainties1    
has1 if anything1 deepened the demand   
for religious reality and there has been
 in all directions a marked turning to  
whatever offered itself as a plausible  
substitute for the old1 and above all a 

turning to those religions which in     
quite clearly defined ways promise to   
demonstrate the reality of religion     
through some sensible or tangible       
experience4 ,if religion will only work 
miracles and attest itself by some sign 
or other which he who runs may read     
there is waiting for it an eager        
constituency4 ,we shall find as we go on
 how true this really is1 for the modern
 religious cult which has gained the    
largest number of followers offers the  
most clearly defined signs and wonders4 
,if religion cures your disease and you 
are twice persuaded1 once that you      
really are cured and once that religion 
has done it1 then you have something    
concrete enough to satisfy anybody4 ,or 
if1 perplexed by death and with no faith
 strong enough to pierce that veil      
through a persuasion of the necessity of
 immortality established in the very    
nature of things1 you are offered a     
demonstration of immortality through the
 voices and presences of the discarnate1

 then1 once more1 you have something    
concrete enough1 if only you were sure  
of it1 to settle every doubt4 ,and      
finally1 if the accepted religions are  
too concrete for you and if you desire a
 rather vague and poetic approach to    
religion made venerable by the centuries
 and appealingly picturesque through the
 personalities of those who present it1 
you have in some adaptation of oriental 
faith to occidental needs a novel and   
interesting approach to the nebulous    
reality which passes in the ,eastern    
mind for ,god1 an approach which demands
 no very great discipline and leaves a  
wide margin for the play of caprice or  
imagination4   ,modern ,religious ,cults
 and ,movements ,find ,their            
,opportunity in the ,whole ,situation4  
,the ,three ,centers ,about ,which ,they
 ,have ,organized ,themselves  ,there   
has been1 then1 as the outcome of the   
complex of forces which we have been    
considering1 a new approach to religion 
distinctive in our own time and in      

general taking three directions         
determined by that against which it has 
reacted1 or perhaps more positively by  
the varying character of what it seeks4 
,a pretty careful analysis of modern    
religious cults and movements shows that
 they have organized themselves1 in     
action and reaction1 around three       
centers definitely related to three     
outstanding deficiencies of inherited   
faith4 ,i say deficiencies1 though that 
is of course to beg the question4 ,we   
saw earlier in this study how religion  
everywhere and always grows out of some 
of the few central and unexpectedly     
simple1 though always supremely great1  
needs and how the force of any religion 
waxes or wanes as it meets these needs4 
,religion is real to the generality of  
us as it justifies the ways of ,god to  
man and reveals the love and justice of 
,god in the whole of personal           
experience4 ,religion is always1        
therefore1 greatly dependent upon its   
power to reconcile the more shadowed    

side of experience with the ,divine love
 and power and goodness4 ,it is hard to 
believe in a ,providence whose dealings 
with us seem neither just nor loving4   
,faith breaks down more often in the    
region of trying personal experience    
than anywhere else4  ,all this is as old
 as the book of ,job but it is none the 
less true because it is old4  ,the      
accepted theology which explained sin   
and sorrow in terms of the fall of man  
and covered each individual case with a 
blanket indictment justified by the     
condemnation of the whole of humanity   
has lost its force4 ,it depended1 to    
begin with1 on a tradition of human     
beginnings which has not borne          
examination1 and it was beside1 in spite
 of all the efforts to defend it1       
profoundly unethical4 ,calvinistic      
theology1 moreover1 made a difficult    
matter worse by assuming for every      
individual a predestined fate reaching  
beyond death itself which a man was     
powerless to escape4 ,those chapters in 

the long story of theology which record 
the turning and groping of minds--and   
souls--enmeshed in this web of their own
 weaving and more deeply entangled still
 in the challenging experiences of life 
itself are among the most pathetic and  
arresting in the whole story of human   
thought4 ,we ought to recognize more    
clearly than we have generally done and 
confess more frankly that our inherited 
explanations of the problems of pain and
 sorrow have been markedly              
unsatisfactory and have greatly         
contributed to the justifiable reaction 
against them4  ,one group of modern     
religious cults and movements1 then1 has
 found its opportunity just here4       
,christian ,science and kindred cults   
are just an attempt to reconcile the    
love and goodness of ,god with pain1    
sickness1 sorrow1 and to a lesser degree
 with sin4 ,how they do this remains to 
be seen1 but the force of their appeal  
depends upon the fact that a very       
considerable and constantly growing     

number of people believe that they have 
really done it4 ,such cults as these    
have also found a place for the ,new    
,testament tradition of healing2 they   
have also appealed strongly to those who
 seek a natural or a pseudo-natural     
explanation for the miraculous elements 
in religion generally4 ,they have been  
expectedly reinforced by the feeling for
 the ,bible which strongly persists     
among those who are not able to find in 
the inherited ,protestant position that 
real help in the ,bible which they had  
been taught they should there find1 and 
who are not1 on the other hand1         
sufficiently acquainted with the newer  
interpretations of it to find therein a 
resolution for their doubts and a vital 
support for their faith4 ,finally1      
,christian ,science and kindred cults   
offer a demonstration of the reality of 
religion in health and happiness1 and   
generally1 in a very tangible way of    
living4 ,here1 then1 is the first region
 in which we find a point of departure  

for modern religious cults and          
movements4  ,spiritualism organizes     
itself around another center4 ,religion 
generally demands and offers a faith in 
immortality4 ,we are not concerned here 
with the grounds which various religions
 have supplied for this faith or the    
arguments by which they have supported  
it4 ,generally speaking1 any religion   
loses ground as it fails to convince its
 adherents of immortality1 or justify   
their longings therefor4 ,any religion  
supplying clear and indisputable proof  
of immortality will command a strong    
following and any seeming demonstration 
of immortality not particularly         
associated with this or that religious  
form will organize about itself a group 
of followers who will naturally give up 
pretty much everything else and center  
their entire interests upon the methods 
by which immortality is thus supposed to
 be demonstrated4 ,now modern           
,spiritualism comes in just here4 ,it   
professes to offer a sure proof of      

immortality to an age which is just     
scientific enough to demand something   
corresponding to scientific proof for   
the support of its faith and not        
scientific enough to accept all the     
implications of science1 or to submit to
 its discipline4 ,theosophy and kindred 
cults are generally a quest for         
deliverance along other than accepted   
,christian lines2 they substitute       
self-redemption for ,christian          
atonement1 and deliverance through      
mystical disciplines for that           
forgiveness of sin and assurance of     
salvation in which ,christianity has    
found its peace4  ,there is1 of course1 
a vast deal of action and reaction      
between the newer movements themselves  
and between the new faith and the old4  
,there are elements common to all       
religions2 there are frontiers where all
 religions meet and somewhat merge2 at  
some point or other almost every faith  
touches its contrary or becomes         
uncertain and shifts its emphasis4      

,religion is always dependent upon      
changing tempers and very greatly upon  
varying personalities2 it is always in  
flux1 impatient of definitions and      
refusing the rigid boundary lines within
 which we attempt to confine it4 ,though
 it be clearly possible1 therefore1 to  
find three distinct points of departure 
for the whole of the border-land cults  
and religions1 there is running through 
them all a certain unity of driving     
force4 ,they are in general a quest for 
a new type of religious reality2 they   
are largely due to certain marked       
inadequacies of the more accepted       
religious teachings and to the want of  
the more accepted religious experiences 
to satisfy certain types4 ,they have    
come to light in our own time through   
the failure of authority in both        
,catholicism and ,protestantism1 through
 the failure of the accepted            
understandings of the ,bible to satisfy 
those who are still persuaded that it   
has a real message and through the      

reaction of the modern spirit upon      
religious attitudes4 ,they owe much to  
the deficiency of the traditional       
explanation of sin1 sorrow and          
suffering2 they owe something to the    
failure of ,christianity to create a    
,christian environment2 and they owe not
 a little to the natural longing for    
some positive assurance of life after   
death1 as well as to the quest of the   
soul for deliverance and its longing for
 a satisfying communion with ,god4 ,and 
they are reinforced in every direction  
by the restless and unsettled temper of 
a time subject to great changes of habit
 and outlook through the breaking up of 
old industrial and social orders and the
 impact of new forces driving in from   
every direction4  ,we shall need to     
relate these conditioning causes more   
definitely to the various cults and     
movements as we go on to study them1 but
 here at least are the backgrounds      
against which they must be studied and  
the lines of testing down which they    

must be followed4 ,we shall begin in our
 more detailed study of these movements 
with the modern religious quest for     
health and healing4 ,but even here we   
shall find it worth while to trace      
broadly the history of faith and mental 
healing4     ,,iii  ,,faith ,,healing   
,,in ,,general   ,those cults which are 
either founded upon faith healing or    
involve it have a long ancestry4 ,george
 ,barton ,cutten's very suggestive      
book#h makes that clear enough and      
supplies an informing mass of detail4   
,medical ,science and ,psychology have  
been slow to take into account the facts
 thus submitted1 but they have of late  
made amends for their somewhat          
unaccountable delay1 and we have now    
reached certain conclusions about which 
there is little controversy except1     
indeed1 as to the range of their        
application4 ,beneath all faith healing 
and kindred phenomena there are three   
pretty clearly defined bases4 ,first1   
the action or reaction of mind upon     

body2 second1 the control of mental     
attitudes by the complex of faith2 and1 
as an interrelated third1 the control of
 the lower nerve centers by suggestion4 
,footnote #h3 ,three ,thousand ,years of
 ,mental ,healing4   ,the ,bases of     
,faith and ,mental ,healing  ,there is  
an almost baffling interplay of what one
 may call these three controlling       
principles1 and the exhaustive          
discussion of the whole subject demands 
the knowledge of the specialist4 ,but we
 do know1 to begin with1 that just as   
there are demonstrated bodily approaches
 to both the mental and spiritual       
aspects of life1 so there are equally   
undeniable mental and even spiritual    
approaches to physical conditions4 ,we  
have here to fall back upon facts rather
 than upon a definite knowledge of what 
happens in the shadowy border-land      
across which the mind takes over and    
organizes and acts upon what is         
presented to it by the afferent nervous 
system4 ,nothing1 for example1 could be 

really more profound than the difference
 between waves of compression and       
rarefaction transmitted through the     
luminiferous ether and the translation  
of their impact into light4 ,somewhere  
between the retina of the eye1 with its 
magic web of sensitive nerve ends1 and  
the proper registering and transforming 
regions of the brain something happens  
about which ,science can say no final   
word4  ,what happens in the case of     
light is equally true of sound and      
tactual sensation4 ,that vivid and happy
 consciousness of well-being which we   
call health is just the translation of  
normal balances1 pressures and          
functionings in the mechanism of the    
body into an entirely different order of
 phenomena4 ,health is a word of        
manifold meaning and if its foundations 
are established in the harmonious       
coperation of physical processes1 its   
superstructure rises through mental     
attitudes into what1 for want of a more 
clearly defined word1 we call spiritual 

states4 ,two orders meet and merge      
within us4 ,above a world of idea1      
insight1 desire and subordination of    
means to ends1 the whole driven by the  
will and saturated with emotion1 a world
 which has its contacts with the unseen 
and eternal and derives its strength    
from the truly immaterial2 below a world
 of material and forces in subjection to
 the laws of physics and chemistry and  
involved in the processes of the        
conservation and transformation of      
physical energy1 and consciousness the  
clearing-house for the whole4           
,cannon's ,study of ,emotional          
,reactions ,upon ,physical ,states      
,this interplay of body and mind has of 
late been made the subject of careful   
and long continued experimentation with 
a special reference to the reactions of 
strong emotion upon bodily states1      
particularly as registered in chemical  
changes4 ,these experiments have been   
carried on with an almost incredible    
patience and attention to detail under  

the most difficult circumstances1 and   
their conclusions seem final4 ,professor
 ,walter ,b4 ,cannon of ,harvard        
,university has recently put the result 
of such investigation at our service in 
a most interesting way4#i 7,it ought to 
be said1 however1 that a similar series 
of experiments repeated at the          
laboratories of the ,university of      
,chicago failed to produce the same     
results47  ,footnote #i3 ,bodily        
,changes in ,pain1 ,hunger1 ,fear and   
,rage1 quoted without page references4  
,strong emotion affects almost every    
physical region1 modifies almost every  
physical function4 ,the normal secretion
 of digestive fluids is greatly         
increased by hunger 7though here1 of    
course1 hunger itself may have a        
physical basis7 and also by what the    
investigator calls sham feeding--food1  
that is1 taken by an animal and so      
deflected as not to pass into the       
digestive tract at all stimulates the   
gastric flow quite as much as if it were

 actually received into the stomach4 ,on
 the other hand unhappy emotional       
disturbance greatly retards the         
digestive processes4 ,pain1 for example1
 results in pronounced inhibitions of   
the secretion of gastric juice while    
happy emotional states produce naturally
 the opposite effect4 ,pain is often    
accompanied by nausea1 indeed the nausea
 of a sick headache may be only         
secondary1 induced by a pain springing  
from quite another source than retarded 
digestion4  ,professor ,cannon's        
experiments are most interesting as he  
traces the variations of the flow of    
adrenal secretion induced by emotion and
 then retraces the effect of the        
chemical changes so produced upon bodily
 and mental states4 ,the secretion of   
adrenin#aj is greatly increased by pain 
or excitement4 ,the percentage of blood 
sugar is also greatly increased by the  
same causes4 ,the heaviness of fatigue  
is due1 as we know1 to poisonous        
uneliminated by-products resulting from 

long continued or over-taxing exertion  
of any sort4 ,under the influence of    
fatigue the power of the muscles to     
respond to any kind of stimulus is      
greatly reduced4 7,it is interesting to 
note1 however1 that muscular fibre      
detached from the living organism and   
mechanically stretched and relaxed shows
 after a period the same decrease in    
contractability under stimulation47 ,on 
the other hand any increase in adrenal  
secretion results in renewed            
sensitiveness to stimulation1 that is by
 an increased power of the muscle to    
respond4 ,falling blood pressures       
diminish proportionately the power of   
muscular response4 ,rising blood        
pressure is effective in largely        
restoring in fatigued structures their  
normal irritability and an increase of  
adrenin seems to raise blood pressure by
 driving the blood from the interior    
regions of the body into the skeleton   
muscles which have to meet1 by extra    
action1 the urgent demands of struggle  

or escape4  ,footnote #aj3 ,i follow    
,cannon in the form of this word4       
,adrenin is of real use in counteracting
 the effects of fatigue or in enabling  
the body to respond to some unusual call
 for effort4 ,the coagulation of the    
blood is also affected by the same      
agent1 that is1 it coagulates very much 
more rapidly4#aa ,coagulation is also   
hastened by heightened emotion2 a wound 
does not bleed so freely when the       
wounded one is angry or excited4 ,a     
soldier1 then1 in the stress of combat  
is not only rendered insensible to      
fatigue and capable of abnormal         
activity1 but his wounds are really not 
so dangerous as they would otherwise be4
 ,there are here suggestions of         
elemental conditions having to do with  
struggle and survival1 conditions which 
play their very great part in the       
contests of life4  ,footnote #aa3       
,cannon thinks1 however1 that this      
effect is produced indirectly4          
,emotions set free1 as has been said1   

larger percentages of sugar which are   
immediately utilized by the muscles in  
heightened or fatiguing effort4 ,all    
these experiments point very clearly to 
reservoirs of power1 both physical and  
mental1 upon which we may draw in times 
of stress and under emotional           
excitement4#ab ,such emotionally induced
 chemical actions and reactions as have 
been indicated release these stored     
energies1 render us for the time being  
unconscious of fatigue and even guard us
 against the too rapid exhaustion of    
vital power4 ,whatever heightens        
emotion1 therefore1 modifies the very   
chemical structure of the body4         
,footnote #ab3 ,excessive emotional     
reactions upon bodily states may        
explain1 as ,cannon suggests1 the more  
obscure phenomena of religious frenzy   
such as the ceremonial dances of        
savages1 the ,danse ,macabre of the     
,middle ,ages1 the feats of the whirling
 dervishes1 the jumping and shouting of 
revivalism2 also1 maybe1 the modern     

jazz4   ,the ,two ,doors  ,there are    
other changes as well4 ,the breath is   
quickened1 the lungs are expanded1 waste
 products are very much more rapidly    
eliminated and so in answer to summoning
 states of the soul the body as a whole 
readjusts itself in marvellous subtle   
forms1 mobilizing all its forces for the
 contests which the emotion anticipates1
 or indeed which the emotion itself     
calls out4 ,and if all this seems unduly
 technical it is only to bear out with  
something like a scientific accuracy the
 statements made a little earlier that  
two orders meet and merge within us and 
that the reactions of our loves1 our    
fears1 or our longings upon our bodily  
processes may be stated in terms of the 
test tube and the chemist's scale4      
,such changes as are thus registered    
react in turn upon mental attitudes4    
,fatigue produces mental depression4 ,an
 accumulation of uneliminated waste     
darkens all our horizons2 irritability  
of mind and soul attend physical        

irritability2 any unhappy modification  
in the balance of the physical registers
 automatically an equally unhappy       
modification in the balance of the      
psychic4 ,most of us1 as we come to know
 ourselves better1 recognize marked     
alterations even in spiritual states    
which we are taught to refer to physical
 condition1 but just as truly altered   
spiritual conditions produce altered    
physical states4 ,there is an endless   
give and take and there are1 therefore1 
two doors of approach to our pains1     
wearinesses and sicknesses4   ,the      
,challenge of ,hypnotism  ,medicine1    
surgery and hygiene as at present       
organized largely approach personal     
well-being from the physical side4 ,they
 have for their support a body of fact  
and a record of accomplishment which    
cannot be put out of court without sheer
 intellectual stultification4 ,modern   
medicine has been so massively          
successful in dealing with disease on   
the basis of a philosophy which makes   

everything1 or nearly everything1 of the
 body and nothing or next to nothing of 
the mind1 that medicine was in danger of
 becoming more sheerly materialistic    
than almost any other of our sciences2  
,physics and ,chemistry had their       
backgrounds in which they recognized the
 interplay of realities too great for   
their formul and forces too subtle for  
their most sensitive instruments4 ,but  
medicine was almost in the way of       
forgetting all this when it was         
compelled--and that for its own good--to
 take account of an entirely different  
set of forces4  ,this was1 to begin     
with1 as far as the modern scientific   
approach is concerned1 first made       
clearly apparent in ,hypnotism4         
,hypnotism seems to be such a           
modification of normal mental conditions
 under the power of commanding          
suggestion as really for the time being 
to focus consciousness and mental action
 generally in one suggested line4 ,a new
 set of inhibitions and permissions are 

thus imposed upon normal consciousness4 
,attention is withdrawn from the usual  
frontiers 7if one may use the word7 to  
which1 consciously or subconsciously1 it
 has always been directed and centered  
upon one single thing4#ac  ,footnote    
#ac3 ,sidis defines ,hypnosis as the    
disassociation of the superior and      
inferior nerve centers4 ,they commonly  
work in perfect harmony1 their blended  
unity forming one conscious personality4
 ,in hypnosis the two systems or nervous
 centers are disassociated1 the superior
 centers and the upper consciousness are
 inhibited or better cut off1 split off 
from the rest of the nervous system with
 its organic consciousness1 which is    
thus laid bare1 open to the influence of
 external stimuli or suggestions4444 ,in
 hypnotic trance 444 we have direct     
access to man's organic consciousness   
and through it to organic life          
itself4444 ,if we broaden this last     
sentence to include not only organic    
consciousness but the deeper strata of  

personality in which not only individual
 but perhaps racial experience is       
bedded1 we have the key to a vast range 
of obscure phenomena4 ,sidis believes   
that strong permanent impressions or    
suggestions made on the reflex organic  
consciousness of the inferior centers   
may modify their functional disposition1
 induce trophic changes1 and even change
 organic structure and this in a        
sentence is probably what lies behind   
all faith and mental healing4--,the     
,psychology of ,suggestion1 pp4 #fi and 
#gj4  ,the hypnotized person becomes1   
therefore1 unconscious of any reporting 
agencies outside the field of his       
abnormally focused attention4 ,normal   
conditions of pain or pleasure cease for
 the time to become real4 ,attention has
 been forced entirely out of normal     
channels and given a new direction4     
,then we discover1 strangely enough1    
that though those messages of the       
afferent nerves cease to have any effect
 upon the subject1 the imaginings of the

 subject carried back along outgoing    
lines produce the most unexpected       
results in physical states4 ,if a       
postage stamp be placed upon the hand of
 the hypnotized subject and he be told  
that the stamp is a mustard plaster1 the
 stamp reddens the skin and presently   
raises a blister4 ,in other words1      
heightened and intensified expectant    
attention is able to produce the same   
results as an irritating agency4#ad     
,footnote #ad3 ,experiments by          
,krafft-,ebing and ,forel4 ,to be taken 
with caution4 ,see ,jacoby1 ,suggestion 
and ,psycho-,therapy1 p4 #aec4          
,changed ,attention ,affects ,physical  
,states  ,we are concerned here chiefly 
with the fact and it is a fact capable  
of far-reaching application4 ,of course 
the nature and extent of the changes    
thus produced are the battlegrounds of  
the two schools4 ,medical ,science is   
quite willing to admit that while       
functional action may thus be modified  
no real organic changes can be produced4

 ,there is a border-land so much still  
in shadow that no final word can be said
 about the whole matter1 but it is      
incontestably true that modifications of
 attention have a reflex in the         
modification of physical states4  ,a    
pain which is not registered does not1  
for the time being at least1 exist1 and 
if the attention can either through     
hypnotism or by a persistent mental     
discipline be withdrawn from disturbing 
physical reports1 then the conditions   
which produce them will at least be left
 to correct themselves without          
interference from consciousness and     
since the whole tendency of disturbed   
physical organism is to correct itself1 
the whole process probably goes on more 
quickly as it certainly goes on with    
less discomfort if attention is         
withdrawn4#ae ,the assumption of health 
is a tremendous health-giving force and 
if the condition to be remedied is      
really due to a mental complex which    
needs only some strong exertion of the  

will or readjustment of attitude to     
change1 then marvellous results may     
follow changed mental and spiritual     
states4 ,the apparently dumb may speak1 
the apparently paralyzed rise from their
 beds1 the shell-shocked pull themselves
 together and those under the bondage of
 their fears and their pains be set     
free4 ,there are so many illustrations  
of all this that the fact itself is not 
in debate4  ,footnote #ae3 ,organic     
changes 7the storm center of the        
controversy7 may possibly be induced    
through a better general physical tone4 
,such changes would not be directly due 
to suggestion but to processes released 
by suggestion4 ,organic change may      
certainly be checked and the effect of  
it overcome by increased resistance4 ,so
 much conservative physicians admit4    
,how far reconstruction thus induced may
 go is a question for the specialist4   
,the ,power of ,faith to ,change ,mental
 ,attitudes  ,now since mental attitudes
 so react upon bodily states1 whatever  

strongly controls mental attitudes      
becomes a very great factor in mental   
healing4 ,there is a long line of       
testimony that what may be called the   
complex of faith does just this with    
unique power1 for faith implies         
supernatural intervention4 ,if there be 
anywhere an all-prevailing power whose  
word is law and we could really be      
persuaded that such a power had really  
intervened--even if it actually had     
not--on our behalf and brought its      
supernatural resource to bear upon our  
troubled case1 then we should have a    
confidence more potent in the immediate 
transformation of mental attitudes than 
anything else we could possibly         
conceive4 ,if we really believed such a 
power were ready to help us1 if we as   
vividly expected its immediate help1    
then we might anticipate the utmost     
possible therapeutic reaction of mind   
upon body4 ,a faith so called into      
action should produce arresting results1
 and this as a matter of investigation  

is true4  ,in following through the     
theories of faith healing we may take   
here either of two lines4 ,the devout   
may assert a direct divine              
interposition4 ,god is4 ,he has the     
power and the will2 all things are      
plastic to ,his touch2 ,he asks only    
faith and1 given faith enough1 the thing
 is done and there is no explaining it4 
,those who believe this are not inclined
 to reason about it2 in fact it is      
beyond reason save as reason posits a   
,god who is equal to such a process and 
an order in which such results can be   
secured4 ,this is rather an achievement 
of faith than reason but the ,christian 
,church generally has held such a       
faith--a faith sustained by the         
testimony which favours it and          
unaffected by the testimony which       
challenges it4 ,the scientific temper   
which seeks economy in all its          
explanations and asks only for a cause  
sufficient for the effect and which is1 
moreover1 constantly trying to relate   

the unknown to the known1 takes another 
line and finds in faith healing just one
 more illustration of the power of mind 
over body4 ,this does not exclude ,god  
but it discovers ,him in resident forces
 and finds in law the revelation of ,his
 method4 ,the conclusions1 then1 to     
which we are generally coming may not   
only be reconciled with a devout faith1 
they may1 when followed through1 enrich 
faith2 but they do subdue the whole     
great matter to a sequence of cause and 
effect and they are gradually finding a 
satisfactory explanation for what has   
heretofore been deeply involved in      
mystery4  ,just as ,hypnotism1 through  
the very dramatic abnormality of it1 in 
altering the sensitiveness of those     
physical tracts from which attention is 
withdrawn or in producing physical      
effects through suggestive focusing1 has
 helped us to understand the part which 
attention plays in the flux of physical 
states1 so our later studies of the     
subconscious help us here4 ,we do know  

that a great deal may really take place 
in personality of which consciousness   
takes no account4 ,consciousness in its 
most active phases is alert1 purposeful 
and preoccupied with the immediate      
concern of the moment4 ,consciousness   
heeds commands and takes account of such
 conditions as strongly assert          
themselves1 but does not in its full    
drive take much account of suggestion   
unless the suggestion possesses unusual 
force4 ,suggestions usually need        
leisurely turning over in the mind and  
the mind commonly refers them--often    
without knowing it--to those regions of 
mental action which lie beneath the     
threshold of strongly focused           
consciousness4  ,but suggestion does not
 thereby cease to work4 ,it starts      
processes all its own which go on till  
they are worked through4 ,after a longer
 or shorter period of incubation the    
outcome of suggestion is lifted into the
 light of consciousness1 often to       
produce results all the more striking   

because we cannot explain them to       
ourselves or any one else4 ,all this    
does not withdraw such phenomena from   
the realm of law2 it only clothes them  
with the mystery of the unknown and     
extends the fields in which they may    
operate4 ,proper suggestion let fall    
into these unknown depths or improper   
suggestion as well1 becomes an          
incalculable force in shaping the ends  
of life4 ,we have here1 then1 well      
attested truths or laws--it is difficult
 to know what to call them--which help  
us to understand the bases of faith     
healing or mental healing by suggestion4
 ,now directly we turn to such records  
as remain to us we find that such forces
 as these have been in action from the  
very beginning4 ,all disease was in     
early times referred generally to spirit
 possession4 ,if only the evil spirit   
could be exorcised the patient would get
 well and the priest was1 of course1 the
 proper person to undertake this4       
,religion and medicine were1 therefore1 

most intimately united to begin with and
 healing most intimately associated with
 magic4 ,the first priests were doctors 
and the first doctors were priests and  
what they did as priests and what they  
did as doctors were alike unreasonable  
and capricious4 ,the priest and his     
church have very unwillingly surrendered
 the very great hold over the faithful  
which this early association of medicine
 and religion made possible4 ,any order 
or institution which can approach or    
control humanity through the longing of 
the sick for health1 has an immense and 
unfailing empire4   ,demon ,possession  
the ,earliest ,explanation of ,disease  
,there are1 says ,cutten1 three fairly  
well defined periods in the history of  
,medicine4 ,the first1 beginning as far 
back as anything human begins and coming
 down to the end of the second century2 
the second1 ending with the fifteenth or
 sixteenth centuries2 and the third from
 perhaps the sixteenth century on4 ,the 
second period1 he adds1 was by far the  

most sterile and stationary of the three
 largely due to the prohibitive attitude
 of the ,church4 ,the science of        
,medicine1 then1 is almost wholly the   
result of the investigations and study  
of the last period4 ,this means that    
medicine is one of the youngest of the  
sciences1 while from the very nature of 
the case it is one of the oldest of the 
arts4  ,demon possession was1 as has    
been said1 the earliest explanation of  
disease4 ,this would naturally be true  
of a time almost wholly wanting in any  
conception either of law or any relation
 of cause and effect beyond the most    
limited regions of experience4 ,since   
the only cause of which man had any real
 knowledge was his own effort he peopled
 his world with forces more or less like
 himself1 except that they were         
invisible1 who operated practically the 
whole of natural phenomena4 ,there was a
 spirit for every place and every       
happening2 spirits for fields and       
hearths1 thresholds and springs4 ,some  

of them were friendly1 some of them     
naturally unfriendly1 but they were     
everywhere in existence1 everywhere in  
action and naturally if they were       
unfriendly they would from time to time 
and in various most curious ways get    
into the body itself and there do any   
amount of mischief4  ,the               
priest-doctor's task1 therefore1 was to 
get them out4 ,he might scare them out1 
or scold them out1 or pray them out1 or 
trick them out4 ,he would use his       
medicine as much to make the place of   
their temporary abode uncomfortable for 
the demon as remedial for the patient   
and1 indeed1 the curious and loathsome  
things which have been used for         
medicines might well disgust even a     
malevolent demon4 ,one thing stands out 
very clearly and that is that whatever  
the medicine did or left undone1 it     
worked through its influence upon the   
mind of the patient and not through any 
real medicinal value4   ,the ,beginnings
 of ,scientific ,medicine  ,of course   

along with all this would go a kind of  
esoteric wisdom which was part of the   
stock in trade of the healer4 ,there    
were charms1 incantations and magic of  
every conceivable sort4 ,the medicine   
man of uncivilized or even              
half-civilized peoples really makes     
medicine for the mind rather than the   
body4 ,there were1 however1 gleams of   
scientific light through all this murky 
region4 ,the ,egyptians knew something  
of anatomy though they made a most      
capricious use of it and there must have
 been some knowledge of hygienic        
methods2 the prohibitions of ,leviticus1
 for example1 and of the ,jewish law    
generally for which the ,jew must have  
been1 as far as medical science is      
concerned1 somewhat in debt to the      
,egyptian and the ,chaldean1 really have
 sound hygienic reasons behind them4    
,the ,greeks began with demons but they 
ended with something which approached   
true science4  ,the real contribution of
 ,greece1 however1 seems to have been on

 the positive rather than the negative  
side4 ,they made much of health as an   
end in itself1 had gods and goddesses of
 physical well-being4 ,the ,greek had   
constantly held before him such an ideal
 of physical excellence as had never    
before been approached and has never    
since been equalled4 ,he seems to have  
been abstemious in eating2 he practiced 
the most strenuous physical exercises2  
he lived a wholesome outdoor life1 and  
so created a civilization in which      
health very largely took care of itself4
 ,an examination of what records remain 
to us hardly sustains the accepted      
opinion that the ,greeks had made       
substantial advances along purely       
scientific lines1#af but at any rate as 
far as medicine goes1 there is little to
 choose between the ,greece of the      
fourth century before ,christ and the   
,europe of the sixteenth century after1 
save that the life of the ,greek was far
 more normal1 temperate and hygienic and
 the mind of the ,greek more open1 sane 

and balanced4  ,footnote #af3 ,probably 
too strong a statement4 ,for an opposite
 view strongly supported by a scholar's 
research see ,singer's article in ,the  
,legacy of ,greece 7,oxford ,press71 p4 
#bja4  ,plato anticipated conclusions   
which we are just beginning to reach    
when he said1 the office of the         
physician extends equally to the        
purification of mind and body4 ,to      
neglect the one is to expose the other  
to evident peril4 ,it is not only the   
body which1 by sound constitution1      
strengthens the soul1 but the well      
regulated soul1 by its authoritative    
power1 maintains the body in perfect    
health4 ,whether the best classic       
civilization made1 consciously1 its own 
this very noble insight of ,plato1 the  
best classic civilization did secure the
 sound mind and the sound body to an    
extent which puts a far later and far   
more complex civilization to shame4     
,perhaps the greatest contribution of   
the ,greek to this whole great subject  

was his passion for bodily well-being   
and his marvellous adaptation of his    
habits and type of life to that end4    
,he did1 moreover1 separate religion1   
magic and medicine to some appreciable  
extent and he gave us at least the      
beginnings of a medical profession1     
approaching medicine from the scientific
 rather than the religious or           
traditional point of view4 ,even though 
his science was a poor enough thing1 his
 doctors were none the less doctors and 
the medical profession to-day is        
entirely within its right when it goes  
back to ,hippocrates for the fathering  
of it4   ,the ,attitude of the ,early   
and ,medieval ,church  ,christianity    
changed all this and on the whole for   
the worse4 ,and yet that statement ought
 to be immediately qualified1 for       
,christianity did bring with it a very  
great compassion for suffering1 a very  
great willingness to help the sick and  
the needy4 ,the ,gospels are            
inextricably interwoven with accounts of

 the healing power of the founder of    
,christianity4 ,all the later attitude  
of ,christianity toward disease must be 
considered in the light of this fact4   
,we owe to ,christianity the first real 
hospitals1 the first really             
compassionate and unselfish care for the
 sick and impulses which1 as they have  
finally worked out1 have had more to do 
with giving quality and direction to    
medicine and particularly in investing  
the whole practice of medicine with its 
true atmosphere than any other single   
force4  ,and yet all this has been a    
long1 long time coming true and for     
almost #a1ejj years the ,church and its 
authorities were a hindrance rather than
 a help and that for two or three       
outstanding reasons4 ,christianity1 to  
begin with1 sadly underestimated        
physical values in its overinsistence   
upon spiritual values4 ,the body was at 
best but the tabernacle of the soul and 
the soul being the chief concern1       
whatever happened to the body was of    

little importance4 ,the body was not    
only underestimated1 it was scorned and 
abused1 starved and scourged2 it was the
 seat of unholy influences and impulses2
 its natural longings were at the best  
under suspicion1 at the worst under     
absolute condemnation4 ,christianity1   
speaking through the ,church1 took      
immense care for its spiritual hygiene1 
though even here it went wrong because  
it forgot ,plato's noble word1 but it   
failed utterly in physical hygiene4     
,then again sickness and suffering were 
for the ,church but the manifest        
punishment of some sin known or         
concealed4 ,to interfere1 therefore1 was
 in some way to defeat the justice of   
,god4 ,pestilences were inscrutable     
providences2 they were the wrath of ,god
 made manifest4 ,in the face of so      
stupendous a calamity anything man might
 do was not only futile but impertinent4
  ,by a strange contradiction early and 
medieval ,christianity1 while making    
little of the body1 nevertheless        

strongly opposed any study of anatomy   
which depended upon post-mortems or     
dissection4 ,this probably because of   
their belief in the resurrection of the 
body4 ,any mutilation of the body after 
death would be a real handicap in the   
day of resurrection4 ,but behind all    
this1 equally real though intangible1   
was the desire of the ,church to have   
the whole of life under its own direct  
control4 ,it instinctively feared       
methods of thought or processes of      
investigation not directly a part of its
 own imperial administration of life4   
,some subtle distrust of the human      
reason went along with all this4 ,as a  
result the ,church1 in the main1 threw  
herself against the more independent    
processes of scientific thought1 sought 
to subdue all the facts of life to her  
creeds and understandings and so became 
a real hindrance to any pursuit of truth
 or any investigation of fact which lay 
outside the region of theological       
control4 ,how largely all this retarded 

growth and knowledge and the extension  
of human well-being it is difficult to  
say1 but the fact itself is well        
established4   ,saints and ,shrines     
,for one thing early ,christianity      
continued the belief in demoniac        
possession4 ,by one of those accidents  
which greatly influence history the     
belief in demon possession was strongly 
held in ,palestine in the time of       
,christ and the ,gospel narratives      
reflect all this in ways upon which it  
is not necessary to enlarge4 ,the       
,gospels themselves lent their mighty   
sanction to this persuasion and there   
was nothing in the temper of the ,church
 for more than a thousand years         
afterward to greatly modify it4 ,indeed 
the temper of the ,church rather        
strengthened it4 ,origen believed that  
demons produce famine1 unfruitfulness1  
corruptions of the air and pestilences4 
,they hover concealed in clouds in the  
lower atmosphere and are attracted by   
the blood and incense which the heathen 

offered them as gods4  ,according to    
,st4 ,augustine all diseases of         
,christians are to be ascribed to these 
demons and the church fathers generally 
agreed with these two1 the greatest of  
them all4 ,it was1 therefore1 sinful to 
do anything but trust to the            
intercession of the saints4 ,the        
objection of the ,church to dissection  
which is1 of course1 the indispensable  
basis for any real knowledge of anatomy 
was very slowly worn down4 ,the story of
 ,andreas ,vesalius whom ,andrew ,white 
calls the founder of the modern science 
of anatomy is at once fascinating and   
illuminating4 ,he pursued his studies   
under incredible difficulties and       
perhaps could never have carried them   
through without the protection of       
,charles ,v whose physician he was4 ,he 
was finally driven out1 a wanderer in   
quest of truth1 was shipwrecked on a    
pilgrimage to the ,holy ,land and in the
 prime of his life and strength he was  
lost to the world4 ,but he had1 none the

 less1 won his fight and the opposition 
of the ,church to the scientific study  
of anatomy was gradually withdrawn4 ,but
 every marked advance in medical science
 had really to fight the battle over    
again4 ,the ,sorbonne condemned         
inoculation1 vaccination had slowly to  
fight its way and even the discovery of 
anesthetic1 perhaps the greatest single 
blessing ever given surgery1 met with no
 little theological obstruction4 ,it is 
only fair to say in this connection that
 so stupid a conservatism has been by no
 means the sole possession of the       
,church and the clergy4 ,medicine has   
been upon occasion almost as            
conservative and the difficulties which 
,sir ,joseph ,lister encountered in his 
endeavour to win the ,london hospitals  
for asepsis and anti-sepsis were quite  
as bitter4 ,the difficulties were of a  
piece with the opposition of the ,church
 to scientific advancement4 ,after all a
 conservatism of this sort is a matter  
of temperament rather than creed or     

class4  ,but if the ,church was         
strangely slow to give place to medicine
 and surgery1 the ,church sought1       
through agencies and methods of its own1
 to cure disease4 ,it is impossible to  
follow through in detail the long story 
though it all bears upon the line we are
 following through its massive testimony
 to the power of mind over body4 ,since 
the ,church believed in demon possession
 it sought to cure by exorcism and there
 are in the ritual of the ,church1 as   
the ritual has finally taken form1      
offices growing out of this long1 long  
battle against evil spirits which have  
now little suggestion of their original 
purpose4 ,the sign of the ,cross was    
supposed to have commanding power1 the  
invocation of the triune deity had its  
own virtue1 the very breathing of the   
priest was supposed to influence the    
evil spirit and he fled defeated from   
the touch of holy water4  ,the ,church  
possessed1 as was everywhere then       
believed1 not only a prevailing power   

over demons1 but a supernatural power   
all her own for the healing of disease4 
,this power was associated with saints  
and relics and shrines4 ,during the     
lifetime of the saint this power was    
exercised through direct saintly        
interposition4 ,after the death of the  
saint it was continued in some relic    
which he left behind him1 or some shrine
 with which he had been particularly    
associated4 ,there grew up gradually a  
kind of division of labour among the    
saints in the ,middle ,ages4 ,each saint
 had its own peculiar power over some   
bodily region or over some particular   
disease4 ,and so the faithful were      
guarded by a legion of protecting       
influences against everything from      
coughs to sudden death4 ,there is almost
 an unimaginable range of relics4 ,parts
 of the true ,cross possessed supreme   
value4 ,st4 ,louis of ,france was       
brought back almost from death to life  
by the touch of the sacred wood4 ,the   
bones and hairs of saints1 rings which  

they had worn and all such things as    
these had value and to prove that the   
value was not resident in the relic but 
in the faith with which the relic was   
approached we have reported bones of    
saints possessing well authenticated    
healing value1 later proved to have been
 the bones not of men but of animals4   
,there have been sacred springs and     
consecrated waters almost without       
number4 ,they will still show you in    
,canterbury ,cathedral stones worn by   
the feet of countless pilgrims seeking  
at the shrine of ,thomas  ,becket a     
healing to the reality of which those   
who wore away those stones bore         
testimony in a variety of gifts which   
made the shrine of  ,becket at one time 
one of the treasure houses of           
,christendom4  ,the two shrines at      
present best known are those of ,lourdes
 in ,france and ,ste4 ,anne de ,beaupr  
in the ,province of ,quebec4 ,lourdes   
owes its reputed healing power to a     
belief in a vision of the ,virgin       

received there during the last century4 
,over #cjj1jjj persons visit there each 
year4 ,charcot1 it is worth noting1 had 
confidence enough not in the shrine but 
in the healing power of faith to send   
fifty or sixty patients to ,lourdes     
every year4 ,his patients were1 of      
course1 the mentally and nervously      
unbalanced4 ,the ,french government     
supervises the sanitary conditions at   
,lourdes and a committee of doctors have
 undertaken some examination of the     
diseased who visit the shrine for the   
guidance of their profession4 ,ste4     
,anne de ,beaupr owes its fame to       
certain wrist bones of the mother of    
,christ4   ,magic1 ,charms1 and the     
,king's ,touch3 ,the ,rise of the ,faith
 ,healer  ,religious faith is not always
 necessary--any faith will do4 ,charms1 
amulets1 talismans have all played their
 part in this long compelling story4    
,the various metals1 gems1 stones and   
curious and capricious combinations of  
pretty much every imaginable thing have 

all been so used4 ,birth girdles worn by
 women in childbirth eased their pain4  
,a circular piece of copper guarded     
against cholera4 ,a coral was a good    
guard against the evil eye and          
sail-cloth from a shipwrecked vessel    
tied to the right arm was a preventive  
as well as a cure for epilepsy4 ,there  
is almost no end to such instances4 ,the
 list of charms and incantations is     
quite as curious4 ,there are forms of   
words which will cure insomnia and      
indeed1 if one may trust current        
observation1 forms of words not         
primarily so intended may still induce  
sleepfulness4  ,the history of the      
king's touch as particularly helpful in 
epilepsy and scrofula1 though useful    
also for the healing of various         
diseases1 is especially interesting4    
,this practice apparently began with    
,edward the ,confessor in ,england and  
,st4 ,louis in ,france and was due to   
the faith of those who came to be       
touched and healed in the divine right  

and lonely power of the king4 ,it is    
significant that the practice began with
 these two for they1 more than any kings
 of their time or most kings since1 were
 really men of rare and saintly         
character4 ,curiously but naturally     
enough the ,english have denied any real
 power in this region to ,french kings  
and the ,french have claimed a monopoly 
for their own sovereigns4 ,the belief in
 the king's touch persisted long and    
seems toward the end to have had no     
connection with the character of the    
monarch1 for ,charles ,,ii did more in  
this line than any one who ever sat on  
an ,english throne4 ,during the whole of
 his reign he touched upward of #ajj1jjj
 people4 ,andrew ,white adds that it is 
instructive to note1 however1 that while
 in no other reign were so many people  
touched for scrofula and so many cures  
vouched for1 in no other reign did so   
many people die of the disease4  ,along 
with the king's touch went the king's   
gift--a piece of gold--and the drain    

upon the royal treasury was so          
considerable that after the reign of    
,elizabeth the size of the coin was     
reduced4 ,special coins were minted for 
the king's use in that office and these 
touching pieces are still in existence4 
,william ,,iii refused to take this     
particular power seriously4 ,god give   
you better health and more sense1 he    
said as he once touched a patient4 ,in  
this particular instance the honest     
skepticism of the king was outweighed by
 the faith of the suppliant4 ,we are    
assured that the person was cured4 ,the 
royal touch was discontinued after the  
death of ,queen ,anne4  ,the list of    
healers began early and is by no means  
ended now4 ,the power of the healer was 
sometimes associated with his official  
station in the ,church1 sometimes due to
 his saintly character and often enough 
only to a personal influence1 the fact  
of which is well enough established1    
though there can be in the nature of    
things no finality in the estimate of   

his real efficacy4 ,george ,fox         
performed some cures2 ,john ,wesley     
also4 ,in the seventeenth century one   
,valentine ,greatrakes seems to have    
been the center of such excitements and 
reported healings as ,alexander ,dowie  
and others in our own time and it is    
finally through the healer rather than  
the saint or the king or shrine or relic
 that we approach the renaissance of    
mental and faith healing in our own     
time4     ,,iv  ,,the ,,approach ,,to   
,,christian ,,science ,,and ,,mary      
,,baker ,,eddy   ,there is1 however1    
another stage in this long line of      
development which needs to be considered
 since it supplies a double point of    
departure2 once for the most outstanding
 healing cult in our time--,christian   
,science--and once for the greatly      
enlarged use of suggestion in modern    
medical practice1 and that is mesmerism 
and animal magnetism4   ,mesmerism a    
,point of ,departure for ,modern        
,healing ,cults  ,paracelsus#ag may be  

taken as a starting point just here4 ,he
 is known in the history of medicine for
 the impetus he gave to the development 
of pharmaceutical chemistry1 but he was 
also the author of a visionary and      
theosophic system of philosophy4 ,he    
believed in the influence of the stars  
upon men1 but he enlarged upon the old  
astrologic faiths4 ,he believed the     
human body was endowed with a double    
magnetism1 one portion attracted to     
itself the planets and was nourished by 
them1 the result of which was the mental
 powers1 the other portion attracted and
 disintegrated the elements1 from which 
process resulted the body4 ,his world1  
therefore1 was a world of competitive   
attractions4 ,he believed the well had  
an influence over the sick through      
magnetism and used the magnet in his    
practice4  ,footnote #ag3 ,a            
,german-,swiss physician and alchemist1 
b4 #adic1 d4 #aeda4 ,these quotations1  
partly from authorities on faith healing
 and partly from the history of         

,spiritualism1 illustrate the           
underground connection in this whole    
region4  ,this dual theory of magnetic  
cures1 that of the magnetic influence of
 men on men and of the magnet on man1   
was prevalent for over a century4 ,it   
is1 then1 upon these ideas--the         
radiation from all things1 but          
especially the stars1 magnets and human 
bodies1 of a force which would act in   
all things else1 and which was in each  
case directed by the indwelling spirit1 
together with the conception of a       
perpetual contact between reciprocal and
 opposing forces--that the mysticism of 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
 mainly depends4#ah  ,footnote #ah3     
,podmore1 ,modern ,spiritualism1 ,vol4  
,i1 p4 #de4 ,i am in debt also to       
,cutten for general information and some
 quoted paragraphs4  ,these ideas were  
adopted by a group of men who are now   
only names for us4 ,the phenomena of    
magnetism fascinated them and supplied  
them analogies4 ,there is1 they thought1

 an all-prevailing magnetic influence   
which binds together not only celestial 
and terrestrial bodies1 but all living  
things4 ,life and death were for them   
simply the registry of the ebbing and   
flowing of these immaterial tides and   
they ended by conceiving a vital fluid  
which could be communicated from person 
to person and in the communication of   
which the sick could be healed--the     
driftwood of their lore has come down to
 us on the tides of time2 we still speak
 of magnetic personalities--and they    
sought in various ways to control and   
communicate these mysterious forces4    
,one of them invented steel plates which
 he applied to the body as a cure for   
disease4 ,he taught his system to       
,mesmer who made1 however1 one marked   
advance upon the technique of his       
predecessors and gave his name to his   
methods2 he produced his results through
 physical contacts and passes4 ,but he  
shared with his predecessors and stated 
with that compact clearness of which the

 ,french language is so capable even    
when dealing with obscure matters1 that 
there is a fluid so universally diffused
 and connected as to leave nowhere any  
void1 whose subtlety is beyond any      
comparison and which by its nature is   
capable of receiving1 propagating and   
communicating all impressions of        
movement4444 ,this reciprocal action is 
subject to mechanical laws at present   
unknown4#ai ,this fluid in its action   
governs the earth and stars and human   
action4  ,footnote #ai3 ,price's        
,historique de facts relatifs du        
,magntisme ,animal1 quoted by ,podmore4 
,he originated the phrase ,animal       
,magnetism and was1 though he did not   
know it1 the originator of hypnotism2   
until well within our own time mesmerism
 was the accepted name for this whole   
complex group of phenomena4 ,the medical
 faculties examined his claims but were 
not willing to approve them1 but this   
made no difference in ,mesmer's         
popularity4 ,he had so great a following

 as to be unable to deal with them      
personally4 ,he deputed his powers to   
assistants1 arranged a most elaborate   
apparatus and surrounded his whole      
procedure with a dramatic setting of    
stained glass1 mirrored and scented     
rooms and mysterious music4 ,the result 
of it all naturally1 as far as his      
patients were concerned1 was marked     
excitements and hysterias4 ,they had    
often to be put into padded rooms4 ,and 
yet the result of all this murky        
confusion was said to be numbers of     
marked cures4 ,he was investigated by   
the ,french government and two          
commissions presented their reports1    
neither of which was favourable4        
,imagination1 not magnetism1 they said1 
accounted for the results4 ,his         
popularity wore away markedly when he   
undertook to explain his method and     
reveal his secrets4 ,he left ,paris in  
#ahae and lapsed into obscurity4   ,the 
,scientific ,investigation of ,mesmerism
 in ,france  ,as has been said1 there   

are two lines of development growing out
 of ,mesmer and his methods4 ,ten years 
after ,mesmer left ,paris ,alexandre    
,bertrand pointed out that after the    
elimination of errors due to fraud or   
mal-observation1 the results which      
,mesmer and his associates had produced 
were due not to animal magnetism1 but to
 expectation induced by suggestion and  
intensified by the peculiar setting     
which ,mesmer had contrived for his     
so-called treatments4 ,the schools of   
medicine were slow to follow out        
,bertrand's discovery and it was not    
until something like twenty years later1
 through the studies of ,braid1 that    
hypnotism began to be taken seriously4  
,but once the matter was brought broadly
 before them1 the doctors began to      
follow it through4 ,charcot1 in the     
,salptrire1 used hypnotic suggestion for
 the correction of abnormal mental and  
nervous states4 ,the psychologists took 
up the matter and hypnotic suggestion   
has come to be not only a legitimate    

subject for the investigation of the    
student and an accepted method in       
correction of abnormal mental states1   
but as it were a window through which we
 are beginning to see deeply into       
unsuspected depths and intricacies of   
personality4  ,modern faith healing     
cults1 however1 have not come to us down
 this line1 though the studies of       
,bertrand1 ,braid1 ,charcot1 ,du ,bois  
and their associates supply the         
interpretative principles for any real  
understanding of them4 ,mesmerism       
naturally appealed to the type of mind  
most easily attracted by the bizarre and
 the mysterious4 ,there are always      
amongst us the credulous and curious who
 find little enough either to awe or    
inspire them in the broad sweep of law1 
or in such facts as lie open to the     
light of reason4 ,such as these are     
impatient of discipline1 eager to free  
themselves from the sequence of cause   
and effect2 they are impressed by the   
occult powers and seek short cuts to    

health1 or goodness1 or wisdom4 ,they   
delight to build up1 out of their own   
inner consciousness1 systems which have 
little contact with reality and which1  
through their very tenuousness1 are as  
incapable of disproof as through their  
disengagement from normal experience    
they are capable of verification4 ,they 
are the people of what the alienist     
calls the ide fixe4 ,everything for them
 centers about one idea2 they have one  
key and one only to the marvellous      
complexity of life4 ,such a temper as   
this naturally disassociates them from  
reality and makes them contemptuous of  
contradictory experiences4   ,mesmerism 
is ,carried to ,america2 ,phineas       
,quimby an ,important ,link in a ,long  
,chain  ,america has been far too rich  
in such a temper as this and it was     
never more so than in the forties and   
the fifties of the last century4        
,mesmerism crossed the ocean and while  
,braid and later ,bernheim and ,charcot 
were following it through on sound1     

psychological lines and bringing to bear
 upon it great insight and scientific   
discipline1 it fell here into the hands 
of charlatans and adventurers4 ,phineas 
,parkhurst ,quimby1 best known for his  
connection with ,mary ,baker ,eddy1     
hardly deserves the name of charlatan1  
though he was dangerously near being    
just that4 ,he belonged to the          
border-land regions in thought and      
propaganda and he did give to the whole 
complex movement which we have been     
considering a direction which has played
 a relatively great part in its later   
development4 ,he had a shrewd mind which
 ranged over wide regions2 he is a      
pretty typical example of the           
half-disciplined1 forceful and original 
personality which has played so large a 
part in ,american life4 ,the ,new       
,england of his time--,quimby was born  
in ,new ,hampshire and spent his life in
 ,maine--was giving itself              
whole-heartedly to a mysticism bounded  
on the one side 7its higher and more    

representative side7 by ,emerson and the
 transcendentalists and on the other by 
healers1 prophets of strange creeds and 
dreamers of ,utopias4 ,phrenology1 mind 
reading1 animal magnetism1 clairvoyance1
 all had their prophets4  ,quimby       
belongs to this succession4 ,his        
education was meagre1 he did not even   
know how to spell according to the      
dictionary or punctuate according to the
 grammar4#bj ,he had his own peculiar   
use of words--a use by which ,mary      
,baker ,eddy was doubtless greatly      
influenced4 ,he had marked mechanical   
ability and a real passion for facts4   
,he was an original thinker1 little in  
debt to books for his ideas though he   
was undoubtedly influenced by the temper
 of his environment to which reference  
has already been made4 ,he had a        
speculative1 but not a trained interest 
in religion and dealt freely with the   
orthodoxy of his time constrained by no 
loyalty to the accepted faith and no    
critical knowledge of its content4      

,truth and ,science were characteristic 
words for him and he shared his         
speculations and conclusions freely with
 his disciples4  ,footnote #bj3 ,what is
 here said of ,quimby is condensed from 
,dresser's ,the ,quimby ,manuscripts4   
,quimby is ,led to ,define ,sickness as 
,wrong ,belief  ,in his early thirties  
he was supposed to be dying of          
consumption and suffered much from      
excessive medication4 ,he recovered     
through an emotional crisis but does not
 seem to have followed out the possible 
suggestion of his recovery4 ,he turned  
instead to mesmerism and travelled about
 with one ,lucius ,burkmer over whom he 
had strong hypnotic influence4 ,when    
hypnotized ,burkmer 7or ,burkman7       
claimed the power to look as through a  
window into the bodies of ,quimby's     
patients and discover1 often with       
illuminating detail1 their condition2 a 
good many reputed cures followed4 ,the  
testimonials to these cures and to the  
strange powers of ,burkmer are          

themselves an arresting testimony to the
 lengths people go in the face of what  
they do not understand4 ,i have good    
reason to believe that he can discern   
the internal structure of an animal body
 and if there be anything morbid or     
defective therein detect and explain    
it4444 ,he can go from point to point   
without passing through intermediate    
space4 ,he passes from ,belfast ,maine  
to ,washington or from the earth to the 
moon 444 swifter than light1 by a single
 act of volition4#ba  ,footnote #ba3    
,the ,quimby ,manuscripts1 p4 #ch4      
,quimby had too alert an intelligence to
 rest content with the merely occult4   
,he came to believe that ,burkmer only  
saw what the patient thought1 could do  
no more than describe the patient's idea
 of his own state1 or else report the   
common allopathic belief about the      
disease in question1 and the cure1 he   
was persuaded1 was not in the medicine  
prescribed but in the confidence of the 
doctor or medium4 7,note that ,quimby   

here associates the cures produced by   
the medical faculty and his own cures in
 one sweeping generalization47 ,what he 
was really dealing with then was belief4
 ,it might be the belief of the doctor  
or the patient or the belief of his     
friends--but sickness was only belief4  
,this also was a sweeping generalization
 but it becomes intelligible as we      
follow the process by which ,quimby     
reached his conclusions and it helps us 
to understand the significance of       
,belief as one of the key words of      
,christian ,science4 ,quimby was led to 
identify sickness and wrong beliefs     
through this analysis of mesmeric       
diagnosis and health and right belief   
through his own experiences as a healer4
 ,he had no training to help him to an  
understanding of the real facts which   
lay behind the belief in sickness4 ,he  
became a skillful diagnostician of      
states of mind and a healer of such     
diseases as could be so treated4 ,but he
 knew1 scientifically1 no more of what  

lay behind it all than a ploughman may  
know of what lies beneath the furrows he
 turns4   ,quimby ,develops ,his        
,theories  ,mrs4 ,eddy took over the    
catch-words of his system and its loose 
assumptions1 and a reasonably careful   
comparison of the ,quimby manuscripts   
and ,science and ,health shows not only 
,mrs4 ,eddy's fundamental and never     
honestly acknowledged and finally       
categorically denied indebtedness to    
,quimby1 but the confusion which        
,quimby's rather striking and original  
philosophy suffered at her hands4       
,beginning with his persuasion that     
health and sickness are phases of belief
 ,quimby discarded mesmerism altogether 
and addressed himself to the minds of   
his patients4 ,he had doubtless a keen  
intuitive knowledge of human nature and 
its morbid fancies and he was dealing   
generally with neurotic temperaments    
over which he exercised a strong and    
helpful power of suggestion4 ,his       
explanation of disease--that it is a    

wrong belief--becomes grotesque enough  
when he comes down to detail4 ,this1 for
 example1 is his diagnosis of           
,bronchitis--,you listen or eat this    
belief or wisdom evidently that         
,bronchitis is real as you would eat    
your meals4 ,it sets rather hard upon   
your stomach2 this disturbs the error of
 your body and a cloud appears in the   
sky4444 ,the elements of the body of    
your belief are shaken1 earth is lit up 
by the fire of your error1 the heat     
rises1 the heaven or mind grows dark 444
 the lightning of hot flashes shoot to  
all parts of the solar system of your   
belief4 ,at last the winds or chills    
strike the earth or surface of the body1
 a cold clammy sensation passes over    
you4 ,this changes the heat into a sort 
of watery substance which works its way 
into the channels and pores to the head 
and stomach4#bb  ,footnote #bb3 ,quimby 
,manuscripts1 p4 #aah4  ,this is ,quimby
 at his worst but beneath it is the germ
 of the method and philosophy which have

 attained so luxurious a growth--the    
explaining1 that is1 of disease in terms
 of wrong belief4 ,inevitably in the    
elaboration of all this ,quimby reached 
out to include religion and theology and
 even created his own distinctive       
metaphysics4 ,he distinguished between  
the mind and spirit2 he must of course  
discover in personality a power superior
 to fluctuating mental attitudes4 ,he   
called his system a science since he was
 trying to reduce it to a system and    
discover its laws4 ,he found a parallel 
to what he was doing in the narratives  
of healing in the ,christian ,gospels   
and claimed ,christ as the founder of   
his science4#bc  ,footnote #bc3 ,ibid41 
p4 #ahe4  ,all belief opposed to his was
 error2 ,truth was naturally opposed to 
error4 ,he subordinates the testimony of
 the senses to the necessities of his   
system2 he defines ,god variously as    
,wisdom1 as ,truth1 possibly as         
,principle though his use of the word   
,principle is far more intelligible than

 ,mrs4 ,eddy's4#bd ,he increasingly     
identifies his system and the teachings 
of ,jesus and ends by calling it        
,christian ,science4#be  ,footnote #bd3 
,the ,quimby ,manuscripts1 p4 #cji4     
,footnote #be3 ,ibid41 p4 #chh4  ,in    
substance in the more than #djj closely 
printed pages of the ,quimby manuscripts
 as now edited we discover either the   
substance or the suggestion of all that 
,mrs4 ,eddy later elaborated4 ,now all  
this1 confused as it is1 brings us to   
the threshold of a distinct advance in  
mental and faith healing4   ,mary ,baker
 ,eddy ,comes ,under ,quimby's          
,influence  ,practically faith and      
mental healing had depended1 till       
,quimby took it up1 upon persons or     
objects4 ,the saint or the healer worked
 through personal contact2 the shrine   
must be visited1 the relic be touched4  
,such a system was naturally dependent  
upon accidents of person or place2 it   
would not be widely extended nor        
continued nor made the basis of         

self-treatment4 ,but if what lay behind 
the whole complex group of phenomena    
could be systematized and given real    
power of popular appeal through its     
association with religion it would      
possess a kind of continuing            
independence1 conditioned only by the   
willingness of people to be persuaded of
 the truth of its philosophy or to      
answer to its religious appeal4 ,it     
would then become a mental and spiritual
 discipline to be written into books and
 taught by the initiated4 ,as far as it 
could be associated with religion it    
would become the basis of a cult and it 
would have an immense field4  ,all      
difficult or chronic or obscure         
illnesses would offer an opportunity to 
its propagandists1 and the necessary    
obscurities and irrationalities of such 
a system would simply be1 for the minds 
to which it would naturally appeal1     
added elements of power4 ,any system    
which has sickness for its field and    
credulity for its reinforcement and a   

specious show of half truth for its     
philosophic form and religion to give   
its sanction and authority is assured1  
to begin with1 of a really great        
following4 ,its very weaknesses will be 
its strength4 ,it will work best as it  
is neither clear nor simple--though it  
must make a show of being both4 ,and if1
 in addition1 there is somewhere at the 
heart of it force and truth enough to   
produce a certain number of cures it    
will go on4 ,what it fails to do will be
 forgotten or ignored in the face of    
what it really does do4  ,now ,quimby1  
through his own native force and such a 
combination of circumstances as occurs  
only once in long periods of time1 stood
 upon the threshold of just such a      
revolution in the history of faith and  
mental healing as this4 ,he anticipated 
the method and supplied the material1   
but he either did not or could not      
popularize it4 ,he was not selfish      
enough to monopolize it1 not shrewd     
enough to commercialize it1 and1 maybe1 

not fanatic enough to make it a cult4   
,he was more interested in his own      
speculations than in making converts and
 without one of those accidents which   
become turning points in a movement     
nothing would have probably come of his 
work save its somewhat vague and loose  
continuance in the thought and teaching 
of a small group4 7,it is doubtful if   
,new ,thought1 which as we shall see    
grew out of his work through his        
association with the ,dressers1 would   
have come to much without the stimulus  
of ,christian ,science against which it 
reacted47 ,some one was needed to give  
the whole nebulous system organization  
and driving force and above all to make 
a cult of it4   ,outstanding ,events of 
,her ,life3 ,her ,early ,girlhood  ,mary
 ,baker ,eddy did just this and         
,christian ,science is the result4 ,it  
is idle to calculate the vanished       
alternatives of life but in all         
probability she never would have done it
 without ,quimby4 ,she and her followers

 would do far better to honestly        
recognize this indebtedness4 ,it would  
now make little difference with either  
the position of their leader or the     
force of their system but it would take 
a pretty keen weapon out of the hands of
 their critics and give them the added  
strength which thoroughgoing honesty    
always gives to any cause4 ,there is1 on
 the other hand1 little likelihood that 
,quimby's persuasions would ever have   
carried beyond the man himself if he had
 not found in ,mrs4 ,eddy so creative a 
disciple4  ,the outstanding facts of    
,mary ,baker ,eddy's life are too well  
known to need much retelling here4 ,the 
story of her life and the history of    
,christian ,science as told by ,georgine
 ,milmine in ,mc,clure's ,magazine      
during the years of #aijg-h is final4   
,it is based upon thorough              
investigation1 original documents and an
 exhaustive analysis of facts4 ,the     
facts brought out in the various        
litigations in which ,mrs4 ,eddy and the

 church have been involved confirm both 
the statements and conclusions of this  
really distinctive work4 ,the official  
life by ,sibyl ,wilbur 7whose real name 
seems to be ,o',brien7 is so coloured as
 to be substantially undependable4 ,it  
touches lightly or omits altogether     
those passages in ,mrs4 ,eddy's life    
which do not fit in with the picture    
which ,mrs4 ,eddy herself and the church
 desire to be perpetuated4  ,mrs4 ,eddy 
was descended from a shrewd1 industrious
 and strongly characterized ,new        
,england stock4 ,her father was strongly
 set in his ways1 narrow and intense in 
his religious faith4 ,mary ,baker was a 
nervous1 high-strung girl1 unusually    
attractive in personal appearance1      
proud1 precocious1 self-conscious1      
masterful4 ,she was subject to          
hysterical attacks which issued in      
states of almost suspended animation4   
,her family feared these attacks and to 
prevent them humoured her in every way4 
,in due time she joined the ,tilton     

,congregational ,church4 ,she says      
herself that she was twelve years old at
 the time1 but the records of the church
 make her seventeen4 ,the range of her  
education is debated4 ,mrs4 ,eddy       
herself claims a rather ambitious       
curriculum4 ,my father1 she says1 was   
taught to believe that my brain was too 
large for my body and so kept me out of 
school1 but ,i gained book knowledge    
with far less labour than is usually    
requisite4 ,at ten years of age ,i was  
familiar with ,lindley ,murray's        
,grammar1 as with the ,westminster      
,catechism and the latter ,i had to     
repeat every ,sunday4 ,my favourite     
studies were ,natural ,philosophy1 logic
 and moral science4 ,from my brother    
,albert ,i received lessons in the      
ancient tongues1 ,hebrew1 ,greek and    
,latin4 ,after my discovery of          
,christian ,science most of the         
knowledge ,i gleaned from school books  
vanished like a dream4 ,learning was so 
illumined that grammar was eclipsed4    

,etymology was divine history1 voicing  
the idea of ,god in man's origin and    
signification4 ,syntax was spiritual    
order and unity4 ,prosody the song of   
angels and no earthly or inglorious     
theme4#bf  ,footnote #bf3 ,retrospection
 and ,introspection1 #aiji4   ,her      
,education3 ,shaping ,influences  ,it is
 not fair to apply critical methods to  
one who confesses that most of the      
knowledge she had gleaned from school   
books vanished like a dream1 but there  
is much in ,mrs4 ,eddy's writing to bear
 out her statement4 ,those who knew her 
as a girl report her as irregular in    
attendance upon school1 inattentive     
during its sessions and far from knowing
 either ,greek or ,latin or ,hebrew4    
,according to these schoolmates ,mary   
,baker completed her education when she 
had finished ,smith's ,grammar and      
reached ,long ,division in ,arithmetic4 
,the official biography makes much of an
 intellectual friendship between the    
,rev4 ,enoch ,corser1 then pastor of the

 ,tilton ,congregational ,church1 and   
,mary ,baker4 ,they discussed subjects  
too deep to be attractive to other      
members of the family4 ,walking up and  
down in the garden1 this fine old-school
 clergyman and the young poetess as she 
was coming to be called1 threshed out   
the old philosophic speculations without
 rancour or irritation4#bg  ,footnote   
#bg3 ,the ,life of ,mary ,baker ,eddy1  
,sibyl ,wilbur1 #dth edition4 ,christian
 ,science ,publishing ,company4  ,there 
is little reason to doubt her real      
interest in the pretty rigid            
,calvinistic theology of her time4      
,indeed1 we could not understand her    
final line of religious development     
without taking that into consideration4 
,milmine suggests other forces which    
would naturally have influenced a       
sensitive and curious girl2 for example1
 the current interest in animal         
magnetism1 a subject which dominated    
certain aspects of her thinking to the  
end4 ,milmine suggests also that she may

 have been considerably influenced by   
the peculiar beliefs of the ,shakers who
 had a colony near ,tilton4 ,the        
,shakers regarded ,ann ,lee1 their      
founder1 as the female principle of ,god
 and greater than ,christ4 ,they prayed 
always to ,our ,father and ,mother which
 art in heaven4 ,they called ,ann ,lee  
the woman of the ,apocalypse1 the       
,god-anointed woman4 ,for her followers 
she was ,mother ,ann1 as ,mary ,baker   
was later ,mother ,eddy4 ,ann ,lee      
declared that she had the gift of       
healing4 ,the ,shakers also made much of
 a spiritual illumination which had the 
right of way over the testimony of the  
senses4 ,the ,shakers called their      
establishment the ,church of ,christ and
 the original foundation the ,mother    
,church4 ,the ,shakers forbade audible  
prayer and enjoined celibacy4 ,there are
 parallels enough here to sustain       
,milmine's contention that ,mary ,baker 
was at least largely influenced by      
suggestions from her peculiar group of  

neighbours4   ,her ,unhappy ,fortunes4  
,she is ,cured by ,quimby4 ,an          
,unacknowledged ,debt  ,mary ,baker     
married ,george ,washington ,glover at  
the age of twenty-two4 ,she was soon    
left a widow and her only son was born  
after his father's death4 ,the story of 
the years which follow is unhappy4 ,she 
was poor1 dependent upon relatives whose
 patience she tried and whose           
hospitality was from time to time       
exhausted4 ,her attacks of hysteria     
continued and grew more violent4 ,her   
father sometimes rocked her to sleep    
like a child4 ,the ,tiltons built a     
cradle for her which is one of the      
traditions of this unhappy period of her
 life4 ,she tried mesmerism and         
clairvoyance and heard rappings at      
night4  ,she married again1 this time a 
,dr4 ,daniel ,patterson1 a travelling   
dentist4 ,he never made a success of    
anything4 ,they were miserably poor and 
his marriage was no more successful than
 most of his other enterprises4 ,he was 

captured1 though as a civilian1 during  
the ,civil ,war and spent one or two    
years in a southern prison4 ,futile     
efforts were made at a reconciliation   
and in #ahgc ,mrs4 ,patterson obtained a
 divorce on the grounds of desertion4   
,meanwhile she had been separated from  
her son1 of whom she afterward saw so   
little that he grew up1 married and made
 his own way entirely apart from his    
mother4  ,in #ahfa ,mrs4 ,patterson's   
physical condition was so desperate that
 she appealed to ,quimby4 ,her husband  
had had some interest in homeopathy and 
she was doubtless influenced by the then
 peculiar theories of the homeopathic   
school4 7,indeed she claimed to be a    
homeopathic practitioner without a      
diploma47 ,she had had experience enough
 with drugs to make her impatient and   
suspicious of current methods of        
orthodox medication4 ,under ,quimby's   
treatment she was physically reborn and 
apparently spiritually as well4 ,it is  
necessary to dwell upon all these       

well-known details to understand what   
follows and the directions which her    
mind now took4 ,milmine's analysis is   
here penetrating and conclusive4 ,she   
had always been in revolt against her   
environment4 ,her marriages had been    
unhappy2 motherhood had brought her     
nothing2 she had been poor and          
dependent2 her strong will and          
self-assertive personality had been     
turned back upon herself4  ,she had     
found no satisfaction in the rigid      
theologies of the time4 ,she had sought 
help from accepted religion and religion
 had had nothing to give her4 ,we have  
to read between the lines and especially
 to evaluate all this period in the     
light of ,science and ,health itself to 
reconstruct the movement of her inner   
life1 but beyond a doubt her thought had
 played about the almost tragic         
discrepancy between her own experiences 
and the love and goodness of ,god4 ,she 
had known pain and unhappiness in acute 
forms and had found nothing in what she 

had been taught ample enough to resolve 
her doubts or establish her faith4  ,she
 found in ,quimby's philosophy a leading
 which she eagerly followed4 ,now for   
the first time she is really set free   
from herself4 ,a truer sense of dramatic
 values would have led ,mrs4 ,eddy      
herself to have made more of the unhappy
 period which began to come to an end   
with her visit to ,quimby and would lead
 her disciples now to acknowledge it    
more honestly4 ,it is a strong          
background against which to set what    
follows and give colour by contrast to  
her later life4 ,the twice-born from    
,saul of ,tarsus to ,john ,bunyan have  
dwelt much upon their sins and sorrows1 
seeking thereby more greatly to exalt   
the grace of ,god by which they had been
 saved4 ,mary ,baker ,eddy came strongly
 to be persuaded that she had saved     
herself and consequently not only       
greatly underestimated her debt to      
,quimby1 but emptied her own experiences
 of dramatic contrasts to make them1 as 

she supposed1 more consistent1 and her  
disciples have followed her4  ,as a     
matter of fact1 though her life as a    
whole is not an outstanding asset for   
,christian ,science and is likely to    
grow less so1 one must recognize the    
force of a conviction which changed the 
neurotic ,mrs4 ,patterson of the fifties
 and sixties into the masterful and     
successful woman of the eighties and    
nineties4 ,she belongs also to the      
fellowship of the twice-born and instead
 of minimizing the change those who seek
 to understand her1 as well as those who
 seek to exalt her1 would do well to    
make more of it4 ,she did that herself  
to begin with4 ,no master ever had for a
 time a more grateful disciple4 ,she    
haunted ,quimby's house1 read his       
manuscripts1 wrote letters for the      
paper1 dropped into verse and through   
her extravagance brought ridicule upon  
,quimby and herself4  ,quimby died in   
#ahff1 accompanied to his last resting  
place by a tribute in verse from his    

grateful pupil4 ,mrs4 ,eddy had at the  
time apparently no thought of continuing
 his work except in a most modest way4  
,she wrote ,julius ,dresser who had come
 under ,quimby's influence1 suggesting  
that he would step forward into the     
place vacated4 ,i believe you would do a
 vast amount of good and are more       
capable of occupying his place than any 
other ,i know of4#bh ,she asked         
,dresser's help in recovering from a    
fall which she had just had on the ice  
and which had so injured her1 as she    
supposed1 to make her the helpless      
cripple that she was before she met     
,quimby4 ,this fall is worth dwelling   
upon for a bit1 for it really marks a   
turning place in ,mrs4 ,eddy's life4 ,in
 her letter to ,dresser she says that   
the physician attending said ,i have    
taken the last step ,i ever should1 but 
in two days ,i got out of my bed alone  
and will walk4#bi ,sometime later in a  
letter to the ,boston ,post ,mrs4 ,eddy 
said1 ,we recovered in a moment of time 

from a severe accident considered fatal 
by the regular physicians4 ,there is a  
considerable difference between two days
 and a moment of time and the expression
 of a determination to walk in the      
,dresser letter and the testimony to an 
instantaneous cure in the ,boston ,post 
letter4 ,dr4 ,cushing1 the physician who
 attended ,mrs4 ,eddy at the time1 gives
 still a third account4 ,he treated her1
 he says1 over a period of almost two   
weeks and left her practically          
recovered4 ,he also attended her in a   
professional capacity still later and   
offers all this in a sworn statement on 
the basis of his record books4 ,there is
 a very considerable advantage in a     
philosophy which makes thought the only 
reality1 for1 given changing thought and
 a complacent recollection1 facts may   
easily become either plastic or wholly  
negligible4  ,footnote #bh3 ,a ,history 
of the ,new ,thought ,movement1         
,dresser1 p4 #aaj4  ,footnote #bi3      
,ibid4   ,she ,develops ,quimby's       

,teachings ,along ,lines of ,her ,own   
,the real significance of this much     
debated but otherwise unimportant       
episode is that it seems to have thrown 
,mrs4 ,eddy upon her own resources1 for 
now that ,quimby was dead she begins to 
develop what she had received from him  
through both experience and teaching    
along lines of her own4 ,she had found a
 formula for the resolution of problems1
 both physical and mental1 which had    
hag-ridden her for years4 ,she had a    
natural mental keenness1 a speculative  
mind1 a practical shrewdness 7the gift  
of her ,new ,england ancestors7 and an  
ample field4 ,the theology1 the medical 
science and indeed the philosophy or    
psychology of the ,new ,england of the  
sixties contributed strongly1 through   
their limitations1 to the growth of     
bizarre systems which had in them       
elements of truth4 ,we shall need to    
come back to this again in any          
evaluation of ,christian ,science as a  
whole1 but we cannot understand the     

rapid development of the movement of    
which ,christian ,science was just one  
aspect without taking all this into     
consideration4  ,medicine itself has    
been greatly revolutionized within the  
last fifty years4 ,while ,mary ,baker   
,glover ,patterson ,eddy was finding her
 unhappy way through border-land regions
 into a cloudy light1 ,louis ,pasteur1  
sitting1 in the phrase of ,huxley1 as   
humbly as a little child before the     
facts of life1 was making those         
investigations in bacteriology which    
were to be1 in some ways1 the greatest  
contribution of the nineteenth century  
to the well-being of humanity4 ,he was  
following patiently the action of       
microscopic organisms1 especially in    
their relation to health1 discovering   
the secret of contagion and infection1  
outlining methods of defense against the
 attacks of these invisible armies1     
finding the true basis for inoculation1 
extending its operation1 robbing        
hospitals of their terrors and          

surrounding surgery with safeguards     
heretofore undreamt of1 literally       
performing miracles 7in his control of  
swine plague and the like71 and for the 
want of another subject preparing to    
experiment upon himself for the         
prevention of hydrophobia1 and in doing 
it all in the most simple and humble    
way1 naively unconscious of his own fame
 and living from first to last in a     
noble and comparative poverty which     
contrasts dramatically with the material
 well-being for which ,mrs4 ,eddy was so
 eager4 ,nothing of this had ever come  
into ,mrs4 ,eddy's field or those whom  
she addressed4 ,with all the aid which  
the modern physician has at his control1
 diagnosis is still a difficult matter1 
physicians confess it themselves4 ,there
 is still1 with all the resource of     
modern medical science1 a residuum of   
hopeless and obscure cases which baffle 
the physician4 ,that residuum was very  
much larger fifty years ago than it is  
now4   ,she ,begins to ,teach and to    

,heal  ,the typical ,protestant         
religious experience1 as we have seen1  
was not great enough to contain all the 
facts of life4 ,the molten passion of an
 earlier ,calvinism had hardened down   
into rigidities which exalted the power 
of ,god at the cost of human            
helplessness4 ,there was no adequate    
recognition among the devout of the     
sweep of law4 ,everything that happened 
was a special ,providence and it was    
hard enough to fit the trying facts of  
life into an understanding of ,divine   
,love when there was apparently so much 
in life in opposition to ,divine ,love4 
,a very great deal of the ferment of the
 time was just the endeavour to find    
some way out of all this and the group  
of which ,mrs4 ,eddy was a part were    
really the first to try to find their   
way out except as roads of escape which 
were1 on the whole1 not ample enough had
 been sought by the theological         
liberalism of the time of which         
,unitarianism was the most respectable  

and accepted form4 ,there are1 as has   
been said1 curious underground          
connections through all this region4 ,we
 find homeopathy1 spiritualism1         
transcendentalism1 theological          
liberalism and faith healing all tied up
 in one bundle4  ,the line which ,mrs4  
,eddy now came to follow is1 on the     
whole1 clear enough4 ,she becomes in her
 turn teacher and healer1 giving her own
 impress and colour to what she called  
the science she taught1 claiming it more
 and more as her own and not only       
forgetting1 but denying as she went on1 
her indebtedness to any one else4 ,the  
whole thing gradually became in her mind
 a distinct revelation for which the    
ages had been waiting and this          
revelation theory is really the key to  
the contradictions and positive         
dishonesties which underlie the         
authorized account of the genesis of    
,christian ,science4 ,she associated    
herself with one of the more promising  
of her pupils who announced himself as  

,dr4 ,kennedy1 with ,mrs4 ,eddy somewhat
 in the background4 ,kennedy was the    
agent1 ,mrs4 ,eddy supplied him with the
 material of what was a mixed method of 
teaching and healing4 ,she had always   
been desperately poor2 now for the first
 time she had a respectable bank        
account4  ,there were corresponding     
changes in her personality and even her 
physique4 ,she began to give lessons1   
safeguarding her instructions from the  
very first in such ways as to make them 
uncommonly profitable4 ,her pupils paid 
#ajj for the course and agreed also to  
give her a percentage of the income from
 their practice4 ,in the course of      
litigation which afterward follows1 the 
courts pronounced that they did not find
 in her course of instruction anything  
which could be in any way of value in   
fitting the defendant as a competent and
 successful practitioner of any         
intelligible art or method of healing   
the sick4 ,the court1 therefore1 was of 
the opinion that consideration for the  

agreement had wholly failed4 ,in a sense
 the court was mistaken4 ,mrs4 ,eddy was
 giving her disciples something which1  
whether it fitted them to be competent  
and successful practitioners of any     
intelligible art or method of healing   
the sick1 or no1 was of great financial 
advantage both to them and to their     
teacher4 ,she afterward raised her      
tuition fee to #cjj and stated that ,god
 had shown her in multitudinous ways the
 wisdom of this decision4   ,early      
,phases of ,christian ,science          
,everything was1 to begin with1 a matter
 of personal relationship between ,mrs4 
,eddy and her students4 ,they constitute
 a closely related group1 the pupils    
themselves extravagant in their         
gratitude to their teacher4 ,there were1
 of course1 schisms1 jealousies1        
recriminations1 litigation1 but none the
 less1 the movement went on4 ,the first 
attempt at organization was made at     
,lynn in #ahge4 ,a hall was rented1     
meetings were held in the evening1 the  

society was known as the ,christian     
,scientists and as an organization      
,christian ,science came into the world4
 ,the first edition of ,science and     
,health was also published in #ahge4    
,there was difficulty in finding a      
publisher2 those who assisted ,mrs4     
,eddy financially were losers in the    
enterprise4 ,they were never reimbursed1
 though ,science and ,health afterward  
became the most remunerative single     
publication in the world4 ,two years    
later ,mrs4 ,glover 7for after her      
divorce from ,patterson she had taken   
her earlier married name7 married       
,gilbert ,eddy and so took the name by  
which she is best known to the world4   
,there is much in this period of ,mrs4  
,eddy's life to indicate that she had   
not yet reached an inner serenity of    
faith4 ,she was never able to free      
herself from a perverted belief in      
animal magnetism or mesmerism which     
showed itself in fear rather than faith4
 ,she believed herself persecuted and if

 she did not believe in witchcraft she  
believed in something curiously like it4
 ,indeed1 to ,mrs4 ,eddy belonged the   
rather curious distinction of having    
instigated the last trial for witchcraft
 in the ,united ,states and with a      
fitting sense of historic propriety she 
staged it at ,salem4 ,the judge         
dismissed the case1 saying that it was  
not within the power of the ,court to   
control the defendant's mind4 ,the case 
was appealed1 the appeal waived and the 
whole matter rests as a curious instance
 in the records of the ,salem court4    
,mrs4 ,eddy does not appear as the      
plaintiff in the case4 ,the complainant 
is one of her students1 but ,mrs4 ,eddy 
was behind the complaint1 the real      
reason for which is apparently that the 
defendant had refused to pay tuition and
 royalty on his practice and was        
interfering with the work of the group  
of which ,mrs4 ,eddy was leader4 ,the   
incident has value only as showing the  
lengths to which the mind may be led    

once it has detached itself from the    
steadying influences of                 
experience-tested reality4 ,it is       
interesting also to note that in one way
 and another ,mrs4 ,eddy and her church 
have been involved in more litigation   
than any other religious teacher or     
religious movement of the time4   ,she  
,writes ,science and ,health and        
,completes the ,organization of ,her    
,church  ,nothing apparently came of the
 first tentative organization in #ahge4 
,the first incorporated ,church of      
,christ ,scientist was chartered in     
#ahgi with twenty-six charter members   
and ,boston as its seat4 ,meetings of   
this church were held1 to begin with1 in
 ,lynn and ,boston1 but ,lynn was not   
friendly to the new enterprise and the  
,boston group became the center of      
further growth4 ,mrs4 ,eddy left ,lynn  
finally in #ahhb and during all the next
 period the history of ,christian       
,science is the history of the ,mother  
,church in ,boston and of the           

,massachusetts ,metaphysical ,college4  
,mrs4 ,eddy suffered no dissent1 her    
pupils either followed or left her4 ,she
 was the controlling force in the whole 
movement4 ,she began to surround herself
 with a certain mystery and delighted in
 theatrical effects4 ,she had written   
and rewritten ,science and ,health until
 it began to take final form4 ,the      
,journal of ,christian ,science became  
the official organ of ,mrs4 ,eddy's     
movement as ,science and ,health was its
 gospel4  ,the movement reached beyond  
,boston and ,new ,england and invaded   
the ,west4 ,it was now so outstanding as
 to create general public interest4 ,the
 churches began to take notice of it and
 indeed1 whatever has been for the last 
twenty years characteristic of          
,christian ,science was then actively in
 action4 ,what follows is the familiar  
story of ,mrs4 ,eddy's own personal     
movements1 her withdrawal to ,concord1  
her growing detachment from the movement
 which she nevertheless ruled with an   

iron hand1 the final organization of the
 church itself along lines wholly       
dictated by its leader1 the deepening of
 public interest in the movement itself1
 ,mrs4 ,eddy's removal from ,concord to 
,newton and her death4 ,she left behind 
her the strongest and most driving      
organization built up by any religious  
leader of her time4 ,of all those1 who  
since the ,wesleys have inaugurated and 
carried through a distinct religious    
movement1 only ,alexander ,campbell is  
in the same class with ,mrs4 ,eddy and  
,campbell had behind him the traditional
 force of the ,protestantism to which he
 gave only a slightly new direction and 
colouring4 ,mrs4 ,eddy's contributions  
are far more distinct and radical4  ,we 
need1 then1 to turn from her life1 upon 
whose lights and shadows1               
inconsistencies and intricacies1 we have
 touched all too lightly1 to seek in    
,science and ,health and the later      
development of ,christian ,science at   
once the secret of the power of the     

movement and its significance for our   
time4     ,v  ,,christian ,,science ,,as
 ,a ,,philosophy   ,christian science   
has a considerable group of authorized  
publications and a well-conducted       
department of publicity4 ,its public    
propaganda is carried on by means of    
occasional lectures1 always extremely   
well advertised and through its reading 
rooms and periodicals4 ,its unadvertised
 propaganda is carried on1 naturally1 by
 its adherents4 ,every instance of      
obscure or protracted illness offers it 
an opportunity and such opportunities   
are by no means neglected4 ,but the     
supreme authority in ,christian ,science
 is ,mary ,baker ,eddy's work ,science  
and ,health4 ,this is read at every     
,sunday service and is the basis of all 
lectures and explanatory advertisements4
 ,in general its exponents do not       
substantially depart from the teachings 
of its book1 nor1 such is the discipline
 of the cult1 do they dare to4 ,there   
are doubtless such modifications of its 

more extreme and impossible contentions 
as every religion of authority          
experiences4 ,christian ,science cannot 
remain unaffected by discussion and the 
larger movements of thought4 ,but it has
 not as yet markedly departed from the  
doctrines of its founder and must       
thereby be judged4  ,the book in its    
final form represents a considerable    
evolution4 ,the comparison of successive
 editions reveals an astonishing amount 
of matter which has been discarded1     
although there has been no real         
modification of its fundamental         
principles4 ,references to malicious    
animal magnetism which fill a large     
place in the earlier editions1 are      
almost wholly wanting in the last1 and  
there has been a decided progress toward
 a relative simplicity of statements4   
,the book is doubtless much in debt to  
,mrs4 ,eddy's literary adviser1 ,mr4    
,wiggins1 who brought to the revision of
 ,mrs4 ,eddy's writings a conscientious 
fidelity4 ,one needs to stand a good    

ways back from the book itself in order 
at all to get any balanced view of its  
philosophy but1 so seen1 its            
fundamentals are almost unexpectedly    
simple4   ,christian ,science a         
,philosophy1 a ,theology1 a ,religion   
and a ,system of ,healing2 ,general     
,conditions ,which ,have ,lent it ,power
  ,christian ,science is offered as a   
philosophy1 a theology1 a religion and a
 method for the practical conduct of    
life and it needs to be considered under
 each of these four heads4 ,it demands  
also for any proper understanding of it 
the backgrounds of ,mrs4 ,eddy's        
peculiar temperament and checkered      
history4 ,it is a growth4 ,for her      
fundamentals ,mrs4 ,eddy is1 beyond     
reasonable debate1 in debt to ,quimby   
and in some ways ,quimby's original     
insights have suffered at her hands4    
,none the less1 in its final form       
,science and ,health is what ,mrs4 ,eddy
 has made it and it is what it is       
because she was what she was4 ,she      

shared with her own generation an       
absorbing interest in fundamental       
theological problems4 ,she inherited a  
religion which has reduced the whole of 
life to rigid and on the whole too      
narrow theological formul4 ,she was not 
able to fit her experience into the     
formula which her faith supplied and    
yet1 on the other hand1 her faith       
exercised a controlling influence over  
her life4 ,she was in a small and       
pathetic way a kind of nineteenth       
century ,job grappling with the old1 old
 question given sin and1 above all1 pain
 and suffering to find ,god4 ,she could 
not adjust either ,divine love or a just
 ,divine sovereignty to what she herself
 had been called upon to bear4 ,a       
natural tendency toward the occult and  
the desperate willingness of the        
hopelessly sick to try anything which   
promises a cure1 led her in many        
directions4 ,so much her biography      
explains4  ,quimby was the first teacher
 she found whose system seemed to offer 

any key at all to the intellectual and  
spiritual puzzle in which she found     
herself and when his system seemed to be
 proved for her by her recovery from a  
chronic abnormal state1 she thereafter  
followed and elaborated what he         
suggested4 ,here a certain natural      
shrewdness and ingenuity of mind stood  
her in good stead4 ,she was helped by   
her own ignorances and limitations4 ,if 
she had been a trained thinker1 familiar
 with a wide range of philosophic       
speculation1 she would never have dared 
write so dogmatically2 if she had been a
 great philosopher with the             
philosopher's inclusive vision1 she     
would never have dared build so much on 
foundations so narrow4  ,mrs4 ,eddy was1
 unconsciously to herself1 a type4 ,she 
thought and felt for multitudes of      
perplexed people unable to reconcile the
 more trying experiences of life with   
what faith they had in the love and     
goodness of ,god1 unable on the other   
side to find the love and goodness of   

,god in the wide sweep of law and the   
orderly sequence of cause and effect1   
and incapable under any circumstances of
 the patient analysis needed to trace to
 all their sources the threads of their 
strangely mingled webs of life2         
impressionable folk under the spell of  
words2 speculative2 at once credulous   
and skeptical2 intellectually alert     
enough to want to do their own thinking 
and not intellectually disciplined      
enough to do it well2 persuaded that the
 ,bible has both a message and authority
 and unable to find in their traditional
 interpretation of it either a          
satisfying message or an adequately     
directing authority2 impatient of       
discipline and pathetically eager for   
some short cut to happiness and         
well-being4 ,in a very signal way ,mrs4 
,eddy has spoken and written for this   
type particularly in ,american life4    
,her very style a liability as it is1   
when tested by either logic or the      
accepted standards of good writing1 has1

 nevertheless1 been an asset with those 
who have made her their prophetess4     
,the secret of ,mrs4 ,eddy's power and  
the power of her system after her is    
most largely in her essential           
intellectual and spiritual kinship with 
such a temper and intellectual status as
 this1 but she possessed also a real    
measure of creative capacity1 a marked  
reach of speculative power1 rare        
shrewdness and a masterful temper4 ,mrs4
 ,eddy believed herself to have found   
her system in the ,old and ,new         
,testaments--but she did not4 ,she      
gradually built it up out of the        
suggestions which had been given her to 
begin with2 she gave it colour and      
direction from her own experiences2 she 
proved it to her own satisfaction in the
 healings which seemed to result from   
it1 then fitted it all as best she could
 into the framework of her inherited    
,christian faith and read its meanings  
back into the ,scriptures4 ,it is a     
pseudo-philosophy pseudo-,christianized 

7if one may use the word7 by a curious  
combination of ingenuity1 devotion1 main
 strength and even awkwardness4 ,and    
though ,christian ,science is carrying  
on to-day as a religion rather than as  
either a philosophy or a system of      
healing1 it will stand or fall on the   
intellectual side as a philosophy and   
not as a religion4   ,the ,philosophic  
,bases of ,christian ,science  ,it is   
professedly an idealistic monism based  
on carefully selected facts and         
depending for its proof upon certain    
results in the experience of those who  
accept it4 ,an idealism because there is
 for ,mrs4 ,eddy no reality save in     
mind1 a monism because there is for     
,mrs4 ,eddy only one reality and that is
 ,god4 ,for a definition of ,god she    
offers only synonyms and affirmations   
though here perhaps she follows only the
 usual procedure of theology4 ,god is   
divine ,principle1 ,life1 ,truth1 ,love1
 ,soul1 ,spirit1 ,mind--and all these   
capitalized1 for it makes a vast        

difference in the philosophy of         
,christian ,science whether such        
familiar words as these are spelled with
 a capital letter or not4 ,it would be  
possible from ,mrs4 ,eddy's own words to
 pretty effectually prove what has been 
more than once claimed3 that ,christian 
,science does not offer a personal ,god1
 but all our terminology in this region 
is necessarily somewhat loose1 though   
hers is excessively so4 ,some of her    
definitions of ,god are as personal as  
the ,westminster ,catechism or the      
,thirty-nine ,articles4 ,the writer     
believes1 however1 after such           
dispassionate consideration of the      
philosophy of ,christian ,science as he 
is able to give1 that it would make     
absolutely no difference in its         
philosophic basis whether ,god were     
conceived as a person or not4 ,if the   
,god of ,christian ,science be taken    
merely as the exaltation of an abstract 
idealism or a philosophic ,absolute     
everything would be secured which is    

otherwise secured4  ,up to a certain    
point ,christian ,science marches with  
other idealistic systems4 ,from ,plato  
down we have had philosophers a plenty1 
who have sought to build for us a       
universe whose only realities are mind  
and its attributes1 or perhaps more     
technically1 consciousness and its      
content4 ,it is truly a difficult enough
 matter to relate the world without and 
the world within1 once we begin thinking
 about it 7though happily and in the    
practical conduct of life this is not so
 hard as the philosophers make out1     
otherwise we should be in a hopeless    
state71 and it is natural enough for one
 type of mind to simplify the problem by
 making the world within the only world4
 ,nor have there been wanting those who 
have sought to reduce everything to a   
single reality whether matter or mind1  
and ever since we have had theology at  
all a perplexed humanity has been       
seeking to reconcile the goodness and   
the power of ,god with the sin and      

sorrow of our troubled world4  ,but     
,christian ,science parts company soon  
enough with this great fellowship of    
dreamers and philosophers and takes its 
own line4 ,it affirms consciousness and 
its content to be the only reality2 it  
affirms the divine ,mind to be the      
ultimate and all-conditioning reality2  
it affirms love and goodness to be the  
ultimate qualities of the divine ,mind1 
but it meets the problem of sin and evil
 by denying them any reality at all4    
7,here it is in more or less accord with
 certain forms of mysticism47 ,but even 
as ,christian ,science cuts this        
,gordian knot it creates for itself     
another set of difficulties and involves
 itself in those contradictions which   
will eventually be the undoing of it as 
a philosophy4   ,it ,undertakes to      
,solve the ,problem of ,evil4           
,contrasted ,solutions  ,what ,christian
 ,science is seeking is an ideal order  
with a content of unqualified good and  
it secures this by denying the reality  

of every aspect of experience which     
either challenges or contradicts its own
 idealism4 ,what is distinctive1 then1  
in ,christian ,science is not its       
affirmations but its denials4 ,all      
systems of philosophic idealism face    
practically the same problem and offer  
various solutions4 ,they most commonly  
resolve evil of every sort--and evil is 
here used in so wide a way as to include
 sin and pain and sorrow--into an       
ultimate good4  ,evil is thus an unripe 
good1 one stage in a process of         
evolution which1 when it has had its    
perfect and all-transforming way1 will  
reveal both moral and physical evil to  
have been no evil at all but simply     
aspects of life1 trying enough at the   
time and puzzling enough when taken by  
themselves1 but having their own        
distinct and contributory value when    
considered in their relation to the     
final whole4 ,such an approach as this  
does not in any wise diminish for the   
individual either the reality of pain or

 the unhappy consequences of sin1 but it
 does ask him to judge the wisdom and   
love of ,god not by their passing phases
 but by their outcome in the wealth and 
worth of character4  ,robert ,browning  
sang this sturdily through a long       
generation riding down its difficulties 
by the sheer force of an unconquerable  
optimism and subduing argument to lyric 
passion4         ,the evil is null1 is  
naught1 is silence implying sound2      
,what was good shall be good1 with1 for 
evil1 so much good more2        ,on the 
earth the broken arcs2 in the heaven a  
perfect round4       ,and what is our   
failure here but a triumph's evidence   
,for the fullness of the days8 ,have we 
withered or agonized8      ,why else was
 the pause prolonged but that singing   
might issue thence8        ,why rushed  
the discords in1 but that harmony should
 be prized8  ,others affirm the         
self-limitation of ,god4#cj ,in ,his    
respect for that human freedom which is 
the basis of self-regulated personal    

action and therefore an essential       
condition of character1 ,he arrests     
,himself1 as it were1 upon the threshold
 of human personality and commits ,his  
children to a moral struggle justifying 
the inevitable incidents of moral defeat
 by the greatness of the ends to be     
attained4 ,a vast deal of what we call  
evil--broadening evil to include not    
only moral defeat but also pain--is     
either a consequence or a by-product of 
what ,henry ,churchill ,king calls the  
fight for character4 ,such a solution as
 this is consistent with the love of    
,god and the moral order2 whether it is 
consistent with a thoroughgoing monism  
or not is another question4 ,william    
,james doubted it and so frankly adopted
 ,pluralism--which is perhaps just a way
 of saying that we cannot reconcile the 
contending forces in our world order    
with one over-all-controlling power--as 
his solution of the problem4  ,footnote 
#cj3 ,walker1 for example1 in his       
extremely suggestive ,spiritual ,monism 

and ,christian ,theism4  ,josiah ,royce 
has valiantly maintained1 through long  
and subtle argument1 the goodness of the
 whole despite the evil of the          
incidental4 ,all finite life is a       
struggle with evil4 ,yet from the final 
point of view the ,whole is good4 ,the  
,temporal ,order contains at no one     
moment anything that can satisfy4 ,yet  
the ,eternal ,order is perfect4 ,we have
 all sinned1 and come short of the glory
 of ,god4 ,yet in just our life1 viewed 
in its entirety1 the glory of ,god is   
completely manifest4 ,these hard sayings
 are the deepest expressions of the     
essence of true religion4#ca ,he finds  
the root of evil in the dissatisfaction 
of the finite will--a dissatisfaction   
which on the other hand is the secret of
 the eventual triumph of good4          
,footnote #ca3 ,the ,world and the      
,individual1 ,royce1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 ,chap4 
#i--passim4  ,we suffer also through our
 involution with the interests and      
ideals of vast realms of other conscious

 and finite lives whose dissatisfactions
 become part of each individual man's   
life when the man concerned cannot at   
present see how or why his own ideals   
are such as to make these               
dissatisfactions his fate4 ,we suffer   
also through our associations with      
nature1 none the less this very presence
 of evil in the temporal order is the   
condition of the perfection of the      
eternal order4 ,he dismisses definitely1
 in an argument still to be quoted1 the 
conclusion of the mystic that an        
experience of evil is an experience of  
unreality 444 an illusion1 a dream1 a   
deceit and concludes3 ,in brief1 then1  
nowhere in ,time is perfection to be    
found4 ,our comfort lies in the         
knowledge of the ,eternal4 ,strengthened
 by that knowledge1 we can win the most 
enduring of temporal joys1 the          
consciousness that makes us delight to  
share the world's grave glories and to  
take part in its divine sorrows1--sure  
that these sorrows are the means of the 

eternal triumph1 and that these glories 
are the treasures of the house of ,god4 
,when once this comfort comes home to   
us1 we can run and not be weary1 and    
walk and not faint4 ,for our temporal   
life is the very expression of the      
eternal triumph4  ,one may gravely      
question whether philosophy has ever so 
completely made out its case as         
,professor ,royce thinks4 ,he is        
affirming as the reasoned conclusion of 
philosophy what is rather a faith than a
 demonstration1 but none the less1 all  
honest thinking has hitherto been brave 
enough to recognize the reality of evil 
and to test the power of ,god and ,his  
love and goodness not by the actuality  
of present pain1 or the confusion of    
present sin1 but rather by the power    
which ,he offers us of growing through  
pain to health or else so bearing pain  
as to make it a real contribution to    
character and of so rising above sin as 
to make penitence and confession and the
 struggle for good and the achievement  

of it also a contribution to character4 
,so ,st4 ,paul assures us that all      
things work together for good for those 
that love ,god4 ,the willingness1 says  
,hocking1 to confront every evil1 in    
ourselves and outside ourselves1 with   
the blunt1 factual conscience of        
,science2 willingness to pay the full   
causal price for the removal of the     
blemish2 this kind of integrity can     
never be dispensed with in any          
optimistic program4#cb  ,footnote #cb3  
,the ,meaning of ,god in ,human         
,experience1 p4 #age4  ,sir ,henry      
,jones takes the same line4 ,the first  
requisite for the solution of the       
contradiction between the demand of     
religion for the perfection of ,god1 and
 therefore the final and complete       
victory of the good in the other1 is the
 honest admission that the contradiction
 is there1 and inevitable2 though       
possibly1 like other contradictions1 it 
is there only to be solved4#cc          
,footnote #cc3 ,a ,faith that ,enquires1

 p4 #de4   ,the ,divine ,mind and       
,mortal ,mind  ,christian ,science      
solves this problem1 as has been said1  
by denying the reality of evil1 but     
since we have an abundance of testimony 
to pain and sickness1 ,mrs4 ,eddy goes a
 step farther4 ,she denies the reality  
of the testimony of the senses wherever 
pain and sickness are concerned4#cd     
7,mrs4 ,eddy's denial of the reality of 
sin is hardly parallel to her denial of 
the reality of physical ills47 ,and here
 the word comes in which is made to     
carry a heavier load than any one poor  
word was ever burdened with before4 ,all
 that is involved in the recognition of 
physical ills and indeed all that is    
involved in the recognition of the      
material side of existence is error4    
7,once fairly on her road ,mrs4 ,eddy   
makes a clean sweep of whatever stands  
in her way47 ,what one may call the     
whole shadowed side of experience is not
 only ignored1 it is denied and yet     
before it can be explained away it has  

to be explained4 ,it is1 in brief1 for  
,mrs4 ,eddy and her followers the       
creation of mortal mind4 ,mortal mind1  
she says1 is nothing claiming to be     
something2 mythology2 error creating    
other errors2 a suppositional material  
sense2 444 that which neither exists in 
science nor can be recognized by the    
spiritual sense2 sin2 sickness2         
death4#ce  ,footnote #cd3 ,science and  
,health1 last edition1 pp4 #ajh1 #abj1  
#bic1 #dhh4  ,footnote #ce3 ,ibid41 p4  
#eia4  ,mortal mind is that side of us  
which accepts our entanglement in the   
facts and forces of the world order and 
upon mortal mind so vaguely conceived   
,mrs4 ,eddy throws the whole burden of  
responsibility for all the unhappy      
aspects of experience and conditioning  
circumstances4 ,she gives it a          
surprising range of creative power4 ,it 
has created everything ,mrs4 ,eddy does 
not like or believe in4 ,in other words1
 there is not one reality but two1 one  
the reality of well-being1 the other the

 reality of unhappiness and suffering1  
but according to ,mrs4 ,eddy the first  
reality is the only real reality1 the   
second is an unreal reality which we    
ourselves create through false beliefs  
and which we may escape at any moment by
 simply shifting the center of our      
creative idealism4 ,mrs4 ,eddy makes    
what she means by mortal mind reasonably
 clear through endless repetition and   
some analysis1 but she never for a      
moment accounts for its existence4 ,it  
is no creation of what she calls the    
divine ,mind2 indeed she says in        
substance that ,god is not conscious of 
it at all2 it lies entirely outside the 
range of ,his knowledge4 7,page #bdc47  
,god is ,good4 ,since ,he is good ,he   
cannot have created nor be responsible  
for1 nor even recognize pain1 sorrow or 
suffering4 ,the ,divine ,mind cannot    
suffer 7page #ajh1 also page #cce71 is  
not responsible for physical and moral  
disasters 7page #aai74 ,god did not     
create matter 7the ,father mind is not  

the father of matter7 7page #beg71 for  
matter means pain and death1 nor do such
 things as these belong in any way to   
the order of the ,divine ,mind4 ,they   
have no admitted reality in ,mrs4       
,eddy's scheme of a true idealism4 ,man 
is ,god's spiritual idea and since he   
belongs by right to an order in which   
there is neither sin nor sorrow nor     
death1 such things as these have no     
reality for him save as he admits them4 
,what really admits them is mortal mind1
 the agent of another system of ,belief 
in which humanity has in some way1 which
 is never really explained1 become      
entangled1 and we may apparently escape 
from the one order to the other simply  
by a change in our beliefs4 ,for all the
 shadowed side of life has reality only 
as we accept or believe in it2 directly 
we cease to believe in it or deny it it 
ceases to be4  ,it is1 as near as one   
can make out1 a myth1 an illusion1 whose
 beginnings are lost in obscurity and   
which1 for the want of the revelation   

vouchsafed through her1 has been        
continued from age to age by the        
untaught or the misled4 ,for example1   
,arsenic is not a poison1 so we are told
 again and again4 ,it is only a poison  
because people think it is2#cf it began 
to be a poison only because people      
thought it was1 it continues to be a    
poison only because the majority of     
people think it is now and1 such is the 
subtle and far-reaching influence of    
mind upon mind1 it will continue to be a
 poison as long as any one continues to 
believe it to be4 ,directly we all      
believe that ,arsenic is not a poison it
 will be no poison4 ,poisons1 that is1  
are the creation of mortal mind4 ,pain  
is pain only through the same mistaken  
belief in the reality of it4 ,by        
universal consent mortal belief has     
constituted itself a law to bind mortals
 to sickness1 sin and death4 ,and so on 
at great length and almost endless      
repetition4  ,footnote #cf3 ,page #agh4 
,the ,essential ,limitations of ,mrs4   

,eddy's ,system  ,since matter          
conditions us who were born to be       
unconditioned and since matter is       
apparently the root of so many ills1 the
 seat of so many pains1 matter goes with
 the rest4 ,mrs4 ,eddy is not always    
consistent in her consideration of      
matter2 sometimes she confines herself  
to saying that there is neither         
sensation nor life in matter--which may 
be true enough save as matter both      
affords the material for sensation and  
conditions its forms1 which is an       
immense qualification1--but again and   
again she calls matter an illusion4     
,consistently the laws of physics and   
chemistry should disappear with the laws
 of hygiene and medicine1 but ,mrs4     
,eddy does not go so far as that though 
it would be difficult to find a logical 
stopping place once you have taken this 
line4 ,mortal mind is apparently the    
source of all these illusions4  ,mrs4   
,eddy's disposal of matter1 along with  
her constant return to its misleading   

mastery in experience is an outstanding 
aspect of her book4 ,the writer is      
inclined to believe that ,mrs4 ,eddy's  
formula3 ,there is 444 no matter in life
 and no life in matter1 is an echo of   
,tyndall's famous utterance--made about 
the time she was working with her       
system--that he found in matter the     
promise and potency of all life4 ,there 
is surprisingly little reference in     
,science and ,health to philosophic or  
scientific sources4 ,cutter's physiology
 is quoted in some editions--an old     
textbook which the writer remembers to  
have found among his mother's school    
books4 ,there are a few references to   
popular astronomy1 but in general for   
,mrs4 ,eddy modern science does not     
exist except in the most general way as 
the erroneous expression of error and   
always with a small s as against the    
capital ,s of her own system4 ,nor does 
she show any knowledge of other         
philosophic idealisms nor any           
acquaintance with any solution of the   

problems she was facing save the        
commonplaces of evangelical orthodoxy4  
,science and ,health knows nothing also 
of any medical science save the         
empirical methods of the medical science
 of #ahfj and #ahgj4  ,but she cannot   
have been wholly uninfluenced--being a  
woman of an alert mind--by the          
controversy which1 in the seventies and 
eighties1 was raging about a pretty     
crass and literal materialism1 and her  
writings probably reflect--with a good  
deal of indirection--that controversy4  
,here is a possible key to a good many  
things which are otherwise puzzling     
enough4 ,she is1 in her own fashion1 the
 defender of an idealistic              
interpretation of reality and           
experience4 ,now all idealistic systems 
have had to dispose of matter in some   
way4 ,in general idealists find in      
matter only the reflection in           
consciousness of the material which     
sense experience supplies1 and since the
 raw material is in every way so        

different from the mental reflection1   
the idealist may defend his position    
plausibly in assuming matter to be1 in  
its phenomenal aspects1 really the      
creation of thought4 ,but he must       
account for the persistency of it and   
the consistency of experience so        
conditioned4 ,he does this by assuming  
the whole interrelated order to be held1
 as it were1 in solution1 in some larger
 system of thought which really supplies
 for us our environment and if he be    
both devout and consistent he calls this
 the thought ,god4#cg ,in this way he   
solves his problem--at least to his own 
satisfaction--and even supplies a basis 
for ,theistic faith4 ,but he does not   
deny the working reality of his         
so-called material experiences nor does 
he1 like ,mrs4 ,eddy1 accept one aspect 
of this experience and deny the other4  
,this is philosophically impossible4    
,footnote #cg3 ,so ,royce in ,the ,world
 and the ,individual4  ,a thoroughgoing 
theistic monism must find in matter some

 aspect or other of the self-revelation 
of ,god4 ,it may be hard pressed to     
discover just how the psychical is      
stepped down to the physical4 7,that is 
the essential difficulty in all         
,creationism47 ,but something must be   
assumed to get a going concern in any   
department of thought and there is much 
in that resolution of matter into force 
and force into always more tenuous and  
imponderable forms--which is the        
tendency of modern science--to render   
this assumption less difficult to the   
rational imagination than perhaps any   
other we are asked to make4 ,when the   
final elements in matter have become    
electrons and the electron is conceived 
as a strain in a magnetic field and thus
 the            ,cloud-capped towers1   
the gorgeous palaces1           ,the    
solemn temples1 the great globe itself1 
,yea1 all which is inherent1  become the
 projection into sensibly apprehended   
form of the flux of an infinite and     
eternal energy1 it is not hard to define

 that energy in terms of a divine will4 
,indeed it is hard not to do just that4 
,but there is no place in such a        
resolution as this for the conclusions  
of ,science and ,health4  ,or we may    
accept in one form or another a dualism 
in which the practical mind is generally
 content to rest4 ,according to this    
point of view we have to do with a      
reality which may be known under two    
aspects4 ,it is the chemical action and 
interaction of elements--and the mind   
which measures and combines them2 it is 
the physical action and interaction of  
force--and the mind which directs the   
process4 ,biologically the living       
creature gives an account of itself in  
two ways4 ,it can know itself as        
something extended and intricately built
 up1 burning away1 moving1 throbbing2 it
 can also know itself as the seat of    
sensation1 perceptions1 feelings1       
wishes1 thoughts4 ,but there is not one 
process1 thinking1 and another process1 
cerebral metabolism 7vital processes in 

nerve-cells72 there is a psycho-physical
 life--a reality which we know under two
 aspects4 ,cerebral control and mental  
activity are1 on this view1 different   
aspects of one natural occurrence4 ,what
 we have to do with is the unified life 
of a psycho-physical being1 a body-mind 
or mind-body4#ch ,in short there is no  
philosophy or science outside the covers
 of her own book to which ,mrs4 ,eddy   
may turn for support and though this    
does not prove the case against her--she
 might be right and the whole           
disciplined thought of her time be      
wrong--this latter supposition is so    
improbable as to rule it out of court4  
,footnote #ch3 ,j4,a4 ,thomson1 ,the    
,outline of ,science1 p4 #edh4  ,the    
materialism against which she contends  
has ceased to exist4 ,the matter which  
she denies does not exist in the sense  
of her denial4 ,there was1 even when she
 was writing1 a line of which she was   
apparently wholly ignorant which has    
since been immensely developed1 and of  

all this there is naturally no          
reflection at all in her work4 ,it is   
more hopelessly out of touch with the   
laborious and strongly established      
conclusions of modern thought in every  
field than the first chapters of        
,genesis for there one may1 at least1   
substitute the science of to-day for the
 science of #c1jjj years ago and still  
retain the enduring insights of the     
faith then voiced1 but there is no      
possible accommodation of ,science and  
,health to either the science or the    
philosophy of the twentieth century4 ,it
 must be left to a consistent ,christian
 ,scientist to reconcile his gospel with
 the freer movements of the world of    
which he is still a citizen--though     
perhaps this also might be urged against
 a deal of contemporaneous ,christian   
faith--but it is all an arresting       
testimony to the power of the human mind
 to organize itself in compartments     
between which there is no communication4
   ,experience and ,life  ,beyond all   

this is the fact of which ,science and  
,health takes no account--the           
conditioning of conscious life and      
working experience by its material      
environment however conceived4 ,this is 
true of every phase of life and all our 
later emphasis upon the power of the    
mind in one direction and another to    
escape this conditioning scarcely       
affects the massive reality of it4      
,christian ,science makes no attempt at 
all to escape this--save in the region  
of physical health--or else it provides 
an alibi in the phrase1 ,i have not     
demonstrated in that region yet4 ,but it
 does not thus escape the limitation    
imposed upon us all and if we may dare  
for a moment to be dogmatic1 it never   
will4 ,at the best we live in a give and
 take and if1 through discipline and    
widening knowledge1 we may push back a  
little the frontiers which limit us1 and
 assert the supremacy of soul over the  
material with which it is so intimately 
associated1 we do even this slowly and  

at great cost and always in conformity  
with the laws of the matter we master4  
,there is a body of evidence here which 
can no more be ignored than gravitation1
 and we best dispose of association of  
personality with the material fabric of 
the body and the world of which it is a 
part1 not by denying their mutual       
interdependence but by discovering      
therein the laws and methods of an      
infinite wisdom4 ,here are ministries   
through which we come to consciousness  
of ourselves1 here are materials upon   
which we exercise our power1 here are   
realities which hold us fast to normal  
and intelligible lives1 here are masters
 whose rule is kind and servants whose  
obediences empower us4 ,they condition  
our happinesses as well as our          
unhappinesses and supply for us the     
strings of that harp of the senses upon 
which the music of life is played4 ,life
 really gains its spiritual content     
through the action and interaction of   
the aspiring self upon its              

environment--whether that environment be
 intimate as the protest of a disturbed 
bodily cell or remote as ,orion and the 
,pleiades4#ci ,the very words which     
,mrs4 ,eddy uses would be idle if this  
were not so and though a thoroughgoing  
defender of her system may read into its
 lines a permission for all this1 the   
fundamentals of her system deny it4     
,footnote #ci3 ,and ,i am inclined to   
think that the error of forgetting that 
spirit in order to be real or that      
principles1 whether of morality1        
religion or knowledge1 must be          
exemplified in temporal facts1 is a no  
less disastrous error than that of the  
sciences which have not learned that the
 natural1 when all the meaning of it is 
set free1 blossoms into the spiritual   
like the tree into flower4 ,religion and
 philosophy and science also have yet to
 learn more fully that all which can    
possibly concern man1 occupy his        
intelligence or engage his will1 lies at
 the point of intersection of the       

natural and spiritual4--,a ,faith that  
,enquires1 p4 #bg4  ,christian ,science 
breaks down both philosophically and    
practically just here4 ,it is none the  
less a dualism because it denies that it
 is4 ,it confronts not one but two      
ranges of reality2 it gains nothing by  
making mortal mind the villain in the   
play4 ,it is compelled to admit the     
existence of the reality which it       
denies1 even in the fact of denying it4 
,what we deny exists for us--we could   
not otherwise deny it4 ,royce has put   
all this clearly1 strongly1 finally4    
,the mystic first denies that evil is   
real4 ,he is asked why1 then1 evil seems
 to exist4 ,he replies that this is our 
finite error4 ,the finite error itself  
hereupon becomes1 as the source of all  
our woes1 an evil4 ,but no evil is real1
 hence no error can be real1 hence we do
 not really err even if we suppose that 
evil is real4 ,here we return to our    
starting point and could only hope to   
escape by asserting that it is an error 

to assert that we really err or that we 
really believe error to be real1 and    
with a process thus begun there is      
indeed no end1 nor at any stage in this 
process is there consistency4#dj ,all   
this is subtle enough1 but if we are to 
make our world by thinking and          
unthinking it1 all this is unescapably  
true4  ,footnote #dj3 ,the ,world and   
the ,individual1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #cid4   
,when1 moreover1 you have reduced one   
range of experience to illusion there is
 absolutely nothing to save the rest4   
,if evil is error and error evil and the
 belief that evil is an illusion is     
itself an illusion what is there to     
guarantee the reality of good8 ,the     
sword with which ,mrs4 ,eddy cut the    
knot of the problem of evil is          
two-edged4 ,if the optimist denies evil 
for the sake of good and points for     
proof to the solid coherency of the     
happier side of life1 the pessimist may 
as justly deny good for the sake of evil
 and point for proof to the solid       

coherency of the sadder side of life2 he
 will have no trouble in finding his    
facts4 ,if sickness is a dream then     
health is a dream as well4 ,once we have
 taken illusion for a guide there is no 
stopping until everything is illusion4  
,the ,eastern mystic who went this road 
long before ,mrs4 ,eddy and who thought 
it through with a searching subtleness  
of which she was incapable1 reached the 
only logical conclusion4 ,all experience
 is illusion1 entire detachment from    
action is the only wisdom1 and          
absorption in an unconscious something  
which only escapes being nothing is our 
appointed destiny3            ,we are   
such stuff           ,as dreams are made
 of1           ,and our little life     
,is rounded with a sleep4               
,sense-,testimony ,cannot ,be ,accepted 
for ,health and ,denied for ,sickness   
,christian ,science1 then1 is not       
monism1 it is rather a dualism2 it      
confronts not one but two ranges of     
reality and it is compelled to admit the

 existence of the reality which it      
denies1 even the fact of denying it1 for
 it is a philosophical axiom that what  
we deny exists for us--we could not     
otherwise deny it4 ,denial is the       
recognition of reality just as much as  
affirmation4 ,to repeat1 it is this     
continuous interwoven process of trying 
to reconcile the one-sided idealism of  
,christian ,science with the necessity  
of its argument and the facts of life   
which gives to ,science and ,health what
 one may call its strangely bifocal     
character1 though indeed this is a      
somewhat misleading figure4 ,one has the
 same experience in reading the book    
that one has in trying to read through  
glasses which are out of focus2 you are 
always just seeing and just missing     
because ,mrs4 ,eddy herself is always   
just seeing and just missing a really   
great truth4  ,this fundamental         
inconsistency penetrates the whole      
system even down to its practical       
applications4 ,christian ,science denies

 the testimony of the senses as to      
sickness and yet accepts them as to     
health4 ,it goes further than this1 it  
accepts the testimony of the senses of  
other people--physicians1 for example1  
in accepting their diagnosis4 ,the      
edition of ,science and ,health         
published in #aiah offers in chapter    
eighteen a hundred pages of testimonials
 sent in by those who have in various   
ways been helped by their faith4 ,these 
letters are shot through and through    
with a recognition of the testimony of  
the senses which no explanation can     
possibly explain away4 ,i was afflicted 
with a fibroid tumour which weighed not 
less than fifty pounds1 attended by a   
continuous hemorrhage for eleven years4 
,if the senses have any language at all1
 this is their language4 ,a growth      
cannot be known as a fibroid tumour     
without sense testimony1 nor its weight 
estimated without sense testimony1 nor a
 continuous hemorrhage be recorded1 or  
its cessation known without sense       

testimony1 nor can epilepsy be          
diagnosed1 nor bilious attacks          
recognized without sense testimony4 ,on 
page #fjf a grateful disciple bears     
witness to the healing of a broken arm1 
testimony to said healing being         
demonstrated by a visit to a physician's
 office where they were experimenting   
with an ,x-ray machine4 ,the doctor     
pointed out the place as being slightly 
thicker at that part1 like a piece of   
steel that had been welded4 ,in other   
words1 ,christian ,science cannot make  
out its case without the recognition of 
the veracity of a sense testimony1 whose
 truth its philosophy denies4  ,mrs4    
,eddy seems to dismiss all this in one  
brief paragraph4 ,is a man sick if the  
material senses indicate that he is in  
good health8 ,no1 for matter can make no
 conditions for man4 ,and is he well if 
the senses say he is sick8 ,yes1 he is  
well in ,science1 in which health is    
normal and disease is abnormal4#da ,if  
,mrs4 ,eddy and her followers believe so

 specious a statement as that1 to set   
them free from an inconsistency which is
 central in their whole contention1 they
 are welcome to their belief1 but the   
inconsistency still remains4 ,you can go
 far by using words in a ,pickwickian   
sense but there is a limit4 ,a          
consistent idealism is philosophically  
possible1 but it must be a far more     
inclusive and deeply reasoned idealism  
than ,christian ,science4 ,the most     
thoroughgoing idealisms have accepted   
the testimony of the senses as a part of
 the necessary conduct of life as now   
conditioned4 ,anything else would reduce
 us to unspeakable confusion1 empty     
experience of its content1 dissolve all 
the contacts of life and halt us in our 
tracks for we cannot take a step safely 
without the testimony of the senses and 
any scheme of things which seeks to     
distinguish between the varying         
validities of sense testimony1 accepting
 only the evidence of the senses for    
health and well-being and denying the   

dependability of whatever else they     
register1 is simply an immense caprice  
which breaks down under any examination4
  ,footnote #da3 ,page #abj4 ,it is only
 fair to say that ,mrs4 ,eddy is        
hampered by her own want of clear       
statement4 ,the phrase 7so often used in
 ,science and ,health7 in ,science is   
probably in her mind equivalent to in   
the ideal order and if ,mrs4 ,eddy had  
clearly seen and clearly stated what she
 is groping for3 that the whole shadowed
 side of life belongs to our present    
world of divided powers and warring     
forces and unfinished enterprises1 that 
,god has something better for ,his      
children toward which we are being led  
through the discipline of experience and
 that we may therefore seek to conceive 
and affirm this ideal order and become  
its citizens in body1 mind and soul1 she
 would have escaped a perfect web of    
contradiction and been in line not only 
with the great philosophies but with    
historic ,christian faith4 ,but then    

,christian ,science would not be        
,christian ,science4   ,the ,inescapable
 ,reality of ,shadowed ,experience      
,evil does not cease to be because it is
 denied4 ,the acceptance of sense       
testimony is just as necessary in the   
region of pain and sickness as in       
driving a motorcar down a crowded street
 and the hypothesis of a misleading     
mortal mind1 instead of explaining      
everything1 demands itself an           
explanation4 ,what ,mrs4 ,eddy calls    
mortal mind is only the registry of the 
dearly bought experience of the race4   
,we began only with the power to feel1  
to struggle1 to will and to think4 ,we  
have been blind enough and stupid enough
 but we are1 after all1 not unteachable 
and out of our experience and our       
reflections we have created the whole   
splendid and dependable body of human   
knowledge4 ,what we know about pain is  
itself the outcome of all the suffering 
of our kind4 ,we began with no developed
 philosophy nor any presuppositions     

about anything4 ,experience reflects    
encompassing realities which we are able
 to escape only as we make their laws   
our ministers4 ,we did not give fire the
 power to burn1 we discovered that only 
in the school of the touch of flame4 ,we
 did not give edged steel the power to  
cut1 we found that out through death and
 bleeding wounds4 ,we did not give to   
poisons their deadly power1 our attitude
 toward them is simply the outcome of   
our experience with them4  ,conditioned 
as we are by those laws and forces with 
which this present existence of ours is 
in innumerable ways inextricably        
interwoven1 our tested and sifted       
beliefs are only the outcome of an      
action and interaction of recipient or  
creative personality upon its           
environment old as human consciousness1 
and if in all this we have become       
persuaded of pain and suffering and     
shadowed experience1 it is only because 
these are as real as any elements in    
experience can possibly be4 ,to attempt 

to write them out or deny them out or   
juggle them out in any kind of way save 
in bravely meeting them and humbly being
 taught by them and in the full resource
 of disciplined power getting free from 
them by removing the causes which create
 them1 is to cheat ourselves with words1
 lose ourselves in shadows which we     
mistake for light and even if in some   
regions we seem to succeed it is only at
 the cost of what is more bitter than   
pain and more deadly than wounds--the   
loss of mental and spiritual integrity4 
,this is a price too great to pay for   
any mere healing4     ,,vi  ,,christian 
,,science ,,as ,a ,,theology   ,science 
and ,health is offered1 among other     
things1 as a key to the ,scriptures1 and
 along with her interpretation of both  
the ,old and the ,new ,testaments in    
terms of her peculiar philosophy ,mrs4  
,eddy rewrites the great articles of the
 ,christian creeds4 ,a careful student  
of ,mrs4 ,eddy's mental processes is    
able in this region to understand them  

better than she understood them herself4
 ,she had1 to begin with1 an inherited  
reverence for the ,bible as an authority
 for life and she shared with multitudes
 of others a difficulty to which        
reference has already been more than    
once made4 ,for what one may call the   
typical ,protestant consciousness the   
,bible is the final revelation of ,god1 
governing1 if only we can come to       
understand it1 both our faith and our   
conduct of life1 but the want of a true 
understanding of it and1 above all1 the 
burdening of it with an inherited       
tradition has clouded its light for     
multitudes of devout souls4   ,science  
and ,health ,offered as a ,key to the   
,scriptures  ,such as these have been   
almost pathetically eager to accept any 
interpretation1 no matter how           
capricious1 which seemed to read an     
intelligible meaning into its difficult 
passages1 or reconcile its              
contradictions1 or make it a more       
practical guide in the conduct of life4 

,any cult or theory1 therefore1 which   
can seem to secure for itself the       
authority of the ,bible has obtained    
directly an immense reinforcement in its
 appeal to the devout and the perplexed1
 and ,mrs4 ,eddy has taken full         
advantage of this4 ,her book is veined  
with ,scripture references2 two of her  
chapters are expositions of ,biblical   
books 7,genesis and ,revelation72 and   
other chapters deal with great doctrines
 of the ,church4   ,it ,ignores ,all    
,recognized ,canons of ,biblical        
,interpretation4 ,illustrations  ,mrs4  
,eddy naturally sought the authority for
 her philosophy between the covers of   
the ,scriptures4 ,beyond debate her     
teachings have carried much farther than
 they otherwise would1 in that she      
claims for them a ,scriptural basis1 and
 they must be examined in that light4   
,now there are certain sound and        
universally recognized rules governing  
the scholarly approach to the ,old and  
,new ,testaments4 ,words must be taken  

in their plain sense2 they must be      
understood in their relation to their   
context4 ,a book is to be studied also  
in the light of its history2 the time   
and place and purpose of its            
composition1 as far as these are known1 
must be considered2 no changes made in  
the text save through critical          
emendation1 nor any translations offered
 not supported by accepted texts1 nor   
any liberties be taken with grammatical 
constructions4 ,by such plain tests as  
these ,mrs4 ,eddy's use of the          
,scriptures will not bear examination4  
,she violates all recognized canons of  
,biblical interpretation on almost every
 page4#db  ,footnote #db3 ,this is a    
brief--and a ,christian ,scientist may  
protest--a summary dismissal of the     
claim of ,science and ,health to be a   
key to the ,scriptures4 ,but nothing is 
gained--save of the unnecessary         
lengthening of this chapter--in going   
into a detailed examination of her      
method and conclusions4 ,she has        

insight1 imagination1 boundless         
allegorical resource1 but the whole     
,bible beneath her touch becomes a      
plastic material to be subdued to her   
peculiar purpose by omissions1 read-in  
meanings and the substantial and        
constant disregard of plain meanings4   
,to the student the whole matter is     
important only as revealing the         
confusion of the popular mind which     
receives such a method as authoritative4
  ,her method is wholly allegorical and 
the results achieved are conditioned    
only by the ingenuity of the            
commentator4 ,it would require a body of
 citation from the pages of ,science and
 ,health1 not possible here1 to follow  
through ,mrs4 ,eddy's peculiar exegesis4
 ,one needs only to open the book at    
random for outstanding illustrations4   
,for example1 ,genesis #a3f1 ,and ,god  
said1 let there be a firmament in the   
midst of the waters and let it divide   
the waters from the waters4 ,the word   
firmament has its own well established  

connotation gathered from a careful     
study of all its uses4 ,we can no more  
understand the earlier chapters of      
,genesis without an understanding of    
,hebrew cosmogony than we can understand
 ,dante without a knowledge of medieval 
cosmogony4 ,but1 given this knowledge   
which is the common possession of all   
sound scholarship1 we can at least      
understand what the passage means1 even 
though we have long left behind us the  
nave conception of the vaulted skies to 
which it refers4  ,all this is a        
commonplace not worth repeating at the  
cost of the white paper upon which it is
 printed1 save as the ignoring of it    
leads to such an interpretation of the  
passage as that which ,mrs4 ,eddy       
offers3 spiritual understanding by which
 human conception material mind is      
separated from ,truth is the firmament4 
,the ,divine ,mind1 not matter1 creates 
all identities and they are forms of    
,mind1 the ideas of ,spirit apparent    
only as ,mind1 never as mindless matter 

nor the so-called material senses 7page 
#eje74 ,comment is not only difficult   
but impossible in the face of a method  
like this4 ,if such an interpretation   
were an exception it might seem the     
unfair use of a hypercritical temper to 
quote this particular expression of     
,mrs4 ,eddy's mind4 ,but her whole      
treatment of ,scripture suffers from the
 same method4  ,everything means        
something else4 ,the ,ark is the idea1  
or reflection of truth1 proved to be as 
immortal as its ,principle4 ,babel is   
self-destroying error2 baptism is       
submergence in ,spirit2 ,canaan is a    
sensuous belief2 ,dan 7,jacob's son7 is 
animal magnetism2 the dove is a symbol  
of divine ,science2 the earth is a type 
of eternity and immortality2 the river  
,euphrates is divine ,science           
encompassing the universe and man2      
evening the mistiness of mortal thought2
 flesh an error1 a physical belief2 ,ham
 7,noah's son7 is corporeal belief2     
,jerusalem mortal belief and knowledge  

obtained from the five corporeal senses2
 night1 darkness2 doubt2 fear2 a        
,pharisee1 corporeal and sensuous       
belief2 river is a channel of thought2 a
 rock is a spiritual foundation2 sheep  
are innocence2 a sword the idea of      
,truth4#dc  ,footnote #dc3 ,glossary1 p4
 #egi--passim4  ,mrs4 ,eddy does not    
hesitate to make such textual           
modifications of passages as suit her   
purpose and even when she is not dealing
 with her texts in such ways as these1  
she is constantly citing for her proofs 
passages which cannot by any recognized 
canon of interpretation possibly be made
 to mean what she says they mean4       
,beneath her touch simple things become 
vague1 the ,psalms lose their haunting  
beauty1 even the ,lord's ,prayer takes a
 form which we may reverently believe   
the author of it would not recognize4   
,our ,father3 ,mother ,god1 all         
harmonious1 ,adorable ,one1 ,thy kingdom
      is come2 ,thou art ever present4  
,enable us to know--as in heaven1 so    

on earth--,god is omnipotent1 supreme4  
,give us grace for to-day2      feed the
 famished affections2 and love is       
reflected in love2 and      ,god leadeth
 us not into temptation1 but delivereth 
us from sin1      disease and death4    
,for ,god is ,infinite1 all ,power1 all 
,life1 ,truth1      ,love1 over all and 
,all4   ,its ,conception of ,god  ,it   
was quite as inevitable that she should 
undertake to fit her speculations into  
the fabric of the theology in which she 
and most of her followers had been      
trained1 as that she should try to      
secure for her speculation the weight of
 the authority of the ,bible4 ,she would
 have to take for her point of departure
 the centrality of ,christ1 the         
outstanding ,christian doctrines1       
markedly the ,incarnation and the       
,atonement and she would need somehow to
 dispose of the ,sacraments4 ,all this  
is inevitably implied in the persistent 
designation of her whole system as a    
,christian system4  ,the chapter        

headings in ,science and ,health and the
 sequence of chapters are the key to the
 movement of her mind2 they are         
determined by her association of        
interests4 ,marriage is on the same     
level with ,prayer1 ,atonement and the  
,eucharist1 and ,animal ,magnetism with 
,science1 ,theology and ,medicine4 ,it  
is hard to know where to begin in so    
confused a region4 ,she is handicapped1 
to begin with1 by the rigidity of her   
idealism and actually by her limitation 
both of the power and personality of    
,god4 ,this statement would probably be 
as sharply contradicted by ,mrs4 ,eddy's
 apologists as anything in this study1  
but it is not hastily made4             
,philosophically ,he is for ,mrs4 ,eddy 
only an exalted ideality into relation  
with which we may think ourselves by a  
change in our system of belief4         
,actually1 as we shall see1 this        
conception yields to emotional and      
devotional needs--it is bound to--but in
 theory it is unyielding4  ,now the     

accepted ,christian conception of ,god  
is entirely different4 ,both the ,old   
and ,new ,testaments conceive a ,god who
 is lovingly and justly conscious of all
 our need1 who is constantly drawing    
near to us in manifold appeals and      
approaches and who has1 above all1 in   
the ,incarnation made a supreme and     
saving approach to humanity4 ,he is no  
more rigid than love is rigid2 ,his     
attitude toward us1 ,his children1      
changes as the attitude of a father     
toward the changing tempers of a child4 
,now all this may be true or it may be  
only the dream of our strangely         
sensitive personalities1 but whether it 
be true or not1 it is the ,christian    
conception and any denial of this or any
 radically different substitution for it
 cannot call itself ,christian save as  
it writes into the word ,christian      
connotations to which it has heretofore 
been utterly strange4   ,mrs4 ,eddy's   
,interpretation of ,jesus ,christ  ,mrs4
 ,eddy begins1 therefore1 with the      

handicap of a philosophy which can be   
adjusted to ,christian theology only    
through fundamental modifications of    
that theology4 ,it is hard to           
systematize the result4 ,mrs4 ,eddy     
distinguishes between ,jesus and        
,christ4 ,her conception of ,jesus is   
reasonably clear whether it be          
historically true or not1 but her       
conception of the ,christ is vague and  
fluctuating4 ,jesus was apparently the  
first ,christian ,scientist1            
anticipating1 though not completely1 its
 philosophy and demonstrating its       
practices4 ,his teachings are so        
interpreted as to be made to yield a    
,christian ,science content4 ,when ,he  
urged the commandment3 ,thou shalt have 
no other gods before me what ,he really 
meant was1 ,thou shalt have no belief of
 ,life as mortal2 thou shalt not know   
evil1 for there is one ,life4#dd ,he    
proved by ,his deeds that ,christian    
,science destroys sickness1 sin and     
death4 ,our ,master taught no mere      

theory1 doctrine or belief2 it was the  
divine ,principle of all real being     
which ,he taught and practiced4#de ,he  
taught ,his followers the healing power 
of ,truth and ,love#df and the proofs of
 ,truth1 ,life and ,love which ,jesus   
gave by casting out error and healing   
the sick1 completed ,his earthly        
mission4#dg ,the truth taught by ,jesus 
the elders scoffed at because it        
demanded more than they were willing to 
practice4#dh ,they1 therefore1 crucified
 ,him and ,he seemed to die1 but ,he did
 not4 ,apparently ,he was not dead when 
,he was entombed and ,his three days in 
the tomb gave ,him a refuge from ,his   
foes1 a place in which to solve the     
great problem of being4 ,in other words 
,he demonstrated ,his own healing in the
 tomb4 ,he met and mastered1 on the     
basis of ,christian ,science1 the power 
of mind over matter1 all the claims of  
medicine1 surgery and hygiene4 ,he took 
no drugs to allay inflammation2 ,he did 
not depend upon food or pure air to     

resuscitate wasted energies2 ,he did not
 require the skill of a surgeon to heal 
the torn palms and bind up the wounded  
side and lacerated feet1 that ,he might 
use those hands to remove the napkin and
 winding sheet and that ,he might employ
 ,his feet as before4#di  ,footnote #dd3
 ,page #ai4 ,all citations from last    
edition4  ,footnote #de3 ,page #bf4     
,footnote #df3 ,page #ca4  ,footnote    
#dg3 ,page #da4  ,footnote #dh3 ,page   
#da4  ,footnote #di3 ,page #dd4  ,his   
disciples believed ,jesus to be dead    
while ,he was hidden in the sepulchre1  
whereas ,he was alive1 demonstrating    
within the narrow tomb the power of the 
spirit to overrule mortal1 material     
sense4 ,his ascension was a final       
demonstration in which ,he rose above   
the physical knowledge of ,his disciples
 and the material senses saw ,him no    
more4 ,he attained this perfection of   
demonstration only gradually and ,he    
left behind ,him an incomplete          
revelation which was to wait for its    

full illumination for the coming of     
,mrs4 ,eddy and ,christian ,science4    
,perhaps more justly ,he left behind    
,him1 according to ,mrs4 ,eddy and her  
followers1 a body of teaching which     
could not be clearly understood until   
she came to complete the revelation4 ,at
 any rate1 ,christian ,science is really
 ,his second coming4   ,christian       
,science ,his ,second ,coming  ,in an   
advertisement printed in the ,new ,york 
,tribune on ,january #bc1 #aiba1        
,augusta ,e4 ,stetson says3 ,christ in  
,christian ,science is come to the      
understanding of those who looked for   
,his reappearing4 ,and if certain       
sentences which follow mean anything1   
they mean that1 in the thought of ,mrs4 
,eddy's followers1 she completes what   
,jesus began and fulfills the prophecy  
of ,his reappearing4 ,her earthly       
experience runs parallel with that of   
her ,master2 understood in a small      
degree only by the few who faintly see  
and accept the truth1 she stood during  

her earthly mission and now stands on   
the mount of spiritual illumination     
toward whose heights no feet but those  
of the blessed ,master have so directly 
toiled1 first in agony and finally1 like
 ,jesus ,christ the masculine           
representative of the ,fatherhood of    
,god1 she as the feminine representative
 of the motherhood of ,god1 will appear 
in triumphant demonstration of divine   
power and glory as the combined ideal   
man in ,god's image and likeness4  ,and1
 indeed1 there are not wanting          
intimations in ,science and ,health     
which give to ,mrs4 ,eddy a certainty in
 this region which ,jesus ,himself did  
not possess4 ,he falters where she      
firmly trod4 ,no need to dwell upon the 
significant omissions which such an     
interpretation of the historic ,jesus as
 this demands4 ,the immensely laborious 
and painstaking scholarship which has   
sought1 perplexedly enough it must be   
confessed1 to discover behind the       
,gospel narratives the fundamental facts

 and realities of ,his life1 is entirely
 ignored4 ,mrs4 ,eddy has no place for  
the social aspects of the teachings of  
,christ1 indeed ,his whole system of    
ethic could be blacked out2 as far as   
her teaching is concerned it would make 
absolutely no difference4  ,mrs4 ,eddy  
distinguishes1 in theory at least though
 there is no consistency in her use of  
terms1 between ,jesus and the ,christ4  
,jesus is the human man1 and ,christ is 
the divine idea2 hence the duality of   
,jesus1 the ,christ 7page #dgc74 ,jesus 
is the name of the man who1 more than   
all other men1 has presented ,christ1   
the true idea of ,god1 healing the sick 
and the sinning and destroying the power
 of death 7page #dgc74 ,in an age of    
ecclesiastical despotism1 ,jesus        
introduced the teaching and practice of 
,christianity 444 but to reach ,his     
example and test its unerring ,science  
according to ,his rule1 444 a better    
understanding of ,god as divine         
,principle1 ,love1 rather than          

personality or the man ,jesus1 is       
required 7page #dgc74  ,it is difficult 
enough to know just what this means1 but
 as one stands far enough back from it  
all it seems to reduce ,jesus           
historically to the first outstanding   
,christian ,science teacher and healer4 
,jesus established what ,he said by     
demonstration1 thus making ,his acts of 
higher importance than ,his words4 ,he  
proved what ,he taught4 ,this is the    
,science of ,christianity4 ,jesus proved
 the ,principle1 which heals the sick   
and casts out error1 to be divine 7page 
#dgc74 ,he is1 therefore1 historically  
of chiefest value as the demonstrator of
 ,christian ,science1 the full          
philosophy of which apparently awaited a
 later revelation4  ,christ is the ideal
 ,truth1 that comes to heal sickness and
 sin through ,christian ,science1 and   
attributes all power to ,god 7page      
#dgc74 ,he unveiled the ,christ1 the    
spiritual idea of divine ,love 7page    
#ch74 ,the ,christ of ,christian        

,science1 then1 is an ideal ,truth1 a   
spiritual idea1 apparently an           
abstraction4 ,but ,mrs4 ,eddy is not    
consistent in her use of these two      
names4 ,on one page ,christ is the      
spiritual idea of divine ,love2 on the  
next page we need ,christ and ,him      
crucified 7page #ci71 though how an     
ideal truth or a spiritual idea could   
possibly be crucified we are not told4  
,in many of her passages ,mrs4 ,eddy    
uses the familiar phrase1 ,jesus        
,christ1 in apparently its ordinary     
connotations4   ,the ,incarnation3      
,christian ,theology and ,christian     
,science ,belong ,really to ,different  
,regions  ,the ,incarnation is disposed 
of in the same vague way4 ,those        
instructed in ,christian ,science have  
reached the glorious perception that    
,god is the only author of man4 ,the    
virgin mother conceived this idea of    
,god and gave to her ideal the name of  
,jesus4#ej ,the illumination of ,mary's 
spiritual sense put to silence material 

law and its order of generation1 and    
brought forth her child by the          
revelation of ,truth4 ,the ,holy ,ghost1
 or divine ,spirit1 overshadowed the    
pure sense of the ,virgin-mother with   
the full recognition that being is      
,spirit4#ea ,jesus was the offspring of 
,mary's self-conscious communion with   
,god4#eb ,now all this is neither honest
 supernaturalism nor the honest         
acceptance of the normal methods of     
birth4 ,it is certainly not the         
equivalent of the ,gospel account       
whether the ,gospel account be accepted 
or rejected4 ,to use a phrase which has 
come into use since ,science and ,health
 was written1 this is a smoke screen    
under cover of which ,mrs4 ,eddy escapes
 the necessity of either accepting or   
denying the testimony of the ,gospels4  
,footnote #ej3 ,page #bi4  ,footnote    
#ea3 ,page #bi4  ,footnote #eb3 ,page   
#cj4  ,something of this1 one must      
confess1 one may find in not a little   
religious teaching old and new1 but it  

is doubtful if there is anywhere so     
outstanding an instance of what one may 
call the smoke screen method in the     
consideration of the ,incarnation1 as in
 the passages just quoted4 ,as a matter 
of fact all this is simply the attempt  
to fit the idealistic dualism1 which is 
the real philosophic basis of ,christian
 ,science and which1 in so far as it is 
capable of explanation at all1 can be as
 easily explained in two pages as two   
hundred1 into the theology in which     
,mrs4 ,eddy was nurtured and which was a
 background common to both herself and  
her disciples4 ,christian ,science would
 carry far less weight in the race it is
 running if it frankly cut itself clear 
of a theology with which it has         
fundamentally no affinity4 ,this        
indoctrination of an idealistic dualism 
with a content of ,christian theology   
probably heightens the appeal of the    
system to those who are most at home in 
a new faith as they discover there the  
familiar phrases of their older faith1  

but it weakens the fundamental          
,christian ,science apologetic4 ,i      
think1 however1 we ought justly to      
recognize this as simply an inevitable  
aspect in the transition of ,christian  
,science from the orthodox faith and    
experience of historic ,christianity to 
a faith and experience of its own4      
,seen as a curious half-truth           
development made possible by a whole    
group of forces in action at the end of 
the nineteenth century1 ,christian      
,science is reasonably intelligible1 but
 as a system of doctrine built upon the 
hitherto accepted bases of ,christian   
fact and teaching1 it is not            
intelligible at all and the long        
controversy between the ,christian      
theologian and the ,christian ,science  
lecturer would best be ended by         
recognizing that they have so little in 
common as to make attack and            
counter-attack a movement in two        
different dimensions4 ,the one thing    
which they have in common is a certain  

set of words and phrases1 but these     
words and phrases have such entirely    
different meanings on the one side and  
the other as to make the use of them    
hopelessly misleading4   ,the           
,atonement4 ,the ,cross of ,christian   
,science and the ,cross of ,theology    
,there are passing references to the    
,cross in ,science and ,health1 but the 
word is used generally in a figurative  
and sentimental way4 ,mrs4 ,eddy's cross
 is simply the pain of being            
misunderstood and criticised in the     
preaching and practice of ,christian    
,science1 though indeed the ,cross of   
,jesus was also the outcome of          
hostilities and misunderstandings and a 
final and terribly fierce method of     
criticism4 ,one feels that mainly she is
 thinking of her own cross as a         
misunderstood and abused woman and for  
such suggestion she prefers the ,cup as 
a figure to the ,cross4 ,as for the     
,atonement every pang of repentance and 
suffering1 every effort for reform1     

every good thought and deed will help us
 to understand ,jesus' ,atonement for   
sin and aid its efficacy4#ec ,wisdom and
 ,love require many sacrifices of self  
to save us from sin4 ,all this seems to 
be in line with the moral theory of the 
atonement until we see that in such a   
line as this there is no recognition of 
the fact that again and again we suffer 
and that largely for others1 and when   
she adds that ,its the atonement        
scientific explanation is that suffering
 is an error of sinful sense which      
,truth destroys1 and that eventually    
both sin and suffering will fall at the 
feet of everlasting love 7page #bc71    
those passages cancel one another1 for  
if suffering be an error of sinful sense
 it is hard to see how any pang of it   
can help us to understand ,jesus'       
atonement unless ,his suffering be also 
an error of sinful sense1 and this is to
 reduce the atonement to a like error4  
,footnote #ec3 ,page #ai4  ,in another  
connection ,mrs4 ,eddy finds the        

efficacy of the ,crucifixion in the     
practical affection and goodness it     
demonstrated for mankind4 ,but this     
turns out to be nothing more than that  
the ,crucifixion offers ,christ a needed
 opportunity for the instruction of ,his
 disciples to triumph over the grave4   
,but since in another connection we are 
told ,he never died at all 7chapter     
,atonement and ,eucharist1 paragraph    
,jesus in the tomb7 even this dissolves 
into unreality4 ,moreover the eternal   
,christ in ,his spiritual selfhood never
 suffered4#ed ,whichever road she takes 
here ,mrs4 ,eddy reaches an impasse4 ,it
 ought to be said1 in justice to ,mrs4  
,eddy1 that her treatment of the        
atonement reflects the difficulty she   
found in the theology in which she had  
been trained as a girl and that there   
are many true insights in her           
contentions4 ,she was at least seeking a
 vital and constructive interpretation  
and doubtless her observations1 confused
 as they are1 have been for her         

followers a real way out of a real      
difficulty4 ,here1 as in so many other  
regions1 ,science and ,health is best   
understood by its backgrounds4          
,footnote #ed3 ,a curious and far-off   
echo of early ,docetism which also in   
its own way reduced ,christ's suffering 
to a simple seeming to suffer4  ,as a   
matter of fact there is in ,christian   
,science absolutely no soil in which to 
plant the ,cross as the ,cross is       
understood in ,christian theology4      
,there is no place in ,christian        
,science for vicarious atonement1       
whether by ,god or man2 there is little 
place in ,christian ,science for        
redemptive suffering2 there is a rather 
narrow region in which suffering may be 
considered as instructive1 a guide1     
perhaps1 to lead us out of unhappy or   
shadowed regions into the regions of    
physical and1 maybe1 spiritual and moral
 well-being1 and to quench the love of  
sin4#ee ,mrs4 ,eddy sometimes speaks of 
,christ as the ,saviour but if her      

system be pressed to a logical          
conclusion she must empty the word of   
all the associations which it has       
hitherto had and make it simply the     
equivalent of a teacher or demonstrator4
  ,footnote #ee3 ,page #cf4 ,but this is
 to recognize the reality of suffering4 
,mrs4 ,eddy is here on the threshold of 
a great truth--that suffering is an     
aspect of education--but she goes no    
further4   ,sin an ,error of ,mortal    
,mind  ,sin along with sickness and     
death are the projections of mortal     
error1 the creations of mortal mind2    
sin1 sickness and death are to be       
classified as effects of error4 ,christ 
came to destroy the belief of sin4 ,all 
this is to root sin simply in the mind4 
,no intimation at all here of the part  
which a perverted will may play in the  
entanglements of life2 no intimation of 
the immense force of the emotional side 
of life2 no intimation here of the      
immense part which sheer selfishness    
plays4 ,mrs4 ,eddy's sin is far too     

simple4 ,there is1 once more1 a sound   
reason for that4 ,mrs4 ,eddy is         
twice-born1 if you will1 but the        
struggle from which she finally emerged 
with whatever measure of victory she    
attained was not fought out with        
conscience as the field of battle1 or in
 the final reconciliation of a divided  
self finding unity and peace on some    
high level4  ,if ,mrs4 ,eddy's true     
struggle was of the soul and not of     
complaining nerves she has left no      
record of it anywhere4 ,it was rather   
the reaction of a speculative mind      
against the ,new ,england theology4 ,her
 experience is strangely remote from the
 experience of ,saul of ,tarsus1 or     
,augustine1 or ,john ,bunyan4 ,this is  
not to deny that in the practical       
outcome of ,christian ,science as       
evidenced in the life of its adherents  
there is not a very real power of       
helpful moral adjustment1 but the secret
 of that must be sought in something    
else than either its philosophy or its  

theology4 ,christian theologians        
themselves have been by no means agreed 
as to what sin really is4 ,under their  
touch it became too often a theological 
abstraction rather than entanglement of 
personality caught in manifold urgencies
 and pulled this way and that by        
competing forces battling in the will   
and flaming in passion and desire4 ,but 
a sin which has no reality save through 
a mistaken belief in its existence is   
certainly as far from the fact of a     
world like ours as is a sin which is    
only one factor in a scheme of          
redemption4  ,but at any rate1 if sin   
have no reality except our mistaken     
persuasion that it be true and if we are
 delivered from it directly we cease to 
believe in it and affirm in the stead of
 it the reality of love and goodness1   
then while there may be in such a faith 
as this both the need and possibility of
 the recasting of our personal lives1   
there is in it neither need nor         
possibility of the ,christian doctrine  

of the atonement4 ,naturally since man  
is incapable of sin1 sickness and death1
 he is unfallen1 nor is his capacity or 
freedom to sin any part of the divine   
plan4 ,a mortal sinner is not ,god's    
man4 ,mortals are the counterfeits of   
immortals2 they are the children of the 
wicked one1 or the one evil which       
declares that man begins in dust or as a
 material embryo 7page #dge74  ,here    
also is an echo from an early time and a
 far-off land4 ,it is not likely that   
,mrs4 ,eddy ever heard of ,mani or      
,manicheeism1 or knew to what a travail 
of soul ,st4 ,augustine was reduced when
 he fought his way through just a       
kindred line of teaching which1 to save 
,god from any contact with or           
responsibility for evil1 affirmed our   
dual genesis and made us on one side    
children of darkness and on the other   
the children of light1 without ever     
really trying to achieve in a single    
personality any reconciliation of two   
natures drawn from two entirely         

different sources4 ,nor does ,mrs4 ,eddy
 know that one ,eusebius1 finding much  
evidence of this faith in the           
,christianity of the fourth century1    
dismissed it briefly enough as an insane
 heresy4 ,heresy it certainly was for   
all those who were fighting their way   
out of their paganism into an ordered   
,christian faith and whether it be      
insane or no1 it is of all the          
explanations which have been offered for
 the presence of evil in a world        
supposedly ruled by the love and        
goodness of ,god1 the one which will    
least bear examination4 ,it has been    
dead and buried these thousand years4   
,we may deny1 if we are so minded1 any  
freedom of the will at all1 so involving
 ourselves in an inevitable sequence of 
cause and effect as to make us also     
simply weather-vanes driven east or west
 by winds of inheritance and environment
 which we have no power to deflect and  
to which we can only choose to respond4 
,but to deny us the freedom to sin and  

so to shut us up to a determinism of    
goodness is no more in accord with the  
facts than to deny us the power to be   
good and shut us up to a determinism of 
sin4 ,if we are free at all we are free 
in all directions4   ,the ,sacraments   
,disappear4 ,mrs4 ,eddy's ,theology a   
,reaction from the ,rigid ,evangelicism 
of ,her ,youth  ,science and ,health    
deals in the same radical way with the  
sacraments4 ,nothing at all1 apparently1
 is made of baptism save that ,mrs4     
,eddy says our baptism is a purification
 from all error4 ,in her account of the 
,last ,supper the cup is mostly dwelt   
upon and that only as showing forth the 
bitter experience of ,jesus4 ,the bread 
is the great truth of spiritual being1  
healing the sick and the breaking of it 
the explaining it to others4 ,more is   
made of what is called the last         
spiritual breakfast with the ,disciples 
by ,lake ,galilee than of the ,last     
,supper in the upper room4 ,this        
spiritual meeting with our ,lord in the 

dawn of a new light is the morning meal 
which ,christian ,scientists commemorate
 7page #ce74 ,our bread1 she says1 which
 cometh down from heaven1 is ,truth2 our
 wine1 the inspiration of ,love 7page   
#ce74 ,all this is of a piece with the  
general allegorical use of the ,old and 
,new ,testaments in ,science and        
,health1 but it is a marked departure   
from the sacrament of the ,lord's       
,supper even in the simple memorial way 
in which it is kept by non-liturgical   
churches4  ,mrs4 ,eddy's theology1 then1
 is in part a reaction from the hard    
phrasing of the evangelical doctrines in
 which she was trained and it is indeed 
in part a reaching out toward the       
interpretation of these doctrines in    
terms of life and experience1 but as a  
theology it is extraordinarily loose and
 even though the familiar phrases of    
,protestant and ,catholic faiths are    
employed1 what is left is wholly out of 
the current of the main movement of     
,christian theology heretofore4 ,the    

central articles of the historic creeds 
practically disappear under ,mrs4       
,eddy's treatment4  ,here1 then1 is a   
philosophy which will not bear          
examination1 a use of ,scripture which  
can possibly have no standing in any    
scholarly fellowship1 and a theology    
which empties the central ,christian    
doctrines of the great meanings which   
have heretofore been associated with    
them4 ,and yet in spite of all this1    
,christian ,science gets on and commends
 itself to so considerable a number of  
really sincere people as to make it     
evident enough that it must have some   
kind of appealing and sustaining power4 
,where1 then1 is the hiding of its      
power8 ,partly1 of course1 in its       
spaciousness4 ,there are times when a   
half-truth has a power which the whole  
truth does not seem to possess4 ,half   
truths can be accepted unqualifiedly2   
they are capable of a more direct appeal
 and if they be skillfully directed     
toward needs and perplexities they are  

always sure of an acceptance2 they make 
things too simple1 that is one secret of
 their hold upon us4 ,this1 of course1  
is more largely true among the          
spiritually undisciplined and the       
mentally untrained1 but even the wisest 
folk find it easier upon occasion to    
accept a half truth which promises an   
easy satisfaction or deliverance than a 
whole truth which needs to be wrestled  
with and may be agonized over before it 
brings us into some better estate4      
,the ,real ,power of ,christian ,science
 is in ,neither ,its ,philosophy ,nor   
,its ,theology  ,we have already seen   
what predisposing influences there were 
in the breaking down of what we have    
called the accepted validations of      
historic ,christianity--due1 as we have 
seen also1 to many contributing         
causes--to offer unusual opportunity to 
any new movement which promised         
deliverance4 ,but one must seek the     
conditions which have made possible so  
many strange cults and movements in     

,america1 not only in the breakdown of  
the historic faiths1 but also in the    
state of popular education4 ,democracy  
tends1 among other things1 to lead us to
 value a movement by the number of      
people whom it is able to attract4 ,we  
are1 somehow1 persuaded that once a     
majority has accepted anything1 what    
they have accepted must be true and     
right4 ,even a strong minority always   
commands respect4 ,any movement1        
therefore1 which succeeds in attracting 
a considerable number of followers is   
bound to attract others also1 just      
because it has already attracted so     
many4 ,one has only to listen to the    
current comment on ,christian ,science  
to feel that this is a real factor in   
its growth4  ,democracy believes in     
education1 but has not commonly the     
patience to make education              
thoroughgoing4 ,its education is very   
much more likely to be a practical or   
propaganda education than such training 
as creates the analytical temper and    

supplies those massive backgrounds by   
which the departures of a day are always
 to be tested4 ,in ,america particularly
 there is an outstanding want of        
background4 ,it needs history1          
philosophy1 economic understanding and a
 wealth of racial experience to give to 
any people either the power to quickly  
discriminate between the truth and the  
half-truth1 or to carry itself with     
poise through a transitional period4    
,but one may not dispose of the distinct
 hold of ,christian ,science upon its   
followers by such generalizations4 ,the 
real inwardness of no religion can ever 
be known from its theology4 ,a sincere  
devotion may attend a most deficient    
theology and we need to be charitable in
 judging the forms which other people's 
faith takes4 ,what seems unreasonable to
 one may seem quite right to another and
 whatever carries a sincere faith       
deepening into a positive spiritual     
experience accomplishes for the moment  
its purpose4 ,these studies of          

,christian ,science are severe--for one 
must deal with it as honestly as he     
knows how--but the writer does not mean 
that they should fail in a due          
recognition of the spiritual sincerity  
of ,christian ,scientists4 ,we must     
therefore go in to what is most nearly  
vitally central in the system to find   
the real secret of its powers4 ,it      
continues and grows as a system of      
healing and a religion4     ,,vii       
,,christian ,,science ,,as ,a ,,system  
,,of ,,healing ,,and ,a ,,religion      
,christian ,science practice is the     
application of its philosophy and       
theology to bodily healing4 ,this is    
really the end toward which the whole   
system is directed4 ,science and ,health
 is an exposition of ,mrs4 ,eddy's      
system as a healing force4 ,her         
philosophy and theology are incidental1 
or--if that is not a fair               
statement--they both condition and are  
conditioned by her system of healing4   
,there is hardly a page in her book     

without its reference to sickness and   
health4 ,her statements are consequently
 always involved and one needs to stand 
quite back from them to follow their    
outline4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 one may   
read deeply and indirectly between the  
lines attitudes and beliefs against     
which she is reacting4 ,her reactions   
against the environment of her girlhood 
and early womanhood affect her point of 
view so distinctly that without the     
recognition of this a good deal of what 
she says is a puzzle without a key4     
,christian ,science the ,application of 
,philosophy and ,theology to ,bodily    
,healing  ,she had been taught1 among   
other things1 that sickness is a        
punishment for sin4 ,one may safely     
assume this for the theology of her     
formative period fell back upon this    
general statement in its attempt to     
reconcile individual suffering and      
special providence4 ,one ought not      
justly to say that ,mrs4 ,eddy ever     
categorically affirms that she had been 

taught this1 or as categorically denies 
the truth of it1 but there are          
statements--as for example page         
#cff--which seem to imply that she is   
arguing against this and directing her  
practitioners how to meet and overcome  
it4 ,this perhaps accounts for the      
rather difficult and wavering treatment 
of sin and sickness in a connection     
where logically sickness alone should be
 considered4  ,mrs4 ,eddy would not     
naturally have thus associated sin and  
sickness had they not been associated   
for her in earlier teaching and yet1 as 
has been said1 all this is implicit     
rather than explicit4 ,the key to a     
great deal in ,science and ,health is   
not in what the author says1 but in the 
reader's power to discover behind her   
statements what she is writing down4    
,her system is both denial and          
affirmation4 ,in the popular            
interpretation of it quite as much is   
made of denial and the recognition of   
error as of its more positive aspects1  

but in the book there is a pretty       
constant interweaving of both the denial
 of evil and the affirmation of         
well-being4  ,there is a sound element  
of wisdom in many of her injunctions1   
but more needed perhaps fifty years ago 
than now4 ,we must remember constantly  
that ,mrs4 ,eddy is writing against the 
backgrounds of a somber theology1 a     
medical practice which relied very      
greatly on the use of drugs which was at
 the same time limited in its materia   
medica and too largely experimental in  
its practice4 ,she was writing before   
the day of the trained nurse with her   
efficient poise4 ,the atmosphere of a   
sick room is not naturally cheerful and 
generally both the medical procedure and
 the spiritual comfort of the sick room 
of the fifties and sixties did very     
little to lighten depression4 ,when1    
therefore1 ,mrs4 ,eddy urges1 as she    
does1 an atmosphere of confidence and   
sympathy she is directly in the right   
direction4   ,looseness of ,christian   

,science ,diagnosis  ,as we pass beyond 
these things which are now commonplace1 
what she says is not so simple4 ,it is  
difficult to say how far the healing    
which attends upon ,christian ,science  
is in her thought the result of ,divine 
,power immediately in exercise1 and how 
far it is the outcome of disciplines due
 to the acceptance of her theology and  
philosophy4 ,it is hard also to         
distinguish between the part the healer 
plays and the contribution of the       
subject4 ,there is no logical place in  
,christian ,science practice for        
physical diagnosis4 ,physicians examine 
the pulse1 tongue1 lungs1 to discover   
the condition of matter1 when in fact   
all is ,mind4 ,the body is the          
substratum of mortal mind1 and this     
so-called mind must finally yield to the
 mandate of immortal ,mind 7page #cgj74 
,the result of this in practice is that 
the ,christian ,science healer accepts  
either the diagnosis of the medical     
schools1 reported second-hand or else   

the patient's own statement of his      
condition4 ,needless to say there is    
room for very great looseness of        
diagnosis in such a practice as this4   
,the actuality of sickness must be      
recognized neither directly nor         
indirectly4 ,the sickness must not be   
thought or talked4 ,here also1 as far as
 the patient is concerned1 is a         
procedure of undebated value4 ,it all   
comes back1 as we shall see presently1  
to suggestion1 but any procedure which  
frees the patient from depressing       
suggestion and substitutes therefor an  
encouraging suggestion is in the right  
direction4 ,at the same time those who  
are not ,christian ,scientists would    
rather stubbornly believe that somebody 
must recognize the fact of sickness or  
else we cannot begin to set in action   
the machinery for curing it1 even if    
that machinery be ,christian ,science   
itself1 and we do not change this rather
 stubborn fact by covering sickness with
 the blank designation ,error4 ,even the

 error is real for the time being4#ef   
,footnote #ef3 ,the writer once received
 an unexpected sidelight on the practice
 of the ,christian ,science healer in   
this connection4 ,he once enjoyed the   
friendship of a ,christian ,science     
healer with whom he often played golf4  
,he called this healer up one morning to
 make an appointment4 ,his voice was not
 recognized over the telephone and he   
was mistaken for a patient4 ,the reply  
came back in professional tones--,and   
what error are you suffering from this  
morning8 ,when he answered that his own 
particular error was his persuasion that
 he could play golf the telephone       
atmosphere was immediately changed4     
,the results of fear are constantly     
dwelt upon and this too is in the right 
direction4 ,much is made of the creative
 power of mind in that it imparts       
purity1 health and beauty 7page #cga74  
,when ,mrs4 ,eddy says on page #cgc that
 disease is expressed not so much by the
 lips as in the functions of the body   

she is making one of those concessions  
to common sense which she makes over and
 over again1 but when she attempts to   
explain how erroneous or--as one may    
venture to call it--diseased belief     
expresses itself in bodily function one 
is reminded of ,quimby4 ,temperature1   
for example1 is wholly mental4 ,mrs4    
,eddy's reason for believing this is    
apparently because the body when bereft 
of mortal mind at first cools and       
afterward it is resolved into its       
primitive mortal elements4 ,mortal ,mind
 produces animal heat and then expels it
 through the abandonment of a belief or 
increases it to the point of            
self-destruction 7page #cgd74 ,fever is 
a mental state4 ,destroy fear and you   
end fever4  ,in all this there is a     
profound ignorance of the real causes of
 fever which helps us to understand the 
marked deficiencies of the whole system4
 ,there is nowhere any recognition of   
the body as an instrument for the       
transformation and conservation and     

release of energy real as a dynamo4     
,there is nowhere any recognition of the
 commonplaces of modern medical science 
in the tracing of germ infections4 ,true
 enough1 medical science had hardly more
 than begun when ,science and ,health   
was first written to redefine fevers in 
terms of germ infection and the         
consequent disorganization of the       
balance of physical functionings1 and   
the oxidation of waste materials real as
 fire on a hearth1 but that is no reason
 why such ignorance should be continued 
from generation to generation4   ,the   
,power of ,mental ,environment  ,in     
general1 ,christian ,science practice as
 indicated in ,science and ,health is a 
strange mingling of the true1 the       
assumed and the false2 its assumptions  
are backed up by selected illustrations 
and all that challenges it is ignored4  
,disease is unreal because ,mind is not 
sick and matter cannot be 7page #cic74  
,but ,mind is the only ,i1 or ,us1      
divine ,principle1 444 ,life1 ,truth1   

,love2 ,deity1 which outlines but is not
 outlined 7page #eia74 ,in other words  
,mind is an ideal affirmation which     
,mrs4 ,eddy assumes to underlie human   
experience and possibly to reveal itself
 through human experience1 and it       
certainly does not follow that while an 
ideal affirmation is not sick1 a human  
being involved in the necessary         
relationships of our present material   
existence may not be4 ,mrs4 ,eddy never 
clearly distinguishes between what a    
speculative mind may affirm and actual  
experience report4 ,her dialectic is a  
constant wrestling with reality in a    
range of statement which involves her in
 many contradictions4 ,she recognizes   
what she denies and denies what she     
recognizes and1 in a lawyer's phrase1   
constantly changes the venue4  ,but     
through and behind it all is an         
intelligible method4 ,confidence is to  
be restablished1 fear is allayed1 the   
sufferer from error led to commit       
himself to healing forces4 ,these       

healing forces are not consistently     
defined4 ,sometimes they are the power  
of the mind to sustain the body 7page   
#dag72 sometimes the power of ,christian
 ,science 7page #dab71 or the power of  
,truth 7page #dbj7 or divine ,spirit1 or
 her book itself4 ,continue to read and 
the book will become the physician1     
allaying the tremor which ,truth often  
brings to error when destroying it 7page
 #dbb74  ,mrs4 ,eddy sometimes          
anticipates in a vague way the reaction 
of thought and emotion upon             
physiological function to which ,cannon 
has given such careful attention1 but   
her definite statements are strangely   
inadequate4 ,what ,i term               
chemicalization is the upheaval produced
 when immortal ,truth is destroying     
erroneous mortal belief4 ,mental        
chemicalization brings sin and sickness 
to the surface1 forcing impurities to   
pass away1 as is the case with a        
fermenting fluid 7page #dja74eg ,she    
recognizes the limits of ,christian     

,science practice when she advises her  
followers to leave surgery and the      
adjustment of broken bones and          
dislocations to the fingers of a surgeon
 until the advancing age admits the     
efficacy and supremacy of mind 7page    
#dja74  ,footnote #eg3 ,compare ,the    
,quimby ,manuscripts1 p4 #aah4  ,great  
care is to be taken as to the patient's 
mental environment4 ,mrs4 ,eddy's       
constant emphasis upon this explains the
 excessive separatist nature of         
,christian ,science4 ,more than almost  
any other of its cults it separates its 
followers from those who do not belong  
to the cult4 ,they cannot1 naturally1   
attend churches in which the reality of 
disease is recognized2 they must have   
their own nurses as well as their own   
healers2 in certain regions they must   
confine their reading to their own      
literature2 their children must be      
educated1 on their religious side1 in   
their own cult schools and they cannot  
consistently associate themselves with  

remedial movements which assume another 
philosophy as their basis4 ,it is       
difficult for a detached observer to see
 how a consistent ,christian ,scientist 
reconciles the general conclusions of a 
modern scientific education with the    
presuppositions of his cult4 ,that he   
does this is one more testimony to a    
power which indeed is exercised in many 
other fields than the field of          
,christian ,science to keep in the      
practical conduct of life many of our   
governing conceptions in different and  
apparently water-tight compartments4    
,christian ,science ,defines ,disease as
 a ,belief ,which if ,treated as an     
,error ,will ,disappear  ,the answer to 
such a line of criticism is1 of course1 
in the familiar ,christian ,science     
phrase that perfect demonstration has   
not yet been achieved in the regions in 
which the ,christian ,scientist appears 
to be inconsistent4 ,but beyond this is 
the rather stubborn fact that in some of
 these regions demonstration never will 

be realized2 ,christian ,science is     
confined to the field in which          
suggestion may operate4 ,mrs4 ,eddy is  
most specific about diseases1 concerning
 which the medical practice of her time 
was most concerned and in the light of  
later medical science most              
ignorant--fever1 inflammation1          
indigestion1 scrofula1 consumption and  
the like4 ,these are all beliefs and if 
treated as error they will disappear4   
,even death is a dream which mind can   
master1 though this doubtless is only   
,mrs4 ,eddy's way of affirming          
immortality4 ,she hardly means to say   
that death is not a fact which          
practically has to be reckoned with in  
ways more final and unescapable than any
 other fact in life4 ,as ,dr4 ,campbell 
,morgan once said3 ,if you have the     
misfortune to imagine that you are dead1
 they will bury you4  ,mrs4 ,eddy       
concludes her chapter on ,christian     
,science ,practice with an allegory     
which she calls a mental court case1 the

 suggestion of which is to be found in  
one of the ,quimby manuscripts4#eh      
,since this manuscript is dated #ahfb it
 anticipates ,mrs4 ,eddy by almost      
thirteen years4 ,the setting is like the
 trial of ,faithful and ,christian in   
the town of ,vanity ,fair as recorded in
 ,bunyan's ,pilgrim ,progress4          
,doubtless memories of ,mrs4 ,eddy's    
reading of that deathless allegory are  
reproduced in this particular passage   
which the author is inclined to believe 
she wrote with more pleasure than       
anything else ever turned out by her too
 facile pen4 ,personal ,sense is the    
plaintiff1 ,mortal ,man the defendant1  
,false ,belief the attorney for         
,personal ,sense1 ,mortal ,minds1       
,materia ,medica1 ,anatomy1 ,physiology1
 ,hypnotism1 ,envy1 ,greed and          
,ingratitude constitute the ,jury4 ,the 
court room is filled with interested    
spectators and ,judge ,medicine is on   
the bench4 ,the case is going strongly  
against the prisoner and he is likely to

 expire on the spot when ,christian     
,science is allowed to speak as counsel 
for the defense4 ,he appeals in the name
 of the plaintiff to the ,supreme ,court
 of ,spirit1 secures from the jury of   
the spiritual senses a verdict of ,not  
,guilty and with the dismissal of the   
case the chapter on ,christian ,science 
,practice ends4  ,footnote #eh3 ,the    
,quimby ,manuscripts1 p4 #agb4          
,christian ,science ,has a ,rich ,field 
to ,work  ,now what can finally be said 
of the whole matter8 ,in general1 two   
things4 ,recognizing the force and      
reality of psycho-therapy ,christian    
,science gets its power as a healing    
system from the great number of people  
who are open to its appeal and the      
shrewd combination of elements in the   
appeal itself4 ,in spite of our great   
advance in medical knowledge and        
practice and in spite of the results of 
an improved hygiene there remains in    
society at large a very great deposit of
 physical ill-being sometimes acute1    

sometimes chronic1 sometimes clearly    
defined1 sometimes vague1 badly treated 
cases1 hopeless cases and a great reach 
of cases which are due rather to        
disturbed mental and moral states than  
to ascertainable physical causes4       
,illness has its border-land region as  
well as thought and the border-land     
faiths make their foremost appeal to    
those who1 for one reason or another1   
live in border-land physical states4    
,and1 to repeat1 the number of those who
 belong to this group is unexpectedly   
large4 ,naturally such as these grasp at
 anything which offers help2 they supply
 to the manufacturer of cure-all drugs  
their clientele2 they fill printed pages
 with testimonials of marvellous cures  
achieved where the regular medical      
faculty had been helpless2 they crowd   
about every faith healer2 they are the  
comrades of the pilgrims to ,lourdes and
 ,ste4 ,anne de ,beaupr2 they belong to 
the fellowship of those who1 in the     
,middle ,ages1 haunted shrines and      

sought out relics and asked to be       
touched by kings4 ,we discover their    
forebears in the pages of the ,gospels  
and as far back as any records go we see
 this long1 pathetic procession of the  
hopeless or the handicapped seeking     
help4 ,and again and again they get it1 
for we have also seen that1 given faith 
enough either in a saint or a shrine or 
a system1 psycho-therapy with certain   
subjects and in certain cases does heal4
 ,but this type of healing depends upon 
no one philosophy or no single force    
except indeed those obscure forces which
 are released by suggestion4  ,while    
this was being written certain          
evangelistic faith healers in the city  
of ,detroit were sending out broadsides 
of testimonials to their healings1 as   
definite in detail as the testimonials  
in ,science and ,health1 or the         
,christian ,science ,journal1 and yet   
the basal principles by which these men 
have claimed to work are as different   
from the basal principles of ,christian 

,science as east is from west4 ,while   
this is being revised ,cou1 the apostle 
of suggestion according to the ,nancy   
school1 is besieged in ,new ,york by    
those who have been led to hope for     
healing through the success of his      
method4 ,whether the relic be true or   
false does not matter if only the relic 
be believed in4   ,one of the ,most     
,strongly-,drawn ,systems of            
,psycho-therapy ,ever ,offered  ,now    
,christian ,science is one of the most  
strongly drawn psycho-therapeutic       
agencies ever offered4 ,most faith      
healing systems heretofore have depended
 upon some place1 some thing1 some      
healer4 ,here is a system capable of the
 widest dissemination and dependent only
 upon a book and its interpreters4 ,it  
universalizes what has heretofore1 for  
one reason or another1 been localized4  
,it is shrewdly organized1 as far as    
propaganda goes1 and effectively        
directed4 ,it is widely advertised by   
its friends--and its critics4 ,its      

temples1 for beauty and dignity1 put to 
shame most ,protestant churches4 ,its   
rituals combine in an unusual way the   
simple and the dramatic4 ,it is so      
fortunately situated as to be able to   
keep finance--which is a trying element 
in ,protestant ,church life--in the     
background4 ,its followers have that    
apostolic fervour which attaches to     
movements sure of their divine          
commission and not yet much worn by     
time4 ,it possesses distinctly one of   
,sir ,henry ,jones' hall-marks of       
religion4 ,it impassions the spirit of  
its disciples and adds consequence to   
the things it sanctions or condemns4    
,it draws upon deeply established       
,christian reverences and faiths4 ,it   
secures for its authority the persistent
 but perplexed faith in the ,bible which
 the average ,protestant inherits and   
for those who believe in it the force of
 this authority is no wise weakened by  
the fact that by every sound canon of   
,biblical interpretation it is illicit4 

,its very dogmatism is an asset4 ,it    
could not do its work if it were less   
sure4 ,the confusions of the systems    
which try the critically minded are a   
contribution to the devout who find in  
them an added opportunity for faith4    
,its experience meetings create         
enthusiasm and confidence4 ,it is1 in   
short1 more than any one of the         
movements we are here considering1 a    
clearly defined cult whose intensities1 
limitations and mystic assurances all   
combine to produce among its disciples  
the temper most favourable to suggestion
 and it locks up on its force as a      
system of healing4  ,an accurate        
analysis of what it actually            
accomplishes would require an immense   
and probably impossible labour--a       
knowledge of each case1 an accurate     
diagnosis when even for the trained     
diagnostician the thing is difficult    
enough1 and the following up of all     
reported cases4 ,the medical faculty    
would probably have done better to have 

taken such movements as these more      
seriously and to have brought to them a 
trained investigation which1 except in  
the case of ,lourdes1 has never even    
been attempted4 ,doubtless there is     
looseness and inconsistency in the whole
 system4 ,almost any one who has had a  
practical observation of the working of 
,christian ,science has knowledge enough
 not only of looseness and inconsistency
 but of what seems to the non-,christian
 ,science mind positive untruth4        
,something1 however1 must always be     
allowed here for the way in which the   
mind acts under excitement and for the  
way in which delusion deludes4 ,all this
 combines to make any final judgment in 
this region difficult1 but there still  
remains1 after all qualification1 an    
arresting solidity of achievement4      
,christian ,science does work1          
especially with the self-absorbed1 the  
neurotic and those who have needed1     
above all1 for their physical           
deliverance1 a new access to faith and  

courage4 ,christian ,science            
practitioners have also an unusual      
opportunity in what may be called moral 
rehabilitation with physical            
consequences4 ,the physician has a      
better chance with the bodies of his    
patients than with their souls2 the     
minister a better chance with the       
spiritual needs of his parishioners than
 with their bodies and habits2 the      
,christian ,science practitioner to an  
unusual extent has the whole of life    
under his control and it ought in all   
fairness to be conceded that this power 
is helpfully employed4  ,the very       
discipline of ,christian ,science is    
itself a therapeutic4 ,there are really 
a good many things which become         
non-existent directly you begin to act  
as if they did not exist4 ,an atmosphere
 in which no one refers to his ailment  
and every one to his well-being is a    
therapeutic atmosphere4 ,psychologists  
have taught us that if we go through the
 motions of being happy we are likely to

 have an access of happiness2 if we go  
through the motions of being unhappy we 
have an access of misery4 ,if we go     
through the motions of being well1 very 
often we achieve a sound measure of     
health4   ,but it is ,fundamentally a   
,system of ,suggestion  ,all this has   
been so strongly dwelt upon of late as  
to make any extended consideration of it
 unnecessary here1 as indeed any        
extended consideration is impossible for
 any one save a specialist4 ,what we are
 more concerned with is the way in which
 the discipline and philosophy of       
,christian ,science produce their       
results4 ,the answer to this question is
 as plain as anything can be in our     
present state of knowledge1 for         
essentially1 as a healing force1        
,christian ,science stands or falls with
 the therapeutic power of suggestion4   
,it is a strongly drawn system of       
psycho-therapy because it is a strongly 
drawn system of suggestion4 ,its        
suggestion involves assumptions which   

are sometimes philosophy1 sometimes     
theology1 and more commonly a baffling  
interplay of the two4  ,but the outcome 
of it all is the practical persuasion on
 the part of the patient that he is not 
sick and does not need so much to get   
well as to demonstrate that he is well1 
and that in this demonstration he has an
 absolute force on his side4 ,to this   
end the whole body of affirmation1      
persuasion1 assumption1 suggestion and  
technique of ,christian ,science is     
directed4 ,as one tries to analyze these
 separate elements they are1 taken      
singly1 inconsistent1 often unverifiable
 and often enough1 by any tests at all  
save the tests of ,christian ,science1  
positively untrue4 ,but as ,mrs4 ,eddy  
has combined them and as they are       
applied in practice they do possess an  
undeniable power4 ,they are not         
dependent1 as has been said1            
fundamentally upon persons or things or 
places4 ,here is a coherent system1 the 
force of which may be felt when it is   

not understood and it bears upon the    
perplexed or the impressionable with    
very great power4 ,it would be          
appreciably weakened if any one of its  
constituent elements were taken out of  
it4 ,but fundamentally it can do no more
 than any other system of suggestion1   
unquestionably accepted1 can do4   ,it  
is ,bound to be ,affected by ,our       
,growing ,understanding of the ,ranges  
of ,suggestion  ,a deal of water has    
gone under the bridge since ,mary ,baker
 ,eddy began her work4 ,what was then   
almost wholly involved in mystery is now
 beginning to be reduced to law4 ,the   
psychology of suggestion is by no means 
clear as yet1 nor are the students of it
 agreed in their conclusions1 but we do 
know enough about the complex character 
of consciousness1 the actuality of the  
subconscious and the reaction of        
strongly held attitudes upon bodily     
states to be in the way1 generally1 of  
freeing this whole great matter from the
 priest1 the healer1 the charlatan or   

the prophet of strange cults and        
referring it hereafter for direction and
 employment to its proper agents--the   
physician1 the expert in disordered     
mental conditions and the instructed    
spiritual adviser4  ,it is now generally
 agreed that suggestion1 however        
induced1 may positively affect bodily   
function4 ,if it is a wrong suggestion  
its effects are hurtful1 right          
suggestion its effects are helpful4 ,now
 since a vast range of physical         
maladjustments--and this may be         
broadened to include nervous            
maladjustments as well--is functional1  
suggestive therapeutics have a          
far-reaching and distinct field4 ,when  
,christian ,science or any other healing
 cult reports cures in this field1 those
 cures1 if verified by sufficient       
testimony1 may be accepted as           
accomplished4 ,those who have           
accomplished them may take what credit  
they will for their own agency in the   
matter1 but for all that the cure is no 

testimony at all to the truth or falsity
 of their system4 ,it proves only that  
those helped have believed it4  ,the    
matter of organic healing is more       
difficult4 ,medical ,science does not   
generally admit the possibility of      
organic change through suggestion4      
,there may be1 however1 a real          
difference of opinion as to whether a   
particular trouble is functional or     
organic4 ,here is a border-land not so  
much of fact as of diagnosis4 ,a cure   
may be reported as of an organic trouble
 when the basal diagnosis was wrong and 
it was only functional1 but the body    
possesses undoubtedly the power of      
correcting or at least of limiting      
organic disease4 ,tuberculosis is an    
organic disease but it is again and     
again limited and finally overcome      
without the knowledge of the subject4   
,post-mortem examinations may reveal    
scars in the lungs and so reflect       
processes only thus brought to light4   
,whatever serves general physical       

well-being may greatly help the body in 
eliminating disease and securing a going
 measure of physical health4 ,in such   
indirect ways as these suggestion may1  
therefore1 while not acting directly    
upon diseased organism1 contribute most 
distinctly to arrest organic disease4   
,thoughtful physicians are ready to     
concede this and thus open a door for a 
measure of organic healing which        
technically their science denies4 ,a    
very revealing light has been let in    
upon this whole region by hypnotism4    
,some of the students of hypnotism are  
inclined to go as far as to admit       
organic change under hypnotic           
suggestion4 ,strong1 persistent         
impressions or suggestions made on the  
reflex organic consciousness of the     
inferior centers may modify their       
functional disposition1 induce trophic  
changes1 and even change organic        
structures4#ei  ,footnote #ei3 ,sidis1  
,the ,psychology of ,suggestion1 p4 #gj4
  ,christian ,science1 then1 as a       

healing agency has a great field for    
there are always folk enough to heal4   
,it has a method1 a discipline highly   
effective in producing changed mental   
and spiritual states and1 strangely     
enough1 it is all the more effective    
because it is so narrowly true4 ,those  
to whom it makes its appeal are1 for the
 most part1 not capable of analyzing    
through to their sources its fundamental
 inveracities1 nor would they be        
inclined to do that if they were able4  
,its vagueness and its spacious rhetoric
 really give it power4 ,it does produce 
results and probably one case of        
physical betterment has a prevailing    
power which a chapter of criticisms     
cannot overcome and1 more than that1 one
 case of physical betterment may screen 
a dozen in which nothing happened at    
all4  ,for ,christian ,science has in   
this region two alibis which can always 
be brought into action1 the most perfect
 ever devised4 ,if it fails to cure it  
is either because the one who was not   

cured lacked faith1 or because of the   
erroneous belief of some one else4 ,a   
system which believes that the toxic    
effect of poisons depends upon the vote 
of the majority in that arsenic will    
cease to be a poison when everybody     
ceases to think of it as a poison and   
will be a poison as long as anybody     
believes it is1 is perfectly safe even  
if it should fail to cure a case of     
arsenical poison1 for until facts and   
experience cease to weigh at all there  
will always be some one somewhere       
believing that arsenic is a poison and  
that one will be the scapegoat for the  
system4   ,as a ,religion it is         
,strongest in ,teaching ,that ,god ,has 
,meaning for the ,whole of ,life        
,christian ,science is1 however1 more   
than a system of mental therapeutics1 it
 is also a religion and due allowance   
must be made in any just appraisal of it
 for the way in which it has made       
religion real to many for whom religion 
had ceased to have a working reality4   

,it needs to be said on one side that a 
good deal of ,christian ,science        
religion is really taking the ,ark of   
,god to battle1 using religion1 that is1
 for comfort1 material prosperity1      
health and just such tangible things4   
,but ,christian ,science meets a demand 
of the time also just here4 ,our own    
age1 deeply entangled in material       
satisfactions1 has no mind to postpone  
the satisfactions of religion to a      
future life4 ,the monk and1 indeed1 the 
generality of the devout in the medieval
 ,church sought in self-limited earthly 
joy a proper discipline for the soul and
 a state in contrast to which the       
felicities for which they paid so great 
a price should be the more welcome4 ,the
 devout of ,mary ,baker ,eddy's time1   
though inclined to find in material     
well-being a plain mark of divine       
favour1 none the less accepted sickness 
and sorrow as from the hand of ,god and 
prayed that with a meek and lowly heart 
they might endure this fatherly         

correction and1 having learned obedience
 by the things they suffered1 have a    
place amongst those who1 through faith  
and patience1 inherit ,his presence4    
,but our own time is not so eager to    
inherit promises as to enter into       
possession4 ,a religion which does not  
demonstrate itself in actual well-being 
is under suspicion4 ,the social passion 
now much in evidence among the churches 
grows out of this as well as the many   
cults which seek the proof of the love  
of ,god in health1 happiness and        
prosperity4 ,and indeed all this is     
natural and right enough4 ,if religion  
be real the fruits of it should be      
manifest1 though whether these are the  
more significant and enduring fruits of 
the spirit may be questioned4 ,a        
religion which demonstrates itself in   
motor-cars and generous incomes and more
 than comfortable raiment may be real   
enough to those who profess it1 but its 
reality is not quite the reality of the 
religion of the ,sermon on the ,mount4  

,christian ,science is in line with a   
distinct contemporaneous demand to      
demonstrate ,god's love in about the    
terms of ,jacob's famous vow at         
,bethel--,if ,god will be with me and   
will keep me in this way that ,i go1 and
 will give me bread to eat and raiment  
to put on so that ,i come again to my   
father's house in peace1 then shall the 
,lord be my ,god4 ,this is a far cry    
from the noble protestation of ,job     
which sounds still across the years3    
,though he slay me1 still will ,i trust 
in him4  ,and yet the more sensitive and
 richly endowed among the followers of  
,mary ,baker ,eddy have found in        
,christian ,science other values than   
these4 ,they have passed1 by a sort of  
saving instinct1 beyond its             
contradictions and half-truths to what  
is centrally best in the whole system4  
,god1 that is1 has a meaning for life   
not hereafter but now1 not in creeds but
 in experience1 not alone in hard       
disciplinary ways1 but in loving and    

intimate and helpful ways4 ,true enough1
 this is no monopoly of ,christian      
,science2 ,christianity holds this truth
 in fee simple4 ,but unfortunately1 in  
ways which it is perfectly possible to  
trace1 the great emphases of            
,christianity have in the past been too 
largely shifted from this4  ,there has  
been and still is in most ,protestant   
churches too much reticence about the   
meaning of ,god for the individual life 
and maybe too great hesitation in really
 using to the full the proffer of divine
 power4 ,the accepted understandings of 
the place of pain and suffering in life 
have been1 as it were1 a barrier between
 the perplexed and their ,god2 ,his love
 has not1 somehow1 seemed sufficiently  
at the service of men1 and though       
,christian ,science secures the         
unchallenged supremacy of the love of   
,god by emptying it of great ranges of  
moral meaning and shutting away         
therefrom all the shadowed side of life1
 it has probably justified the love of  

,god to multitudes who have1 for one    
reason and another1 heretofore          
questioned it and they have discovered  
in this new-found sense of ,god's love  
and presence1 a reality and wealth of   
religious experience which they had     
never known before4   ,it ,exalts the   
,power of ,mind ,but ,ignores ,too      
,largely the ,processes by ,which ,mind 
,realizes ,its ,ideals  ,there is also  
in ,christian ,science practice and     
philosophy the apprehension of a real   
truth which ,new ,thought formulates    
much more clearly4 ,mind is creative4   
7,not alone mind with a capital ,m but  
our own every-day1 human1 small m mind47
 ,the trouble is that ,christian        
,science hopelessly short-circuits the  
creative process4 ,our human world is   
finally what we make it through our     
insight1 our understanding and above all
 by our sense of values1 but the actual 
achievement of changed purposes in a    
changed world is a process whose        
immensity is not even so much as hinted 

at in ,science and ,health4 ,christian  
,science too largely ignores and seems  
commonly to deny the whole disciplinary 
side of life with its inevitable        
accompaniment of failure1 fault and     
pain4 ,pain is no delusion2 pain is the 
sign of something gone wrong in the     
great business of normal physical life4 
,nor is sin only an unreality which     
seems real to human erring belief2 sin  
is a sign that something has gone wrong 
in the struggle for a normal1           
disciplined1 moral life4 ,nor is the    
whole body of evil simply a shadow to be
 dismissed as easily as one turns one's 
back upon some darkness and faces toward
 the light2 evil is the sign of         
something gone wrong1 or something not  
yet attained in the massive progress of 
a humanity which combines in itself so  
many discordant elements1 which has so  
long a way to go and so much to learn   
and so many things to conquer as it     
struggles upward toward a happier state4
  ,christian ,science cannot in the end 

be true to the great facts of           
experience1 which have a power beyond   
the force of any assertion to           
countervail1 unless it is false to ,mary
 ,baker ,eddy's philosophy1 nor can it  
be true to its philosophy without       
impoverishing moral and spiritual       
endeavour4 ,it is hard to find a place  
in the system--taken rigidly--for       
sympathy or tenderness or the richest of
 human qualities1 or for those elements 
of wealth in character contributed by   
pain bravely borne or sorrow            
uncomplainingly accepted4 ,there is     
little place in ,christian ,science for 
the ,beatitudes and less still for that 
fine courage which is itself the one    
assured victory which the hard beset may
 win on any field of battle4 ,the writer
 believes that while this severe        
judgment is justified by ,science and   
,health1 it is not justified by the     
practical outcome of the cult in the    
lives of many of its disciples4 ,they   
are in devotion and kindness the equal  

of many in the ,church and superior to  
some4 ,their loyalty to their ,church   
rebukes a good deal of orthodox         
easy-going4 ,all of which proves at     
least that life is bigger than our      
theories about it and in the end subdues
 those who would make the best of it1 to
 communities of experience and          
understanding in which we are all       
strangely kin4 ,for1 after all1         
unpleasant things cannot be thought out2
 they must be fought out and dug out and
 lived out4 ,the whole redemptive force 
of society in thoroughgoing and         
far-reaching ways must be brought to    
bear upon the very sources of all the   
evil side of life1 and the bare         
philosophy of ,christian ,science is not
 equal to this task4   ,is ,not ,big    
,enough for the ,whole of ,experience   
,it is doubtful if ,christian ,science  
has ever made an appreciable change in  
the mortality statistics of any city and
 yet if the ,public ,health ,department 
were to permit for forty-eight hours the

 milk or water supply of a city to be   
polluted1 statistics would disclose that
 within ten days4 ,this is only an      
illustration but it does illustrate4 ,we
 must work if we are to dig up the roots
 of evil things and get a better growth 
in their stead and anything which       
attempts to substitute for this a denial
 of the reality of the evil1 a mystical 
religious attitude and a mere formula of
 faith1 no matter how oft repeated or   
how sincerely accepted1 or indeed no    
matter how efficacious in certain       
selected regions among certain selected 
groups1 is on the whole not a           
contribution to human well-being4  ,very
 likely ,mrs4 ,eddy's followers in the  
practical conduct of their lives are    
already recognizing this and gradually1 
and maybe unconsciously1 adapting       
themselves to it4 ,there are already    
signs of certain processes of conformity
 to the necessities of experience2 these
 are likely to go farther4 ,if          
,christian ,science follows the history 

of such movements in the past1 it will1 
after having made its own distinct      
assertion of whatever measure of truth  
it contains1 be gradually swept back    
into the main current of religion and   
practice4 ,it will maintain a nominal   
distinctness1 but in the general conduct
 of life it will lose its more          
outstanding characteristics and become  
largely a distinction without a         
difference4 ,milmine1 in her thoughtful 
criticism of ,christian ,science at the 
end of her history says that the future 
of ,christian ,science stands or falls  
with psycho-therapy4  ,that is true only
 on the one side4 ,as far as ,christian 
,science has true religious insights and
 approaches it will go on in spite of   
what happens to psycho-therapy1 though  
there is enough in psycho-therapy to    
assure its future within well-defined   
regions if that were all4 ,something    
bigger than psycho-therapy will finally 
judge and dismiss ,christian ,science to
 its own place--life and experience will

 do that--and it is safe to say that in 
the end ,christian ,science will have to
 come to terms with a truth bigger than 
its own1 with a body of experience which
 cannot be dealt with on the selective  
process of taking what you want and     
denying the rest1 and more than that1 it
 will have to come to terms with the    
whole great matter of an intellectual1  
moral and spiritual struggle governed by
 law and conditioned by the vaster world
 of which we are a part4 ,this is not to
 deny that ,christian ,science and      
allied teachings have made contributions
 of real value to our common problem4   
,it is only to affirm that here is      
something not big enough for the whole  
either of truth or experience4          
,,viii  ,,new ,,thought   ,new ,thought 
has been defined as an attitude of mind1
 not a cult4 ,it is really both4 ,it is 
necessary to include it in this study   
because it is a cult2 it is hard justly 
to appraise it because it is an attitude
 of mind4 ,attitudes of mind are as     

elusive as the play of light on running 
water4 ,we can estimate their force and 
direction only as we have an            
understanding of the main currents of   
thought by which they are carried along 
and as far as ,new ,thought goes these  
main currents are far older than the    
cult itself4   ,new ,thought ,difficult 
to ,define2 ,an ,attitude of ,mind1 ,not
 a ,cult  ,new ,thought has never had an
 apostolic succession or a rigid        
discipline or a centralized organic     
form4 ,this has given to it a baffling  
looseness in every direction1 but has1  
on the other hand1 given it a pervasive 
quality which ,christian ,science does  
not possess4 ,it has a vast and diffuse 
literature and so merges into the       
general movement of contemporaneous     
thought as to make it difficult to find 
anywhere a distinct demarcation of      
channels4  ,new ,thought is either a    
theology with a philosophic basis or a  
philosophy with a theological bias4 ,it 
is centrally and quite distinctly an    

attempt to give a religious content to  
the present trend of science and        
philosophy1 a reaction against old      
theologies and perhaps a kind of nebula 
out of which future theologies will be  
organized4 ,for a great theology is     
always the systematic organization of a 
complex of forces1 a massive structure  
wrought through the years by manifold   
builders subduing a rich variety of     
material to their purposes4  ,the       
teaching of the ,scriptures1 old        
traditions1 the needs of worship and    
organization1 political and social      
circumstances1 changing moral ideals1   
the trend of philosophies and sciences1 
the challenge of schisms and heresies1  
the sanctifying power of blind custom   
and the mystical authority of the       
,church itself all combine to make a    
theology4 ,once a great theology is so  
constituted it possesses an immense     
power over life4 ,it shapes character   
and ideals and gives direction to faith1
 orders effort and so becomes1 as it    

were1 a mould into which souls and      
societies are cast4  ,theologies may be 
changed1 in fact they are always in the 
way of being changed1 but they yield    
slowly to transforming forces4 ,nothing 
is so persistent as organized faith and 
yet the very strength of a great        
theology is always its weakness4 ,it is 
never really anything else than a       
crystallization of past forces4 ,the    
experiences which voice themselves in   
theology have cooled and hardened down2 
the philosophy which is implicit in     
theology is past philosophy2 the science
 implicit in theology is senescent      
science4  ,there is always in evidence1 
then1 in the regions of theology a      
disturbing pressure occasioned by the   
reaction of contemporaneous movements in
 science and philosophy and             
understandings of life generally upon   
these old and solidly established       
inherited forms4 ,currents of thought   
are always1 as it were1 running past the
 great formul since thought is free and 

formul are rigid1 and then returning    
upon them4 ,from time to time this      
movement gathers great force4 ,the old  
has been rigid so long1 the new is so   
insistent that the conflict between them
 fills an age with its clamour1 stresses
 souls to its travail1 breaks down      
ancient forms without immediately       
building up their equivalent1 and       
contributes uncertainties and           
restlessnesses everywhere in evidence4  
,now this is exactly what has been      
happening in the region of religion in  
the last thirty years4 ,an inherited    
order1 strongly fashioned and organized 
and long essentially unchanged1 has been
 compelled to take account of the forces
 about it4 ,certainly theology is not so
 static as an earlier paragraph would   
seem to indicate1 none the less the     
great theological centralities do       
possess an immense power of resistance4 
,we have already seen how little        
,protestantism had changed since the    
,reformation until it met the full      

impact of modern science and philosophy4
 ,we have had really until our own time 
and still largely continue a theology   
with the ,creation story of the ancient 
,hebrews1 the outlook upon life of the  
age of the ,apostles1 the philosophy of 
the ,greek fathers1 ,st4 ,augustine's   
conception of human nature and the      
expectation of the end of the world and 
the issues of history of the ,jewish    
apocalypse given a ,christian           
interpretation4  ,true enough1 there are
 in all this precious and timeless      
qualities but there is also through all 
the fabric of our formulated faith the  
interweaving of such understandings as  
those who shaped our creeds had1 of law 
and history and truth4 ,any far-reaching
 change1 then1 in philosophy or science 
was bound to profoundly affect religion 
and even forty years ago far-reaching   
modifications of the old order were     
overdue4  ,new ,thought is just one     
outcome of the tremendous impact of     
contemporaneous thought upon our        

inherited theology2 a detached fragment 
or rather group of fragments1 for even  
as a cult ,new ,thought1 as has been    
said1 is loosely organized and its      
varying parts have in common only a     
common drift4 ,yet that drift is        
significant for it has beneath it the   
immense force of a philosophy which has 
been gathering head for more than a     
century4 ,it is to this1 therefore1 that
 we ought to address ourselves for any  
understanding of the changed outlook    
upon life which is carried1 as it were1 
from the surface of profounder tides4   
,the ,rediscovery of the ,inner ,life   
,josiah ,royce dismisses the whole of   
philosophy from ,spinoza to ,kant in one
 single pregnant phrase4 ,he calls it   
the rediscovery of the inner life4 ,it  
is along this line that modern          
philosophy and religion approach each   
other4 ,religion has always been the    
setting forth of the inner life in terms
 of its relationship to ,god and the    
proofs of the reality of religion have  

always been found in the experiences of 
the soul4 ,the mystic particularly made 
everything of the inner life2 he lived  
only in its realities4 ,for the sake of 
its enrichment and its empowerment he   
subjected himself to rigorous           
disciplines4 ,its revelations were to   
him all sufficient1 for having found    
,god therein he asked for nothing       
beside4  ,wherein1 then1 is this new    
mysticism1 or better1 this new cult of  
the inner life different from the old8  
,it is not easy to answer that question 
in a paragraph1 though it is easy to    
feel the answer in any comparison of the
 great classics of mysticism--which are 
mostly spiritual autobiographies--and   
,new ,thought literature4 ,to turn from 
,st4 ,augustine to ,dresser1 or from    
,st4 ,theresa to ,trine is to change    
spiritual and intellectual climates4    
,there is in the modern literature      
little reflection of such spiritual     
struggle as fills the great ,confessions
 with the agony of embattled souls1 nor 

any resolution of such struggle into the
 peace of a soul fully awake as regards 
,god but wholly asleep as regards things
 of this world and in respect of        
herself4 ,this testimony of ,st4        
,theresa is illuminating as a           
contrasting background for ,new         
,thought4 ,there the soul is very much  
awake1 both as regards things of this   
world and in respect of herself4  ,these
 new cults of the inner life are far    
more self-conscious than the old and far
 more self-analytical4 ,they seek to    
discern the laws in answer to which they
 act and utilize those laws in the      
practical conduct of life4 ,they are    
always either appealing to underlying   
philosophies or else trying to make a   
philosophy of their own4 ,mysticism made
 everything of ,god and nothing of      
itself4 ,it plotted its mystic way but  
knew nothing of psychology4 ,new        
,thought seeks to discover in psychology
 a road to ,god4 ,the centers of        
mysticism were emotional2 the centers of

 ,new ,thought are intellectual4 ,all   
these cults are far more akin to        
,gnosticism than mysticism1 though they 
are saved1 yet not wholly1 from the     
lawlessness of ,gnosticism by a pretty  
constant return to the outstanding      
conclusions of science and philosophy4  
,spinoza's ,quest  ,now if we seek to   
discover the real genesis of the        
movement and trace its development we   
would better begin1 so deep are the     
roots of things1 with ,spinoza rather   
than ,quimby4 ,here the deeper currents1
 upon the surface of which ,new ,thought
 moves1 take their rise and here also we
 return to ,royce's phrase--the         
rediscovery of the inner life--and the  
philosopher who inaugurated the         
philosophic quest for just this         
discovery4  ,spinoza was one of the last
 of the mystics and the first of the    
modern philosophers4 ,he shared with the
 mystics of an earlier time a consuming 
sense of the futility of life save as   
life perfected itself in contemplations 

of an eternal excellency and communion  
with something far greater than itself4 
,after experience had taught me1 he says
 7and this is quoted from ,royce's      
,spirit of ,modern ,philosophy71 that   
all the usual surroundings of social    
life are vain and futile1 seeing that   
none of the objects of my fears         
contained in themselves anything either 
good or bad except in so far as the mind
 is affected by them1 ,i finally        
resolved to inquire whether there might 
be some real good which would affect the
 mind singly1 to the exclusion of all   
else1 whether there might be anything of
 which the discovery and attainment     
would enable me to enjoy continuous1    
supreme and unending happiness4  ,now   
there is in all this a strangely modern 
note--dissatisfaction with what is      
offered by the commonplace and the      
accepted1 a great emphasis upon the mind
 as the key to the readjustments of     
life1 a quest for some single formula   
which would offer continuous1 supreme   

and unending happiness4 ,this is exactly
 what ,mary ,baker ,eddy and all the    
other perplexed and bodily broken       
seekers who gathered about ,quimby were 
really wanting and this is what1 for one
 reason or another1 the proffered       
religious experiences of their time     
failed to secure them4 ,this was1 then1 
to quote ,royce1 the beginning of       
,spinoza's ,pilgrim's ,progress4 7,as   
indeed it is the beginning of every     
,pilgrim's ,progress47 ,but now1 for    
what distinguishes him from other       
mystics and makes him a philosopher and 
not a mere exhorter1 he has his         
religious passion1 he must reflect upon 
it 444 the philosopher must justify his 
faith4  ,we have no need here to follow 
,spinoza along all the way1 difficult   
and misty enough1 by which he sought to 
justify his faith4 ,the outstanding fact
 is enough4 ,he is a mystic who reasons 
his way through where the elder mystic  
has felt his way through1 and the goal  
which he finally reaches1 though it be  

the goal which the earlier mystics had  
found by other roads1--the loss of self 
in ,god--is none the less such an       
achievement of reason as ,spinoza was   
able to compass4   ,kant ,reaffirms the 
,creative ,power of ,mind  ,so this     
polisher of lenses bequeathed to the    
century which followed him its greatest 
inheritance and set for it its greatest 
task3 the inner life as the supreme     
concern of the philosopher and the      
discovery of its laws and the           
interpretations of its realities the    
supreme task of philosophy4 ,those who  
continued his work began far enough1    
apparently1 from the point where he left
 off and went a road strangely remote   
from his4 ,having taken the inner life  
for their study they sought to lay bare 
its very foundations4 ,nowadays1 if we  
are so minded1 we dictate to machines   
which write our words curiously enough  
in shallow lines upon wax cylinders and 
when the cylinders are full shave off   
the fragile record and begin again4     

,this is what the eighteenth century did
 for the mind4 ,it reduced it to a      
virgin surface1 it affirmed the reality 
of nothing except the impressions       
thereupon registered by what sense      
supplied4 ,we owe to experience and to  
experience only all that vast store     
which the busy and boundless fancy of   
man has painted on it the white paper of
 the mind with an almost endless        
variety4 ,we have nothing with which to 
begin but sensation2 we have nothing to 
go on with but reflection4 ,these two1  
namely external1 material things as the 
objects of sensation1 and the operations
 of our own minds within as the objects 
of reflection1 are the only originals   
from whence all our ideas take their    
beginnings4#fj ,such things as these are
 perhaps enough to begin with1 but they 
are not enough to go on with as our     
thinkers soon enough discover4 ,some way
 must be found to relate the material   
thus supplied and to build it up into a 
glowing1 continuous1 reasonable and     

conscious inner life4  ,footnote #fj3   
,locke1 ,essay ,concerning the ,human   
,understanding4  ,so in turn the        
philosophers laboured at their problem4 
,they made much not only of reflection  
but of association2 they found a place  
for memory and imagination2 they        
discovered that we may as truly define  
experience in terms of ideas as of      
sensation2 they discovered finally that 
by no possible process even of the most 
ingenious reasoning can you get the full
 wealth of life out of a mind which was 
nothing more to begin with than a piece 
of white paper1 any more than you can   
get ,hamlet 7if we may suppose          
,shakespeare to have used a dictaphone7 
out of a wax cylinder1 a needle and a   
diaphragm4  ,so ,kant ended what        
,spinoza began1 by reaffirming the      
creative power of the mind itself4 ,it  
does far more than passively receive1 it
 interprets1 organizes1 contributes1    
creates4 ,true enough1 it is not an     
unconditioned creator1 it has laws of   

its own in obedience to which it finds  
both its freedom and its power4 ,it must
 take the material which experience     
supplies and yet1 in its higher ranges1 
in the regions of conduct and faith1    
that is1 where conscience has become the
 guide and the necessities of the soul  
the law1 we do possess the power in     
enfranchising obediences and splendid   
adventures of faith to make a world rich
 in goodness1 power and peace4 ,and     
here1 once more1 there is a strangely   
modern note4 ,life is a pilgrim's       
progress4 ,we are set out to discover   
whether there might be some real good1  
the discovery and attainment of which   
would enable us to enjoy continuous1    
supreme and unending happiness4 ,and we 
do possess the power within ourselves1  
if only we may discover the controlling 
laws and release effective forces1 to   
come at least a stage nearer our goal4  
,all this makes for that exaltation of  
the creative self which is so marked a  
characteristic of present-day attitudes 

and which is perhaps the distinctive    
affirmation of ,new ,thought4           
,utilitarianism1 ,deism and             
,individualism the ,practical ,outcome  
of a ,great ,movement  ,but it needed   
time for all this to work itself out4   
,the philosophic basis for it had been  
supplied but it is a far cry from       
philosophy to the practical conduct of  
life4 ,kant's transcendental philosophy 
needed a deal of working over before it 
became practicable for the man in the   
street4 ,and to begin with what was     
deepest in the philosophy of the        
,enlightenment led in unexpected        
directions4 ,while the practical        
tendencies of all speculative thought   
inevitably appear in the opinions and   
customs of a general public far removed 
from their sources1 it is particularly  
true of the philosophy of the           
,enlightenment1 that its influences had 
no small part in shaping the popular    
point of view concerning the moral1     
religious and political convictions of  

that age4#fa ,utilitarianism1 ,deism and
 ,individualism were1 says ,hibben1 the 
popular and practical outcome of the    
whole movement1--,utilitarianism in     
,ethics1 ,deism in ,religion1           
,individualism in ,politics4 ,these     
three growths--and they have borne a    
deal of bitter fruit in the last one    
hundred years--grow out of one soil4 ,in
 general they are due to ,locke's       
sensationalism1 ,hume's skepticism1 a   
new emphasis upon reason as opposed to  
revelation and the self-sufficiency of  
the individual4 ,if conscious life is   
nothing but sensation worked over and   
built up1 then pleasurable sensations   
are the best we can aspire to1 happiness
 is the end of the quest4 ,so           
,utilitarianism defined goodness in     
terms of happiness and gave to conduct  
generally a grasping1 greedy quality for
 which we have paid over and over again 
in the disappointments and              
disillusionments of an age1 which1      
supposing itself to have discovered the 

true secret of well-being1 found too    
much of its seeming happiness only ,dead
 ,sea fruit4  ,footnote #fa3 ,hibben1   
,the ,philosophy of the ,enlightenment1 
p4 #bec4   ,they ,bear a ,bitter ,fruit3
 the ,reactions ,against ,them  ,deism  
in its reaction against ,religion as    
merely revelation and in its endeavour  
to find a rational basis for faith set  
,god apart from ,his world1 detached1   
unheeding and offering no real recourse 
to a travailing humanity between whom   
and ,himself it built a rigid fabric of 
impersonal law4 ,the ,individualism of  
the eighteenth century was partly a     
reaction against old despotisms of      
,church and ,state--and a ,declaration  
of ,independence4 ,it was in part a     
pride of accomplishment and a new       
affirmation of the self-sufficiency of  
the questing reason4 ,there was in it   
also a sound recognition of the worth of
 personality of which the world then    
stood in need and which has since       
supplied a foundation for a saving      

passion for education and human         
well-being4 ,but ,individualism as      
practically applied by the first        
three-quarters of the nineteenth        
century--unexpectedly reinforced as it  
was by aspects of ,darwinism--stressed  
the right of the strong and the doom of 
the weak4 ,it made competition the law  
of economic development1 the survival of
 the fittest the goal of a life of      
struggle4  ,consciously or unconsciously
 the politics1 industry and religion of 
the nineteenth century were greatly     
influenced by these outstanding         
conceptions4 ,no need to say how utterly
 they have broken down4 ,they have made 
for the deepening strife of classes and 
of nations1 they have essentially       
defeated the bright promise of a time   
which seemed to have more to hope for   
than almost any other great period of   
history4  ,and yet they were never      
unchallenged4 ,they were challenged by  
the essential spirit of ,christianity2  
they were challenged by the poets who   

found that they could shape no songs out
 of such stuff as this2 they were       
challenged by philosophers who sought to
 build for themselves and for us a world
 more free and true2 they were          
challenged by a group of great novelists
 who created out of the wealth of their 
imagination characters and situations in
 which love and human worth had their   
way in spite of a thousand obstacles4   
,they were challenged by prophets of a  
better world1 the ,ruskins and ,carlyles
 who soundly rated the ethics of        
selfishness and the political economies 
of competition and the politics of      
self-assertion and who stirred deeply   
the more sensitive of their time4 ,and  
finally they were challenged1 and here  
we begin to approach again the genesis  
of ,new ,thought1 by a philosophic      
movement which found its point of       
departure in certain great aspects of   
earlier thinking which had been much    
obscured by the difficult forms in which
 it had been stated3 the supremacy1 that

 is1 of the soul over all its           
surroundings4  ,now this return to what 
we may call the creative and controlling
 power of spiritual forces is the key to
 the modern approach to life4 ,we do not
 understand1 it may be1 the meaning of  
our own terms4 ,spirit is a vague enough
 word but we do know that the initiative
 is with desire and purpose and         
understanding4 ,these are positive and  
masterful2 they are by no means free2   
they are conditioned by the vaster order
 of which they are a part1 none the less
 our human world is plastic to their    
touch and our material world as well4   
,carlyle has chanted all this gustily   
enough but there is kindling truth in   
his stormy music4 ,thus1 like some wild 
flaming1 wild thundering train of       
heaven's artillery does this mysterious 
mankind thunder and flame in long-drawn1
 quick succeeding grandeur through the  
unknown deep4 ,earth's mountains are    
levelled and her seas filled up in our  
passage4 ,can the earth which is but    

dead in a vision resist spirits which   
have reality and are alive8   ,new      
,england ,transcendentalism4 ,quimby    
,again and the ,dressers  ,curiously    
enough this quotation from a book which 
nowadays nobody likely reads save       
perhaps in some college course on early 
,victorian literature1 brings us within 
sight of the beginnings of ,new         
,thought4 ,a little group of ,english   
and ,american thinkers1 part            
philosophers1 part poets1 part rebels   
against the established order1          
anticipated trained students in their   
return upon the higher and more positive
 side of an older philosophy4 ,they made
 much of the inner life1 its powers and 
its possibilities2 they affirmed the    
creative power of the soul2 they        
conceived life to lie plastic to the    
touch of vision and desire2 they thought
 themselves to be standing upon the     
threshold of a new world4 ,they were    
impatient of discipline2 they dreamed   
impossible things and gave their dreams 

the authority of reality4 ,they were    
hard enough to understand and they      
sorely tried practical plodding folk1   
but they kindled their time and released
 forces which are yet in action4  ,new  
,england1 through a group of adventurous
 thinkers of whom ,emerson was the most 
distinguished1 responded strongly to    
,transcendentalism4 ,another group1 as  
has been said1 responded strongly to    
mesmerism and spiritism1 which were also
 a part of the ferment of the time in   
which ,christian ,science and ,new      
,thought 7,i use ,new ,thought here in  
the technical sense7 find their source4 
,and finally1 ,quimby1 who is a rather  
unexpectedly important link in a long   
chain1--important1 that is1 to the      
student of modern cults--reacted against
 mesmerism1 felt and thought his way    
toward some understanding of the force  
of suggestion in abnormal states1       
applied his conclusion to faith and     
mental healing and gathered about       
him--as has been said before--a little  

group of disciples who have between them
 released far-reaching movements4  ,mrs4
 ,eddy and the ,dressers were the       
outstanding members of this little group
 of disciples4 ,mrs4 ,eddy soon         
dissociated herself from the others and 
she supplied in ,science and ,health a  
distinctive philosophy to her movement4 
,she organized it into a church2 she    
imposed upon it a distinctive           
discipline4 ,no little of the power of  
,christian ,science is due to this      
narrow rigidity which is itself the     
projection of the personality of ,mary  
,baker ,eddy4 ,but ,christian ,science  
did not carry with it the whole of the  
group which had come under ,quimby's    
influence1 nor indeed all of those who  
came under ,mary ,baker ,eddy's         
influence4 ,there was during all the    
formative period of these modern cults a
 perpetual process of schism4  ,we have 
as a result1 then1 two divergent        
movements related in underground ways1  
though as marked in difference as in    

resemblance1 both of them beginning     
about the same time1 both of them       
reactions against accepted religious    
forces and validations1 both of them    
with a marked therapeutic content1 both 
of them adventures in the conduct of    
life4  ,in the summary which follows ,i 
am in debt to ,dresser's recent ,history
 of the ,new ,thought ,movement4 ,the   
name ,new ,thought was chosen as the    
title of a little magazine devoted to   
mental healing1 published in #ahid in   
,melrose1 ,mass4 ,the term became       
current in ,boston through the          
organization of the ,metaphysical ,club 
in #ahie4 ,about the same time it was   
used by ,mr4 ,c4,p4 ,patterson in his   
magazine ,mind and in the title of two  
of his books4 ,other names were         
suggested--in ,england1 ,higher         
,thought2 in ,boston1 ,higher ,life2 in 
,new ,york the little group was for a   
time known as the ,circle of ,divine    
,ministry2 in the west the movement was 
known as ,divine ,science or ,practical 

,christianity4 ,there were groups also  
which called themselves the ,home of    
,truth or the ,society of ,silent       
,unity4   ,new ,thought ,takes ,form    
,new ,thought1 as has been said1 lacks  
the definite direction which ,christian 
,science has always had4 ,its           
organizations have grown up quietly1    
more or less irregularly and have had   
always a shifting character4 ,the first 
,new ,thought ,society with a regular   
leader and organization in ,boston was  
the ,church of the ,higher ,life        
established in #ahid4fb ,the            
,metaphysical ,club was an outgrowth of 
the ,new ,thought group in ,boston4     
,dresser gives a list of the original   
members1 chiefly significant through the
 presence among them of some of         
,quimby's disciples and others whose    
books have since held a high place in   
,new ,thought literature4 ,there were   
manifest connections between the        
movement and liberal 7particularly      
,unitarian7 theology4  ,footnote #fb3   

,all citations in this section are from 
,dresser's ,history of ,new ,thought1   
unless otherwise indicated4  ,the first 
,new ,thought convention was held in    
,boston in #ahii 7there had been earlier
 conventions of the ,disciples of       
,divine ,science--a related movement--in
 western cities7 and the second in ,new 
,york ,city in #aijj4 ,the ,new ,york   
convention was the first to make any    
general statement of the purposes of the
 ,league4 ,we find on the ,new ,york    
program one ,swami ,abhedananda1        
lecturer on the ,vedanta philosophy4    
,here is an early indication of the     
return of ,eastern religions upon the   
,west which is also one of the marked   
characteristics of the religious        
development of our time4 ,we do not need
 to follow through in detail the list of
 successive conventions with their      
topics and their speakers4 ,the group is
 not so large but that the same names   
reappear4 ,there are marked attempts in 
the earlier conventions to associate    

leaders in recognized schools of        
philosophy and theology with the        
movement4 ,one does not discover this   
tendency in the later convention lists4 
,the local groups throughout the country
 have had varying fortunes4 ,they have  
from time to time changed their names   
and naturally their leaders4 ,the west  
has responded perhaps more strongly than
 the ,atlantic seaboard4 ,the movement  
is particularly strong on the ,pacific  
,coast4 ,there are no available         
statistics and generalizations are of   
doubtful value4 ,the ,cincinnati and    
,kansas ,city groups are offered by     
,dresser as typical organizations1 but  
they seem on the whole to be exceptional
 rather than typical4 ,the strength of  
the ,new ,thought movement is not in its
 organization but in its influence4 ,in 
,england as in ,america interest was    
aroused by ,christian ,science1 then    
came a gradual reaction and the         
establishment of independent branches of
 the movement4 ,it is difficult1 says   

,dresser1 to obtain information         
pertaining to the influence of ,new     
,thought literature in foreign          
languages4 ,the more significant ,new   
,thought books1 however1 have been      
variously translated and widely sold4   
,new ,thought leaders sometimes advise  
their disciples to retain their old     
church associations and the movement has
 naturally tended to merge in religious 
liberalism generally and to become only 
an aspect of the manifold religious     
gropings of a troubled time4  ,in the   
,constitution and ,by-,laws of the ,new 
,thought ,alliance1 published in #aiaf1 
the purposes of the society are to teach
 the infinitude of the ,supreme ,one1   
,divinity of ,man and his ,infinite     
possibilities through the creative power
 of constructive thinking and obedience 
to the voice of the ,indwelling         
,presence which is our source of        
,inspiration1 ,power1 ,health and       
,prosperity4 ,we discover here the same 
tendency toward the deification of      

capital letters which we have already   
noted in ,christian ,science4   ,its    
,creeds  ,in #aiag the ,international   
,new ,thought ,alliance went further    
than at any other time before in the    
direction of a creed and set forth the  
following series of affirmations3 ,we   
affirm the freedom of each soul as to   
choice and as to belief1 and would not1 
by the adoption of any declaration of   
principles1 limit such freedom4 ,the    
essence of the ,new ,thought is ,truth1 
and each individual must be loyal to the
 ,truth he sees4 ,the windows of his    
soul must be kept open at each moment   
for the higher light1 and his mind must 
be always hospitable to each new        
inspiration4  ,we affirm the ,good4     
,this is supreme1 universal and         
everlasting4 ,man is made in the image  
of the ,good1 and evil and pain are but 
the tests and correctives that appear   
when his thought does not reflect the   
full glory of this image4  ,we affirm   
health1 which is man's divine           

inheritance4 ,man's body is his holy    
temple4 ,every function of it1 every    
cell of it1 is intelligent1 and is      
shaped1 ruled1 repaired1 and controlled 
by mind4 ,he whose body is full of light
 is full of health4 ,spiritual healing  
has existed among all races in all      
times4 ,it has now become a part of the 
higher science and art of living the    
life more abundant4  ,we affirm the     
divine supply4 ,he who serves ,god and  
man in the full understanding of the law
 of compensation shall not lack4 ,within
 us are unused resources of energy and  
power4 ,he who lives with his whole     
being1 and thus expresses fullness1     
shall reap fullness in return4 ,he who  
gives himself1 he who knows1 and acts in
 his highest knowledge1 he who trusts in
 the divine return1 has learned the law 
of success4  ,we affirm the teaching of 
,christ that the ,kingdom of ,heaven is 
within us1 that we are one with the     
,father1 that we should judge not1 that 
we should love one another1 that we     

should heal the sick1 that we should    
return good for evil1 that we should    
minister to others1 and that we should  
be perfect even as our ,father in       
,heaven is perfect4 ,these are not only 
ideals1 but practical1 every-day working
 principles4  ,we affirm the new thought
 of ,god as ,universal ,love1 ,life1    
,truth1 and ,joy1 in whom we live1 move 
and have our being1 and by whom we are  
held together2 that ,his mind is our    
mind now1 that realizing our oneness    
with ,him means love1 truth1 peace1     
health and plenty1 not only in our own  
lives but in the giving out of these    
fruits of the ,spirit to others4  ,we   
affirm these things1 not as a           
profession1 but practice1 not in one day
 of the week1 but in every hour and     
minute of every day1 sleeping and       
waking1 not in the ministry of the few1 
but in a service that includes the      
democracy of all1 not in words alone1   
but in the innermost thoughts of the    
heart expressed in living the life4 ',by

 their fruits ye shall know them4'  ,we 
affirm ,heaven here and now1 the life   
everlasting that becomes conscious      
immortality1 the communion of mind with 
mind throughout the universe of thought1
 the nothingness of all error and       
negation1 including death1 the variety  
of unity that produces the individual   
expressions of the ,one-,life1 and the  
quickened realization of the indwelling 
,god in each soul that is making a new  
heaven and a new earth4  ,we discover in
 this creed a more distinct recognition 
of ideals and truths which inherited    
,christianity supplied than in the      
earlier statements of purpose4 ,in the  
annual address of the ,president there  
is distinct reference to the relation of
 the ,new ,thought gospel to the        
churches4 ,i am asked often3 ,what is   
the relation of this movement to the    
,church8 ,this is not a new religion4   
,it is not an institution seeking to    
build itself up for the mere sake of the
 institution4 ,we do not ask anybody to 

leave the church4 ,we ask them to become
 better members of their churches than  
before4 ,new ,thought is designed to    
make people better and more efficient in
 whatever relation of life they may find
 themselves4 ,in other words3 ',new     
,thought teaches men and women only the 
old common-sense doctrine of            
self-reliance and belief in the         
integrity of the universe and of one's  
own soul4 ,it dignifies and ennobles    
manhood and womanhood4' ,the main idea  
on which ,christianity is founded is    
that of communion with ,god1 that of    
worshipping ,god in spirit and in truth4
 ,this is the very corner-stone of those
 modern movements that recognize men and
 women as the living temples of the ,god
 within4444 ,i predict that this new    
interpretation and new understanding    
will become universal in the new age    
which is now dawning4  ,a further       
paragraph1 however1 reveals the         
synthetic character of the movement4 ,it
 is the realization in practical affairs

 of the teachings not only of the       
,nazarene1 but of every other great     
religious teacher since the world began2
 for in their essence these teachings   
are fundamentally alike2 and the ,new   
,thought and other new spiritual        
movements are but the efforts to apply1 
in our relations one with another1 these
 simple and sublime truths4   ,the      
,range of the ,movement  ,i have quoted 
at length from these programs1          
affirmations and this one address to    
indicate the range of the movement as it
 has found official expression4 ,we must
 look1 however1 to the literature of the
 movement as a whole for a full         
understanding of its reach and          
influence4 ,the literature in general   
falls into three classes3 7#a7 books    
concerned mostly about healing2 7#b7    
books which instruct as to character1   
spiritual states and fullness of life2  
7#c7 what one may call success books    
which apply ,new ,thought to business   
and the practical conduct of life4 ,the 

lines of demarcation between these three
 types of books is1 of course1 not clear
 and there is a material which is common
 to all of them1 but the distinction    
thus suggested is real4  ,as a principle
 of healing ,new ,thought differs from  
,christian ,science in almost the whole 
range of its assumptions4 ,it does not  
deny the reality of matter1 not the     
reality of suffering1 nor does it       
distinguish1 as does ,christian         
,science1 between the ,divine ,mind and 
the mortal mind4 ,there are1 according  
to ,new ,thought1 healing forces which  
may be trusted to do their remedial work
 in us1 if only we surrender ourselves  
to them and let them have their way4    
,there is nothing in ,new ,thought which
 quite corresponds to the demonstration 
of ,christian ,science4 ,it would seem  
to an impartial observer that ,christian
 ,science asks of its disciples an      
intensity of positive effort which ,new 
,thought does not demand4 ,dresser1 for 
example1 believes all suffering to be   

the result of struggle4 ,directly we    
cease to struggle we cease to suffer1   
provided1 of course1 that our cessation 
is in the direction of relaxation and a 
trust in a higher power4 ,in some       
regions1 however1 ,christian ,science   
and ,new ,thought as therapeutic agents 
work along the same line1 but where     
,christian ,science denies ,new ,thought
 ignores4 ,here ,new ,thought makes more
 use of psychological laws2 it follows  
,james generally in its psychology1 as  
it follows ,emerson in its thought of   
the over-soul1 though in this region    
,emerson's detached serenity of faith is
 given body in an insistence upon the   
divine immanence for which ,new ,thought
 is in debt to the suggestions and      
analogies of modern science4  ,new      
,thought makes much of the shifting of  
attention and its disciplines are rather
 the disciplines of the mystic than the 
disciplines of the ,christian           
,scientist4 ,it seeks in substance to   
ascertain the laws of mind in action and

 then1 through the utilization of this  
knowledge1 to secure health1 happiness  
and prosperity4 ,it makes much1 of      
course1 of the centrality of mind both  
in well-being and pain4 ,it hardly goes 
so far as to say that pain is an error  
in belief1 but it does say that pain is 
a matter of consciousness and that as we
 are masters of consciousness we are    
masters of pain4 ,it believes in thought
 transference and absent treatment1 but 
it is perhaps more conservative in the  
cases which it is willing to undertake  
than ,christian ,science and recognizes 
the limitations of the healer4   ,the   
,key-,words of ,new ,thought  ,its      
key-words are ,harmony1 ,realization1   
,affirmation and ,poise4 ,just here ,new
 ,thought is a strangely interwoven web4
 ,it makes much of vibration and        
friction4 ,it is evidently under the    
spell of the wave theory of light and   
heat4 ,it is most dependable in its     
analysis and application of laws of     
mental action1 most undependable in     

trying to account for the relation of   
mind to body and in its explanation of  
the physical phenomena of disease4      
,fatigue1 for example1 is evidently due 
to the calling of power into a new      
direction4 ,it evidently the power comes
 into contact with dense matter1 with an
 uncultivated portion of the being1     
physical as well as mental1 and meeting 
with resistance friction of some sort is
 the natural result4 ,one has only to   
compare a statement like that with      
,cannon's careful study of bodily       
changes under emotional states1 to see  
the difference between speculation      
controlled by analogy and the           
illuminating experimental methods of    
modern science4  ,when ,dresser adds    
that we shall eliminate disease not by  
fighting it1 not by studying its causes1
 or doctoring its physical effects1 but 
by seeing the wisdom of the better way1 
he is on dangerous ground1 for if we are
 not to study the causes of disease but 
to take as our guide the serene         

generalizations of a speculative mind we
 are shutting in our faces one of the   
doors by which we enter into that       
knowledge of the mind of ,god1 of which 
,new ,thought makes so much4 ,how shall 
we know the mind of ,god except as we   
ask endless patient and careful         
questions of every revelation of the    
divine method1 whether in sickness or   
health8  ,new ,thought1 however1 takes a
 far more constructive view of suffering
 than ,christian ,science4 ,for ,new    
,thought suffering is at least          
disciplinary and instructive3 it compels
 reflection3 it brings us to a knowledge
 of the law4 ,it is certainly1          
therefore1 just and it may be kind4     
,indeed1 ,new ,thought occasionally goes
 so far as to say that suffering is also
 a revelation of love and must be so    
accepted and entertained4 ,its general  
conclusions in this region are far more 
safe than its insistence upon vibration 
and friction and its spacious           
technicalities4  ,when ,dresser says    

that there is a difference between      
ignoring a trouble1 between neglecting  
to take proper care of ourselves and    
that wise direction of thought which in 
no way hinders while it most surely     
helps to remedy our ills1 he is on      
perfectly safe ground4 ,when he adds    
that there is a strong reason for       
believing that there is a simple1       
natural way out of every trouble1 that  
kind nature1 which is another name for  
an omniscient ,god1 is ever ready to do 
her utmost for us he is speaking with a 
wise and direct helpfulness1 though here
 as generally ,new ,thought errs on the 
side of too great a simplification4     
,there is a way out of every trouble but
 it is not always simple1 it is often   
laborious and challenging4 ,we have     
accomplished marvels in the matter of   
tropical sanitation but the way out has 
been anything but simple4 ,it has       
involved experimentations which cost the
 lives of physicians who offered        
themselves for humanity as nobly as any 

soldier on any battlefield2 it involved 
the sweat of hard driven labour digging 
drainage ditches1 the rebuilding of the 
foundations of cities and a thousand    
cares and safeguards4 ,if ,new ,thought 
wishes to dismiss such a process as this
 with the single adjective simple it may
 do as it pleases1 but this is not      
simplicity as the dictionary defines it4
   ,its ,field of ,real ,usefulness     
,all that way of thinking of which ,new 
,thought is just one aspect is fatally  
open to criticism just here4 ,it ignores
 the immense travail of humanity in its 
laborious pilgrimage toward better      
things and it is far too ready to       
proclaim short-cuts to great goals when 
there never have been and never will be 
any short-cuts in life4 ,none the less1 
trust and quietness of mind and soul and
 utter openness to healing1 saving      
forces are immense healing agents and in
 its emphasis thereupon ,new ,thought   
has recalled us to that which in the    
very intensity of life's battles we are 

in the way of forgetting4 ,and beyond   
doubt1 in that obscure range of diseases
 which are due to the want of balanced  
life--to worry1 fear1 self-absorption   
and over-strain--the methods of ,new    
,thought have a distinct value4  ,in    
general1 as one follows the history and 
literature of ,new ,thought one finds   
that1 though it began with a group more 
interested in healing than anything     
else1 healing has come to play a        
progressively less important part in the
 development of the movement and the    
larger part of its literature deals with
 what one might call perhaps the laws of
 mental and spiritual hygiene4 ,the     
principles implicit in ,new ,thought as 
a healing cult carry of their own weight
 into other regions4 ,it is important   
enough to get well--that goes without   
saying--but it is more important to keep
 well4 ,good health on the whole is a   
kind of by-product4 ,we suffer as       
distinctly from spiritual and mental    
maladjustments as from physical4 ,we    

suffer also from the sense of           
inadequacy1 the sense1 that is1 of a    
burdening disproportion between our own 
powers and the challenge of life4 ,new  
,thought has addressed itself           
increasingly to such states and problems
 as this4 ,here it ceases to be a cult  
or a method of healing and has become a 
most considerable influence and here    
also it in general takes the direction  
of and is identified with what is truest
 in the ,christian religion1 what is    
sanest and most clear visioned in       
present-day thinking4 ,the typical books
 just here are ,trine's ,in ,tune with  
the ,infinite and a similar literature4 
,its ,gospel of ,getting ,on  ,another  
application of ,new ,thought is in the  
direction of personal efficiency4 ,there
 is a considerable literature in this   
region4 ,it does not specifically call  
itself ,new ,thought but it is saturated
 with the ,new ,thought fundamentals and
 has distinctly the ,new ,thought       
outlook4 ,marden is the most popular and

 prolific writer in this connection and 
the titles of his books are             
suggestive--,keeping ,fit1 ,selling     
,things1 ,the ,victorious ,attitude1    
,training for ,efficiency1 ,getting ,on1
 ,self-,investment1 ,be ,good to        
,yourself1 ,he ,can ,who ,thinks ,he    
,can1 ,character1 ,opportunity1 ,an     
,iron ,will4 ,something like this has1  
of course1 been done before but the     
modern efficiency literature moves along
 a wider front than earlier books and   
makes a fuller use of the new           
psychology4 ,all this literature dwells 
strongly upon the driving power of a    
self-assertive personality strongly     
controlled by will1 single visioned and 
master of its own powers4 ,it suggests  
lines of approach by which other        
people's wills can be overcome1 their   
interest aroused or their coperation    
secured4  ,quotation is almost          
impossible--there is such an abundance  
of material and much of it is           
commonplace4 ,it takes a deal of padding

 to make shelves of books out of the    
familiar and generally accepted truisms 
which are the ,sermon on the ,mount and 
the ,beatitudes of this gospel of       
personal efficiency4 ,keep fit1 keep at 
it1 assert yourself1 never admit the    
possibility of failure1 study your own  
strength and weakness and the strength  
and weakness of your competitor and     
success is yours4 ,look persistently on 
the bright side of every situation1     
refuse to dwell on the dark side1       
recognize no realities but harmony1     
health1 beauty and success4  ,it is only
 just to say that success is generously 
defined and the disciples of this ,new  
,thought are asked also to live in the  
finer senses--the recognition of beauty 
and friendship and goodness1 that       
is--but on the whole the ideal character
 so defined is a buoyant optimist who   
sells his goods1 succeeds in his plans  
and has his own way with the world4 ,it 
is the apotheosis of what ,james called 
,the ,religion of ,healthy-,mindedness2 

it all fits easily into the dominant    
temper of our time and seems to         
reconcile that serving of two masters1  
,god and ,getting ,on1 which a lonely   
teacher long ago thought quite          
impossible4  ,naturally such a movement 
has a great following of disciples who  
doubtless have their reward4 ,so        
alluring a gospel is sure to have its   
own border-land prophets and one only   
has to study the advertisements in the  
more generally read magazines to see to 
what an extent all sorts of short-cuts  
to success of every sort are being      
offered1 and how generally all these    
advertisements lock up upon two or three
 principles which revolve around        
self-assertion as a center and          
getting-on as a creed4 ,it would be idle
 to underestimate the influence of all  
this or1 indeed1 to cry down the        
usefulness of it4 ,there is doubtless a 
tonic quality in these applications of  
,new ,thought principles of which       
despondent1 hesitating and wrongly      

self-conscious people stand greatly in  
need4   ,the ,limitations and ,dangers  
of ,its ,positions  ,but there is very  
great danger in it all of minimizing the
 difficulties which really lie in the   
way of the successful conduct of life1  
difficulties which are not eliminated   
because they are denied4 ,and there is  
above all the very great danger of      
making far too little of that patient   
and laborious discipline which is the   
only sound foundation upon which real   
power can possibly be established4      
,there is everywhere here an invitation 
to the superficial and1 above all1 there
 is everywhere here a tendency toward   
the creation of a type of character by  
no means so admirable in the actual     
outcome of it as it seems to be in the  
glowing pages of these prophets of      
success4 ,self-assertion is after all a 
very debatable creed1 for self-assertion
 is all too likely to bring us into     
rather violent collisions with the      
self-assertions of others and to give   

us1 after all1 a world of egoists whose 
egotism is none the less mischievous1   
though it wear the garment of sunny     
cheerfulness and proclaim an            
unconquerable optimism4  ,but at any    
rate ,new ,thought1 in one form or      
another1 has penetrated deeply the whole
 fabric of the modern outlook upon life4
 ,a just appraisal of it is not easy and
 requires a careful analysis and        
balancing of tendencies and forces4 ,we 
recognize at once an immense divergence 
from our inherited forms of religious   
faith4 ,new ,thought is an interweaving 
of such psychological tendencies as we  
have already traced with the            
implications and analogies of modern    
science4 ,the ,god of ,new ,thought is  
an immanent ,god1 never clearly defined2
 indeed it is possible to argue from    
many representative utterances that the 
,god of ,new ,thought is not personal at
 all but rather an all-pervading force1 
a driving energy which we may discover  
both in ourselves and in the world about

 us and to which conforming we are1 with
 little effort on our own part1 carried 
as upon some strong1 compelling tide4   
,the main business of life1 therefore1  
is to discover the direction of these   
forces and the laws of their operation1 
and as far as possible to conform both  
character and conduct1 through obedience
 to such laws1 into a triumphant        
partnership with such a master force--a 
kind of conquering self-surrender to a  
power not ourselves and yet which we may
 not know apart from ourselves1 which   
makes not supremely for righteousness   
7righteousness is a word not often      
discovered in ,new ,thought literature7 
but for harmony1 happiness and success4 
,it ,greatly ,modifies ,orthodox        
,theology  ,such a general statement as 
this must1 of course1 be qualified4     
,even the most devout whose faith and   
character have alike been fashioned by  
an inherited religion in which the      
personality of ,god is centrally        
affirmed1 find their own thought about  

,god fluctuating4 ,so great a thing as  
faith in ,god must always have its      
lights and shadows and its changing     
moods4 ,in our moments of deeper        
devotion and surer insight the sense of 
a supreme personal reality and a vital  
communion therewith is most clear and   
strong2 then there is some ebbing of our
 own powers of apprehension and we seem 
to be in the grip of impersonal law and 
at the mercy of forces which have no    
concern for our own personal values4    
,new ,thought naturally reflects all    
this and adds thereto uncertainties of  
its own4 ,there are passages enough in  
,new ,thought literature which recognize
 the personality of ,god just as there  
are passages enough which seem to reduce
 ,him to power and principle and the    
secret of such discrepancies is not     
perhaps in the creeds of ,new ,thought1 
but in the varying attitudes of its     
priests and prophets4 ,one may say1     
then1 that the ,god of ,new ,thought is 
always immanent1 always force and law   

and sometimes intimate and personal4    
,however this force may be defined1 it  
carries those who commit themselves to  
it toward definite goals of well-being4 
,the ,new ,thought of to-day reflects   
the optimistic note of the scientific   
evolution of a generation ago4 ,it is   
not exactly ,god's in ,his heaven1 all's
 right with the world1 but it is the    
affirmation of streams of tendency whose
 unfailing direction is toward happiness
 and success4  ,if an element of        
struggle be implied in the particular   
sort of salvation which ,new ,thought   
preaches1 it is not at least clearly    
brought out4 ,there has been amongst us 
of late a new and a very dearly bought  
recognition of the element of struggle  
which seems to be implicit in all life4 
,the optimistic evolutionary philosophy 
in which ,new ,thought roots itself is  
on the whole justified neither by       
history nor the insight of those who    
have been most rich in spiritual        
understanding1 nor1 indeed1 by the      

outcome of that philosophy in our own   
time4 ,the happy confidence that we do  
not need to struggle1 but rather to     
commit ourselves to forces which make   
automatically for happiness and         
well-being1 has only involved us more   
deeply in a struggle where in some ways 
the smug happiness and well-being of    
representative ,new ,thought literature 
seem more remote than ever4  ,this      
elimination of the element of moral     
struggle and the need for deliverance   
which has so greatly coloured the older 
theologies gives a distinct character to
 ,new ,thought theology4 ,there is no   
place in it for a scheme of redemption2 
there is no place in it for atonement1  
save as atonement may be conceived as a 
vicarious sharing of suffering incident 
to all struggle for better things2 there
 is no place in it for the old          
anthropologies of ,christian theology4  
,it has on the whole little to say about
 sin4 ,says ,allen1 in a very thoughtful
 short article on ,new ,thought in      

,hastings' ,encyclopedia of ,religion   
and ,ethics1 ,new ,thought excludes such
 doctrines as the duality of man and    
,god1 miracles in the accepted sense1   
the forgiveness of sins and priestly    
mediation4 ,it seeks to interpret the   
world and nature as science has recorded
 them1 but also to convey their finer   
and esoteric meanings to the human      
understanding4 ,the fundamental purpose 
of religion and science is the          
same--namely1 the discovery of truth4   
,new ,thought does not teach the moral  
depravity of man4 ,such thoughts        
demoralize and weaken the individual4   
,miracles1 in the accepted sense1 ,new  
,thought does not conceive as possible  
in a universe of law4 ,the only miracles
 are phenomena not understood1 but      
nevertheless the result of law4 ,it     
applies the pragmatic test to every     
religion and philosophy4 ,are you true8 
,what do you give to a man to carry to  
his daily task8 ,new ,thought recognizes
 no authority save the voice of the soul

 speaking to each individual4 ,every    
soul can interpret aright the oracles of
 truth4   ,tends to ,become a ,universal
 and ,loosely-,defined ,religion        
,worship becomes1 therefore1            
contemplation rather than adoration1 and
 a vast deal of the liturgical material 
which ,christianity specifically has    
heretofore supplied becomes useless for 
this cult4 ,christian hymnology would   
need much editing before it would serve 
,new ,thought purposes2 the whole       
conception of prayer would need to be   
altered4 ,naturally1 then1 on its more  
distinctly religious side ,new ,thought 
is at once fluctuating and incomplete4  
,it is the proclamation1 to quote one of
 its spokesmen1 of a robust             
individualism and1 in the individual1   
mind is supreme4 ,right thinking is the 
key to right living4 ,new ,thought      
affirms the limitless possibilities of  
the individual4 ,here perhaps it is more
 loose in its thinking than in any other
 region4 ,it makes free use of the word 

infinite and surrounds itself with an   
atmosphere of boundless hope as alluring
 as it is vague4  ,the interest of ,new 
,thought is most largely in the present 
tenses of life2 its future in an eternal
 progress which should1 of course1 imply
 immortality4 ,new ,thought is          
hospitable to truth from whatever source
 derived4 ,it is particularly hospitable
 to the suggestions of oriental         
religions and1 as far as it has taken   
form as a distinct religious movement1  
it is becoming more and more markedly a 
kind of syncretism1 a putting together  
of religious elements drawn from widely 
universal sources and it patently seeks 
nothing less than a universal religious 
fellowship in which the values of all   
true faith are recognized and which is  
to be under the control of what science 
has to say about the world without and  
psychology of the world within4 ,in a   
sentence ,new ,thought is an outstanding
 aspect of the unconquerably religious  
in human nature1 seeking to subdue to   

its own ends and inform with its own    
spirit the new material which science1  
psychology and comparative religion have
 put at our service in the last two     
generations4  ,if ,new ,thought diverges
 from the accepted ,christian theology  
in many ways1 it runs parallel in other 
regions with what is enduringly true in 
the ,gospels1 and it runs parallel also 
with not a little of that endeavour     
after theological reconstruction which  
is loosely known as the ,new ,theology4 
,we are generally under a compulsion to 
reconstruct our creeds and adapt our    
religious thinking to whatever is true  
about us in our understanding of our    
world and its history and its mechanism 
and the laws of our own lives4 ,theology
 must take account of a creative        
evolution and a humanity which has      
struggled upward from far-off beginnings
 along a far-flung front and the        
findings of ,science and the intimations
 of ,psychology4  ,it will need a deal  
of pioneering to find roads through     

these new regions and such adventurous  
souls as seek new paths1 with a daring  
disregard for ancient landmarks and a   
true passion to find religious meanings 
in new facts and forces1 are really     
serving us all4 ,there is the danger1   
however1 that in the very freedom of    
their speculation they may be too       
impatient of old experiences and        
hallowed certainties1 for these old     
experiences themselves are deeply rooted
 and testify to realities which we may  
be compelled to let in by the window1   
once we have put them out at the door4  
,,ix  ,,the ,,return ,,of ,,the ,,east  
,,upon ,,the ,,west  ,,theosophy ,,and  
,,kindred ,,cults   ,historic ,forces   
,carried ,early ,christianity ,west and 
,not ,east4 ,the ,far-,reaching ,results
 of ,this ,process  ,christianity in its
 beginning belonged neither to the ,east
 nor the ,west2 it was born where they  
met and its subsequent development was  
greatly governed by the direction of the
 dominant tides of historical           

development4 ,but from the beginning of 
the ,christian era the main currents of 
human action flowed ,west and they      
carried ,christianity with them4 ,it is1
 therefore1 outstandingly an occidental 
development4 ,this is not to minimize   
the influence of the ,east in the       
earlier phases of ,christianity4 ,there 
was doubtless a measure of give and     
take1 some blowing of the winds of the  
spirit in changing directions across    
vast regions and a confused time1 which 
carried the germinal forces from one    
religion to another4 ,but in the main1  
,christianity1 to use ,gardner's fine   
phrase1 was baptized into the forms and 
forces of the ,west4 ,i say in the main1
 for ,asia ,minor was in the time of    
,st4 ,paul the meeting place of manifold
 religions and his first ,gentile       
converts brought with them into their   
new faith a very great deal of what     
their old faiths had made them4  ,there 
was1 generally1 in the ,apostolic world 
a very great longing for a spiritual    

deliverance and a mystic temper which   
easily took over and transformed those  
elements in ,christianity which lent    
themselves to mystic interpretations4   
,something of this we discover in the   
,pauline ,epistles themselves2 ,paul's  
use of the word mystery shows how he    
adapted his teaching to the             
understanding of those to whom he       
addressed himself4 ,to quote ,gardner3  
,in the growth and spread of popular    
superstition1 if we may call them by so 
harsh a name1 we may well discern a     
gradual preparation for                 
,christianity4444 ,these religions stand
 toward ,christianity1 to continue my   
biological comparison1 as the wings of a
 penguin stand toward those of an eagle1
 and it is surely no slight on          
,christianity to say that it met the    
blind longings of a pagan nation and    
showed them a path toward which they    
had1 for long generations1 been trying  
to find their way4 ,the religious needs 
which were very imperfectly met by the  

initiations and ceremonies and prayers  
of the cults of the pagan saving deities
 found a complete and perfect           
satisfaction from faith in an exalted   
,christ4#fc  ,footnote #fc3 ,the ,growth
 of ,christianity1 ,gardner1 p4 #acf4   
,for fuller treatment with suggestive   
detail see ,fraser ,the ,golden ,bough1 
chapter #cg4  ,christianity could not do
 this really very great thing without at
 the same time being affected by that   
which it1 in a measure1 took over and   
completed4 ,the influence of ,asia upon 
,christianity is1 therefore1 a very real
 influence4 ,one can only wonder what   
would have happened had the course of   
empire been ,east instead of ,west4     
,christianity might then have been      
carried into ,india and ,china and      
through long centuries been given so    
distinctly an oriental content as to    
have taken on a character radically     
different from its ,western form4 ,but  
this did not happen4 ,to follow         
,gardner's figure still farther1 it was 

baptized into ,greek philosophy and     
,roman imperialism and the power of the 
nascent nations of western ,europe1 and 
into the medieval spirit1 and so we have
 become its heirs4 ,more than that1 the 
,east took its own way1 uninfluenced by 
the ,west1 until two entirely different 
types of culture1 civilization1 religion
 and approach to reality had been       
developed1 as far apart as the ,east is 
from the ,west1 and each1 until almost  
our own time1 substantially uninfluenced
 by the other4   ,the ,west ,rediscovers
 the ,east2 the ,east ,returns ,upon the
 ,west  ,given the contacts of the      
modern world this massive isolation of  
cultures could not continue4 ,the ,east 
and the ,west were bound to meet and    
religion was bound to be affected by    
their meeting4 ,western ,christianity   
has for more than a hundred years now   
been sending its missionaries to the    
,orient and oriental religions are      
beginning to send their missionaries to 
the ,west4 ,more justly the return of   

the ,east upon the ,west is not so much 
in a missionary propaganda1 though there
 is a measure of that1 as in a more     
subtle indoctrination of ,western       
speculation by the fascination and      
mystery of the ,eastern cults4 ,it is   
not possible to follow this process in  
detail but it has gone on long enough   
now for us to begin to see the outcome  
of it and to appraise its force4 ,it    
began with ,new ,thought4 ,one discovers
 oriental names on the programs of ,new 
,thought conventions2 the ,vedanta      
,philosophy was expounded by ,east      
,indian speakers at the ,greenacre      
conference in ,maine in the late        
nineties2 ,b4,f4 ,mills was lecturing on
 ,oriental ,scriptures in #aijg2 and a  
lecture on the ,vedanta ,philosophy     
appears on the program of the second    
convention of the ,international        
,metaphysical ,league held in ,new ,york
 ,city in the year #aijj4 ,the ,new     
,thought movement in ,england naturally 
reflected the same tendency to look for 

light to ,eastern speculation even more 
markedly than the ,american movement4   
,all this was natural enough because    
,new ,thought1 once divorced from       
inherited ,christianity and committed to
 pure speculation about the sources and 
meanings of life1 was sure to find out  
that the ,orient had been doing just    
this for a thousand years4 ,two things  
happened4 ,first1 ,new ,thought welcomed
 ,eastern teachers to its conventions in
 the hope of receiving thereby some     
measure of enlightenment1 and second1   
many of these seekers1 finding that the 
,east had a wealth of speculation       
compared with which the ,west is poor   
indeed1 took over the ,eastern cults    
bodily1 gave themselves up to their     
study and became their ardent devotees  
and missionaries4  ,generalizations are 
always dangerous and though the ,east   
has1 until the ,west began to exploit   
it1 remained practically unchanged1 the 
,west has changed so often that whatever
 one may say about it must immediately  

be qualified4 ,but1 on the whole1       
,eastern and ,western life are organized
 around utterly different centers4 ,the 
,west in its present phase is           
predominantly scientific4 ,our          
laboratories are perhaps the            
distinguishing hall-mark of our         
civilization4 ,we are always asking     
questions of the outside world2 we are  
hungry for facts2 we are always seeking 
to discover the law and direction of    
physical force2 we have taken small     
account1 comparatively1 of our own inner
 states1 but we have taken immense      
account of the universe of which we are 
a part and the forces which play around 
us4 ,our realities are what we touch and
 see4 ,we have given to our sight an    
immense increase of searching power     
through the microscope and telescope1   
but we are slow to venture beyond what  
they reveal to us4 ,we have increased   
the sensitiveness of our touch through  
the instruments of our laboratories4 ,we
 have organs to sensibly register the   

vibrations of an etheric force and even 
to weigh light4 ,but we are slow to     
recognize any range of reality not thus 
revealed to us4  ,we have gained in such
 ways a really illuminating             
understanding of the physical universe2 
we have formulated its laws1 chronicled 
its sequence and made it in a marvellous
 way the instrument of our material     
well-being4 ,if we have speculated at   
all it has been rather in the direction 
of the ultimate nature of matter and    
force1 as these have supplied us        
material for speculation1 than in any   
other direction4 ,we have been generally
 and soundly suspicious of conclusions  
which cannot be verified by the         
scientific method1 and so have built    
about ourselves restraining limitations 
of thought which we are wholesomely     
unwilling to pass4 ,we have found our   
real joy in action rather than          
meditation4 ,our scientific achievements
 have supplied material for our restless
 energy and our restless energy has     

urged us on to new achievement4  ,true  
enough1 there has been of late signs of 
a changing temper4 ,we are beginning to 
discover that science has marked        
limitations2 there are ranges of reality
 of which our laboratories can make no  
possible report which we are beginning  
to take into account4 ,but in a large   
way the matured ,western outlook upon   
life has been conditioned by the        
scientific interpretation of the        
universe4   ,chesterton's ,two ,saints  
,the ,east has taken an entirely        
different line2 its laboratories have   
been the laboratories of the soul4 ,the 
,east has had little concern about      
outside things2 it has had an immense   
concern for its own inner life4 ,the    
,east has made little attempt to master 
outer forces2 it has been generally     
content to let them have their way with 
it1 realizing1 maybe1 that after all    
what the outside world can do for the   
inner life is negligible compared with  
what the soul can do for itself4 ,race  

and climate and the sequence of history 
have all conspired to produce this      
temper4 ,the history of the ,east is a  
strange combination of drive and        
quiescence2 its more vigorous races have
 had their periods of conquest and      
fierce mastery1 but sooner or later what
 they have conquered has conquered them 
and they have accepted1 with a kind of  
inevitable fatalism1 the pressure of    
forces which they were powerless to     
subdue to their own weakening purposes4 
,they have populated their lands to the 
limit and accepted the poverty which a  
dense population without scientific     
resource1 on a poor soil and in a trying
 climate1 inevitably engenders4 ,the    
more helpless have fallen back upon fate
 and accepted with a pathetic           
resignation their hard estate1 asking   
only to be freed from the weariness of  
it4 ,it is better1 says an ,eastern     
proverb1 to sit than to stand1 it is    
better to lie than to sit1 it is better 
to sleep than to lie1 and death is the  

best of all4  ,there is an immensity of 
weariness and disillusionment in such an
 interpretation of life1 which needs no 
comment4 ,but the ,eastern mind is      
subtle and speculative1 possessing a    
peculiar penetrating power2 and1 for the
 want of any other field in which to    
act1 it turned in upon itself4          
,chesterton has both hit and missed the 
immense difference between the ,east and
 the ,west in one of his brilliant      
paragraphs4#fd ,no two ideals could be  
more opposite than a ,christian saint in
 a ,gothic cathedral and a ,buddhist    
saint in a ,chinese temple4 ,the        
opposition exists at every point2 but   
perhaps the shortest statement of it is 
that the ,buddhist saint always has his 
eyes shut1 while the ,christian saint   
always has them very wide open4 ,the    
,buddhist saint has a sleek and         
harmonious body1 but his eyes are heavy 
and sealed with sleep4 ,the medieval    
saint's body is wasted to crazy bones1  
but his eyes are frightfully alive4     

,there cannot be any real community of  
spirit between forces that produced     
symbols so different as that4 ,granted  
that both images are extravagances1 are 
perversions of the pure creed1 it must  
be a real divergence which could produce
 such opposite extravagances4 ,the      
,buddhist is looking with a peculiar    
intentness inwards2 the ,christian is   
staring with a frantic intentness       
outwards4 ,if we follow that clue       
steadily we shall find some interesting 
things4  ,footnote #fd3 ,orthodoxy1 p4  
#bdc4  ,but to follow ,chesterton's own 
method1 the saint with the open eyes may
 still be blind while the saint with his
 eyes shut may really see a vast deal1  
and the ,east has seen much4 ,whether   
what it sees be true or not1 is another 
matter1 but there is no denying the     
range of his conjecture4 ,the ,eastern  
saint has sought to answer for himself  
and in his own way those compelling     
questions which lie behind all          
religion--,whence8 and ,whither8 and    

,why8 ,he1 too1 has sought to come into 
right relations with the power which    
manifests itself in the universe and he 
has sought1 with an intensity of effort 
to which the ,west is strange1 for a    
real communion with the power he has    
discovered4 ,and above all1 he has      
sought deliverance4   ,why the ,west    
,questions the ,east  ,he has not been  
so conscious of the need of forgiveness1
 since forgiveness plays no great part  
in his understanding of the sequences of
 life1 but he is anxious enough to be   
set free from pain and weariness and at 
his best he has traced the relation of  
moral cause and effect far more         
analytically than his ,western brother4 
,he has1 indeed1 introduced greatly     
speculative elements in his balancing of
 life's accounts1 but the ,west has done
 that also1 for the accounts of life    
persistently refuse to be balanced      
unless something beyond ordinary        
experience is taken into account4 ,the  
longing of the ,east for deliverance    

has1 on the whole1 however1 been less   
theological and more simple than the    
longing of the ,west4 ,the ,west has    
been led to turn to the ,east for       
teaching and deliverance through a      
combination of forces4 ,i have noticed  
already the very direct way in which    
,new ,thought1 once committed to free   
speculation about life and ,god1 found  
congenial guidance in the ,eastern      
cults1 but other elements enter4 ,the   
,west has begun to share something of   
the disillusionment of the ,east2 so    
many things which promised to deliver us
 have seemingly failed us4 ,our sciences
 have immeasurably enlarged our         
knowledge and increased our power2 they 
have added to our material well-being2  
they have worked their miracles for us2 
but they have brought us neither peace  
nor true happiness4 ,they have instead  
added their own disturbances to our     
other perplexities and they have        
ultimately simply extended the frontiers
 of the mysterious and given a new and  

vaster quality to our problems4  ,our   
democracies and our humanitarian        
movements have shown us that the keys   
both to liberty and progress are still  
in human nature and not in forms of     
organization and government4 ,as our    
civilizations have grown older and      
particularly as they have wasted        
themselves in war1 some shadow of the   
age-old weariness of the ,east has begun
 to fall across our ,western world4 ,we 
have also reacted strongly against      
materialism in thought and life2 we have
 begun to see1 as has been said1 how the
 need and force of personality have the 
right to assert themselves against the  
dominance of things4 ,we are beginning  
to recognize the right of religion and  
philosophy to suggest terms to science1 
and all these tendencies have combined  
to produce a considerable group of      
people who1 having found1 for one reason
 or another1 no real satisfaction in    
their inherited ,christianity1 have     
welcomed the ,eastern solution of the   

problems of life1 or else have          
positively turned to the ,east in the   
hope of discovering what ,western       
,christianity has not been able to give 
them4 ,one should add also that the pure
 love of speculation which is one of the
 phases of modern thought has made an   
opening in the ,west for the ,east4 ,if 
unlimited speculation is the main       
business of life1 the ,east has         
certainly everything to offer us1 and   
for warning1 as we shall presently see1 
as well as for guidance4   ,pantheism   
and ,its ,problems  ,the older ,eastern 
religions are1 to begin with1           
,pantheistic4 ,we have seen how religion
 generally in its development takes form
 and content from its governing         
conception of ,god4 ,we have seen also  
that there are three governing          
conceptions of ,god3 ,he is conceived as
 ,transcendent or ,immanent1 or else ,he
 is simply identified with the range and
 force of the universe4 ,pantheism is   
generally the creation of brooding      

wonder and uncritical thought2          
,pantheism feels rather than thinks2 it 
accepts rather than seeks to explain4   
,it may be devout enough but its        
devotion is passive rather than active4 
,pantheism is never scientific in the   
accepted sense of that term2 it has     
little concern for law2 it explains by  
personalizing the forces with which it  
has to deal2 it is akin to the temper   
which finds some animating spirit in all
 natural phenomena4 ,the flow of waters1
 the growth of things1 the drift of     
clouds across the sky are all1 for      
,pantheism1 simply the revelation of the
 action of some indwelling spirit or    
other1 without which they could neither 
exist nor go on4  ,at its worst         
,pantheism issues in a grotesque        
mythology and an inconceivable          
multiplication of divinity2 the gods in 
the ,hindu ,pantheon are numbered by the
 thousands4 ,at its best ,pantheism     
issues in a kind of mystic poetry and   
creates a devotee sensitive as ,tagore  

to the fugitive gleams of beauty through
 the murk of things1 voicing his prayers
 and insights in rare phrases which are1
 on the whole1 in arresting contrast to 
the actuality of life about him4        
,western devotion has been caught by the
 mystic and poetical character of       
,pantheism and is1 on the whole1        
strangely blind to its actual outcome in
 the life of its devotees4  ,we all feel
 the suggestion of it in certain of our 
tempers4 ,if we should take out of much 
of our finest poetry suggestions akin to
 the suggestions of ,pantheism at its   
best1 we should leave even ,western     
poetry strangely poor1 and we have      
beside1 particularly in the             
contemplation of rare natural beauty1 a 
feeling of kinship with the spirit which
 clothes itself in dawn and twilight1 or
 speaks through the rhythmic beat of sea
 waves1 or lifts itself against the     
skyline in far blue mountain summits1   
which helps us to understand this old1  
old faith4 ,and if modern cults had done

 nothing more than appropriate the      
poetry of ,pantheism they would have    
lent only a touch of oriental colour to 
the somberness of ,western life4  ,but  
,theosophy and kindred cults have gone  
farther1 since ,pantheism itself must go
 farther4 ,directly you have identified 
creation and the creative power so      
intimately as ,pantheism does1 then you 
are under bonds1 if you have any        
curiosity at all or any speculative     
force1 to try to explain the ways in    
which a ,god1 who is just to begin with 
all that there is1 has managed to reveal
 ,himself in such an infinitude of      
minute and sometimes ungodlike ways4 ,so
 ,pantheism has its own scheme1 not of  
creation1 for there is no place in      
,pantheism for creation1 but rather of  
emanation4 ,eastern thought substitutes 
for the cosmogony of the ,old ,testament
 which simply carries the world back to 
a creative ,god and seeks to go no      
farther1 and for the methods of ,western
 science which carries creation back to 

ultimate force and is unable to go any  
farther1 an entirely different system4  
,how the ,one ,becomes the ,many  ,a    
paragraph in ,mrs4 ,besant's ,the       
,ancient ,wisdom 7page #da7 may help us 
here4 ,coming forth from the depths of  
the ,one ,existence1 from the ,one      
beyond all thought and all speech1 a    
,logos1 by imposing on ,himself a limit1
 circumscribing voluntarily the range of
 ,his own ,being1 becomes the manifested
 ,god1 and tracing the limiting sphere  
of ,his activity thus outlines the area 
of ,his universe4 ,within that sphere   
the universe is born1 is evolved1 and   
dies2 it lives1 it moves1 it has its    
being in ,him2 its matter is ,his       
emanation2 its forces and energies are  
currents of ,his life2 ,he is immanent  
in every atom1 all-pervading1           
all-sustaining1 all-evolving2 ,he is its
 source and its end1 its cause and its  
object1 its centre and circumference2 it
 is built on ,him as its sure           
foundation1 it breathes in ,him as its  

encircling space2 ,he is in everything  
and everything in ,him4 ,thus have the  
,sages of the ,ancient ,wisdom taught us
 of the beginning of the manifested     
worlds4  ,it is not1 of course1 fair to 
say that here is something entirely     
different from the line of ,western     
scientific and philosophic thought or   
wholly alien to elements in modern      
,christianity4#fe ,the real problem of  
modern ,theism is to connect what       
science discovers with what faith       
assumes4 ,the broader generalization of 
science resolves action and existence   
into the unities of an underlying and   
self-conserving force which grows more  
and more subtle and tenuous as we follow
 it from molecules to atoms1 from atoms 
to eons and electrons1 and even discern 
beneath these something more impalpable 
than themselves1 and there must be some 
way in which a creative power conceived 
by faith in terms of personality has    
released the forces which have built    
themselves into the universe4 ,the      

difference is1 however1 that ,christian 
,theism refuses completely to identify  
,god and ,his universe4  ,footnote #fe3 
,indeed this is a better commentary on  
the prologue to the ,gospel of ,john and
 certain passages of ,colossians than   
most of the orthodox theologies1 and the
 self-limitation of ,god is the key to  
the moral freedom of the individual4    
,there is1 after all1 a profound        
distinction between creating and        
becoming4 ,theosophy undertakes to      
explain for us how the ,one beyond all  
thought and all speech has become us and
 our universe4 ,it attempts also to     
provide a way by which we1 who are      
entangled1 to our pain and sorrow1 in   
the web of things thus woven1 may escape
 from it and lose ourselves again in the
 ,one4 ,it takes the wheel for its      
symbol in more senses than one4         
,everything is a turning and returning  
and we ourselves are bound upon the     
wheel1 carried down or up and finally to
 be set free1 only by the acceptance of 

a certain discipline of life4           
,theosophy1 then1 is both speculative   
and practical4 ,its speculations take an
 immense range necessarily2 it is no    
simple thing to follow the ,one from the
 depths of ,his hidden existence to our 
earth-born lives and the forces which   
flow about them4 ,only an expert deeply 
versed in ,eastern literature would be  
able to say whether ,mrs4 ,besant       
follows her ,eastern masters faithfully 
in reporting their conclusions1 but she 
has plainly availed herself of many of  
the terms and suggestions of modern     
science in interpreting them to us4 ,if 
one could use a figure borrowed from    
electricity1 the ,one is stepped-down   
through a series of planes and          
manifestations4 ,theosophy makes much of
 sevens--no use to ask why--and bridges 
the gulf between ultimate and present   
realities by a series of seven planes in
 which what is coarsest in the plane    
above becomes the germ of what is finest
 in the plane beneath4 ,even so1 the    

,one does not directly touch even the   
highest of these seven planes4          
7,theosophy is1 first of all1 a study in
 descents and not in ascents2 ascent    
comes later47 ,there are between the    
,one and the topmost plane three        
emanations 7but perhaps we would better 
let ,mrs4 ,besant speak to us herself73 
,the self-unfolding of the ,logos in a  
threefold form3 the first ,logos the    
root of all being1 from ,him the second 
manifesting the two aspects of life and 
form1 then the third ,logos1 the        
universal mind1 that in which all       
archetypically exists1 the source of    
beings1 the fount of fashioning         
energies4#ff  ,footnote #ff3 ,the       
,ancient ,wisdom1 p4 #da4   ,evolution  
and ,involution  ,it would seem to the  
uninitiated that all this is a kind of  
smoke-screen of words to conceal our    
real ignorance of what we can never know
 and really have no need to know4 ,it is
 evidently just an attempt to bridge the
 abyss between the immaterial and the   

material4 ,if ,theosophy wishes to      
bridge this abyss with conjecture1 well 
and good1 but its conjectures really    
leave us more deeply perplexed than we  
should be if we frankly recognized and  
accepted the limitations of our         
ignorance4 ,once within sight of the    
topmost of her seven planes1 ,mrs4      
,besant goes on a little more definitely
 though she confesses of what occurs on 
the two higher planes of the universe1  
the seventh and the sixth1 we can form  
but the haziest conception4 ,each plane 
has what she calls its own spirit       
matter2 this spirit matter becomes      
coarser as we descend2 each plane is an 
emanation from the plane above it and   
the spirit matter of each plane winds   
one more veil around those emanations of
 the immaterial ,one in whom or which   
the whole process took its beginning4   
,theosophy does not speak of evolution  
as it attempts to account for our       
material world1 it speaks of involution4
 ,here it reverses what is most         

distinctive in modern ,western religious
 thought as far as modern ,western      
religious thought has accepted          
evolution4 ,for us evolution1 if we seek
 to give it a ,theistic content1 is ,god
 making manifest1 in the vast ascent of 
form and existence1 an always fuller    
revelation of ,himself4 ,our familiar   
phrase the self-revelation of ,god      
posits a power which can never for a    
moment be contained in all that is1 but 
which may always be more clearly known  
as we follow ,his creative record from  
stage to ascending stage4 ,a grass blade
 is a richer revelation than a crystal1 
a bird than a grass blade2 personality  
is almost infinitely richer than the    
lower forms1 some personalities are more
 perfectly the instruments of the divine
 self-revelation than others1 and       
,christian faith accepts in ,jesus      
,christ the supreme self-revelation of  
,god in terms of human experience4      
,theosophy ,undertakes to ,offer        
,deliverance to the ,entangled ,soul    

,but ,theosophy reverses all this4 ,as  
the ,one comes down from emanation to   
emanation and from plane to plane ,he is
 always more deeply entangled in the    
veil of things1 until on our last and   
lowest plane ,he is seven times         
enwrapped and smothered4 ,we must not1  
however1 confuse this last and lowest   
plane with our little world1 or even our
 universe2 these are but sensible       
aspects of it and they are really the   
manifestation of the deeply enwrapped   
,divine trying to struggle up and out   
again and so building our realities     
about us and eventually bringing us1    
with all our conscious powers1 into     
being4 7,here the theosophist has more  
in common with the evolutionist than one
 or two of the preceding paragraphs     
would seem to indicate47 ,if we follow  
the figure of the wheel our present     
plane1 the last and lowest of them all1 
is really the turning point of the      
wheel2 now it begins to turn back upon  
that from which it descended1 and       

according to ,theosophy our practical   
human task is so to avail ourselves of  
its upward movement as to be carried    
back with it toward the high planes of  
perfect being4  ,theosophy undertakes to
 account for personality as it accounts 
for our sensible universe and along much
 the same line of speculation4 ,just as 
the whole physical plane on which our   
world exists has really somewhere deep  
wrapped up within it some emanation of  
the ,one from whom everything flows out1
 so our true selves1 which have really  
come down from the ,one and should      
thence return1 are wrapped up so deeply 
as also to be near lost and smothered   
with1 nevertheless1 the power to get    
themselves unwrapped4 ,our wrappings are
 our bodies1 but we do not begin to     
understand ,theosophy if we think of    
body in the ordinary sense2 our physical
 body is only one and that the coarsest 
of the seven veils1 for there are seven 
here also1 in which the true soul is    
enmeshed4 ,we have really seven bodies  

and we are not any one of them though   
each of them is useful and each one of  
them puts us in touch with a certain    
order of existence4 ,some of these      
bodies are mortal1 others of them belong
 to the truly enduring order4  ,now we  
are lost here unless we recognize the   
profound difference between all our     
usual ways of thinking or talking and   
the wisdom of ,theosophy4 ,theosophy    
begins at the top and comes down1 at    
least until it reaches our present      
world2 it also begins at the inside and 
works out4 ,we think of our physical    
bodies as the instruments1 on one side  
at least1 through which the physical    
world communicates with us1 but for the 
theosophist they are only instruments   
through which we communicate with the   
world4 ,not quite so1 however1 for      
,theosophy recognizes the give and take 
of experience4 ,the soul may slip out of
 the physical body in sleep and it--our 
physical body--is at the best a stupid1 
imprisoning1 misleading sort of a husk  

which has its practical uses but ought  
by no means to be taken too             
seriously4#fg ,its coarse matter may be 
refined by discipline and diet and      
apparently the physical body of a       
vegetarian is a finer instrument than   
the physical body of one who feeds on   
the flesh of animals4  ,footnote #fg3   
,for a striking modern phrasing of this 
see ,edward ,carpenter's ,free ,verse   
,the ,stupid ,old ,body4   ,but ,becomes
 ,deeply ,entangled ,itself  ,the       
physical body has also an etheric double
 which duplicates in a more subtle way  
the constitution of the physical body4  
,this is the vehicle of the life force1 
whatever that means4 ,the physical body 
and its double are in a rough way the   
vehicles of the give and take of        
physical existence1 but for the         
experiences of pain and pleasure and for
 the dwelling place of the passions1    
desires and emotions1 we have an astral 
body4 ,here the theosophist makes much  
use of vibrations and colours1 and      

apparently our changing play of emotion 
is reflected in a play of colour which  
puts the chameleon to shame and makes us
 in our most excited moment rivals of   
the rainbow itself4 ,the astral body    
shows upon occasion browns1 dark reds   
and greens and their combinations1 lit  
from time to time with flashes of       
scarlet4 ,our better feelings reveal    
themselves in finer colours2 rose       
indicates love1 blue1 religious feeling1
 yellow1 intelligence1 and violet1      
spirituality4 ,the ,theosophist believes
 that we can be trained to see all this 
and illustrates it in coloured plates   
which are1 to the uninitiated1 not over 
convincing4 ,beside the body of physical
 existence and the astral body we       
possess also a mental body4 ,this is the
 seat of thought and mental action4 ,in 
a sentence1 maybe1 the theosophist is   
trying to say that we have a body for   
each phase of personality through which 
we come into contact with the finer     
realities of the ascending planes of    

existence1 and that the matter of these 
bodies is more subtly refined as we pass
 from mere sensation to higher spiritual
 states4  ,so within the astral body    
there is the mental body which1 says    
,mrs4 ,besant1 is of finer material than
 the astral as the astral is finer than 
the physical4 ,this is the body which   
answers by its vibrations to our changes
 of thought4 ,the mental body may be    
refined by fitting disciplines as it is 
coarsened by evil thoughts4 ,these      
thoughts may become veritable diseases  
and maimings of the mental body         
incurable during its period of life4    
,these bodies we discard in due time1   
the physical at death and the astral    
when ready to enter the heaven world4   
,what becomes of the mental body ,mrs4  
,besant does not say4  ,beyond these are
 bodies which belong to man's timeless  
existence1 curiously named and obscurely
 defined4 ,there is apparently a causal 
body which is possibly the vehicle of   
will and1 more involved still1 a        

super-spiritual body which is the       
reality of ,god deep within us1 and the 
carrier and vehicle of our supreme and  
enduring personal values4 ,all this is a
 curious enough mingling of psychology1 
a subtle materialism1 and unbounded     
speculation2 it is equally beyond proof 
and denial1 though for the proof of it  
the theosophist offers the testimony of 
those whose senses are so refined by    
peculiar disciplines as to see in and   
about physical form a play of light and 
colour which are themselves the         
revelation of mental and emotional      
states4 ,we literally go about1         
according to this testimony1 trailing   
clouds of glory or of gloom4 ,while for 
the denial of it there is the           
deep-seated protest of ,western reason1 
that personality1 complex as it is1     
cannot possibly be so bafflingly complex
 as this4   ,the ,west ,accepts         
,suffering as a ,challenge and ,looks to
 ,personal ,immortality for ,victory    
,we are1 therefore1 according to the    

theosophist1 emanations from the        
,divine2 deeply enveiled and much       
enshrouded within us is a timeless and  
changeless self descended from the      
mysterious ,all which lies back of all  
things and under high compulsion to seek
 again1 in some vast turning of the     
wheel of ,being1 that from which we     
sprang4 ,theosophy becomes more         
understandable in its practical reaction
 upon life1 for this many veiled self is
 deeply involved in forces and states to
 which it is not really akin1 and since 
it suffers greatly in being so involved 
the end of existence is1 in discipline  
and ascent1 to be set free from the pain
 and weariness of conscious existence1  
and to be absorbed in the changeless    
peace of that ultimate reality out of   
which we have issued and back again to  
which we are destined to go4 ,we cannot 
be insensible to the vast scope of such 
a speculation as this for in one form or
 another there are1 in all religion and 
in the deeper yearnings of life1        

elements akin to it4  ,the order of     
which we are a part bears hard upon the 
soul4 ,no one who meditates deeply upon 
the strangeness of human destiny can    
fail to recognize the arresting estate  
of sensitive personality enmeshed in    
laws and forces which drive on with so  
little apparent consideration for those 
who are caught in the turning of their  
wheels1 or ridden down in their drive4  
,western faith has generally seen in    
this situation a challenge to           
personality to assert its own supremacy 
over the impersonal and subject its     
encompassing order to the high purposes 
of the soul4 ,if we are wounded in the  
fight we take our wounds as good        
soldiers2 if the forces which face us   
are challengingly strong we fall back   
upon our deeper resources and in the end
 assert our own vaster powers4  ,we     
accept the conditions of the struggle as
 a part of the discipline of life and in
 our braver moments win from the fight  
itself those elements of personal       

steadfastness which1 matured in         
character1 give moral meaning to the    
endeavour1 and though we anticipate an  
ultimate release and blessed            
compensation for the present travail of 
our souls1 we find that release and     
those compensations in a personal       
immortality which attends the           
termination of the individual life in   
the present order1 and continues that   
life conscious1 free and triumphant in  
an immortal order1 and even there we ask
 neither to be released from effort nor 
denied progress4 ,we challenge the      
fortunes of the ,unknown in the poet's  
phrase1 and seek other heights in other 
lives1 ,god willing4   ,the ,east       
,balances the ,accounts of ,life in a   
,series of ,reincarnations  ,but just as
 the ,east casts the glamour of its     
speculation over the processes by which 
we have come to be where and what we    
are1 so it casts the glamour of its     
speculation over the process of our     
release4 ,the ,west stakes everything on

 the issue of one individual life even  
if death ends it1 or else it assumes a  
conscious continuity of life rich in    
memory and persistent in individuality  
in whatever progress lies beyond the    
grave4 ,those whom ,dante saw ascending 
from terrace to terrace of the ,mount of
 ,purgation were in all stages          
continuously and truly themselves4 ,they
 knew the faults for which they made    
atonement and looked back with unclouded
 vision along all the stages by which   
they had climbed4 ,the ,east makes      
little of the continuity of individual  
life and everything of the sequence of  
individual lives4 ,it offers for the    
solution of our problem of ultimate     
destiny and also for its solution of the
 problem of pain and sorrow and manifest
 inequality in human states1 two simple 
and unescapable laws--the law of moral  
consequence and the law of              
reincarnation4 ,the ,east and the ,west 
both believe that whatsoever a man      
soweth that shall he also reap but the  

,west believes he gathers his harvests  
of pain or punishment in a continuity of
 conscious existence1 the vaster part of
 which is lived beyond death1 with no   
rebirth and with no travelling again the
 light or shadowed ways of earth and    
time4 ,the ,christian ,west believes    
also in redemption which is just that   
sharing of ,god in the process which    
makes faith and repentance definite and 
saving elements in the struggle of the  
soul4  ,the ,east believes in a series  
of reincarnations1 each reincarnate     
state taking its character from the     
quality of the life before4 ,the fact   
that the doors of recollection are shut 
and locked between each incarnate       
existence makes no difference to the    
,east4 ,if a man has lived well and     
justly and followed his light1 he will  
hereafter be born higher up2 if he has  
loved darkness because his deeds are    
evil1 he will be born into some low     
estate2 he may descend into the beast or
 ascend into the saint4 ,he will pay for

 present injustice with future          
suffering--            ,or reach a hand 
through time to catch           ,the    
far-off interest of tears  even though  
he have no conscious remembrance of the 
faults for which he atones1 or the      
sorrow for which he is recompensed4 ,if 
he is steadfast through countless       
rebirths1 the slow turning wheel will   
bear him higher and higher until he     
begins to ascend the successive planes1 
discovering in each plane for which he  
has fitted himself a new wealth and     
reality of existence1 until at last he  
is lost in the ,infinite ,existence and 
his struggle is ended4  ,perhaps the    
word struggle as here used is wrong4    
,deliverance for the ,east is not so    
much struggle as acquiescence4 ,for the 
theosophist desire is the master        
mischief maker4 ,desire leads us in     
wrong directions1 complicates our       
spiritual problems and thrusts us       
against the turn of the wheel4 ,we are  
rather1 according to the theosophist1 to

 reduce desire to its simplest terms1   
thereby freeing ourselves from          
restlessness1 above all taking care not 
to hurt or embitter others4   ,theosophy
 ,produces a ,distinct ,type of         
,character  ,there is no denying that   
here is a faith capable of producing a  
distinctive type of character4 ,it tends
 at its best toward an extreme          
conscientiousness and an always         
excessive introspection2 it creates also
 a vast and brooding patience4 ,in      
countries where reincarnation and karma 
the law of ,cause and ,effect are taken 
for granted by every peasant and        
labourer1 the belief spreads a certain  
quiet acceptance of inevitable troubles 
that conduces much to the calm and      
contentment of ordinary life4 ,a man    
overwhelmed by misfortunes rails neither
 against ,god nor against his           
neighbours1 but regards his troubles as 
the result of his own past mistakes and 
ill-doings4 ,he accepts them resignedly 
and makes the best of them4444 ,he      

realizes that his future lives depend on
 his own exertions and that the law     
which brings him pain will bring him joy
 just as inevitably if he sows the seed 
of good4 ,hence a certain large patience
 and philosophic view of life tending   
directly to social stability and to     
general contentment4#fh  ,footnote #fh3 
,the ,ancient ,wisdom1 ,besant1 p4 #bgc4
  ,if such a faith as this be informed  
with humaneness and be deeply tempered  
with the principle of sacrifice1 it may1
 and does1 result in a distinct type of 
real goodness4 ,it is possibly a good   
faith for helpless and more or less     
despairing folk1 though it likely       
creates many of the evils from which it 
desires to escape4 ,the very reach and  
subtlety and even splendour of its      
speculation will make a strong appeal to
 minds of a certain type4  ,two elements
 in the whole system doubtless account  
for what hold it has upon the ,western  
mind4 ,it does offer1 to begin with1 a  
coherent explanation of the problem of  

pain and sorrow4 ,as we have seen more  
than once in this study1 ,western       
,christianity has been deficient just   
here4 ,the accepted explanations of the 
shadowed side of life have not been     
great enough to meet the facts4         
,practically every cult we have studied 
has found its opportunity just here4    
,christian ,science solves the problem  
by denying the essential reality of pain
 and disease4 ,new ,thought believes in 
an underlying and loving good to which  
life may be so attuned as to bring us   
generally into the current of health and
 happiness4 ,theosophy accepts pain1    
sorrow and all unhappy forces and       
explains them as the inevitable result  
of wrong action either in this or a     
previous existence4   ,theosophy a ,tour
 de ,force of the ,imagination          
,christian ,science saves the justice   
and affirms the love of ,god by making  
,him just a ,god with apparently no     
concern for and no participation in the 
shadowed side of life4 ,new ,thought    

saves the love and justice of ,god by   
discovering in pain and unhappiness our 
lack of harmony with ,him4 ,theosophy   
meets the whole shadowed order along its
 full front and explains everything in  
terms of compensation4 ,now there is    
much in this to appeal to our modern    
temper4 ,directly we recognize the      
scales in which the consequences of our 
actions are weighed as being so         
sensitive that not even a thought can be
 thrown in the one balance without      
disturbing the equilibrium1 directly we 
recognize ourselves as involved in a    
sweep of law from whose consequences    
there is no possible escape1 we have at 
least a consistent scheme in which there
 is room for no evasion1 and if we      
balance the manifold inequalities of one
 life by what has been done or left     
undone in some previous life1 we are    
always able to add weight enough to the 
scales to make them hang level4 ,true   
enough1 there is nothing to guide us    
here but imaginative ingenuity1 but it  

is always possible to imagine some fault
 in a previous existence which we pay   
for in pain or loss or disappointment1  
or some good deed done in a previous    
existence which accounts for our happy  
fortune in this4 ,and so justice is     
saved if only by a tour de force of the 
imagination4 7,mrs4 ,besant1 for        
example1 explains the untimely death of 
a child as a penalty due the parents for
 unkindness to a child in an earlier    
incarnation47  ,the speculative aspects 
of ,theosophy also appeal to tempers    
which love to dream without accepting   
the laborious discipline of a truly     
reasoned speculation4 ,to quote a phrase
 of ,macaulay's quoted in turn by       
,william ,james in one of his letters1  
there is a type of mind utterly wanting 
in the faculty by which a demonstrated  
truth is distinguished from a plausible 
supposition1 and there has been amongst 
us of late a marked increase of this    
type of mind4 ,there has been up to our 
own time no great amount of such        

speculation as this in the ,west4 ,it is
 not native to the occidental temper and
 it has been held in control by our     
scientific approach to the facts of our 
world and our experiences therein4 ,we  
have demanded for our speculations      
generally the demonstration of fact and 
this has heretofore held us to a rather 
narrow range1 but that widening of the  
frontiers of the possible which has     
attended the new psychology with its    
emphasis upon the subconscious1 along   
with the rather baffling character of   
psychic phenomena1 has opened the flood 
gates and released a tide of speculation
 which goes far beyond the proved fact  
and accepts no limits but its own       
ingenious audacity4 ,we have already    
seen how evident deficiencies in the    
discipline of present-day education and 
the loose state of mind too much in     
evidence amongst us has contributed to  
all this4 ,there are everywhere a great 
number of perplexed people who want to  
believe something and find it far easier

 to believe in dreams and guesses and   
cloud-built systems than in restraining 
facts or even the rather clearly        
demonstrated realities of the moral     
order1 and such as these have found a   
wealth of material in ,eastern          
speculation4   ,a ,bridge of ,clouds    
,in trying to appraise the truth of     
,theosophy we have to disentangle the   
system and the needs and the seekings   
which lead its adherents to accept it4  
,these needs and seekings are1 after    
all1 near and familiar2 they are only   
our old questions ,whence8 and ,whither8
 and ,why8 ,theosophy is at least the   
attempt to really answer some of the    
questions which ,western science is     
either content or compelled to leave    
unanswered4 ,the creative point of      
contact between personality and matter  
and force is deeply enwrapped in        
mystery4 ,orthodox ,christianity has    
been content to affirm the facts of     
creation without asking any questions at
 all as to its methods4 ,it has affirmed

 the omnipotence of the ,creator and has
 found in ,his omnipotence a            
satisfactory resting place4 ,god is     
great enough to do what has been done   
and the detail of it is rather an affair
 for ,god than man4 ,scientific         
speculation generally has gone back as  
far as it can go in the resolution of   
its forces and laws and recognized its  
own limitations1 leaving the rest to the
 theologian and the philosopher4 ,the   
result has been a gap which has not been
 bridged over4 ,theosophy has undertaken
 to bridge that gap4 ,but1 examined more
 carefully1 one sees that the abyss has 
been crossed by nothing more solid than 
a fabric of cloudy speculation4 ,true   
enough these speculations are ingenious 
and touched with suggestive light1 but  
they are strangely insubstantial4 ,after
 all they do absolutely nothing more    
than our ,western affirmation of the    
immanence of ,god in life and force and 
law1 and our ,western thought has the   
advantage alike in simplicity1 in       

scientific basis and reverent           
self-restraint4  ,we might as well      
recognize1 and be done with it1 that    
there are questions here which in all   
human probability are insoluble4 ,there 
are elements of mystery in life and the 
universe beyond our present and likely  
our future power to definitely resolve4 
,in the end faith can do nothing more   
than rest in ,god and accept as an      
aspect of life itself the necessary     
limits of our position4 ,our organized  
knowledge all too quickly brings us to  
regions where faith and faith alone     
completes the inquiry4 ,but on the other
 hand1 a faith which too far outruns    
either in the reach or audacity of its  
speculation those elements which        
organized knowledge supplies and reason 
validates1 loses itself in futilities or
 else misleads us altogether4 ,eastern  
speculation is too far beyond either    
ordered knowledge or right reason to be 
of any practical use in the fruitful    
conduct of life4 ,believing too much    

does just as much harm as believing too 
little4  ,theosophy's seven planes and  
ascending emanations and sevenfold veils
 and all the rest really explain        
nothing4 ,on the other hand they tempt  
their faithful to take conjecture for   
reality2 they create a credulous and    
uncritical temper2 they are hostile to  
that honest dealing with fact which is  
just one condition of getting on at all4
 ,a brave confession of ignorance is    
often more truly reverent than knowing  
too many things which are not so4 ,as we
 approach more nearly the reality of    
things as they are we find them always  
unexpectedly simple4 ,the burden of     
proof is always upon the murky and the  
complex4 ,those who try to escape the   
difficulties in which our deeper        
understanding of the world order and our
 own personalities involve us1 by taking
 refuge in ,eastern occultism are on the
 wrong line4   ,the ,difficulties of    
,reincarnation  ,the same criticism     
holds true of ,reincarnation4 ,it is    

involved in hopeless difficulties4      
,there are apparent injustices and      
inequalities in life--so much is beyond 
debate--but we have in general1 if we   
are honest enough to follow it through1 
the clue to even these4 ,we are all     
parts of a struggling and1 we trust1    
ascending order1 an order which on the  
whole is not so greatly concerned for   
the individual as we are concerned for  
ourselves4 ,we are hampered by our      
ignorance and we are deeply involved one
 with the other4 ,the orthodox theology 
which blames everything upon sin as an  
abstraction is not convincing1 but sin  
as the projection of wrong desires1     
through self-will1 into the field of    
human action is a fact to be constantly 
reckoned with4 ,the individual and      
social consequences of it are enormous1 
nor can they be confined either to one  
individual or one generation4 ,heredity 
continues weakness as well as strength4 
,a vast deal of our bitter reaping is   
due to the wrong or foolish sowing of   

others1 though fortunately we share the 
good as well as the bad4 ,the laws of   
heredity will account for a vast deal in
 any one generation2 the laws of social 
action and reaction for a great deal of 
the rest1 and there is finally not a    
little for which we ourselves are       
responsible4 ,a good many of our        
problems ought to be approached from the
 point of view of the well-being of     
humanity generally and not our own      
individual destiny4  ,we may safely     
trust our individual destiny to brave   
and unselfish living4 ,i ought not to   
test what ,i do or leave undone by its  
effect upon me in some future           
reincarnation2 ,i ought to test it by   
the effect which it has now upon the    
world of which ,i am a part1 upon the   
generation which is to follow me and    
upon the quality of my own present life4
 ,true enough1 the theosophist and      
myself find ourselves here in           
substantial agreement as to many of the 
things which a man ought practically to 

do to secure a happier future1 but ,i   
maintain that the motives just named are
 far more solid and worthy motives than 
the camouflaged selfishness of          
,theosophy1 and they are certainly in   
far deeper accord with the ascertained  
facts of life4 ,if we recognize that the
 more shadowed side of life is partly   
the result of social and individual     
development conditioned by weakness1    
ignorance and sin1 if we recognize that 
the present reaps what the past has     
sown1 if we recognize that we suffer for
 the faults of others and that no one of
 us may hope to climb far until his     
neighbour climbs with him1 if we        
recognize that pain and suffering are   
disciplinary1 illuminating1 educative1  
and finally1 if we recognize that we do 
possess the power to take all the more  
difficult elements in experience and    
subdue them to an increased wealth of   
personality1 we have really all the     
elements in hand for the solution of the
 problem of pain and sorrow in terms of 

action and understanding1 and we do not 
need a series of reincarnations to help 
us out4  ,reincarnation really explains1
 as it claims to explain1 neither the   
exceptional individual nor the          
apparently unmerited sufferings of the  
individual1 and it has beside           
inescapable difficulties of its own4 ,it
 has to parallel the course of human    
existence with a range of supernal      
existence for which there is absolutely 
no proof2 it has to numerically equalize
 birth and death--and these are not     
equal in an increasing terrestrial      
population--or else it has to assume1 as
 it does of course1 on other planes a   
storehouse of souls from which to draw4 
,and more than that1 it involves itself 
in a perfect tangle of heavenly         
bookkeeping4 ,here is the best ,mrs4    
,besant can do to explain the           
difficulties of reincarnation4 ,we have 
seen that man during his passage to     
physical death loses1 one after the     
other1 his various bodies4444 ,these are

 all disintegrated and their particles  
remixed with the materials of their     
several planes4444 ,at this stage1 then1
 only the man himself is left1 the      
labourer who has brought his harvest    
home and has lived upon it till it is   
all worked up into himself4 ,the dawn of
 a new life begins4#fi  ,footnote #fi3  
,the ,ancient ,wisdom1 p4 #bjb--passim4 
,to condense1 he now proceeds to build  
up for himself a new body for his coming
 life on the lower mental level4 ,this  
again exactly represents his desire     
nature1 faithfully reproducing the      
qualities he evolved in the past2 444   
thus the man stands fully equipped for  
his next incarnation4444 ,meanwhile     
action external to himself is being     
taken to provide him with a physical    
body suitable for the expression of his 
qualities4444 ,all this is done by      
certain mighty spiritual ,intelligences 
often spoken of as the lords of ,karma  
because it is their function to         
superintend the working out of causes   

continually set going by thoughts1      
desires and actions4 ,they hold the     
threads of destiny which each man has   
woven1 and guide the reincarnating man  
to the environment determined by his    
past4 ,the race1 the nation1 the family 
thus determined1 what may be called the 
mould of the physical body 444 is built 
within the mother's womb by the agency  
of an elemental1 the thought of the     
,karmic lords being its motive power4   
,the difficulties which this statement  
evades are enormous1 its conjectures are
 even more enormous4  ,this is the      
subversion of all the facts of biology  
and heredity to a capricious scheme1    
built up just to answer a few practical 
questions--,why do we differ8 ,why do we
 suffer8 ,why are we happy8 ,surely     
there are far more simple and reasonable
 answers to these questions than the    
answer of ,theosophy1 and the           
willingness of so many people to rest in
 such an answer as this can prove only  
one of two things--the capacity of the  

mind for credulity or the arresting     
failure of those whose business it is to
 interpret life to the perplexed1 to    
have even begun their task4             
,immortality a ,nobler1 ,juster and     
,simpler ,balancing of ,life's          
,account-,book  ,if there be a want of  
opportunity in our present existence for
 a true balancing of the scales of      
justice1 and if some future existence be
 needed to make things right1 then the  
,christian doctrine of immortality has  
an immense advantage over the           
reincarnations of ,theosophy4 ,we have  
no right to underestimate the           
difficulties of a reasonable faith in   
immortality1 but they are simplicity    
itself as compared with the difficulties
 of reincarnation1 for reincarnation    
must answer every question which the    
possibility of immortality raises and   
answer even more difficult questions of 
its own4 ,it is far simpler to believe  
that having survived the shock of death 
we go on with the same essential        

individuality we had before death1 than 
to believe that having survived we are  
sent back again through the gates of    
birth and are really reincarnated in    
another individuality4 ,more than that1 
the ,christian belief in immortality is 
more ethical4 ,the action and reaction  
of life have real meaning for me only as
 ,i know and remember4 ,no theosophic   
evasion can take the force out of this4 
,if ,i consciously connect to-day's pain
 with yesterday's pain with the folly or
 fault of a previous existence of which 
,i am really unconscious1 the chain has 
been broken and no speculative question 
can supply the missing link4 ,very      
likely the accepted ,christian doctrine 
of the finality of life after death has 
given ,theosophy an opportunity in the  
,west4 ,protestantism particularly has  
allowed absolutely no place after death 
for repentance1 has offered no new      
chance to the adventuring soul2 its     
,hell and its ,heaven have been final   
states4 ,catholicism has eased the      

strain of this with purgatory1 a belief 
wholly without ,scriptural basis1 but   
nevertheless evolved in answer to great 
necessities of life4 ,we need neither   
purgatory nor reincarnation2 we need    
only the recognition of what is so      
centrally a part of any conception of   
immortality as to make one wonder why we
 have so greatly missed it2 the         
reasonable confidence1 that is1 that we 
really go on very much as we left off   
here4  ,if there be in a future         
existence--and there must be if there be
 a future existence--any room for       
repentance born of a clearer recognition
 of fault and new and holier purposes   
born of a clearer understanding of the  
true values of life1 then we shall go on
 in a truly moral process of growth1    
availing ourselves always of the        
teachings of experience and working     
toward the true well-being of our souls1
 and if the mercy and justice of ,god be
 not the figment of our imagination     
those who have been hardly dealt with   

here will be given new opportunity1 the 
deficient and the handicapped released  
from what weighed them down will find a 
new departure1 and the justices of      
eternity complete what time began4 ,all 
this will be accomplished not in a      
series of existences1 separated one from
 the other by abysms of forgetfulness1  
but in a remembered continuity of life  
deepening through endless growth4 ,if   
this be only faith and speculation it is
 at least a far more reasonable faith   
and speculation than the alternative    
which ,theosophy offers4 ,theosophy is a
 side issue in the real solution of the 
problems of life4   ,pantheism at ,its  
,best--and ,its ,worst  ,finally1 though
 this is possibly unfair1 ,eastern      
,pantheism generally must be tested by  
its fruits4 ,we ought not1 if we are to 
deal justly with it1 to ignore its      
better side4 ,the ,east at its best has 
been strong in a type of life wanting in
 the ,west2 the ,east has been rich in  
patience and gentleness and in          

consideration for every kind of life1   
even the ant in the dust or the beast in
 the jungle4 ,the ,east at its best has 
weighed conduct in delicate balances and
 traced the play of cause and effect in 
character far1 far beyond the ,west2 it 
has been content with simple things and 
found its true wealth in the inner life4
 ,it has willingly1 for the sake of     
truth and goodness1 subjected itself to 
disciplines1 some of which are          
admirable1 others of which are          
loathsome4 ,it has at its best ventured 
everything for the well-being of the    
soul1 even when it has misconceived that
 well-being4 ,it has had little of the  
hard driving quality of the ,west4 ,not 
a little of the teaching of ,jesus fits 
in better with the temper and devotion  
of the ,orient than the competitive     
materialism of the ,occident4 ,it is    
easily possible to pass not a little of 
the ,gospels through the interpretation 
of ,eastern mysticism and find therein  
arresting correspondences4 ,for example1

 a little book called ,at the ,feet of  
the ,master by a young ,indian student1 
has in it a wealth of insight and an    
understanding of the balanced conduct of
 life which is wanting in a good many of
 the ,western interpretations of life1  
but none the less1 things must be judged
 by their massed outcome and the massed 
outcome of ,eastern ,pantheism does not 
commend itself4  ,the larger part of the
 religious literature of the ,east is   
upon a distinctly lower level than those
 parts of it which are brought to us by 
its devotees1 and when ,pantheism--and  
the basis of all ,eastern speculation is
 ,pantheistic--comes down from its high 
places and begins practically to express
 itself in worship and the conduct of   
the crowd1 then it is such as to give us
 pause4 ,what ,kipling calls the        
sculptured horrors of the carved fronts 
of the temples in ,benares are no       
accident2 they are simply the logical   
outcome of a faith which lifts the whole
 to the level of the divine and has     

nothing beyond to correct what is by    
what ought or ought not to be4 ,almost  
inevitably ,pantheistic religions unduly
 exalt those powers which make for      
fertility of field and the increase of  
life4 ,as they do this they have on     
their side the elemental forces in human
 nature4 ,when we begin to make gods of 
what after all must be sternly          
subordinated to higher things1 and the  
,east has done this in spite of its     
mystics and its dreamers1 then we are   
not only in danger of sculpturing       
symbolic horrors on the fronts of our   
temples but of setting up therein       
strange altars to strange gods who are  
best worshipped by strange rites4 ,all  
this1 inevitably enough1 has given to   
,eastern worship a more than earthly    
character1 and has invested with the    
sanction of religion forces which it    
must always be the business of religion 
to subordinate and control4  ,along with
 all this has gone a grotesque mythology
 and an inconceivable multiplication of 

divinity4 ,since no one but an expert   
can hope to understand the complexities 
of a faith like this1 the ,east has     
developed a priestly class which bears  
harder upon its devotees and at the same
 time more contemptuously separates     
itself from them than perhaps any       
priestly class in the world4 ,if the    
,east is to return upon the ,west in    
substituting a refined and more or less 
mystic ,pantheism for the sterner forms 
of ,western faith1 we ought at least to 
understand what it is which1 with all   
its implications1 is beginning to set up
 its altars amongst us4 ,no one can     
follow the theosophic religion of the   
,west without recognizing how largely   
,western ,theosophy avails itself of    
,western science and informs itself with
 what ,christianity has given to the    
,west4 ,if these were taken out of it it
 would be hopeless4 ,since1 therefore1  
its speculations carry us beyond reason 
or science1 since its solution of the   
problems of life is far too complex1    

since whatever is good in it may be     
found more richly and simply in what we 
already possess and since the practical 
outcome of it in the ,east itself is an 
arrested civilization which has many    
depths but few heights1 one must        
inevitably conclude that ,theosophy has 
no real meaning for those who possess   
already the knowledge which we have so  
laboriously gained and the faith and    
insight which ,christianity has brought 
us4     ,x  ,,spiritualism              
,practically all the newer cults are    
quests in one general direction but down
 more or less specific roads4 ,christian
 ,science and ,new ,thought are         
endeavours after health and well-being  
and the endeavour also to reconcile the 
more shadowed experiences of life with  
the love and goodness of ,god4          
,theosophy and kindred cults are quests 
for illumination and spiritual          
deliverance along other than the        
accepted lines of ,christian redemption4
 ,spiritualism is practically the quest 

for the demonstration of immortality    
through such physical phenomena as      
prove1 at least to those who are        
persuaded by them1 the survival of      
discarnate personality4  ,all these     
movements involve in varying degrees the
 abnormal or the supernormal4 ,they     
imply generally another environment for 
personality than the environment which  
the ordered world of science supplies1  
and other laws than the laws of which it
 takes account4 ,they are one in        
affirming the mastery of the psychical  
over the physical4 ,they either affirm  
or imply faculties which do not depend  
upon the senses for their material2 they
 suggest a range of personality which1  
if the facts which they supply are      
sound1 demands a very considerable      
recasting of our accepted beliefs about 
ourselves4  ,christian ,science and ,new
 ,thought confine themselves largely to 
the present term of life1 though        
,christian ,science affirms strongly    
enough that death is an error of the    

mortal mind4 ,new ,thought places a     
shifting emphasis upon immortality4     
,spiritualism centers wholly upon the   
phenomena of the discarnate life1 upon  
the power of the discarnate to          
communicate with us and upon our power  
to receive and interpret their          
communications4  ,spiritualism1 or      
,spiritism1 the name its adherents      
prefer1 is1 however1 by no means so     
simple as this definition of it4 ,it may
 be anything from the credulity which   
accepts without question or analysis the
 trick of a medium1 to the profound     
speculation of ,meyer or ,hyslop or the 
new adventures in psychology of mile    
,boirac and his ,french associates4 ,it 
may be a cult1 a philosophy or an       
inquiry2 it may organize itself in forms
 of worship and separate itself entirely
 from the churches4 ,it may reinforce   
the faith of those who remain in their  
old communions4 ,spiritism has a long   
line of descent4 ,the belief that the   
spirit may leave the body and maintain a

 continued existence is very old4 ,mr4  
,herbert ,spencer finds the genesis of  
this belief in dreams4 ,since primitive 
men believed themselves able1 in their  
dreams1 to wander about while the body  
remained immobile and since in their    
dreams they met and spoke with their    
dead1 they conceived an immaterial      
existence4 ,the spirit of a dead man1   
having left the body1 would still go on 
about its business4 ,they1 therefore1   
set out food and drink upon his grave   
and sacrificed his dogs1 his horses or  
his wives to serve him in his           
disembodied state4 ,all this is familiar
 enough and perhaps the whole matter    
began as ,mr4 ,spencer suggested1 though
 it by no means ends there4  ,the       
animism which grew out of this belief   
characterizes a vast deal of early      
religion1 penetrates a vast deal of     
early thinking4 ,primitive man lived in 
a world constantly under the control of 
either friendly or hostile spirits and  
the really massive result of this faith 

of his is registered in regions as      
remote as the capricious genders of     
,french nouns and the majestic strophes 
of the ,hebrew ,psalms1 for the genders 
are the shadowy survivals of a time when
 all things had their spirits1 male or  
female1 and the ,psalms voice the faith 
for which thunder was the voice of ,god 
and the hail was stored in ,his armoury4
 ,it would take us far beyond the scope 
of our present inquiry to follow down   
this line in all its suggestive         
ramifications4 ,animism1 medieval       
witchcraft and the confused phenomena of
 knocks1 rappings and the breaking and  
throwing about of furniture and the like
 reported in all civilized countries for
 the past two or three centuries1 supply
 the general background for modern      
,spiritualism4 7,the whole subject is   
fully treated in the first and second   
chapters of ,podmore47   ,the ,genesis  
of ,modern ,spiritualism  ,modern       
,spiritualism does not1 however1 claim  
for itself so ancient an ancestry4 ,in  

#ahdh mysterious knockings were heard in
 the family of ,john ,d4 ,fox at        
,hydesville1 ,n4,y4 ,they appeared to   
have some purpose behind them2 the      
daughters of the family finally worked  
out a code3 three raps for yes1 one for 
no1 two for doubt1 and lo1 a going      
concern was established4 ,it is         
interesting to note that mysterious     
noises had been about a century before  
heard in the family of the ,wesleys in  
,epworth ,rectory1 ,england4 ,these     
noises came to be accepted quite        
placidly as an aspect of the interesting
 domestic life of the ,wesleys4 ,it has 
usually been supposed that ,hattie      
,wesley knew more about it than she     
cared to tell and1 as far as the        
illustrious founders of ,methodism were 
concerned1 there the matter rests4  ,but
 the ,fox sisters became professional   
mediums and upon these simple beginnings
 a great superstructure has been built  
up4 ,the modern interest in             
,spiritualism thus began on its physical

 side and in general the physical       
phenomena of ,spiritualism have become  
more bizarre and complex with the growth
 of the cult4 ,raps1 table tiltings1    
movements of articles of furniture1     
playing upon musical instruments1 slate 
writing1 automatic writing1 of late the 
,ouija ,board1 materialization1         
levitation1 apparent elongation of the  
medium's body1 are all associated with  
,spiritism4 ,it was natural that the    
voice also should become a medium of    
communication1 though trance mediumship 
belongs1 as we shall see1 to a later    
stage of development4  ,incidentally the
 movement created a kind of contagious  
hysteria which naturally multiplied the 
phenomena and made detached and critical
 attitudes unduly difficult4 ,for       
reasons already touched upon1 ,america  
has been strongly predisposed to phases 
of public opinion which in their        
intensity and want of balance have the  
generally accepted characteristics of   
hysteria4 ,some of them have been       

religious1 great awakenings1 revivals   
and the like4 ,these in their more      
extreme form have been marked by        
trances1 shoutings and catalepsy and1   
more normally1 by a popular interest1   
strongly emotionalized1 which may       
possess a real religious value4 ,other  
religious movements have centered about 
the second coming of ,christ and the end
 of the world4 ,many of these peculiar  
excitements have been political4 ,the   
whole offers the psychologists a        
fascinating field and awaits its        
historian4#gj ,yet the result is always 
the same4 ,the critical faculty is for  
the time in abeyance2 public opinion is 
intolerant of contradiction2 imposture  
is made easy and charlatans and         
self-appointed prophets find a credulous
 following4 ,movements having this      
genesis and history are in themselves   
open to suspicion4  ,footnote #gj3      
,sidis has a rsum of ,social ,epidemics 
in part three of his work on the        
,psychology of ,suggestion4   ,it       

,crosses to ,england and the ,continent 
,the ,american interest in ,spiritualism
 from #ahdh to #aheb belongs distinctly 
to this region4 ,the ,fox sisters have  
been generally discredited1 but what    
they began carried on4 ,in #aheb a ,mrs4
 ,hayden and a little later a ,mrs4     
,roberts introduced raps and table      
turnings to ,england4 ,there1 and more  
particularly on the ,continent1         
,spiritualism met and merged with a     
second line of development which in turn
 reacted upon ,american ,spiritualism1  
and1 in ,america1 released movements on 
the surface wholly unrelated to         
,spiritism4 ,in ,france to a degree and 
in ,germany strongly ,mesmerism lent    
itself to spiritistic interpretations4  
,i quote ,podmore1 who is commenting    
upon the trance utterances of a ,mrs4   
,lindquist3 ,it is to be noted that the 
ascription of these somnambulic         
utterances to spirit intelligences was  
in the circumstances not merely easy but
 almost inevitable4 ,the entranced      

person was in a state obviously         
differing very widely from either normal
 sleep or normal wakefulness2 in the    
waking state she herself retained no    
recollection of what happened in the    
trance2 in the trance she habitually    
spoke of her waking self in the third   
person1 as of some one else2 the        
intelligence which manifested in the    
trance obviously possessed powers of    
expression and intellectual resources in
 some directions far greater than any   
displayed by the waking subject4 ,add to
 this that the trance intelligence      
habitually reflected the ideas in       
general and especially the religious    
orthodoxy of her interlocutors2 that on 
occasion she showed knowledge of their  
thoughts and intentions which could not 
apparently have been acquired by normal 
means2 that she was1 in particular1     
extraordinarily skillful in diagnosing1 
prescribing for1 and occasionally       
foretelling the course of diseases in   
herself and others--the proof must have 

seemed to the bystanders complete4#ga   
,footnote #ga3 ,modern ,spiritualism1   
,podmore1 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #gg4   ,the      
,beginnings of ,trance-,mediumship  ,we 
have here plainly enough the beginnings 
of trance mediumship4 ,it needed only   
unstable personalities1 capable of      
self-induced trance states1 so to widen 
all this as to supply the bases of      
spiritistic faith and the material for  
the immensely laborious investigation of
 the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 
,in the main1 however1 ,french interest 
in ,mesmerism and animal magnetism took 
a more scientific turn and issued in the
 brilliant ,french studies in hypnotism4
 ,spiritualism has made little headway  
in ,catholic countries4 ,the authority  
of the ,church is thrown so strongly    
against it as to prohibit the interest  
of the credulous and the penetrating    
minds of the southern ,european         
scientists have been more concerned with
 the problems of abnormal personality   
than the continued existence of the     

discarnate4  ,the interest in ,germany  
took another line4 ,there was less      
scientific investigation of hypnotism   
and trance states as abnormal           
modifications of personality and far    
more interest in clairvoyance and spirit
 existence4 ,men whose names carried    
weight accepted the spiritistic         
explanation of phenomena ranging from   
broken flower pots to ghosts4 ,very     
likely the ,german tendency toward      
mysticism and speculation explains this4
 ,jung followed ,swedenborg and the     
mystics generally in affirming a psychic
 body1 but was a pioneer in associating 
it with the luminiferous ether in a     
range of speculation which in our time  
supplies an hypothetical scientific     
basis for the environment of the        
discarnate4 7,so ,sir ,oliver ,lodge47  
,podmore concludes that the foundations 
of modern ,spiritualism were laid by the
 ,german magnetists of the first half of
 the nineteenth century4  ,the movement 
developed along these lines till #ahge4 

,once broadly in action it touches at   
one point or another the whole region of
 the occult4 ,many spiritualists found  
in ,theosophy1 for which existence is   
the endless turning of a wheel1 a cycle 
of death and rebirth1 a                 
pseudo-philosophic support for their    
belief4 ,spiritualism appealed naturally
 to the lovers of the mystic and the    
unusual and it associated itself1 to a  
degree1 with extreme liberalism in the  
general development of religion4 7,on   
the whole1 however1 as far as religion  
goes1 ,spiritualism has created a       
religion of its own47 ,its advocates    
were likely to be interested in         
phrenology1 advanced social experiments1
 or modification of the marriage laws4  
,spiritualistic phenomena themselves    
became more varied and complex2 trance  
mediumship became a profession with a   
great increase of performers2 slate     
writing was introduced and finally      
materialization was achieved4 ,all this 
might mean that the spirits were growing

 more adept in getting through1 the     
mediums more adept in technique1 or     
else1 which is more likely1 that latent 
abnormal aspects of personality were    
being brought to light through          
suggestion1 imitation and exercise4 ,but
 no concerted effort was made by trained
 and impartial observers to eliminate   
fraud1 collect data and reach dependable
 conclusions4 ,this has been finally    
attempted by the ,society for ,psychical
 ,research and the results of their     
laborious investigations are now at the 
service of the student of the occult4   
,the ,society for ,psychical ,research  
,begins ,its ,work  ,the weight which   
attaches to the names of many ,english  
and some ,american members of the       
,society1 the carefully guarded         
admission of some of them that there is 
in the whole region a possible residue  
of phenomena which indicate             
communication between the living and the
 discarnate and the profoundly          
unsettling influence of the war1 really 

account for the renewed interest in     
,spiritualism in our own time4 ,in #ahge
 a few ,englishmen1 one of them a famous
 medium--,stainton ,moses--formed a     
,psychological ,society for the         
investigation of supernormal phenomena4 
7,in general all this account of the    
history of ,spiritualism is greatly     
condensed from ,podmore and ,hill and   
the reader is referred to their works   
without specific reference47  ,this     
first group dissolved upon the death of 
one of its members--though that would   
seem to have been a good reason for     
continuing it--and in #ahhb ,professor  
7afterward ,sir7 ,william ,barrett1 who 
had already done some experimenting and 
had brought hypnotism and telepathy to  
the notice of the ,british association  
for the advancement of science1         
consulted ,stainton ,moses with the view
 of founding a society under better     
auspices and the ,society for ,psychical
 ,research was organized1 with          
,professor ,henry ,sidgwick as first    

president4 ,the ,society undertook1     
according to its own statement3         
#a4 ,an examination of the nature and   
extent of any influence which      may  
be exerted by one mind upon another1    
otherwise than through the              
recognized sensory channels4       #b4  
,the study of hypnotism and mesmerism1  
and an inquiry into the      alleged    
phenomena of clairvoyance4       #c4 ,a 
careful investigation of any reports1   
resting on testimony      sufficiently  
strong and not too remote1 of           
apparitions coinciding      with some   
external event 7as for instance a death7
 or giving      information previously  
unknown to the percipient1 or being seen
 by      two or more persons            
independently of each other4       #d4  
,an inquiry into various alleged        
phenomena apparently      inexplicable  
by known laws of nature1 and commonly   
referred by      ,spiritualists to the  
agency of extra-human intelligences4    
#e4 ,the collection and collation of    

existing materials bearing on      the  
history of these subjects4#gb  ,footnote
 #gb3 ,spiritualism1 ,hill1 p4 #ajj4    
,they sought also to approach these     
various problems without prejudice or   
prepossession of any kind and in the    
same spirit of exact and unimpassioned  
inquiry which has enabled science to    
solve so many problems1 once not less   
obscure nor less hotly debated4  ,as a  
matter of fact the region is the most   
obscure which inquiry has ever been     
called to enter4 ,a noble rationality   
pervades the whole normal material      
order1 causes can be controlled1 effects
 anticipated1 laws formulated and above 
all1 the hypotheses of science are1 if  
true1 always capable of a luminous and  
splendid verification4 ,the disciplined 
intellect moves through it all with a   
sense of at-homeness which is itself a  
testimony to profound correspondences   
between the human mind and the order    
with which1 during its long1 long       
unfolding1 it has been associated in    

intimacies of action and reaction too   
close to be adequately set forth in     
words4 ,but the mind does not rest      
easily in the region which ,spiritism   
claims for its own4   ,the ,difficulties
 ,it ,confronts  ,of course this is to  
beg the whole question4 ,the more       
scientifically minded spiritualists     
might fairly enough answer that they are
 attempting to discover the laws of the 
occult and reduce an anarchical system  
to order1 that our feeling of           
strangeness in these regions is only    
because of our little contact with them4
 ,there are1 they claim1 undeveloped    
aspects of personality which we have had
 as yet little occasion to use1 but     
which would1 once they were fully       
brought into action1 give us the same   
sense of rapport with a super-sensible  
order that we now have in our contact   
with the sensible order4 ,the crux of   
the whole contention is probably just   
here and in view of what has heretofore 
been accomplished in discovering and    

formulating the laws of the physical    
universe and in reducing an immense body
 of apparently unrelated facts to order1
 there is doubtless possible a very     
great systematization of psychical      
phenomena1 even the most obscure4 ,nor  
may we readily set bounds to the measure
 of human development4 ,but at any rate 
the statement with which this paragraph 
began is true4 ,the region which the    
,society for ,psychical ,research set   
out to explore is obscure and is1 as    
yet1 so far from yielding to            
investigation that the investigators are
 not even agreed as to their facts1 let 
alone the conclusions to be drawn from4 
,the proceedings of the ,society        
literally fill volumes 7thirty-two72 it 
would require a specialist to follow    
them through and an analysis here       
impossible1 rightly to evaluate them4   
,when such careful investigators as     
,hill and ,podmore1 dealing with the    
same body of fact1 differ constantly and
 diametrically in their conclusions1 it 

is evident that the facts so far        
collected have not cumulative force     
enough to establish in the generality of
 disciplined minds a substantial        
unanimity of conviction4 ,there are far 
too many alternatives in the            
interpretation of the facts and1 in     
general1 the personal equation of the   
investigator colours the conclusions    
reached4 ,of course this is1 in a       
measure1 true in every field of         
investigation1 but it is outstandingly  
true in psychical research4   ,william  
,james ,enters the ,field  ,for some    
years the ,society was mainly occupied  
with hypnotism and thought transference1
 with occasional reports on apparitions1
 haunted houses1 premonitions1 automatic
 writing1 crystal vision and multiple   
personality4 ,professor ,william ,james'
 experiment with ,mrs4 ,piper carried   
the ,society over into the field of     
trance mediumship4 ,james had a sound   
scientific interest in every aspect of  
the play of human consciousness and was 

earlier than any of his contemporaries  
awakened to the psychological value of  
abnormal mental states4 ,he also loved  
fair play4 ,he made his first report on 
,mrs4 ,piper in #ahhf4 ,he was unable1  
he said1 to resist the conviction that  
knowledge appeared in her trances which 
she had never gained by the ordinary    
waking use of her eyes1 ears and        
wits4444 ,what the source of this       
knowledge may be1 ,i know not1 and have 
not a glimmer of explanatory suggestion 
to make1 but from admitting the fact of 
such knowledge ,i can see no escape4    
,in a letter to ,flourney dated ,august 
#i1 #aijh1 ,james says of later         
investigations3 ,it seems to me that    
these reports open a new chapter in the 
history of automatism4444 ,evidently    
automatism is a word that covers an     
extraordinary variety of fact4 ,the     
reports of ,mrs4 ,piper's sittings fill 
a large place in the ,society's records4
 ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson and ,professor  
,hyslop were finally led to accept her  

trance utterances and writings as       
spiritistic revelations4 ,podmore1 after
 a most careful analysis1 concludes that
 ,mrs4 ,piper's trance utterances       
indicate the possession of some         
supernormal power of apprehension1 at   
least the capacity to read the unspoken 
and even unconscious thoughts and       
emotions of other minds4#gc ,he is      
willing to admit that if any case in the
 whole history of ,spiritualism points  
at communication with the spirits of the
 dead1 hers is that case1 but he adds1  
to other students of the records1       
including the present writer1 the       
evidence nevertheless appears at present
 insufficient to justify the            
spiritualistic view even of a working   
hypothesis4 ,i cannot point to a single 
instance in which a precise and         
unambiguous piece of information has    
been furnished1 of a kind which could   
not have proceeded from the medium's own
 mind1 working upon the materials       
provided in the hints let drop by the   

sitter4#gd  ,footnote #gc3 ,modern      
,spiritualism1 ,podmore1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4
 #cdb-cdc4  ,footnote #gd3 ,modern      
,spiritualism1 ,podmore1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 
#cde4   ,the ,limitations of the        
,scientist in ,psychical ,investigation 
,it is impossible in this study to      
follow through the records of the       
,society4 ,a representative group of its
 members1 some of them men whose names  
carry weight in other regions1 have been
 led by their investigations to adopt   
the spiritistic hypothesis4             
,significantly1 however1 it is generally
 the scientist and not the psychologist 
who commits himself most strongly to    
,spiritism4 ,he is strongly impressed1  
as was ,sir ,william ,crookes1 by       
phenomena of one sort or another which  
do not come under his laws1 and he      
assigns to them causes which lie        
altogether out of his field4 ,indeed the
 temper and training of the scientist   
handicap him in all psychical           
investigations4 ,he has only one of two 

alternatives3 to explain what he sees in
 terms of what his laboratories have    
told him1 or else in terms of forces    
with which he is not familiar4 ,his     
training in careful experimentation may 
fit him to test and isolate physical    
phenomena1 but if they cannot be        
explained in terms of the forces and    
laws with which he is familiar his      
conclusions are no more authoritative   
than the conclusions of any other       
reasonably intelligent man4 ,he may1    
therefore1 lend the weight of a great   
name to conclusions--or                 
conjectures--entirely outside his own   
province4 ,the element of trickery in   
the ordinary professional sance is      
notorious4#ge ,the ordinary physical    
phenomena of spiritism have almost      
without exception been duplicated by    
conjurers--many of whom have mystifying 
tricks of their own no medium can       
duplicate and even the most unusual     
phenomena1 such as ,home's apparent     
ability to handle fire unburnt and his  

levitation can be paralleled in savage  
rites or the performance of ,indian     
fakirs1 to which no professedly         
spiritistic explanation is attached4 ,in
 many instances a trained conjurer would
 be far more apt to detect fraud than a 
trained scientist4 ,he would at least   
know where to look for a probable       
explanation4  ,footnote #ge3            
,carrington1 ,the ,psychical ,phenomena 
of ,spiritualism1 pp4 #f and #g4   ,the 
,society for ,psychical ,research ,gives
 ,intellectual ,standing to ,their      
,investigations  ,if the explanations of
 the whole group of phenomena is not in 
the known resident forces about us it is
 presumably in powers or aspects of     
personality not yet fully known4 ,here  
the psychologist is a better witness    
than the scientist and it is significant
 that psychologists have been slower to 
accept the spiritistic hypothesis than  
the scientist4 ,hyslop is an exception  
but the extent to which ,hyslop has of  
late gone in some of his reported       

utterances would seem to indicate that  
he has passed far beyond the bonds of   
the scientific4 ,and indeed1 the whole  
tendency of those who let themselves go 
strongly with the spiritistic tide is   
exactly in this direction4 ,it ought1   
however1 to be said that even these     
members of the ,s4,p4,r4 who have become
 spiritistic have generally been        
savingly conservative in their          
conclusions4  ,at any rate1 the work of 
the ,society for ,psychical ,research   
has given intellectual standing to what 
was before a sort of hole and corner    
affair under suspicion twice3 first1    
because of the character of those       
involved1 second1 because of the        
character of what they revealed4 ,it is 
difficult for one not predisposed toward
 the occult and even strongly prejudiced
 against it to deny in alleged          
spiritistic phenomena a challenging     
residuum which may in the end compel    
far-reaching modifications in the       
conclusions both of science and         

psychology4 ,by one set of tests this   
residuum is unexpectedly small4 ,one of 
the canons of the ,s4,p4,r4 is to reject
 the work of any medium once convicted  
or strongly suspected of fraud4 ,there  
is a vast literature in this region     
through whose outstanding parts the     
writer has for a good while now been    
trying to find his way1 often enough    
ready to quote the ,pope in the ,ring   
and the ,book4            ,i have worn  
through this sombre wintry day          
,with winter in my soul 444             
,over these dismalest of documents  ,the
 reports of sittings cover weary pages  
of murky statement2 the descriptions of 
the discarnate life are monotonously    
uniform and governed almost without     
exception by old1 old conceptions of    
planes and spheres4 ,there is always a  
preponderance of the trivial--though the
 advocates of spiritism claim1 and the  
justice of this claim must be allowed1  
that this is inevitable and that only   
through the veridical character of the  

inconsequential can the consequential be
 established4 ,moreover1 the impartial  
student working over the records should 
at least recognize the pathetic         
importance which those1 believing       
themselves to be in touch with their own
 dead1 naturally attach to even the most
 trivial instances4 ,this sense of      
really being in touch1 itself entirely  
subjective1 probably carries over       
ninety-nine out of every hundred who    
finally become spiritists4 ,it would be 
foolish to ignore the contributive force
 of this sense4 ,in one form or another 
it is the last element in our           
recognition of our friends1 and it never
 can be judged externally4 ,but on the  
other hand a recognition of the         
unwarranted lengths to which--with      
lonely longing behind it--it may carry  
even the best poised minds1 must give us
 pause in accepting any conclusion thus 
reached4   ,the ,very ,small ,number of 
,dependable ,mediums  ,spiritistic      
literature is endlessly diffuse1 but on 

the other hand the more dispassionate   
students rest their case on an          
unexpectedly small body of undiscredited
 evidence4 ,mrs4 ,piper1 ,home and      
,stainton ,moses are the mediums with   
whom the case of the ,s4,p4,r4 really   
stands or falls4 ,home was never        
detected in fraud and was               
non-professional4 ,sir ,william         
,crookes' experiments in these physical 
phenomena were carried on with him as   
medium4 ,his work1 however1 was         
generally done for a small group of     
already convinced followers and their   
testimony1 while sincere and generally  
consistent1 may often have been         
influenced in ways of which they        
themselves were not conscious4 ,podmore 
thinks them to have been unduly         
suggestible and offers hallucinations as
 an alternative hypothesis4 ,stainton   
,moses was respected in his private     
life1 a teacher1 a clergyman and a      
private tutor4 ,his specialties were the
 introduction of a great variety of     

articles--apports as they are called--at
 his sittings1 levitation1 table-tipping
 and automatic writing and the direct   
voice4 ,his control was known as        
,imperator and this ghostly commander   
fills a large place in the ,s4,p4,r4    
literature4 ,imperator had a strong     
homiletic instinct 7remember that ,moses
 was a clergyman7 and communicated first
 and last through automatic writing1 a  
considerable exposition of the          
spiritualistic creed1 the larger part of
 which could have been preached from any
 liberal pulpit with no other effect on 
the hearers than to win their assent to 
blameless commonplaces--or1 possibly1   
put them to sleep4  ,mrs4 ,piper affords
 the strongest evidence of what ,podmore
 calls ,some supernormal power of       
apprehension in the entire history of   
trance mediumship4 ,she was for years   
under the constant observation of a     
capable group by no means unanimously   
sympathetic with the spiritistic        
hypothesis1 and has never been detected 

in fraud4 ,she contributed a very great 
amount of information to her sitters    
which she apparently could not and did  
not obtain from known sources4 ,there   
are no physical phenomena in connection 
with her work4 ,the records of her      
sances fill a large place in the        
proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r4 and the    
case for spiritism could be more safely 
rested with her than any other medium4  
,but the point here is that these       
three--,home1 ,moses and ,mrs4          
,piper--supply the larger part of       
material which the really trained       
investigators of the last forty years   
are at all willing to take seriously4   
,if there have been only three mediums  
in forty years who have commanded the   
general confidence--and ,podmore does   
not feel absolutely sure of ,home--of   
the group whose judgment the rest of us 
have to depend upon1 we have a situation
 in which the average untrained seeker  
dealing with the average medium can have
 no sound confidence at all4 ,the whole 

region is shot through and through with 
uncertainties1 deceits and alternative  
hypotheses4   ,spiritism a ,question of 
,testimony and ,interpretation  ,it is  
all fundamentally a matter of testimony4
 ,we have1 or we have not1 a body of    
fact for which we are in debt to        
observation4 ,the observation may be    
first hand--as in ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's 
sittings where he reports what he saw   
and heard4 ,it may be second hand as the
 cases reported in the larger part of   
the authoritative literature of psychic 
phenomena4 7,second hand1 that is1 for  
the authors and those who depend upon   
them47 ,trustworthy observation is      
probably more difficult here than in any
 region of investigation4 ,the whole    
situation is unfavourable2 low lights   
and high emotion1 the instinctive       
tendency to read into the facts a       
desired content even in watching them1  
the possibility of hallucinations and   
forms of hypnosis1 all combine to render
 human testimony unreliable and         

introduce errors of observation4        
,nowhere can we be less sure of our     
facts and even when the facts are       
admitted the interpretation of them     
still remains1 and here the room for    
difference is equally great4 ,at best we
 are dealing with forces not yet subdued
 to law1 phenomena for which normal     
experience supplies no parallel4 ,it is 
all a region of intimations and possible
 permissions1 but never for a moment of 
inevitable conclusions4 ,one must go    
slow enough in offering any opinion at  
all4 ,the writer recognizes and accepts1
 to begin with1 a preponderance of      
dependable testimony for physical       
phenomena not to be explained in terms  
of any force with which science is now  
familiar4  ,in this he goes beyond      
,podmore who would eliminate all        
physical phenomena from the problem1 and
 fully as far as ,carrington4 ,but ,sir 
,william ,crookes never admitted entire 
error in this region1#gf and the        
conclusions of ,geley 7though he cites  

in part ,eusapia ,palladino1 who is more
 or less discredited7 point in the same 
direction4 ,his studies of              
materialization are so vivid as to be   
uncanny and his photographs a series of 
documents which still await             
explanation4#gg ,there would seem to be 
a possible exercise of personal force   
not dependent upon muscular pull or     
pressure1 bodily movements operating    
against known laws and even the building
 of this mysterious force into complete 
or fragmentary body-like forms4         
,footnote #gf3 ,see ,carrington1 ,the   
,physical ,phenomena of ,spiritualism1  
p4 #cgg4  ,footnote #gg3 ,geley1 ,from  
the ,unconscious to the ,conscious4  ,on
 the psychical side there is dependable 
evidence for information conveyed by    
supernormal means across considerable   
spaces--possibly long distances and the 
power to secure and report information  
not gained in any normal way4 ,these are
 bare statements capable of great       
amplification4 ,but they cover the      

ground4   ,three ,possible ,explanations
 of ,so-,called ,spiritistic ,phenomena 
,admitting the facts1 there are three   
possible explanations4 ,first1 the      
,daimonistic4 ,there are1 according to  
this theory1 in the unseen              
world--wherever and whatever that may   
be--an order of beings akin to          
ourselves1 either less or more highly   
developed1 mischievous or benign4 ,this 
is an old1 old belief2 it has pervaded  
animistic religions1 fathered           
witchcraft1 persisted in the belief of  
demoniac control1 enriched folk lore1   
filled the friendly silences of the     
night with terror and haunted humanity4 
,now it has found its renaissance in the
 full blaze of ,twentieth ,century      
,science4  ,it seems not improbable1    
says ,sir ,william ,barrett1 that many  
of the physical manifestations witnessed
 in a spiritualistic sance are the      
product of human-like but not really    
human intelligence--good or bad daimonia
 they may be1 elementals some have      

called them1 which aggregate round the  
medium2 drawn from that particular plane
 of mental and moral development in the 
unseen which corresponds to the mental  
and moral plane of the medium4#gh ,this 
is1 with little enough alteration1 the  
very point from which we set out in the 
remote dawn of our endeavour to         
interpret the mystery of the world about
 us4 ,the only difference is that ,sir  
,william has his daimon for a tipping   
table and the savage had his for a      
flowing spring4 ,sir ,william may be    
right but primitive man was wrong4 ,the 
whole trend of science heretofore has   
been to eliminate capricious and        
isolated elements from observed         
phenomena and include them in a sweep of
 law for whose operation the resident   
forces in the universe and human        
personality are seen to be sufficient4  
,the daimonistic hypothesis has always  
up to this time been proved not only    
unnecessary but positively misleading4  
,it belongs to a region where proof and 

disproof are equally impossible1 but the
 weight of experience and especially all
 our truer understandings of ourselves  
and our world1 dearly bought through the
 intellectual travail of our race1 are  
against it4 ,to accept it is really to  
turn back the clock and populate the    
unseen again with the creation of our   
fears or our fancies4 ,it is at the best
 the too easy solution of a challenging 
problem1 at the worst an aspect of that 
renaissance of superstition which is one
 of the strangest characteristics of our
 own time4  ,footnote #gh3 ,on the      
,threshold of the ,unseen1 p4 #aac4     
,the second explanation is spiritistic4 
,there are unseen presences but they are
 the discarnate who seek in the more    
trivial phenomena to bring themselves to
 our attention and in the more important
 to assure us of their continued        
existence and satisfy their longing and 
ours in renewed personal contacts4      
,given a faith in immortality1 this     
explanation is natural enough--even     

inevitable4 ,if the discarnate still    
live they must remember and desire4     
,death does not end affection on our    
side4 ,it should not end affection on   
their side4 ,there must be1 moreover1   
what one may call a discarnate          
status--an order1 that is1 of           
relationships and activities in which   
discarnate personality realizes and     
expresses itself4 ,our racial           
curiosities about the state of the dead 
are quenchless4 ,every religion has its 
creeds1 its dreams1 its assurances4     
,from the ,nirvana of the ,buddhist to  
the ardent paradise of the ,mohammedan1 
faith and longing have built their      
structure and peopled it with their     
dead4 ,great ranges of literature are   
coloured by such speculations4          
,christian hymnology is instinct with   
them and not a little of our noblest    
poetry4 ,we have set our hells over     
against our heavens and opposed their   
terror to celestial splendours4 ,modern 
,spiritualism has to head it the whole  

drive of such speculations as these4    
,for if the generality have been content
 to leave the solution of the very great
 difficulties which any faith in        
immortality involves1 to the            
demonstrations of eventual experience1  
and rest in what is really the poetry of
 their faith1 others either more curious
 or more credulous seek the testimony of
 the senses4 ,such as these naturally   
find what they seek in the phenomena of 
trance mediumship4 ,they believe that   
the discarnate are constantly seeking to
 penetrate the veil between their order 
and ours and avail themselves of every  
opportunity to recall themselves to the 
memory of the incarnate4   ,myers'      
,theory of ,mediumship  ,f4,w4,h4 ,myers
 undertakes to describe how this may be 
done from the point of view of the      
spirit4 ,seeking then for some open     
avenue1 it discerns something which     
corresponds to a light--a glimmer of    
translucency in the confused darkness of
 our material world4 ,this 'light'      

indicates a sensitive--a human organism 
so constituted that a spirit can        
temporarily inform or control it1 not   
necessarily interrupting the stream of  
the sensitive's ordinary consciousness2 
perhaps using a hand only1 or perhaps1  
as in ,mrs4 ,piper's case1 using voice  
as well as hand1 and occupying all the  
sensitive's channels of                 
self-manifestation4  ,there are1        
naturally1 in all this unescapable      
elements of speculation4 ,as a matter of
 fact anything which we may imagine     
about the discarnate life may be almost 
unbelievably wide of the mark4 ,memory  
more than anything else is the binding  
force in personality4 ,we know ourselves
 to be in the morning what we were when 
we went to sleep the night before1      
simply because memory reassembles       
immediately the continuing elements of  
our individual existences4 ,more than   
that1 we are greatly helped by our      
surroundings2 everything which meets us 
in the morning has associations by which

 memory is served and1 therefore1 by the
 almost automatic process of putting    
together what we remember and           
surrendering ourselves to the           
suggestions of what we see and meet we  
find our places in a waking1 working    
world and go about our business4  ,if we
 were to awake in a totally strange     
world where nothing was in any degree at
 all similar to the world in which we   
went to sleep1 we might find ourselves  
so sadly puzzled as to doubt our own    
identity1 even though memory persisted  
in its identifying suggestion4 ,and if  
in addition to this we found ourselves  
without the contribution of physical    
sensation to which we have always been  
used--sightless1 soundless1             
touchless--one can easily imagine a     
shock in the face of which even the most
 strongly centered personality would    
give way4 ,and yet such changes as this 
probably only faintly indicate the      
adjustments which the discarnate are    
called upon to meet4 ,it is as if we    

were asked to argue or to imagine from  
one dimension to another4  ,these are   
difficulties1 of course1 which attend   
any conception of immortality1 but we   
usually escape them by refusing to      
follow through what they involve and    
taking refuge in a free poetic          
imagination sustained by faith and      
enriched by tradition4 ,in the face of  
all this ,myers' supposition1 ingenious 
as it is1 can do no more than repeat the
 more prosaic assumption which is the   
basis of spiritism1 and that is that the
 discarnate naturally desire to         
communicate with those whom they have   
left1 one hardly dares say behind them  
for even that simple word introduces    
suppositions which may have no meaning  
at all1 and would naturally avail       
themselves of any possible opportunity4 
,the whole process1 if it be a process1 
must lie in the region of suggestion4   
,if there be a telepathy between the    
living it is not impossible that there  
should be a telepathy between the living

 and the discarnate4   ,telepathy3      
,between the ,living or the ,living and 
the ,discarnate8  ,there might be thus a
 kind of eager pressing of the departed 
against the doors which had been shut   
and not quite locked behind them1 taking
 the form of more or less obscure       
suggestion to which the medium would be 
sensitive and so recreate in ways at    
which we can only guess some hint of the
 voice or presence of the discarnate4   
,the suggestion would come from the     
other side4 ,the form in which it is    
given to our world would be the         
contribution of the medium4 ,as far as  
there is any possible explanation of the
 facts of trance mediumship as a        
revelation from the dead it is somewhere
 here4  ,telepathy between the living is
 fairly well enough established to make 
this a not impossible hypothesis1 and   
even materialization might be accounted 
for in the same way4 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge
 is inclined to discover in the         
luminiferous ether an environment in    

which discarnate personality could      
function4 ,but this is pure supposition1
 though others have adopted it4 ,walker1
 for example1 in his extremely          
suggestive work on ,monism and          
,christian ,theism4 ,but he suggests the
 ether only as a help to the imagination
 in meeting the difficulties of an      
immortal existence--the old ,heaven and 
,hell having been made astronomically   
and geologically impossible4 ,but if    
,einstein should upset the hypothesis of
 the ether all this would go the way of 
the ,heaven and ,hell of ,dante4  ,we   
cannot eliminate1 however1 in a         
supposition so vague as this the        
contributive elements supplied by the   
friends themselves to whom the          
communication is supposed to be         
addressed and by whom it is certainly   
interpreted1 for if the trance medium is
 open to suggestion from the discarnate 
side1 the medium must be equally open to
 suggestion from the living1 a          
suggestion likely to be very much       

stronger1 more distinct1 more           
compelling4  ,the real crux of the whole
 problem is the disentanglement of these
 possible lines of suggestion and the   
assignment of them to their true        
sources4 ,we may1 the writer believes1  
eliminate as far as their evidential    
value is concerned1 all physical        
phenomena4 ,in doing this we need not   
necessarily deny the reality of some of 
the physical phenomena but the larger   
part of the residue which might possibly
 be left after the elimination of fraud 
on the part of the medium and           
unintentional misrepresentation on the  
part of the witnesses is so utterly     
meaningless as to have no value at all4 
,the only physical phenomena which can  
have any direct bearing on spirit       
communication are the tappings and table
 tippings which can by a deal of        
ingenuity be made to spell out a message
 or answer questions yes or no4 ,the    
same question as to the source of the   
suggestion enters here4 ,even if we     

admit the taps to spell out a message1  
we have still to decide from whom the   
message comes and the messages alleged  
to be contributed through the voice are 
so much more full and intelligible as to
 leave the whole question standing or   
falling with the credibility of voice   
trance mediumship4   ,controls  ,the    
usual machinery of a sance creates      
suspicion4 ,most mediums have controls4 
,nothing is more capricious than these  
controls4 ,they may be people who really
 never existed at all4 ,the genesis of  
,mrs4 ,piper's control1 ,dr4 ,phinuit1  
is suggestive4 ,it would appear that    
,mrs4 ,piper in #ahhd had visited for   
advice a professional clairvoyant whose 
leading control claimed to be a         
,frenchman named ,finn1 or ,finnett4#gi 
,when ,mrs4 ,piper was later seen by    
,william ,james1 a ,french doctor had   
succeeded in obtaining almost exclusive 
control and his name was reported to be 
,phinuit4 ,beyond debate1 as far as name
 goes1 here is a kind of transmuted     

suggestion4 ,the ,finnett of the ,french
 clairvoyant1 who may or may not have   
really lived1 becomes the ,phinuit of   
,mrs4 ,piper1 for whose existence there 
is apparently no testimony at all4      
,footnote #gi3 ,podmore's ,modern       
,spiritualism1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #ccc4     
,the controls have sometimes been       
,indians and indeed almost any one may  
appear as a control--,longfellow1 for   
example1 or ,mrs4 ,siddons1 or ,bach or 
,vanderbilt4 ,in a region where disproof
 and proof are equally impossible this  
element of capricious control is        
suspicious4 ,it is much more likely to  
be some obscure casting up of the       
medium's mind1 through lines of         
association of which the medium is      
utterly unconscious1 than to represent  
the personalities so named4 ,in ,raymond
 the control is one ,moonstone1 or a    
little ,indian girl called ,freda or    
,feda1 who speaks of herself in the     
third person and who reports a great    
many silly things in a very silly way4  

,it is possible1 of course1 to say that 
these thus named are spirit mediums as  
necessary for the transfer of suggestion
 from the discarnate order as mediums   
seem to be in the incarnate order1 and  
that abnormal personalities are as much 
needed on one side as the other through 
the abnormality of the whole process4   
,but this is patently to beg the        
question4 ,there is room in the whole   
process for the trivial1 even the       
inconsequential4 ,as the advocates of   
spiritism have urged1 identification    
very often turns on apparently trivial  
things but it is difficult to justify   
the very great element of the capricious
 and actually foolish which enters so   
largely into the records of all         
sittings4 ,it would seem as if death    
robbed grave personalities of their     
gravity1 the strong of their force and  
the wise of their wisdom1 and this is so
 hard to believe as to make us wonder   
whether we are not really dealing with  
something which belongs to an entirely  

different region and is open to an      
entirely different line of explanation4 
,but beyond such considerations as      
these1 which may or may not have force1 
there remains the graver question       
still--the question of the              
identification of the sources from which
 the intelligible residue of            
communications is received4 ,if we fall 
back upon suggestion there are always   
two general sources of suggestion--the  
incarnate and the discarnate1 and among 
the incarnate themselves there are      
manifold sources of suggestion4 ,the    
sitter may be unconsciously supplying   
the material which the medium is        
receiving1 recasting and giving back    
again1 or the medium may be reporting   
what is received from other incarnate   
sources than the sitter4 7,this1 of     
course1 when we have eliminated all that
 might possibly be contributed by the   
medium47   ,the ,dilemma of ,spiritism  
,anything1 therefore1 which is known to 
the living may be the source of the     

medium's information4 ,only those       
things1 therefore1 which are utterly    
unknown to the living anywhere1 which   
cannot possibly have been known by the  
medium himself or herself1 can be       
finally and conclusively a testimony to 
communications from the dead4 ,but      
unless the information thus received is 
known to the living1 its truth or       
falsity can never be proved or          
disproved4 ,this is the dilemma which   
spiritism is finally brought to face and
 from this dilemma there is absolutely  
no escape4 ,it does not forbid the      
conclusions which may be drawn from a   
seeming preponderance of evidence1 but  
it does forbid absolute certainty1 for1 
to repeat1 if the information is to be  
verified it must be verified by the     
living1 which proves that some one does 
possess it and may have communicated    
it--if we assume such communication to  
be possible--to the medium4 ,on the     
other hand1 if no one at all possesses  
the information1 then we may never be   

sure that it is real information1 or    
anything else than a creation of an     
excited imagination4  ,there is one test
 here which1 if it were really made     
under absolutely dependable conditions1 
conditions1 that is1 in no wise open to 
suspicion or misunderstanding1 might be 
final4 ,if a message written before     
death and so sealed as to be unknown to 
any one save the one who wrote it1 could
 be correctly reported1 it would have1  
everything else being right1 an immense 
force4 7,though even here               
clairvoyance--for which1 on the whole1  
there is a pretty dependable            
evidence--might afford the true         
explanation47 ,f4,w4,h4 ,myers left such
 a message as this4 ,in ,january1 #ahia1
 he sent ,sir ,oliver ,lodge a sealed   
envelope1 in the hope that after his    
death the communication contained in the
 envelope would be able to be given by  
means of a medium4 ,many different      
messages obtained by a well-known       
medium1 ,madame ,verrall1 and coming    

supposedly from ,frederick ,myers1 led  
them to believe that they represented   
this communication4 ,the envelope was   
opened in ,december1 #aijd1 and 'it was 
found that there was no resemblance     
between its actual contents and what was
 alleged by the script to be contained  
in it4'#hj ,if there is any authentic   
case of this final test being           
successfully maintained1 the writer does
 not know it4 ,there are instances of   
hidden articles discovered1 but these   
tests by no means possess the same force
 of testimony4  ,footnote #hj3 ,boirac1 
,the ,psychology of the ,future1 p4     
#bgh4  ,we may assume1 then1 that we    
have no absolute demonstration of spirit
 communication4 ,we have only a very    
complex group of phenomena capable of   
varying explanations4 ,any fair-minded  
student of the whole subject must       
recognize that men who have had ample   
opportunity for first hand              
investigation1 not hasty in their       
conclusions and in some instances of    

very great intellectual force1 have     
taken an opposite view4 ,they have felt 
the testimony to be both sound and      
sufficient4 ,there is an unescapable    
personal equation here which probably   
finally determines divergent attitudes4 
,as has been said before1 those         
generally who have accepted the         
spiritistic explanation have been led to
 do so through communications in which  
they discovered some personal note or   
touch1 to which they themselves would be
 hospitably susceptible and which would 
have far less weight with those whose   
affections and previous associations    
were not thus involved4 ,this does not  
necessarily prove their conclusions to  
have been false4 ,perhaps just this     
personal element is necessary to give   
final meaning to what otherwise is so   
perplexing and even contradictory4 ,the 
dogmatism which shuts the door squarely 
in the face of spiritism is as          
unreasonable1 as unscientific1 as the   
credulity which opens the door wide and 

accepts everything which comes through4 
,the ,influence of ,spiritism ,upon ,its
 ,adherents  ,there are other           
considerations which bear more or less  
indirectly upon this difficult matter1  
but which have their weight4 ,in        
general1 those who have whole-heartedly 
accepted spiritism have been unable     
thereafter to maintain the balanced     
detachment which they urge upon others4 
,they tend to become unduly credulous2  
they force their explanation beyond its 
necessary limits2 they tend to become   
persons of the ide fixe type2 they      
become sponsors for extravagant stories1
 and1 in general1 lead those who are    
influenced by their position or name far
 beyond the limits which impartial      
investigation1 even on the part of those
 sympathetic1 has as yet justified4     
,those descriptions of the discarnate   
state1 moreover1 which reach us through 
mediums are undependable4  ,there is a  
machinery of planes and spheres and     
emanations and reincarnations which is  

not at all peculiar to spiritism but    
belongs to the fringes of the occult in 
every manifestation of it1 which is     
perpetually recurrent in modern         
spiritualistic literature4 ,we are on   
the frontiers of a region where the     
reason which steadies us in the         
practical conduct of life and guides us 
in an order with which we are familiar  
through age-old inheritances1 has no    
value at all4 ,our very terminology     
ceases to have any meaning4 ,a generous 
creative imagination may build for      
itself what cities it will of           
habitation1 furnish them as it desires  
and try to conceive1 as it has power1   
the experiences and progressions of the 
discarnate1 but to invest these         
imaginations with evidential accuracy is
 to break down all the limits between   
the dependable and the undependable4    
,and finally1 though this is rather a   
commonplace observation than an aspect  
of our investigation1 there is little to
 be gained in the necessary business of 

solid living by such an interweaving of 
the two worlds as spiritism carries with
 it4 ,one life at a time is plainly     
enough all that we are equal to4 ,those 
who surrender themselves to such        
conclusions and inquiries are in very   
great danger of being so detached from  
the actualities of the present order as 
to become themselves errant and         
eccentric spirits1 finding their true   
interests in endless sances and         
investigations which have no practical  
bearing upon life as it now is4   ,the  
,real ,alternative to ,spiritism  ,the  
writer's observation of the effect of   
much going to mediums upon those whom he
 has personally known leads him to      
distrust the whole matter and possibly  
to react too strongly against it4 ,a    
discriminating critic has said that     
,spiritualism is not ,spiritualism at   
all1 but a subtle materialism1 in that  
it is the effort to verify the reality  
of the spiritual in terms of the        
material4 ,it is1 therefore1 just one   

more unexpected aspect of the hard      
skepticism of the time1 which trusts    
nothing it cannot hear1 or see1 or      
touch4 ,a faith which is not solidly    
established in reason1 which does not   
continue and complete in its own regions
 what we know and understand1 is a      
cloud-built faith1 but a faith1 on the  
other hand1 which refuses to adventure  
beyond the limits of the senses is a    
faith too largely empty of any noble    
content4  ,if the phenomena under       
examination1 then1 cannot be explained  
in terms of animism and if the          
spiritistic hypothesis is gravely open  
to question1 what explanation is left8  
,in what follows the writer has been    
greatly influenced by the suggestion of 
the students of abnormal personality    
generally1 and partly by the work of    
certain ,frenchmen who1 with ,french    
logic and brilliancy of insight1 are    
working toward far-reaching             
psychological restatements and even to  
recasting of the accepted scientific    

understandings of matter and force4     
,maeterlinck says somewhere in substance
 that our universe is as tightly sealed 
as a sphere of steel and that whatever  
happens inside must be explained in     
terms of its own resident forces1 and1  
in general1 the whole of science and the
 weight of experience are on            
,maeterlinck's side4 ,of course this    
assumes that a good many things have    
been put inside this sphere to begin    
with4 ,speaking in terms of religion1   
this does not shut ,god out of the      
world1 but it does shut up life and     
experience to conformity with their own 
laws and forces them to explain their   
phenomena in terms of their own content4
  ,in a sentence1 just as the resident  
forces of the outside world have been   
heretofore sufficient1 in the measure   
that we have been able to discover them1
 to explain all the phenomena of the    
outside world1 it is reasonable to      
believe that the content of personality 
is sufficient to explain all personal   

phenomena1 whether normal or abnormal1  
and that it is to ourselves and not to  
the discarnate that we have to look for 
the explanation of the phenomena of     
alleged spiritism4   ,the               
,investigations of mile ,boirac  ,the   
men who are working along this line1    
particularly ,geley and mile ,boirac1 by
 no means deny the phenomena1 but they  
offer another solution4 ,boirac1        
particularly1 finds his point of        
departure in hypnotism and              
suggestibility4 ,now here is a          
continuation of the line of approach and
 interpretation which cleared up the    
whole confused matter of mesmerism4 ,we 
have already seen how the ,french       
investigators found the explanation of  
what ,mesmer and those who followed him 
have been able to accomplish1 not in    
magnetic influence or any such thing1   
but in the remarkable changes produced  
in personality by exterior or           
autosuggestion1 and just as this was the
 key to the phenomena of mesmerism1 it  

is more likely than anything else to    
prove the key to the explanation of the 
phenomena of spiritualism1 for these are
 really nothing more than simply aspects
 of the trance state1 however induced4  
,it is not necessary to follow1 in this 
connection1 ,boirac's analysis of the   
phenomena attendant upon the trance     
state1 or to consider his theories as to
 hypnosis itself4 ,he believes that     
there are in our personalities hidden   
forces which1 in the normal conduct of  
life1 are not brought into action4 ,they
 are no necessary part of our adjustment
 to our working environment2 on the     
whole they complicate rather than       
simplify the business of living and they
 are best--though this is not his       
statement but the writer's conclusion   
from the whole matter--they are best    
left unawakened4 ,what we are normally  
is the outcome of the adjustment of     
personality to those creative and       
shaping forces in response to which life
 is most happily and usefully carried   

on4 ,but when the waking self and normal
 self is for the moment put in abeyance 
and new forces are evoked from the vasty
 deep of our souls1 we are capable of an
 entirely different set of              
manifestations4 ,first of all1 those    
usually associated with the hypnotic    
state which do not need to be further   
considered here--a great docility to    
suggestion1 unconsciousness to pain and 
the like4 ,we have also the possibility 
of powers which ,boirac calls           
magnetoidal4 ,these appear to involve   
the intervention of forces still        
unknown1 distinct from those that       
science has so far discovered and       
studied1 but of a physical nature and   
more or less analogous to the radiating 
forces of physics3 light1 heat1         
electricity1 magnetism1 etc4#ha         
,footnote #ha3 ,boirac1 ,the ,psychology
 of the ,future1 p4 #bd4 ,some recent   
,french investigations seem to indicate 
that this force--,myers'                
,telekinesis--operating through         

barriers1 changes the magnetic          
properties of that through which it     
passes4 ,carrington1 the most skeptical 
student in this region1 is inclined to  
admit its existence4 ,see ,the ,physical
 ,phenomena of ,spiritualism1 p4 #cei4  
,under this general head he considers   
,animal ,magnetism1 what is known       
generally as mesmerism1 the power1 that 
is1 to create hypnotic states in others2
 the phenomena of ,telepathy comprising 
numerous varieties1 such as the         
transmission or penetration of thought1 
the exteriorization of the              
sensitiveness1 psychometry1 telepathy1  
clairvoyance or lucidity1 etc41 and     
finally states where physical matter    
appears to exert over animate beings1   
especially human beings1 an action that 
does not seem to be explicable by any   
physical or chemical properties already 
known4 ,he believes also that there is  
in human beings a radiating influence   
susceptible of being exercised at a     
distance over other animate beings or   

else upon inanimate objects4 ,he finds  
in trance mediumship all the elements   
which enter into any hypnotic state4    
,the trance is produced and developed   
spontaneously1 without the intervention 
of any visible operator1 under the sole 
effect of the nervous and mental        
conditions in which the medium is       
placed1 and among which the belief in   
spirits and the expectation of their    
intervention would appear to play a     
considerable part4#hb ,the italicized   
words a belief in spirits are extremely 
significant4 ,in the entranced          
personality there is the suggestion1    
already strongly established1 that      
whatever is experienced during the      
trance will be due to spirit            
intervention or revelation4 ,this       
introduces the element of expectant     
attention4 ,we know on the physical side
 of what expectant attention is capable4
 ,it becomes a real factor in all faith 
healing2 it may produce1 either for the 
better or the worse1 far-reaching       

changes in physical states and it is    
perfectly possible for such an expectant
 attention once fully in action in the  
trance--given of course1 to begin with1 
the attitude and interests of the medium
 in a waking state--to create all the   
machinery of controls1 revelation and   
the like1 which characterize trance     
mediumship4  ,footnote #hb3 ,boirac1    
,the ,psychology of the ,future1 p4     
#bga4  ,boirac finds1 therefore1 in     
spiritism a complex determined by       
certain particular nervous and mental   
states into which there enter1 in one   
form or another1 almost all the facts of
 abnormal psychology and he believes    
that science1 faithful to the principle 
of economy1 should consider the alleged 
phenomena of spiritism1 until proved to 
the contrary1 reducible to facts of the 
preceding orders4 ,he does not call the 
spiritistic hypothesis impossible2 he   
does believe it ought not to be called  
in until every other explanation has    
been examined and found inadequate and  

he is not inclined to believe that we   
have as yet exhausted other possible    
explanations4  ,one man's authority here
 is by no means final4 ,f4,w4,h4 ,myers 
has taken into consideration many of the
 facts upon which ,boirac dwells and on 
the whole has reached a different       
conclusion4 ,but1 in general1 the more  
deeply we advance into the region of    
abnormal personality and the phenomena  
of hypnotic and related states1 the more
 reason there seems to be for believing 
that there are resident in human        
personality powers which1 if at once    
evoked and released1 are sufficient to  
account for all mediumistic revelations 
without assuming that they come from the
 discarnate4   ,geley's ,conclusions    
,geley has gone much farther in some    
directions here than any one else4 ,he  
is more concerned with the physical     
phenomena4 ,he has a striking series of 
photographs of materialization1 the     
authenticity of which it is difficult to
 doubt4 ,he finds an ascending series in

 abnormal psychology from neuropathic   
states to mediumship with gradations    
which intensify the abnormal or the     
supernormal1 but in which the continuity
 of development is never broken4 ,his   
analyses here are both keen and         
suggestive and tend to confirm the      
conclusions of other students that we   
have resident in human personality      
elements which are adequate to the      
explanation of any phenomena which have 
been as yet presented4  ,as far as the  
physical phenomena go1 he cites         
experiments which seem to reveal threads
 of substance and rigid rods1 sometimes 
visible1 sometimes invisible1 proceeding
 from the fingers of the medium and     
serving as a real mechanism for the     
movement of distant and sometimes quite 
heavy articles4 ,he argues from this    
that there is a possible exteriorization
 of power which may itself be governed  
by ideas and believes also that such    
facts as this will eventually compel us 
to recast our conceptions of matter and 

force and profoundly affect biology and 
all evolutionary theories4 ,the whole   
matter is necessarily obscure1 but such 
studies do give a new direction and a   
larger significance to our whole subject
 matter4  ,in substance the spiritistic 
hypothesis is inadequate2 it is too     
simple1 too easy4 ,we are evidently only
 upon the threshold of the whole        
subject4 ,all conclusions are           
necessarily inconclusive2 there is no   
region in which one has less right to be
 dogmatic4 ,the bearing of it all upon  
immortality seems to the writer to be   
not at all where the spiritists place   
it4 ,if human personality has in itself 
such latent powers1 if there are these  
extensions of a mysterious force which  
operate beyond our normal mechanism1 if 
there are contacts of consciousness     
deeper than consciousness itself in     
which information is given and received 
outside normal methods of communication1
 we are led to conceive that what for   
want of a better name we call spirit has

 an unexpected range and force4 ,we are 
by no means so shut in by the walls of  
the material and the sensible as we have
 heretofore supposed4 ,there is a       
transcendence of spirit over matter and 
materially imposed conditions which must
 give us pause4 ,if1 in the murky ways  
which have been brought to our          
attention1 spirit can transcend matter1 
we have at least one more reason for    
affirming its supremacy and one more    
suggestion of a force or a reality which
 may be able to survive even the        
dissolution of matter itself4 ,in other 
words1 here is a line of testimony1     
richly suggestive1 though by no means   
clear1 to the power of the soul to make 
its own conditions1 and what is         
immortality but just this8  ,the        
phenomena of so-called spiritism1 while 
not as yet justifying ,spiritualism1    
certainly make a dogmatic materialism   
increasingly different4 ,those of us who
 are as anxious for a sustaining faith  
in immortality as any of our comrades in

 the great quest may possibly be1 but   
who are as yet unwilling to accept their
 conclusions1 may nevertheless find in  
this subject matter which is common both
 to us and to them1 the permission to   
believe that that which is most         
distinctly ourselves possesses enduring 
possibilities4 ,if it may from time to  
time break through in curious ways the  
walls which now shut it in1 may it not  
in some very real way pass through the  
gate which ,death opens and still       
continue in such a richness of          
consciousness and identity as to        
organize for itself another life beyond 
the grave8   ,the ,meaning of ,spiritism
 for ,faith  ,faith may find its        
permissions and witnesses in many       
regions4 ,the writer believes that faith
 in immortality finds an added          
permission in this region also4 ,beyond 
debate1 there are laws which we now but 
dimly discern and possible forces which 
only now and again touch the coasts of  
our present experience1 as tides which  

sweep in from distant and mysterious    
seas4 ,beyond debate1 we may not confine
 the interplay of mind with mind to     
purely physical channels1 and under     
exceptional circumstances effects may be
 produced whose causes we have not yet  
been able to tabulate4 ,our conscious   
lives are rooted deeper than we dream4  
,they reach out in directions which we  
do not ourselves know4 ,it may well be1 
therefore1 that they ascend to heights  
whose summits we do not see1 and possess
 a permanence independent of the body   
which they inhabit1 or the things of    
seeming sense which surround them1 and  
it may be also that what is now occult  
and perplexing and capricious may in the
 future become as truly an organized    
science as the alchemy and the astrology
 of the ,middle ,ages have become the   
chemistry and astronomy of our own time4
 ,beyond this one may assert the        
wholesome commonplace that the main     
business of living is in the region of  
the known and the normal4 ,it is for our

 own well-being that the veil hangs dark
 between this world and the next4 ,an   
order in which there was constant       
passing and repassing would be          
impossible4 ,it would be either one     
thing or the other4 ,it does demoralize 
us to be always searching after the     
secrets of the unseen4 ,might it not    
demoralize those who have passed through
 the veil to be always trying to come   
back8 ,surely the most fitting          
preparation for what awaits us hereafter
 is the brave conduct of life under     
those laws and conditions which are the 
revelation of the whole solid experience
 of our race4 ,beyond this it is        
difficult to go and beyond this it is   
not necessary to go4     ,,xi  ,,minor  
,,cults3 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,the     
,,cults ,,for ,,the ,,church            
,border-land ,cults  ,the cults which we
 have so far considered are the         
outstanding forms of modern free        
religious movements1 but they do not    
begin to exhaust the subject matter4    

,even the outstanding cults have their  
own border-lands4 ,new ,thought is      
particularly rich in variants and there 
are in all ,american cities sporadic1   
distantly related and always shifting   
movements--groups which gather about    
this or that leader1 maintain themselves
 for a little and then dissolve1 to be  
recreated around other centers with     
perhaps a change of personnel4 ,the     
,masonic ,temple in ,chicago is said to 
be occupied on ,sundays all day long by 
larger or smaller groups which may be   
societies for ethical culture or with   
some social program or other1 or for the
 study of ,oriental religions4 ,one     
would need to attend them all and       
saturate himself far more deeply than is
 possible for any single investigator in
 their creeds or their contentions to   
appraise them justly4 ,their real       
significance is neither in their        
organization1 for they have little      
organization1 nor in their creed1 but in
 their temper4 ,they represent reaction1

 restlessness and the spiritual         
confusion of the time4 ,they can be     
explained--in part at least--in terms of
 that social deracination to which      
reference has already been made4 ,they  
represent also an excess of             
individualism in the region of religion 
and its border-lands4  ,an examination  
of the church advertisement pages in the
 newspapers of ,new ,york1 ,detroit1    
,chicago or ,san ,francisco reveals     
their extent1 their variety and their   
ingenuity in finding names for          
themselves4 ,on ,sunday1 ,february      
#beth1 the ,detroit papers carried      
advertisements of ,vedanta1 ,spiritist  
and ,spiritualist groups 7the ,spiritist
 group calls itself ,the ,spirit ,temple
 of ,light and ,truth71 ,the ,ultimate  
,thought ,society1 ,the ,first          
,universal ,spiritual ,church1 ,the     
,church of ,psychic ,research1 ,the     
,philosophical ,church of ,natural ,law1
 ,unity ,center1 ,the ,culture of       
,isolan1 ,theosophy1 ,divine ,science   

,center1 and ,lectures on ,divine       
,metaphysics4 ,their leaders advertise  
such themes as3 ,the ,opulent           
,consciousness1 ,the ,law of            
,non-,attachment1 ,psychic ,senses and  
,spirituality1 ,the ,continuity of      
,life1 ,the ,spiritualism of            
,shakespeare1 ,the ,voiceless ,code of  
the ,cosmos1 ,the ,godlikeness of       
,divine ,metaphysics in ,business4      
,their themes are not more bizarre1 it  
must be confessed1 than some of the     
topics announced for the orthodox       
churches4 7,indeed the church           
advertisement page in cities whose      
churches indulge generously in display  
advertisements is not altogether        
reassuring reading47 ,but1 in general1  
this list which can be duplicated in    
almost any large city is testimony      
enough to a confusion of cults and a    
confusion of thought4 ,as far as they   
can be classified1 according to the     
scheme of this study1 they are variants 
of ,new ,thought1 ,theosophy and        

,spiritualism4 ,if they were classified 
according to ,william ,james' ,varieties
 of ,religious ,experience they would be
 seen as mystical rather than rational1 
speculative rather than practical4      
,fort ,newton1 who speaks of them       
perhaps more disrespectfully than they  
deserve as bootleggers in religion1     
finds in these lesser movements         
generally a protest against the         
excessively external in the life of the 
,church to-day and a testimony to the   
quenchless longing of the soul for a    
religion which may be known and lived   
out in terms of an inner experience4    
,but this certainly is not true of all  
of them4   ,bahaism  ,there is1 however1
 one other larger and more coherent     
cult1 difficult to classify1 which      
deserves a more extended notice4 ,that  
is ,bahaism1 which1 as it is now taking 
form1 is a leaven rather than a cult4   
,it is an attempt after spiritual unity 
and the reduction of religion to very   
simple and inclusive forms and a        

challenge to the followers of religions 
widely separated on the surface to be   
more true to what is deepest in their   
faith4 ,it has a long and stirring      
history and curiously enough is drawn   
from ,mohammedan sources4 ,its basal    
literatures are ,arabic and ,persian1 so
 numerous and in some cases so          
voluminous that it would hardly be      
possible for the most industrious       
student to read in their entirety even  
those which are accessible1 a half dozen
 of the best known collections in       
,europe4  ,we find its genesis1         
historically1 in certain expectations   
long held by ,persian ,mohammedans akin 
to ,jewish ,messianic expectations held 
before and at the time of ,christ4      
,there has been1 we know1 a tradition of
 disputed succession in ,mohammedanism  
ever since the death of the prophet4    
,persian ,mohammedans believed the true 
successor of ,mohammed to have been     
unjustly deprived of his temporal       
supremacy and they trace a long line of 

true successors whose divine right would
 some day be recognized and             
restablished4 ,perhaps we might find a  
parallel here among those ,englishmen   
who believe that the true succession of 
the ,english throne should be in the    
house of the ,stuarts1 or those         
royalists in ,france who champion the   
descendants of one or the other former  
reigning houses4 ,but the ,persian      
faithful have gone farther than that4   
,they believe that the last true        
successor of ,mohammed who disappeared  
in the tenth century never died1 but is 
still living in a mysterious city1      
surrounded by a band of faithful        
disciples and that at the end of time he
 will issue forth and 'fill the earth   
with justice after it has been filled   
with iniquity4' ,a parallel here would  
be the old stories of ,frederick        
,barbarossa who waits in his cave for   
the proper time to come forth and       
reassert his imperial power4 ,this      
curious ,persian belief has worked      

itself out in a time scheme much like   
the time schemes of other ,apocalyptic  
beliefs1 the detail of which is         
difficult enough4  ,but in substance    
this hidden and true successor of the   
prophet has had from time to time those 
through whom he reveals himself to the  
faithful and makes known his will1 and  
these are known as ,babs or gates2 the  
gate1 that is1 whereby communication was
 reopened between the hidden one and his
 faithful followers4 ,the practical     
outcome of this would be that any one   
who could convince ,persian ,mohammedans
 that he was the ,bab or gate would     
possess a mystic messianic authority4   
,such a confidence actually established 
would give him an immense hold over the 
faithful and make him a force to be     
reckoned with by the ,mohammedan world4 
,the ,bab and ,his ,successors  ,as far 
as our own present interest is          
concerned1 the movement dates from #ahdd
 when a young ,persian merchant         
announced himself as the ,bab4 ,if we   

are to find a parallel in ,christianity 
he was a kind of ,john the ,baptist1    
preparing the way for a greater who     
should come after him1 but the parallel 
ends quickly1 for since the ,mohammedan 
,messiah did not appear1 his herald was 
invested with no little of the authority
 and sanctity which belonged to the     
hidden one himself4 ,the career of the  
first ,bab was short--#ahdd to #ahej4   
,he was only twenty-four years old at   
the time of his manifestation1 thirty   
when he suffered martyrdom and a        
prisoner during the greater part of his 
brief career4 ,the practical outcome of 
his propaganda was a deal of bloody     
fighting between antagonistic           
,mohammedan factions4 ,the movement     
received early that baptism of blood    
which gives persistent intensity to any 
persecuted movement4 ,his followers came
 to regard him as a divine being4 ,after
 his execution his body was recovered1  
concealed for seventeen years and       
finally placed in a shrine specially    

built for that purpose at ,st4 ,jean    
d',acre4 ,this shrine has become the    
holy place of ,bahaism4  ,during one    
period of his imprisonment he had       
opportunity to continue his writings1   
correspond with his followers and       
receive them4 ,he was thus able to give 
the world his message and we find in his
 teachings the germ of the gospel of    
,bahaism4 ,before his death he named his
 successor--a young man who had been    
greatly drawn to him and who seemed by  
his youth1 zeal and devotion to be set  
apart to continue his work4 ,to this    
young man the ,bab sent his rings and   
other personal possessions1 authorized  
him to add to his writings and in       
general to inherit his influence and    
continue his work4 ,this young man was  
recognized with practical unanimity by  
the ,babis as their spiritual head4     
,owing to his youth and the secluded    
life which he adopted1 the practical    
conduct of the affairs of the ,babi     
community devolved chiefly on his elder 

half-brother ,baha'u'llah4 ,what follows
 is a confused story of schism1 rival   
claimants and persecution but the sect  
grew through persecution and the control
 of it came in #ahfh into the hands of  
,baha'u'llah4  ,during the greater part 
of his life ,baha'u'llah was either an  
exile or a prisoner4 ,from #ahfh until  
his death in #ahib he was confined with 
seventy of his followers in the penal   
colony of ,acca on the ,mediterranean   
coast4 ,meanwhile the faith which       
centered about him changed character2 he
 was no longer a gate or herald1 he was 
himself a manifestation of ,god with    
authority to change all earlier         
teaching4 ,he really universalized the  
movement4 ,beneath his touch religion   
becomes practical1 ethical1 less mystic1
 more universal4 ,he was possessed by a 
passion for universal peace and         
brotherhood4 ,he addressed letters to   
the crowned heads of ,europe asking them
 to cooperate in peace movements4 ,it   
has been suggested that the ,czar of    

,russia was influenced thereby and that 
we may thus trace back to ,baha'u'llah  
the peace movement which preceded the   
war4  ,pilgrims came and went and       
through their enthusiasms the movement  
spread4 ,after his death there was the  
renewal of disputes as to the proper    
succession and consequent schisms4 ,the 
power came finally into the hands of    
,abdul-,baha who was kept under         
supervision by the ,turkish government  
until #aijh4 ,he was freed by the       
declaration of the ,new ,constitution   
and carried on thereafter with real     
power a worldwide propaganda4 ,he had an
 unusual and winning personality1 spoke 
fluently in ,persian1 ,arabic and       
,turkish and more nearly than any man of
 his time filled the ideal rle of an    
,eastern prophet4 ,he died in ,november1
 #aiba1 and was buried on ,mt4          
,carmel--with its memories of ,elijah   
and millenniums of history--his praises 
literally being sung by a most catholic 
group of ,mohammedans1 ,jews and        

,eastern ,christians4   ,the ,temple of 
,unity  ,bahaism as it is held in       
,america to-day is distilled out of the 
writings and teachings of ,baha'u'llah  
and ,abdul-,baha4 ,naturally enough1 in 
the popularization of it its            
contradictions have been reconciled and 
its subtleties disregarded4 ,what is    
left fits into a variety of forms and is
 in line with a great range of idealism4
 ,the twelve basic principles of        
,bahaism as announced in its popular    
literature are3       ,the ,oneness of  
,mankind4      ,independent             
investigations of truth4      ,the      
,foundation of all religions is one4    
,religion must be the cause of unity4   
,religion must be in accord with science
 and reason4      ,equality between men 
and women4      ,prejudice of all kinds 
must be forgotten4      ,universal      
,peace4      ,universal ,education4     
,solution of the economic problem4      
,an international auxiliary language4   
,an international tribunal4  ,a program 

inclusive enough for any generous age4  
,these principles are substantiated by  
quotations from the writings of         
,abdul-,baha and the teachings of       
,baha'u'llah4 ,many things combine to   
lend force to its appeal--the courage of
 its martyrs1 its spaciousness and yet  
at the same time the attractiveness of  
its appeal and its suggestion of        
spiritual brotherhood4 ,since the       
movement has borne a kind of messianic  
expectation it adjusts itself easily to 
inherited ,christian hopes4 ,there are  
real correspondences between its        
expected millennium and the ,christian  
millennium4  ,how far its leaders1 in   
their passion for peace and their       
doctrine of non-resistance and their    
exaltation of the life of the spirit1   
are in debt to the suggestions of       
,christianity itself1 or how far it is a
 new expression of a temper with which  
the ,orient has always been more in     
sympathy than the ,west1 it would be    
difficult to say1 but in some ways      

,bahaism does express--or perhaps       
reproduces--the essential spirit of the 
,gospels more faithfully than a good    
deal of ,western ,christianity as now   
organized4 ,those members of ,christian 
communions which are attracted to       
,bahaism find in it a real hospitality  
to the inherited faith they take over4  
,it is possible1 therefore1 to belong to
 the cult and at the same time to       
continue one's established religious    
life without any very great violence and
 indeed with a possible intensification 
of that life4  ,it is difficult1        
therefore1 to distinguish between       
,bahaism as it is held by devout groups 
in ,america1 so far as ethics and ideals
 go1 from much that is distinctive in   
the ,christian spirit1 though the       
influence of ,bahaism as a whole would  
be to efface distinctions and especially
 to take the force out of the ,christian
 creeds4  ,chicago1 or rather ,wilmette1
 is now the center of the movement in   
,america and an ambitious temple is in  

the way of being constructed there1 the 
suggestion for whose architecture is    
taken from a temple in ,eskabad1        
,russia4 ,this is to be a temple of     
universal religion1 symbolizing in its  
architecture the unities of faith and   
humanity4 ,the temple with its nine     
doors will be set in the center of a    
circular garden symbolizing the         
all-inclusive circle of ,god's unity2   
nine pathways will lead to the nine     
doors and each one coming down the      
pathway of his own sect or religion or  
trend of thought will leave at the door 
the dogmas that separate and1 under the 
dome of ,god's oneness1 all will become 
one4444 ,at night it will be brilliantly
 lighted and the light will shine forth 
through the tracery of the dome1 a      
beacon of peace and unity rising high   
above ,lake ,michigan4  ,this study has 
led us into many curious regions and    
shown to what unexpected conclusions the
 forces of faith or hope1 once released1
 may come1 but surely it has revealed   

nothing more curious than that the old1 
old controversy as to the true successor
 of ,mohammed the prophet should at last
 have issued in a universal religion and
 set the faithful to building a temple  
of unity on the shores of ,lake         
,michigan4  ,if this work were to be    
complete it should include some         
investigation of the rituals of the     
cults4 ,they are gradually creating     
hymns of their own2 their public orders 
of service include responsive readings  
with meditations on the immanence of    
,god1 the supremacy of the spiritual and
 related themes4 ,in general they       
dispense with the sacraments2 they have 
no ecclesiastical orders and hardly     
anything corresponding to the ,catholic 
priesthood or the ,protestant ministry1 
though the ,christian ,science reader   
has a recognized official place4 ,they  
meet in conferences2 they depend largely
 upon addresses by their leaders4       
,spiritualistic movements organize      
themselves around sances4 ,they use such

 halls as may be rented1 hotels1 their  
own homes2 they have not generally      
buildings of their own save the         
,christian ,science temples which are   
distinctive for dignity of architecture 
and beauty of appointment in almost     
every large city4   ,general            
,conclusions2 the ,limitations of the   
,writer's ,method  ,it remains only to  
sum up in a most general way the        
conclusions to which this study may     
lead4 ,there has been a process of      
criticism and appraisal throughout the  
whole book1 but there should be room at 
the end for some general statements4    
,the writer recognizes the limitations  
of his method2 he has studied faithfully
 the literature of the cults1 but any   
religion is always a vast deal more than
 its literature4 ,the history of the    
cults does not fully tell their story   
nor does any mere observation of their  
worship admit the observer to the inner 
religious life of the worshippers4 ,life
 always subdues its materials to its own

 ends1 reproduces them in terms of its  
own realities2 there are endless        
individual variations1 but the outcome  
is massively uniform4 ,religion does the
 same thing4 ,its materials are faiths  
and obediences and persuasions of truth 
and expectations of happier states1 but 
its ultimate creations are character and
 experience1 and the results in life of 
widely different religions are          
unexpectedly similar4 ,both             
theoretically and practically the truer 
understanding or the finer faith and1   
particularly1 the higher ethical        
standards should produce the richer life
 and this is actually so4 ,but real     
goodness is everywhere much the same2   
there are calendared saints for every   
faith4  ,there is an abundant testimony 
in the literature of the cults to rare  
goodnesses and abundant devotion1 and   
observation confirms these testimonies4 
,something of this is doubtless due to  
their environment4 ,the ,western cults  
themselves and the ,eastern cults in the

 ,west are contained in and influenced  
by the whole outcome of historic        
,christianity and they naturally share  
its spirit4 ,if the churches need to    
remember this as they appraise the      
cults1 the cults need also to remember  
it as they appraise the churches4       
,multitudes of ,catholics and           
,protestants secure from a religion     
which the cults think themselves either 
to have corrected or outgrown exactly   
what the cults secure--and more4 ,such  
as these trust ,god1 keep well1 go      
happily about their businesses and prove
 their faith in gracious lives4 ,there  
is room for mutual respect and a working
 measure of give and take on both sides4
  ,the writer is inclined to think the  
churches at present are more teachable  
than the more recent religious          
movements4 ,for a long generation now   
the churches have been subject to       
searching criticism from almost every   
quarter4 ,the scientist1 the            
sociologist1 the philosopher1 the       

publicist1 the discontented with things 
as they are and the protagonist of      
things as they ought to be1 have all    
taken their turn and the ,church        
generally1 with some natural protest    
against being made the scapegoat for the
 sins of a society arrestingly reluctant
 to make the ,church's gospel the law of
 its life1 has taken account of its own 
shortcomings and sought to correct them4
 ,the cults are as yet less inclined to 
test themselves by that against which   
they have reacted4 ,but this is beside  
the point4 ,the movements we have been  
studying can only be fairly appraised as
 one follows through their outcome in   
life and that either in detail or       
entirety is impossible4 ,but it is      
possible to gain from their literature a
 reasonable understanding of their      
principles and interrelations and this  
the writer has sought to do4   ,the     
,cults ,are ,aspects of the ,creative   
,religious ,consciousness of the ,age   
,certain conclusions are thus made      

evident4 ,these movements are the       
creation of the religious consciousness 
of the time4 ,they are aspects of the   
present tense of religion4 ,since       
religion is1 among other things1 the    
effective desire to enter into right    
relationships with the power which      
manifests itself in the universe there  
are two variants in its content2 first1 
our changing understanding of the power 
itself and second1 our changing uses of 
it4 ,the first varies with our knowledge
 and insight1 the second with our own   
changing sense of personal need4 ,though
 ,god be the same yesterday1 to-day and 
forever1 our understandings of ,him     
cannot and ought not to be the same     
yesterday1 to-day and forever4 ,our     
faith is modified by1 for example1 our  
scientific discoveries4 ,when the       
firmament of ,hebrew cosmogony has given
 way to interstellar spaces and the     
telescope and the spectroscope plumb the
 depths of the universe1 resolving nebul
 into star drifts1 faith is bound to    

reflect the change4 ,the power which    
manifests itself in the universe becomes
 thereby a vaster power1 operating      
through a vaster sweep of law4 ,our     
changed understandings of ourselves must
 be reflected in our faith and our      
ethical insights as well4 ,and because  
there is and ought to be no end to these
 changing understandings1 religion      
itself1 which is one outcome of them1   
must be plastic and changing4  ,what we 
ask of ,god is equally subject to       
change4 ,true enough1 the old           
questions--,whence8 ,whither8 and ,why8 
are constant4 ,as we know ourselves to  
be living in a world which is less than 
a speck in an immensity wherein the     
birth and death of suns are ephemeral1  
we may rightly distrust our own value   
for the vaster order4 ,we shall1        
therefore1 the more insistently ask     
,whence8 and ,whither8 and ,why8 ,but1  
none the less1 there is always a        
shifting emphasis of religious need4    
,our own time is manifestly more        

concerned about well-being in the life  
that now is than a happy issue in the   
life which is to come4 ,temperament also
 qualifies experience4 ,the mystic seeks
 conscious communion with ,god as an end
 in itself2 the practical temper asks   
the demonstration of the love of ,god in
 happy material conditions4 ,in general1
 action and reaction govern this whole  
region4 ,the ,puritan was supremely     
concerned about his own salvation and   
the struggle consequent thereto2 his    
descendants were chiefly interested in  
the extension of knowledge and the      
conquest of the physical order and we   
react against this in a new return upon 
ourselves and the possibilities of      
personality4  ,now these changing       
understandings of the power which       
manifests itself in the universe on the 
one side and our own changing senses of 
need on the other1 give to religion a   
constantly fluctuating character and    
what is most distinctively religious in 
any period must be the outcome of the   

combination of these two variants4 ,what
 an age asks of the ,god whom it knows  
colours the whole of its religious life4
 ,these cults and movements do not      
wholly represent the creative religious 
consciousness of our time1 of course2 a 
great deal of that same creative        
religious consciousness has given new   
quality to the organizations and        
orthodoxies of the churches4 ,but within
 the frontiers of historic ,christianity
 it has been rather the working over of 
the deposit of faith than an actual     
adventure in the making of religion4    
,the cults and movements have not been  
thus limited4 ,they have challenged old 
understandings1 broken away from the    
older organizations and taken their own 
line1 using such material as seems      
proper for their purpose4  ,they are not
 wholly independent of the past2 some of
 them have taken the immemorial         
speculations of the ,east for their     
point of departure though introducing   
therein a good many of the permissions  

or conclusions of modern science and    
something of the spirit of ,christianity
 itself4 ,those taking their departure  
from ,christianity have claimed rather  
to reinterpret and modernize it than to 
supplant it by their own creations4 ,yet
 when all this is recognized these cults
 and movements are particularly the     
creation of our own time4 ,so accepted1 
they reveal strongly the persistence of 
religion4 ,all these conjectures and    
confidences and reachings through the   
shadows are just a testimony that few   
are content to go on without some form  
of religion or other4  ,all religion    
has1 in one phase or another1 gone      
through much the same process4 ,there   
has been for every religion a time when 
it took new form out of older elements1 
a time when the accepted religions had  
little enough sympathy for and          
understanding of what was taking place  
about them while those committed to new 
quests were exultant in the             
consciousness of spiritual adventure and

 discovery and heard the morning stars  
sing together for joy4 ,what is thus    
begun must submit always to the         
testimony of time4 ,in the end a        
religion is permanent as it meets the   
great human needs and adjusts itself to 
their changing phases4 ,it is imperial  
and universal as it meets these needs   
supremely4 ,if in addition it be capable
 of organization1 if there be within it 
room for expansion1 and if1 on the      
whole1 it justifies itself by the       
outcome of it in life and society it    
will persist1 and if it persists through
 a long period of time and creates for  
itself literatures1 dogmas and          
authorities1 it becomes as nearly       
fundamental as anything can be in this  
world4 ,it creates cultures1 shapes     
civilizations1 colours art1 establishes 
ideals and fills the whole horizon of   
its devotees4  ,if a religion is to     
endure it must meet a wide range of     
need2 it must be plastic and yet invest 
itself with the sanctions of ,history4  

,for the conservative it must possess   
the note of authority and at the same   
time promise freedom to the liberal4 ,it
 must persuade the forward-looking that 
it holds within itself the power to meet
 changing conditions4 ,it must offer a  
satisfying experience to the mystic and 
the practically minded and deliverance  
to the despairing4 ,it must be able to  
build into its structure new sciences   
and philosophies and yet it must touch  
the whole of life with some sense of the
 timeless1 and above all1 it must       
include the whole of life1 nor depend   
upon particularized appeals or passing  
phases of thought4 ,historic            
,christianity has more nearly met all   
these tests than any other religion1 for
 though under the stress of meeting so  
great a variety of needs and conditions 
it has organized itself into forms as   
different as ,latin ,catholicism and the
 ,society of the ,friends1 so losing    
catholicity of organization1 it has     
secured instead a catholicity of spirit 

and a vast elasticity of appeal which   
are the secret of its power and the     
assurance of its continuing and enduring
 supremacy4   ,their ,parallels in the  
,past  ,now by such tests as these what 
future may one anticipate for such cults
 as we have been studying8 ,are they    
likely to displace the historic forms of
 ,christianity1 will they substantially 
modify it1 or will they wear away and be
 reabsorbed8 ,evidently one of these    
three things must happen4 ,this is not  
the first time in the ,western world    
that historic and authoritative         
,christianity has been challenged4 ,we  
should have1 perhaps1 to go back to the 
fourth century to find an exact parallel
 and then we should find in the vast and
 confused movement of ,gnosticism an    
unexpected parallel to a great deal of  
what is happening about us4 ,gnosticism 
was the effort of a reason excessively  
given to speculation1 undisciplined and 
greatly unrestrained by any sense of    
reality to possess and transform the    

,church4 ,various forces combined to    
build its fabric of air-born speculation
 and though for the time it gave the    
patristic ,church the hardest fight of  
its existence1 the discipline of the    
,church was too strong for it4 ,its own 
weaknesses proved eventually its undoing
 and ,gnosticism remains only as a      
fascinating field of study for the      
specialist1 only a name if even so much 
as that for the generality of us and    
valuable chiefly in showing what        
speculation may do when permitted at    
will to range earth and sky1 with a     
spurious rationalism for pilot and      
imagination for wings4  ,there have     
been1 beside1 in the history of the     
,church many other movements possessing 
a great staying power and running in    
some cases for generations alongside the
 main current of religious development1 
until they finally disappeared with the 
changing centuries4 ,arguing from such  
historical precedents as these one might
 easily assume a like fate for the      

,gnosticism of our own time1 and yet a  
note of caution is needed here for there
 are divisive religious movements which 
have as yet neither failed nor been     
absorbed in that from which they took   
their departure4 ,the expectation of the
 ,catholic ,church that ,protestantism  
will spend its force and be lost again  
in the majestic fabric of ,latin        
,catholic ,christianity as it is        
continued amongst us1 is as far from    
realization to-day1 or farther1 than at 
any time in the last #cjj years4 ,we    
need to remember also that conditions   
change4 ,the right of individual        
initiative and judgment once secured in 
the region of religion is not likely    
ever to be lost4 ,a good many divergent 
movements have literally been whipped   
back into line or else put out in fire  
and blood4 ,nothing of that sort is     
likely to happen now4  ,no student of   
history should be blind to the sequence 
of action and reaction4 ,a period of    
excessive dependence upon authority may 

follow a period of undue self-assertion1
 but it is not likely that we shall ever
 find recreated exactly the conditions  
of the past or that religion can        
hereafter be held1 as it has heretofore1
 in relatively well marked channels     
under the stress of accepted            
authorities4 ,prophecy is hazardous     
business but it is safe to assume that  
these modern religious cults and        
movements represent the beginnings of a 
freer1 more diffused1 less formal       
religious faith4 ,the peculiar cults    
themselves may reach their term but the 
temper which produced them is likely to 
continue and with other groupings of    
forces produce something in the future  
which will at least be their parallel4  
,the ,healing ,cults ,likely to be      
,adversely ,influenced by the           
,scientific ,organisation of            
,psycho-therapy  ,as far as the fortunes
 of the distinctive cults themselves go1
 one's conclusions may be less          
tentative4 ,for the most part the       

foundations upon which they are built   
are not big enough to carry an ample and
 secure structure4 ,they have been made 
possible not only by marked limitations 
in historic religion itself1 but also by
 contemporaneous tempers which1 one may 
sincerely hope1 are self-limiting1 and  
this is said not through undue prejudice
 against the cults themselves1 but      
simply because one is loath to believe  
that the want of critical faculty which 
has made some of these cults possible   
will not in the end yield to experience 
and a really sounder education4 ,since1 
moreover1 some of them--and ,christian  
,science1 preminently--depend upon faith
 and mental healing1 whatever helps us  
to a clearer understanding of the nature
 and limits of psycho-therapy will      
greatly affect their future4 ,all faith 
healing cults have heretofore depended  
very greatly upon the atmosphere of     
mystery with which they have been able  
to surround themselves4 ,the fact that  
they have been able to secure results   

with no very clear understanding of the 
way in which the results have been      
secured has invested them with awe and  
wonder1 so essential to every religion4 
,but as psycho-therapy itself becomes   
organized1 works out its laws1 develops 
its own science and particularly as the 
knowledge of all this is extended and   
popularized1 they will lose their base  
of support4 ,for this reason the writer 
believes that the final explanation of  
all faith and mental healing in terms of
 some form of suggestion which is just  
now strongly in evidence will prove a   
distinct service to us all4  ,the       
intimate association of religion and    
healing has1 on the whole1 been good    
neither for religion nor health4 ,of    
course1 this statement will probably be 
sharply challenged but it is maintained 
in the face of possible challenge4 ,as  
far as religion goes it has withdrawn   
the interest of the religious1 thus     
influenced1 from the normal expressions 
of the religious life to border-land    

regions2 it has stressed the exceptional
 rather than the sweep of law1 and the  
occult rather than the luminously       
reasonable4 ,where it has failed in     
individual cases1 as it is bound to     
fail1 it has left those thus            
disillusioned without any sound basis   
for their faith and generally has driven
 them away from religion altogether4 ,it
 has tempted religious teachers to win a
 hearing by signs and wonders4 ,even the
 ,founder of the ,christian religion    
grew weary of this1 as the records show 
plainly enough1 in that ,he saw ,his    
true work to be thereby not helped but  
hindered1 and if this be true of the    
,founder it is by so much the more true 
of ,his followers4  ,on the scientific  
side this temper has hindered honest    
thinking1 laborious investigation and   
that specialization which is absolutely 
necessary to the furtherance of any     
great division of human effort4         
,medicine made little progress until it 
got itself free of the ,church4         

,specifically the average minister is   
neither by training nor temperament     
fitted for healing work and those laymen
 who have assumed that office have      
generally been wanting in balance and   
self-restraint4 ,this is not to deny the
 reality of a power not ourselves making
 for health and well-being generally1 or
 the power of faith1 or the efficacy of 
prayer4 ,least of all is ,god1 upon this
 understanding1 to be shut out of life4 
,but the power not ourselves which makes
 for faith and healing is best known    
through laborious investigation1 the    
discovery of methods and obediences to  
ascertained law4 ,when we have clearly  
come to see the nature of               
psycho-therapy1 the occult authority of 
healing cults will in the end yield to  
this understanding and the cults        
themselves be greatly weakened or       
displaced4  ,one must recognize1 on the 
other hand1 the staying power of any    
well-established religious system4      
,through nurture and those profound     

conservatisms which hold more           
tenaciously in the region of religion   
than anywhere else1 it is possible to   
continue from generation to generation  
the unreasonable or the positively      
untrue1 and this holds in the ,church as
 well as outside it4 ,none the less1 the
 most coherent systems must reckon with 
their own weaknesses4 ,christian        
,science may have before it a long      
period of solid going or even marked    
growth1 but its philosophy will at last 
yield to the vaster sweep of a truer    
philosophic thought4 ,its               
interpretations of historic             
,christianity will come up again and    
again for examination until their       
fallacies become apparent and its force 
as a system of psycho-therapy will be   
modified by simpler and more reasonable 
applications of the same power4   ,new  
,thought ,will ,become ,old ,thought    
,new ,thought is likely to take a       
different course but it also will have  
to reckon with changing sciences and    

philosophies4 ,what is ,new ,thought    
to-day will be old thought to-morrow2 it
 will be challenged by new expressions  
of the spirit which begot it4 ,it will  
endure1 therefore1 only as it is open1  
flexible and possesses a great power of 
accommodation4 ,but as long as          
understandings and ideals are fluid1 as 
long as religion is under bonds to take 
account of all the elements which must  
be incorporated in it in order to       
enlarge and continue it1 as long1 in    
short1 as the human spirit outgrows     
fixed forms in any region there is      
likely to be in religion itself         
something corresponding to the ,new     
,thought of to-day1 but this will be    
true only as ,new ,thought is not a cult
 at all but something larger--a free and
 creative movement of the human spirit4 
,of all these cults it has made the     
soundest contribution to religion as a  
whole4 ,it is also more easily          
assimilated1 more easily absorbed4 ,its 
own distinct field will be limited by   

the increasing hospitality of ,christian
 thought to contemporaneous truth4 ,a   
wholly open-minded church will go a long
 way toward taking from ,new ,thought   
its raison d'tre4 ,its future depends1  
therefore1 very largely upon the        
open-mindedness of the older and more   
strongly established forms of religion4 
,the future of ,spiritualism is greatly 
open to conjecture4 ,we have already    
seen the alternatives which             
,spiritualism is called upon to face and
 the uncertainties which attend its     
conclusions4 ,a fuller understanding of 
the possibilities of abnormal           
personality and the reach of automatism 
are likely to work against              
,spiritualism4 ,if we find ascertainable
 causes for its phenomena resident      
within personality itself there will be 
no need of calling in the other world in
 order to explain what is happening in  
this4 ,on the other hand1 if there      
should evidence an increasing and tested
 body of facts which can be explained   

only in terms of spiritistic            
communications1 ,spiritualism will      
naturally make headway4 ,but we are     
certainly standing only upon the        
threshold of a scientific interpretation
 of spiritistic phenomena and until the 
whole region has been very much more    
carefully worked through and far more   
dependable facts are in hand1 one can   
only say that ,spiritism is a hypothesis
 which may or may not be verified1 and  
attend the outcome4  ,it is hard to     
believe that ,theosophy and kindred     
speculation will ever get a strong hold 
upon the practical ,western mind4 ,it   
owes what force it has either to an     
excessive love of the speculative on the
 part of a few1 or else to that         
particular temper which always wants    
something else and something new1 or    
else to wearinesses and                 
misunderstandings of the more shadowed  
side of life4 ,theosophy is greatly at  
the mercy of the positive1 practical    
temper2 it will always find a prevailing

 competitor in the ,christian doctrine  
of immortality4 ,whatever1 moreover1    
explains the apparent inequalities of   
life in more simple and reasonable terms
 will cut the roots of it4 ,the movement
 toward religious syncretism of which   
,bahaism is just now the expression will
 not be so easy to dispose of4 ,there   
will always be a temper impatient of the
 past1 eager for unity1 anxious for     
something big and interpenetrating4     
,historically this temper has from time 
to time emerged1 particularly in the    
latter phases of ,roman paganism1 and   
there is likely to be a larger          
interchange of religious faith and      
understanding in the future than there  
has been in the past4  ,in general1 this
 desire for a universal religion1 simple
 and wanting in distinctive characters1 
follows a weakening of conviction1 a    
loss of passion for accepted forms4 ,if 
anything should deepen again amongst us 
in religion what corresponds just now to
 the passion for nationality these more 

general religious quests would suffer4  
,a strong feeling for a church or a     
creed or one's own movement would       
displace them4 ,they have1 on the other 
hand1 in their favour the general       
tendency of all religion toward         
simplicity1 the reduction of faith1 that
 is1 to a few broad and generally shared
 elements4 ,but there is no reason to   
anticipate a speedy breakdown of what   
one may call particularist religion and 
the substitution therefor of a faith    
built up out of many diverse elements   
and held in common by widely separated  
tempers4   ,there is ,likely to be ,some
 ,absorption of the ,cults by a         
,widening ,historic ,christianity  ,if  
the past supplies analogy or suggestion 
there will be some tendency for the     
cults and movements to be reabsorbed by 
the dominant religious forms from which 
they have broken off4 ,a careful        
analysis of this statement would involve
 the consideration of a finality of     
,christianity as now held in the        

,western world4 ,that is impossible in  
the range of a study like this4 ,any    
general statement is of course coloured 
by the temper of the one who makes it   
and to a certain extent begs the whole  
great question4 ,but a careful and      
dispassionate examination of present-day
 cults would seem to indicate that they 
really have nothing to offer which the  
dominant ,christianity does not possess 
either explicitly or implicitly4 ,there 
is a solidity of human experience behind
 its forms and creeds which cannot be   
lightly left out of account4 ,they      
represent the travail of twenty         
centuries and have behind them far older
 confidences and hopes4 ,if             
,christianity should widen itself to the
 full limit of its possibilities1 it    
would leave little room for that which  
seeks to supplant it and would meet the 
needs which have begotten the cults in  
far richer and more reasonable ways4    
,as far as the cults are mistakenly     
distinctive1 as far as they cannot stand

 a careful examination1 they represent  
what must be corrected and cannot be    
absorbed4 ,christianity can absorb ,new 
,thought far more easily than ,christian
 ,science4 ,theosophy in its extremer   
forms it cannot absorb at all4 ,it is   
more hospitable to the quest for a      
universal religion for it seeks itself  
to be a universal religion and can never
 achieve its ideal unless it takes      
account of the desire for something big 
enough to include the whole of life1    
,east as well as ,west1 and to make room
 within itself for a very great variety 
of religious tempers4   ,but            
,christianity is ,being ,influenced by  
the ,cults  ,if ,christianity is not to 
reabsorb the cults in their present     
form1 it must1 as has been said over and
 over again1 take account of them and it
 is not likely to go on uninfluenced by 
them4 ,already it has yielded in some   
directions to their contentions4 ,if it 
feels itself challenged by them it must 
meet that challenge not so much by      

intolerance as by the correction of     
conditions which have made them         
possible1 and here its most dependable  
instruments are education and           
self-examination4 ,there is need of a   
vast deal more of sheer teaching in all 
the churches4 ,the necessity for        
congregations and the traditions of     
preaching conspire to make the message  
of the ,church far less vital than it   
ought to be4 ,preaching is too much     
declamation and far too much a following
 of narrow and deeply worn paths4  ,the 
cults themselves represent a craving for
 light1 especially in the regions of    
pain and loss4 ,historic ,christianity  
has lost out because it has made        
religion too self-centered1 not that the
 cults are a corrective here1 for they  
are even more self-centered--that is one
 of their great faults4 ,the individual 
is not the center of the world2 he is   
part of a larger order concerned for    
great ends for which his life can only  
be contributory4 ,the ,church and the   

cults together have forgotten too       
largely that life is sacred only as we  
lose it4 ,we need in the churches       
generally a braver personal note and a  
very much larger unself-centeredness4   
,it is interesting to note that the     
movement of the cults1 with the possible
 exception of ,new ,thought1 has been   
away from rationalism rather than in the
 direction of it4 ,this is a            
consideration to be taken into account4 
,it would seem on the surface of it to  
indicate that what people are wanting in
 religion is not so much reason as      
mysticism and that for the generality   
religion is most truly conceived in     
terms not of the known but of the       
unknown4 ,if the ,christian ,church is  
to meet the challenge of the cults with 
a far more clearly defined line of      
teaching1 it is also to meet the        
challenge of the cults with a warmer    
religious life1 with the affirmation of 
an experience not so much tested by     
crises and conversions as by the        

constant living of life in the sense of 
the divine--to use ,jeremy ,taylor's    
noble phrase3 in the ,practice of the   
,presence of ,god4 ,the weakness of the 
cults is to have narrowed the practice  
of the presence of ,god to specific     
regions1 finding the proof of ,his power
 in health and well-being4 ,if we can   
substitute therefor the consciousness of
 ,god in the sweep of law1 the immensity
 of force1 the normal conduct of life1  
in light and understanding1 in reason as
 well as mysticism and science as well  
as devotion1 we shall have secured a    
foundation upon which to build amply    
enough to shelter devout and questing   
souls not now able to find what they    
seek in the churches themselves and yet 
never for a moment out of line with what
 is truest and most prophetic in        
,christianity itself4  ,sir ,henry      
,jones has a paragraph in his ,faith    
that ,enquires distinctly to the point  
just here4 ,the second consideration    
arises from the greatness of the change 

that would follow were the ,protestant  
,churches and their leaders to assume   
the attitude of the sciences and treat  
the articles of the creeds not as dogmas
 but as the most probable explanation1  
the most sane account which they can    
form of the relation of man to the      
,universe and of the final meaning of   
his life4 ,the hypothesis of a ,god     
whose wisdom and power and goodness are 
perfect would then be tried and tested1 
both theoretically and practically1 and1
 ,i believe1 become thereby ever the    
more convincing4 ,the creed would be not
 merely a record of an old belief to be 
accepted on authority1 but a challenge  
to the skeptic and the irreligious4 ,the
 ,church1 instead of being a place where
 the deliverances of ancient religious  
authorities are expounded1 and          
illustrated by reference to the contents
 of one book and the history of one     
nation--as if no other books were       
inspired and all nations save one were  
,god-abandoned--the ,church would be the

 place where the validity of spiritual  
convictions are discussed on their      
merits1 and the application of spiritual
 principles extended2 where enquiring   
youths would repair when life brings    
them sorrow1 disappointment or failure1 
and the injustice of man makes them     
doubt whether there be a ,god1 or if    
there be1 whether he is good and has    
power1 and stands as the help of man4   
,recourse to their certified spiritual  
guides1 knowing that full and           
sympathetic justice will be done to all 
their difficulties1 ought to be as      
natural to them as their recourse to the
 physical laboratory or the workshop of 
the mechanician when an engine breaks   
down4#hc  ,footnote #hc3 ,a ,faith that 
,enquires1 p4 #hb4   ,medical ,science  
,should ,take a ,more ,serious ,account 
of the ,healing ,cults  ,not only the   
churches but the schools and            
particularly ,medical ,science need to  
take account of the cults4 ,they        
constitute perhaps one of the sharpest  

indictments of present-day education4   
,many of their adherents are nominally  
educated above the average4 ,they have  
secured for what they follow the        
authority which always attaches1 in the 
,american mind1 to the fact that those  
who champion any movement are college   
bred1 and yet the want of clear vision1 
the power to distinguish and analyze1   
along with the unexpected credulities   
which are thus made manifest1 seem to   
indicate arresting deficiencies in      
popular education4 ,it has left us      
unduly suggestible1 much open to mass   
movement1 at the mercy of the lesser    
prophets and wanting in those           
stabilities and understandings upon     
which a sound culture is to be built4   
,when we consider what they are capable 
of believing who have had college or    
university training1 we must conclude   
either that contemporaneous education is
 wanting in the creation of sound mental
 discipline1 or else that we have a     
strange power of living in water-tight  

compartments and separating our faith   
wholly from our reason4  ,the cults     
which are organized around faith and    
mental healing at once challenge and in 
a measure indict modern medical science4
 ,in many directions all these movements
 are reactions against an excessive     
materialism2 they affirm the power of   
personality as against its environment1 
testify that the central problems of    
life may be approached from the         
spiritual as well as from the physical  
and material side4 ,it would not for a  
moment be fair to say that modern       
,medicine is ignoring this4 ,there has  
probably always been a considerable     
element of mental healing in any wise   
medical practice4 ,but on the whole1 the
 marvellous successes and advances in   
,medical ,science within the last thirty
 years and the very great success which 
has attended the definition of all      
diseases in terms of physical           
disarrangement has led physicians       
generally unduly to underestimate or    

ignore the undoubted power of faith and 
mind over bodily states4  ,even as a    
matter of scientific investigation      
medicine as a whole has not taken this  
line of approach seriously enough4 ,the 
,society for ,psychical ,research has   
something to teach the medical faculties
 just here4 ,that ,society1 as we have  
seen1 set out in the most rigorous and  
scientific way possible to find out     
first of all just what actual facts lay 
behind the confused phenomena of        
,spiritualism4 ,they have given a long  
generation to just that4 ,as they have  
finally isolated certain facts they     
have1 with a good deal of caution1      
undertaken to frame hypotheses to       
account for them and so1 with the aid of
 the students of abnormal personality1  
they are gradually bringing a measure of
 order into the whole region4 ,medical  
,science on the whole has not done this 
in the region of faith and mental       
healing4 ,we are1 therefore1 far too    
uncertain of our facts4 ,a good deal of 

this is open to correction4 ,if a       
,society for ,psycho-,therapeutic       
,research should be organized1 which    
would follow up every report of healings
 with an accurate care1 beginning with  
the diagnosis and ending with the actual
 physical state of the patient as far as
 it could be ascertained by the tests at
 their disposal1 they could greatly     
clarify the popular mind1 prevent a vast
 deal of needless suffering1 save the   
sick from frustrated hope and secure for
 their own profession a distinct        
reinforcement and an increased          
usefulness4   ,a ,neglected ,force  ,if 
they thus find--as is likely--that the  
real force of ,psycho-therapy has been  
largely overestimated1 that imagination1
 wrong diagnosis and mistaken report as 
to the actual physical condition have   
all combined to produce confidences     
unjustified by the facts1 we should     
begin to come out into the light4 ,and  
if1 on the other hand1 they found a body
 of actual fact substantiating          

,psycho-therapy they would do well to   
add courses therein to the discipline of
 their schools4#hd ,the whole thing     
would doubtless be a matter for         
specialization as almost every other    
department of medicine demands          
specialization4 ,every good doctor is   
more or less a mental healer1 but every 
doctor cannot become a specialist in    
,psycho-therapy1 nor would he need to4  
,footnote #hd3 ,but this is already     
being done4  ,temperamental elements    
enter here very largely4 ,but we might  
at least take the whole matter out of   
the hands of charlatans and the         
half-informed and establish it upon a   
sound scientific basis4 ,there is1      
beyond debate1 a real place for the     
physician who utilizes and directs the  
elements of suggestion4 ,they have gone 
farther1 on the whole1 in this direction
 in ,france and ,switzerland than we    
have in ,america4 ,evidently we are     
standing only upon the threshold of     
marked advances along these lines4      

,psycho-therapy can never be a          
substitute for a medical science which  
deals with the body as a machine to be  
regulated in its processes1 defended    
against hostile invasion or reinforced  
in its weaknesses1 but there is also    
another line of approach to sickness4 ,a
 catholic medical science will use every
 means in its power4   ,the ,cults ,must
 be ,left to ,time and the ,corrections 
of ,truth  ,beyond such general         
considerations as these there is little 
to be said4 ,the ,christian churches    
will gain nothing by an intolerant      
attitude toward expressions of faith and
 spiritual adventures beyond their own  
frontiers4 ,just as there is a constant 
selective process in answer to which the
 historic churches maintain their       
existences1 a selective process         
controlled by association and temper1 in
 that some of us are naturally          
,catholics and some ,protestants1 there 
are tempers which do not take kindly to 
inherited organization1 authority or    

creed4 ,such as these are seekers1      
excessive perhaps in their              
individuality1 but none the less sincere
 in their desire for a faith and        
religious contact which will have its   
own distinct meaning for their own      
lives4 ,and if there may seem to some of
 us elements of misdirection or caprice 
or unreason in their quests1 it is      
perhaps in just such ways as these that 
advances are finally made and what is   
right and true endures4  ,if nothing at 
all is to be gained by intolerance1     
nothing more is to be gained by an      
unfair criticism and1 in general1 all   
these movements must be left to the     
adjustments of time and the corrections 
of truth4  ,we began this study by      
defining religion as the effective      
desire to be in right relation with the 
power which manifests itself in the     
universe4 ,how vast this power is we are
 just beginning to find out4 ,how       
various we are in our temperaments and  
what unsuspected possibilities there are

 in the depths of personality we are    
also just beginning to find out4 ,there 
is possible1 therefore1 a vast variation
 of contact in this endeavour to be in  
right relation with the power which     
faith knows and names as ,god4 ,in an   
endeavour moving along so wide a front  
there is room1 naturally1 for a great   
variety of quest4 ,when we have sought  
rightly to understand and justly to     
estimate the more extreme variants of   
that quest in our own time1 we can do   
finally no more than1 through the       
knowledge thus gained1 to try in patient
 and fundamental ways to correct what is
 false and recognize and sympathize with
 what is right and leave the residue to 
the issue of the unresting movements of 
the human soul1 and those disclosures of
 the ,divine which are on their ,godward
 side revelation and on their human side
 insight1 understanding and obedience4  
,printed in the ,united ,states of      
,america     ,,striking ,,addresses     
99       99       99       99       99  

,,john ,,henry ,,jowett1 ,d4,d4  ,god   
,our ,contemporary  ,a ,series of       
,complete ,addresses #a4ej4  ,among the 
pulpit-giants of to-day ,dr4 ,jowett has
 been given a high place4 ,every        
preacher will want at once this latest  
product of his fertile mind4 ,it        
consists of a series of full length     
sermons which are intended to show that 
only in ,god as revealed to us in ,jesus
 ,christ can we find the resources to   
meet the needs of human life4   ,,sidney
 ,,berry1 ,m4,a4  ,revealing ,light     
#a4ej4  ,a volume of addresses by the   
successor to ,dr4 ,jowett at ,carr's    
,lane ,church1 ,birmingham1 the         
underlying aim of which is to show what 
the ,christian revelation means in      
relation to the great historic facts of 
the ,faith and the response which those 
facts must awaken in the hearts of men  
to-day4 ,every address is an example of 
the best preaching of this famous       
preacher to young men4   ,,frederick ,c4
 ,,spurr  ,last ,minister of ,regent's  

,park ,chapel1 ,london4  ,the ,master   
,key  ,a ,study in ,world-,problems     
#a4ce4  ,a fearless1 clearly-reasoned   
restatement of the terms of the         
,christian ,gospel and its relation to  
the travail through which the world is  
passing4 ,mr4 ,spurr is a man in the    
vanguard of religious thought1 yet just 
as emphatically as any thinker of the   
old school1 he insists on one ,physician
 able to heal the wounds and woes of    
humanity4   ,,russell ,h4 ,,conwell1    
,d4,d4  ,pastor ,baptist ,temple1       
,philadelphia4  ,unused ,powers #a4be4  
,to ,acres of ,diamonds1 ,the ,angel's  
,lily1 ,why ,lincoln ,laughed1 ,how to  
,live the ,christ ,life1 and many other 
stirring volumes1 ,dr4 ,conwell has just
 added another made up of some of his   
choicest addresses4 ,dr4 ,conwell       
speaks1 as he has always spoken1 out of 
the experimental knowledge and practical
 wisdom of a man1 who having long faced 
the stark realities of life1 has been   
exalted thereby4   ,,gaius ,,glenn      

,,atkins1 ,d4,d4  ,minister of the      
,first ,congregational ,church1         
,detroit1 ,michigan4  ,the ,undiscovered
 ,country #a4ej4  ,a group of addresses 
marked by distinction of style and      
originality of approach4 ,the title     
discourse furnishes a central theme to  
which those following stand in relation4
 ,dr4 ,atkins' work1 throughout1 is     
marked by clarity of presentation1      
polished diction and forceful phrasing4 
,,timely ,,essays ,,and ,,studies       
99       99       99       99       99  
,,newell ,,dwight ,,hillis  ,author of  
,great ,books as ,life-,teachers4       
,great ,men as ,prophets of a ,new ,era 
#a4ej4  ,dr4 ,hillis' latest book       
strikes a popular chord4 ,it fairly     
pulses with life and human sympathy4 ,he
 has a large grasp of things and        
relations1 a broad culture1 a retentive 
memory and splendid imagination1 and    
there are few writers to-day with so    
large an audience assured in advance4   
,the subjects include3 ,dante2          

,savonarola2 ,william the ,silent2      
,oliver ,cromwell2 ,john ,wesley2 ,john 
,milton2 ,garibaldi2 ,john ,ruskin1 etc4
   ,,thos4 ,r4 ,,mitchell1 ,m4,a41      
,b4,d4  ,the ,drama of ,life  ,a ,series
 of ,reflections on ,shakespeare's      
,seven ,ages4 ,introduction by ,nellie  
,l4 ,mc,clung4 #a4be4  ,a fresh1        
stimulating discussion of old themes4   
,mr4 ,mitchell handles his subject with 
unusual directness1 bringing to its     
discussion clarity of thought and       
lucidity of expression which has already
 won the enthusiastic endorsement of    
,sir ,william ,robertson ,nicoll1 ,chas4
 ,w4 ,gordon1 ,d4,d41 7,ralph ,connor7  
,archdeacon ,cody and ,prof4 ,francis   
,g4 ,peabody4   ,d4 ,,macdougall ,,king1
 ,m4,b4  ,author of ,the ,battle with   
,tuberculosis4  ,nerves and ,personal   
,power  ,some ,principles of ,psychology
 as ,applied to ,conduct and ,health4   
,with ,introduction by ,hon4 ,w4,l4     
,mackenzie ,king4 #b4jj  ,premier ,king 
says3 ,my brother has1 ,i think helped  

to reinforce ,christian teaching by     
showing wherein recent medical and      
scientific researches are revealing the 
foundations of ,christian faith and     
belief in directions hitherto unexplored
 and unknown4--,the world needs the     
assurance this book can scarcely fail to
 bring4   ,,rev4 ,r4,e4 ,,smith ,waco1  
,texas4  ,christianity and the ,race    
,problem #a4be4  ,a sane1 careful study 
of the ,race problem in the ,south1     
written by a born ,southerner1 the son  
of a slave-owner and ,confederate       
soldier4 ,mr4 ,smith has lived all his  
life among negroes1 and feels that he is
 capable of seeing both sides of the    
problem he undertakes to discuss4       
,,problems ,,of ,,today         99      
99       99       99       99   ,,george
 ,mc,c,r,e,a,d,y ,,price1 ,m4,a4        
,poisoning ,democracy  ,a ,study of the 
,present-,day ,socialism4 #a4be         
,professor ,price shows that the        
conditions prevailing to-day are due    
largely to the acceptance of various    

socialistic and evolutionary theories   
termed ,new ,theology4 ,no more terrific
 moral and religious indictment of      
,socialism has ever been presented4     
,,albert ,,clarke ,,wyckoff  ,sense of  
,christian ,science #a4ge  ,a deadly1   
withering attack on ,christian ,science 
enfilading its every position4 ,mr4     
,wyckoff's searching analysis of the    
pretensions1 errors1 follies1 and       
non-sense of so-called ,christian       
,science should prove as convincing as  
it is unanswerable4   ,,allen ,w4       
,,johnston  ,the ,roman ,catholic ,bible
 and the ,roman ,catholic ,church       
,foreword by ,david ,j4 ,burrell1 ,d4,d4
 #a4be  ,a book that examines the       
cardinal doctrines as taught by the     
,church of ,rome1 such as the           
,invocation of ,saints1 ,purgatory1     
,indulgences1 ,worship of ,mary1 the    
,holy ,eucharist1 etc4 etc41 and        
indicates the dissimilarity between this
 body of teaching and ,holy ,writ4  ,new
 ,editions4   ,i4,m4 ,,haldeman  ,can   

the ,dead ,communicate with the ,living8
 #a4be  ,needless to say1 ,dr4 ,haldeman
 holds no brief for ,spiritism4 ,a book 
that is awakening everyone to the peril 
of 'spiritualism' among                 
,christians4--,christian ,work4         
,,james ,m4 ,,gray1 ,d4,d4  ,spiritism  
and the ,fallen ,angels  ,from a        
,biblical ,viewpoint4 #a4be  ,beginning 
with a review of the present-day revival
 of ,spiritism and how to meet it1 ,dr4 
,gray harks back to origins1 the baleful
 influence of the cult from the earliest
 recorded history of the human race4    
,s4,s4 ,times4  ,,standard ,,reference  
,,works         99       99       99    
99       99  ,g4,b4,f4 ,,hallock ,editor
 of ,the ,expositor4  ,a ,modern        
,cyclopedia of ,illustrations for ,all  
,occasions  ,nineteen ,hundred and      
,thirty-eight ,illustrations4 #c4jj4  ,a
 comprehensive collection of            
illustrative incidents1 anecdotes and   
other suggestive material for the       
outstanding days and seasons of the     

church year4 ,the author1 well-known to 
the readers of ,the ,expositor1 has     
presented a really valuable handbook for
 ,preachers1 ,sunday ,school            
,superintendents and all ,christian     
workers4   ,,james ,,inglis  ,the ,bible
 ,text ,cyclopedia  ,a ,complete        
,classification of ,scripture ,texts4   
,new ,edition4 ,large #hvo1 #b4jj  ,more
 sensible and convenient1 and every way 
more satisfactory than any book of the  
kind we have ever known4 ,we know of no 
other work comparable with it in this   
department of study4--,sunday ,school   
,times4   ,,angus-,,green  ,cyclopedic  
,handbook to the ,bible  ,by ,joseph    
,angus4 ,revised by ,samuel ,g4 ,green4 
,new ,edition4 #hcb pages1 with ,index1 
#c4jj4  ,the ,best thing in its         
line4--,ira ,m4 ,price1 ,univ4 of       
,chicago4  ,holds an unchallenged place 
among aids to the interpretation of the 
,scriptures4--,baptist ,review and      
,expositor4  ,of immense service to     
,biblical students4--,methodist ,times4 

,the ,treasury of ,scripture ,knowledge 
,introduction by ,r4,a4 ,torrey         
,consisting of #ejj1jjj ,scripture      
,references and ,parallel ,passages4    
#ghh pages4 #hvo4 ,cloth4 #c4jj4  ,bible
 students who desire to compare         
,scripture with ,scripture will find the
 ',treasury' to be a better help than   
any other book of which ,i have any     
knowledge4--,r4,r4 ,mc,burney1 ,former  
,gen4 ,sec41 ,y4,m4,c4,a41 ,new ,york4  
,a4,r4 ,,buckland1 ,editor  ,universal  
,bible ,dictionary  #eaa pages4 #hvo4   
,cloth4 #c4jj4  ,dr4 ,campbell ,morgan  
says3 ,clear1 concise1 comprehensive4 ,i
 do not hesitate to say that if any     
student would take the ,bible1 and go   
through it book by book with its aid1   
the gain would be enormous4  ,,church   
,,work         99       99       99     
99       99   ,,roger ,w4 ,,babson      
,author of ,fundamentals of ,prosperity1
 etc4  ,new ,tasks for ,old ,churches   
,cloth1 #a4jj4 ,paper1 #fj;c4           
,suggestions for the solution of        

to-day's problems1 clear-cut and        
courageous4 ,babson has little sympathy 
with the arguments of self-interest of  
business men or with the outworn methods
 of the church in industrial            
communities4 ,his sole interest is in   
the physical1 social1 and spiritual     
salvation of the men1 women1 and        
children in our industrial centres4     
,,pres4 ,,william ,,allen ,,harper      
,author of ,the ,new ,church ,for ,the  
,new ,time etc4  ,the ,church in the    
,present ,crisis #a4ge4  ,hon4 ,josephus
 ,daniels says3 ,dr4 ,harper has ably   
presented the demand that the church    
shape the thought and life of the       
future4 ,the world1 having tried        
everything else1 is becoming convinced  
that no ,golden ,rule alone will be the 
savior4 ,dr4 ,harper wisely stresses    
study of the ,bible1 the ,christian     
leaven in education1 the duty to look   
difficult problems in the face and solve
 them by application of the ,christian  
religion4 ,it is a book of faith with   

wise directions and guidance4   ,,rev4  
,,albert ,f4 ,mc,g,a,r,r,a,h  ,author of
 ,modern ,church ,management4  ,money   
,talks  ,stimulating ,studies in        
,christian ,stewardship4 #a4be4         
,ministers and laymen1 who desire to    
present convincingly the principles and 
practices which should govern           
,christians in getting and using money1 
will find here a wealth of fresh        
material1 popular in style1 yet deeply  
inspiring in tone4 ,a companion volume  
to ,modern ,church ,finance and ,modern 
,church ,management4   ,,lyman ,,edwyn  
,,davis1 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4  ,editor      
,methodist ,recorder4  ,democratic      
,methodism in ,america  ,a ,topical     
,survey of the ,methodist ,protestant   
,church4 #a4ej4  ,a history of the      
,methodist ,protestant church from its  
founding in #ahcj1 pointing out the     
various links in the chain of           
circumstances which lead to the         
organization of the ,methodist          
,protestant ,church and the fundamental 

principles which prompted and justified 
the movement4 ,it constitutes a vigorous
 and ably-argued plea for mutual rights 
,methodism4  ,,bible ,,study         99 
99       99       99       99   ,p4     
,,whitwell ,,wilson  ,author of ,the    
,christ ,we ,forget  ,the ,church ,we   
,forget4  ,a ,study of the ,life and    
,words of the ,early ,christians4 #hvo1 
cloth1 net  ,the author of ,the ,christ 
,we ,forget here furnishes a            
companion-picture of the earliest       
,christian ,church--of the men and      
women1 of like feelings with ourselves1 
who followed ,christ and fought ,his    
battles in the ,roman world of their    
day4 ,here again1 says ,mr4 ,wilson1 my 
paint-box is the ,bible1 and nothing    
else--and my canvas is a page which he  
who runs may read4   ,c4 ,,alphonso     
,,smith1 ,ph4,d41 ,,ll4,d4  ,head of the
 ,department of ,english in the ,u4,s4  
,naval ,academy1 ,annapolis4 ,md4       
,key-note ,studies in ,key-note ,books  
of the ,bible #abmo1 cloth1 net  ,the   

sacred books dealt with are ,genesis1   
,esther1 ,job1 ,hosea1 ,john's ,gospel1 
,romans1 ,philippians1 ,revelation4 ,no 
series of lectures yet given on this    
famous foundation have been more        
interesting and stimulating than these  
illuminating studies of scriptural books
 by a layman and library                
expert4--,christian ,observer4          
,,george ,d4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d4  ,god's   
,first ,words  ,studies in ,genesis1    
,historic1 ,prophetic and ,experimental4
 #abmo1 cloth1 net  ,dr4 ,watson shows  
how ,god's purposes and infinite wisdom1
 ,his plan and purpose for the race1    
,his unfailing love and faithfulness are
 first unfolded in the ,book of         
,genesis1 to remain unchanged through   
the whole canon of ,scripture4 ,dr4     
,watson's new work will furnish unusual 
enlightment to every gleaner in         
religious fields1 who will find ,god's  
,first ,words to possess great value and
 profit4   ,,everett ,,pepperrell       
,,wheeler1 ,a4,m4  ,author of ,sixty    

,years of ,american ,life1 etc4  ,a     
,lawyer's ,study of the ,bible  ,its    
,answer to the ,questions of ,to-day4   
#abmo cloth1 net  ,mr4 ,wheeler's main  
proposition is that the ,bible1 when    
wisely studied1 rightly understood and  
its counsel closely followed1 is found  
to be of inestimable value as a guide to
 daily life and conduct4 ,to this end   
,mr4 ,wheeler examines its teachings as 
they relate to sociology1 labor and     
capital1 socialism1 war1 fatalism1      
prayer1 immortality4 ,a lucid1 helpful  
book4