,eternal ,life ,by ,professor ,henry ,drummond ,philadelphia ,henry ,altemus ,copyright #ahif by ,henry ,altemus4 ,,eternal ,,life4 ,this is ,life ,eternal--that they might know ,thee1 the ,true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ whom ,thou has sent4--,jesus ,christ4 ,perfect correspondence would be perfect life4 ,were there no changes in the environment but such as the organism had adapted changes to meet1 and were it never to fail in the efficiency with which it met them1 there would be eternal existence and eternal knowledge4--,herbert ,spencer4 ,,one of the most startling achievements of recent science is a definition of ,eternal ,life4 ,to the religious mind this is a contribution of immense moment4 ,for eighteen hundred years only one definition of ,life ,eternal was before the world4 ,now there are two4 ,through all these centuries revealed religion had this doctrine to itself4 ,ethics had a voice1 as well as ,christianity1 on the question of the summum bonum2 ,philosophy ventured to speculate on the ,being of a ,god4 ,but no source outside ,christianity contributed anything to the doctrine of ,eternal ,life4 ,apart from ,revelation1 this great truth was unguaranteed4 ,it was the one thing in the ,christian system that most needed verification from without1 yet none was forthcoming4 ,and never has any further light been thrown upon the question why in its very nature the ,christian ,life should be ,eternal4 ,christianity itself even upon this point has been obscure4 ,its decision upon the bare fact is authoritative and specific4 ,but as to what there is in the ,spiritual ,life necessarily endowing it with the element of ,eternity1 the maturest theology is all but silent4 ,it has been reserved for modern biology at once to defend and illuminate this central truth of the ,christian faith4 ,and hence in the interests of religion1 practical and evidential1 this second and scientific definition of ,eternal ,life is to be hailed as an announcement of commanding interest4 ,why it should not yet have received the recognition of religious thinkers--for already it has lain some years unnoticed--is not difficult to understand4 ,the belief in ,science as an aid to faith is not yet ripe enough to warrant men in searching there for witnesses to the highest ,christian truths4 ,the inspiration of ,nature1 it is thought1 extends to the humbler doctrines alone4 ,and yet the reverent inquirer who guides his steps in the right direction may find even now in the still dim twilight of the scientific world much that will illuminate and intensify his sublimest faith4 ,here1 at least1 comes1 and comes unbidden1 the opportunity of testing the most vital point of the ,christian system4 ,hitherto the ,christian philosopher has remained content with the scientific evidence against ,annihilation4 ,or1 with ,butler1 he has reasoned from the ,metamorphoses of ,insects to a future life4 ,or again1 with the authors of ,the ,unseen ,universe1 the apologist has constructed elaborate1 and certainly impressive1 arguments upon the ,law of ,continuity4 ,but now we may draw nearer4 ,for the first time ,science touches ,christianity positively on the doctrine of ,immortality4 ,it confronts us with an actual definition of an ,eternal ,life1 based on a full and rigidly accurate examination of the necessary conditions4 ,science does not pretend that it can fulfil these conditions4 ,its votaries make no claim to possess the ,eternal ,life4 ,it simply postulates the requisite conditions without concerning itself whether any organism should ever appear1 or does now exist1 which might fulfil them4 ,the claim of religion1 on the other hand1 is that there are organisms which possess ,eternal ,life4 ,and the problem for us to solve is this3 ,do those who profess to possess ,eternal ,life fulfil the conditions required by ,science1 or are they different conditions8 ,in a word1 ,is the ,christian conception of ,eternal ,life scientific8 ,it may be unnecessary to notice at the outset that the definition of ,eternal ,life drawn up by ,science was framed without reference to religion4 ,it must indeed have been the last thought with the thinker to whom we chiefly owe it1 that in unfolding the conception of a ,life in its very nature necessarily eternal1 he was contributing to ,theology4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer--for it is to him we owe it--would be the first to admit the impartiality of his definition2 and from the connection in which it occurs in his writings1 it is obvious that religion was not even present to his mind4 ,he is analyzing with minute care the relations between ,environment and ,life4 ,he unfolds the principle according to which ,life is high or low1 long or short4 ,he shows why organisms live and why they die4 ,and finally he defines a condition of things in which an organism would never die--in which it would enjoy a perpetual and perfect ,life4 ,this to him is1 of course1 but a speculation4 ,life ,eternal is a biological conceit4 ,the conditions necessary to an ,eternal ,life do not exist in the natural world4 ,so that the definition is altogether impartial and independent4 ,a ,perfect ,life1 to ,science1 is simply a thing which is theoretically possible--like a ,perfect ,vacuum4 ,before giving1 in so many words1 the definition of ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 it will render it fully intelligible if we gradually lead up to it by a brief rehearsal of the few and simple biological facts on which it is based4 ,in considering the subject of ,death1 we have formerly seen that there are degrees of ,life4 ,by this is meant that some lives have more and fuller correspondence with ,environment than others4 ,the amount of correspondence1 again1 is determined by the greater or less complexity of the organism4 ,thus a simple organism like the ,amoeba is possessed of very few correspondences4 ,it is a mere sac of transparent structureless jelly for which organization has done almost nothing1 and hence it can only communicate with the smallest possible area of ,environment4 ,an insect1 in virtue of its more complex structure1 corresponds with a wider area4 ,nature has endowed it with special faculties for reaching out to the ,environment on many sides2 it has more life than the ,amoeba4 ,in other words1 it is a higher animal4 ,man again1 whose body is still further differentiated1 or broken up into different correspondences1 finds himself en rapport with his surroundings to a further extent4 ,and therefore he is higher still1 more living still4 ,and this law1 that the degree of ,life varies with the degree of correspondence1 holds to the minutest detail throughout the entire range of living things4 ,life becomes fuller and fuller1 richer and richer1 more and more sensitive and responsive to an ever-widening ,environment as we rise in the chain of being4 ,now it will speedily appear that a distinct relation exists1 and must exist1 between complexity and longevity4 ,death being brought about by the failure of an organism to adjust itself to some change in the ,environment1 it follows that those organisms which are able to adjust themselves most readily and successfully will live the longest4 ,they will continue time after time to effect the appropriate adjustment1 and their power of doing so will be exactly proportionate to their complexity--that is1 to the amount of ,environment they can control with their correspondences4 ,there are1 for example1 in the ,environment of every animal certain things which are directly or indirectly dangerous to ,life4 ,if its equipment of correspondences is not complete enough to enable it to avoid these dangers in all possible circumstances1 it must sooner or later succumb4 ,the organism then with the most perfect set of correspondences1 that is1 the highest and most complex organism1 has an obvious advantage over less complex forms4 ,it can adjust itself more perfectly and frequently4 ,but this is just the biological way of saying that it can live the longest4 ,and hence the relation between complexity and longevity may be expressed thus--the most complex organisms are the longest lived4 ,to state and illustrate the proposition conversely may make the point still further clear4 ,the less highly organized an animal is1 the less will be its chance of remaining in lengthened correspondence with its ,environment4 ,at some time or other in its career circumstances are sure to occur to which the comparatively immobile organism finds itself structurally unable to respond4 ,thus a ,medusa tossed ashore by a wave1 finds itself so out of correspondence with its new surroundings that its life must pay the forfeit4 ,had it been able by internal change to adapt itself to external change--to correspond sufficiently with the new environment1 as for example to crawl1 as an eel would have done1 back into that environment with which it had completer correspondence--its life might have been spared4 ,but had this happened it would continue to live henceforth only so long as it could continue in correspondence with all the circumstances in which it might find itself4 ,even if1 however1 it became complex enough to resist the ordinary and direct dangers of its environment1 it might still be out of correspondence with others4 ,a naturalist for instance1 might take advantage of its want of correspondence with particular sights and sounds to capture it for his cabinet1 or the sudden dropping of a yacht's anchor or the turn of a screw might cause its untimely death4 ,again1 in the case of a bird in virtue of its more complex organization1 there is command over a much larger area of environment4 ,it can take precautions such as the ,medusa could not2 it has increased facilities for securing food2 its adjustments all round are more complex2 and therefore it ought to be able to maintain its ,life for a longer period4 ,there is still a large area1 however1 over which it has no control4 ,its power of internal change is not complete enough to afford it perfect correspondence with all external changes1 and its tenure of ,life is to that extent insecure4 ,its correspondence1 moreover1 is limited even with regard to those external conditions with which it has been partially established4 ,thus a bird in ordinary circumstances has no difficulty in adapting itself to changes of temperature1 but if these are varied beyond the point at which its capacity of adjustment begins to fail--for example1 during an extreme winter--the organism being unable to meet the condition must perish4 ,the human organism1 on the other hand1 can respond to this external condition1 as well as to countless other vicissitudes under which lower forms would inevitably succumb4 ,man's adjustments are to the largest known area of ,environment1 and hence he ought to be able furthest to prolong his ,life4 ,it becomes evident1 then1 that as we ascend in the scale of ,life we rise also in the scale of longevity4 ,the lowest organisms are1 as a rule1 shortlived1 and the rate of mortality diminishes more or less regularly as we ascend in the animal scale4 ,so extraordinary indeed is the mortality among lowly-organized forms that in most cases a compensation is actually provided1 nature endowing them with a marvellously increased fertility in order to guard against absolute extinction4 ,almost all lower forms are furnished not only with great reproductive powers1 but with different methods of propagation1 by which1 in various circumstances1 and in an incredibly short time1 the species can be indefinitely multiplied4 ,ehrenberg found that by the repeated subdivisions of a single ,paramecium1 no fewer than #bfh1jjj1jjj similar organisms might be produced in one month4 ,this power steadily decreases as we rise higher in the scale1 until forms are reached in which one1 two1 or at most three1 come into being at a birth4 ,it decreases1 however because it is no longer needed4 ,these forms have a much longer lease of ,life4 ,and it may be taken as a rule1 although it has exceptions1 that complexity in animal organisms is always associated with longevity4 ,it may be objected that these illustrations are taken merely from morbid conditions4 ,but whether the ,life be cut short by accident or by disease the principle is the same4 ,all dissolution is brought about practically in the same way4 ,a certain condition in the ,environment fails to be met by a corresponding condition in the organism1 and this is death4 ,and conversely the more an organism in virtue of its complexity can adapt itself to all the parts of its ,environment1 the longer it will live4 ,it is manifest a priori1 says ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 that since changes in the physical state of the environment1 as also those mechanical actions and those variations of available food which occur in it1 are liable to stop the processes going on in the organism2 and since the adaptive changes in the organism have the effects of directly or indirectly counterbalancing these changes in the environment1 it follows that the life of the organism will be short or long1 low or high1 according to the extent to which changes in the environment are met by corresponding changes in the organism4 ,allowing a margin for perturbations1 the life will continue only while the correspondence continues2 the completeness of the life will be proportionate to the completeness of the correspondence2 and the life will be perfect only when the correspondence is perfect4 #a #a ,principles of ,biology1 p4 #hb4 ,we are now all but in sight of our scientific definition of ,eternal ,life4 ,the desideratum is an organism with a correspondence of a very exceptional kind4 ,it must lie beyond the reach of those mechanical actions and those variations of available food1 which are liable to stop the processes going on in the organism4 ,before we reach an ,eternal ,life we must pass beyond that point at which all ordinary correspondences inevitably cease4 ,we must find an organism so high and complex1 that at some point in its development it shall have added a correspondence which organic death is powerless to arrest4 ,we must1 in short1 pass beyond that finite region where the correspondences depend on evanescent and material media1 and enter a further region where the ,environment corresponded with is itself ,eternal4 ,such an ,environment exists4 ,the ,environment of the ,spiritual world is outside the influence of these mechanical actions1 which sooner or later interrupt the processes going on in all finite organisms4 ,if then we can find an organism which has established a correspondence with the spiritual world1 that correspondence will possess the elements of eternity-- provided only one other condition be fulfilled4 ,that condition is that the ,environment be perfect4 ,if it is not perfect1 if it is not the highest1 if it is endowed with the finite quality of change1 there can be no guarantee that the ,life of its correspondents will be eternal4 ,some change might occur in it which the correspondents had no adaptive changes to meet1 and ,life would cease4 ,but grant a spiritual organism in perfect correspondence with a perfect spiritual ,environment1 and the conditions necessary to ,eternal ,life are satisfied4 ,the exact terms of ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer's definition of ,eternal ,life may now be given4 ,and it will be seen that they include essentially the conditions here laid down4 ,perfect correspondence would be perfect life4 ,were there no changes in the environment but such as the organism had adapted changes to meet1 and were it never to fail in the efficiency with which it met them1 there would be eternal existence and eternal knowledge4 #a ,reserving the question as to the possible fulfilment of these conditions1 let us turn for a moment to the definition of ,eternal ,life laid down by ,christ4 ,let us place it alongside the definition of ,science1 and mark the points of contact4 ,uninterrupted correspondence with a perfect ,environment is ,eternal ,life according to ,science4 ,this is ,life ,eternal1 said ,christ1 that they may know ,thee1 the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ whom ,thou has sent4 #b ,life ,eternal is to know ,god4 ,to know ,god is to correspond with ,god4 ,to correspond with ,god is to correspond with a ,perfect ,environment4 ,and the organism which attains to this1 in the nature of things must live for ever4 ,here is eternal existence and eternal knowledge4 #a ,principles of ,biology1 p4 #hh4 #b ,john xvii4 ,the main point of agreement between the scientific and the religious definition is that ,life consists in a peculiar and personal relation defined as a correspondence4 ,this conception1 that ,life consists in correspondences1 has been so abundantly illustrated already that it is now unnecessary to discuss it further4 ,all ,life indeed consists essentially in correspondences with various ,environments4 ,the artist's life is a correspondence with art2 the musician's with music4 ,to cut them off from these ,environments is in that relation to cut off their ,life4 ,to be cut off from all ,environment is death4 ,to find a new ,environment again and cultivate relation with it is to find a new ,life4 ,to live is to correspond1 and to correspond is to live4 ,so much is true in ,science4 ,but it is also true in ,religion4 ,and it is of great importance to observe that to ,religion also the conception of ,life is a correspondence4 ,no truth of ,christianity has been more ignorantly or wilfully travestied than the doctrine of ,immortality4 ,the popular idea1 in spite of a hundred protests1 is that ,eternal ,life is to live forever4 ,a single glance at the locus classicus1 might have made this error impossible4 ,there we are told that ,life ,eternal is not to live4 ,this is ,life ,eternal--to know4 ,and yet--and it is a notorious instance of the fact that men who are opposed to ,religion will take their conceptions of its profoundest truths from mere vuglar perversions--this view still represents to many cultivated men the ,scriptural doctrine of ,eternal ,life4 ,from time to time the taunt is thrown at ,religion1 not unseldom from lips which ,science ought to have taught more caution1 that the ,future ,life of ,christianity is simply a prolonged existence1 an eternal monotony1 a blind and indefinite continuance of being4 ,the ,bible never could commit itself to any such empty platitude2 nor could ,christianity ever offer to the world a hope so colorless4 ,not that ,eternal ,life has nothing to do with everlastingness4 ,that is part of the conception4 ,and it is this aspect of the question that first arrests us in the field of ,science4 ,but even ,science has more in its definition than longevity4 ,it has a correspondence and an ,environment2 and although it cannot fill up these terms for ,religion1 it can indicate at least the nature of the relation1 the kind of thing that is meant by ,life4 ,science speaks to us indeed of much more than numbers of years4 ,it defines degrees of ,life4 ,it explains a widening ,environment4 ,it unfolds the relation between a widening ,environment and increasing complexity in organisms4 ,and if it has no absolute contribution to the content of ,religion1 its analogies are not limited to a point4 ,it yields to ,immortality1 and this is the most that ,science can do in any case1 the broad framework for a doctrine4 ,the further definition1 moreover1 of this correspondence as knowing is in the highest degree significant4 ,is not this the precise quality in an ,eternal correspondence which the analogies of ,science would prepare us to look for8 ,longevity is associated with complexity4 ,and complexity in organisms is manifested by the successive addition of correspondences1 each richer and larger than those which have gone before4 ,the differentiation1 therefore1 of the spiritual organism ought to be signalized by the addition of the highest possible correspondence4 ,it is not essential to the idea that the correspondence should be altogether novel2 it is necessary rather that it should not4 ,an altogether new correspondence appearing suddenly without shadow or prophecy would be a violation of continuity4 ,what we should expect would be something new1 and yet something that we were already prepared for4 ,we should look for a further development in harmony with current developments2 the extension of the last and highest correspondence in a new and higher direction4 ,and this is exactly what we have4 ,in the world with which biology deals1 ,evolution culminates in ,knowledge4 ,at whatever point in the zoological scale this correspondence1 or set of correspondences1 begins1 it is certain there is nothing higher4 ,in its stunted infancy merely1 when we meet with its rudest beginnings in animal intelligence1 it is a thing so wonderful1 as to strike every thoughtful and reverent observer with awe4 ,even among the invertebrates so marvellously are these or kindred powers displayed1 that naturalists do not hesitate now1 on the ground of intelligence at least1 to classify some of the humblest creatures next to man himself4 #a ,nothing in nature1 indeed1 is so unlike the rest of nature1 so prophetic of what is beyond it1 so supernatural4 ,and as manifested in ,man who crowns creation with his all-embracing consciousness1 there is but one word to describe his knowledge2 it is ,divine4 ,if then from this point there is to be any further ,evolution1 this surely must be the correspondence in which it shall take place8 ,this correspondence is great enough to demand development2 and yet it is little enough to need it4 ,the magnificence of what it has achieved relatively1 is the pledge of the possibility of more2 the insignificance of its conquest absolutely involves the probability of still richer triumphs4 ,if anything1 in short1 in humanity is to go on it must be this4 ,other correspondences may continue likewise2 others1 again1 we can well afford to leave behind4 ,but this cannot cease4 ,this correspondence--or this set of correspondences1 for it is very complex--is it not that to which men with one consent would attach ,eternal ,life8 ,is there anything else to which they would attach it8 ,is anything better conceivable1 anything worthier1 fuller1 nobler1 anything which would represent a higher form of ,evolution or offer a more perfect ideal for an ,eternal ,life8 #a ,vide ,sir ,john ,lubbock's ,ants1 ,bees1 and ,wasps1 pp4 #a1 #aha4 ,but these are questions of quality2 and the moment we pass from quantity to quality we leave ,science behind4 ,in the vocabulary of ,science1 ,eternity is only the fraction of a word4 ,it means mere everlastingness4 ,to ,religion1 on the other hand1 ,eternity has little to do with time4 ,to correspond with the ,god of ,science1 the ,eternal ,unknowable1 would be everlasting existence2 to correspond with the true ,god and ,jesus ,christ1 is ,eternal ,life4 ,the quality of the ,eternal ,life alone makes the heaven2 mere everlastingness might be no boon4 ,even the brief span of the temporal life is too long for those who spend its years in sorrow4 ,time itself1 let alone ,eternity1 is all but excruciating to ,doubt4 ,and many besides ,schopenhauer have secretly regarded consciousness as the hideous mistake and malady of ,nature4 ,therefore we must not only have quantity of years1 to speak in the language of the present1 but quality of correspondence4 ,when we leave ,science behind1 this correspondence also receives a higher name4 ,it becomes communion4 ,other names there are for it1 religious and theological4 ,it may be included in a general expression1 ,faith2 or we may call it by a personal and specific term1 ,love4 ,for the knowing of a ,whole so great involves the co-operation of many parts4 ,communion with ,god--can it be demonstrated in terms of ,science that this is a correspondence which will never break8 ,we do not appeal to ,science for such a testimony4 ,we have asked for its conception of an ,eternal ,life2 and we have received for answer that ,eternal ,life would consist in a correspondence which should never cease1 with an ,environment which should never pass away4 ,and yet what would ,science demand of a perfect correspondence that is not met by this1 the knowing of ,god8 ,there is no other correspondence which could satisfy one at least of the conditions4 ,not one could be named which would not bear on the face of it the mark and pledge of its mortality4 ,but this1 to know ,god1 stands alone4 ,to know ,god1 to be linked with ,god1 to be linked with ,eternity-- if this is not the eternal existence of biology1 what can more nearly approach it8 ,and yet we are still a great way off--to establish a communication with the ,eternal is not to secure ,eternal ,life4 ,it must be assumed that the communication could be sustained4 ,and to assume this would be to beg the question4 ,so that we have still to prove ,eternal ,life4 ,but let it be again repeated1 we are not here seeking proofs4 ,we are seeking light4 ,we are merely reconnoitering from the furthest promontory of ,science if so be that through the haze we may discern the outline of a distant coast and come to some conclusion as to the possibility of landing4 ,but1 it may be replied1 it is not open to any one handling the question of ,immortality from the side of ,science to remain neutral as to the question of fact4 ,it is not enough to announce that he has no addition to make to the positive argument4 ,this may be permitted with reference to other points of contact between ,science and ,religion1 but not with this4 ,we are told this question is settled--that there is no positive side4 ,science meets the entire conception of ,immortality with a direct negative4 ,in the face of a powerful consensus against even the possibility of a ,future ,life1 to content oneself with saying that ,science pretended to no argument in favor of it would be at once impertinent and dishonest4 ,we must therefore devote ourselves for a moment to the question of possibility4 ,the problem is1 with a material body and a mental organization inseparably connected with it1 to bridge the grave4 ,emotion1 volition1 thought itself1 are functions of the brain4 ,when the brain is impaired1 they are impaired4 ,when the brain is not1 they are not4 ,everything ceases with the dissolution of the material fabric2 muscular activity and mental activity perish alike4 ,with the pronounced positive statements on this point from many departments of modern ,science we are all familiar4 ,the fatal verdict is recorded by a hundred hands and with scarcely a shadow of qualification4 ,unprejudiced philosophy is compelled to reject the idea of an individual immortality and of a personal continuance after death4 ,with the decay and dissolution of its material substratum1 through which alone it has acquired a conscious existence and become a person1 and upon which it was dependent1 the spirit must cease to exist4 l ,to the same effect1 ,vogt3 ,physiology decides definitely and categorically against individual immortality1 as against any special existence of the soul4 ,the soul does not enter the foetus like the evil spirit into persons possessed1 but is a product of the development of the brain1 just as muscular activity is a product of muscular development1 and secretion a product of glandular development4 ,after a careful review of the position of recent ,science with regard to the whole doctrine1 ,mr4 ,graham sums up thus3 ,such is the argument of ,science1 seemingly decisive against a future ,life4 ,as we listen to her array of syllogisms1 our hearts die within us4 ,the hopes of men1 placed in one scale to be weighed1 seem to fly up against the massive weight of her evidence1 placed in the other4 ,it seems as if all our arguments were vain and unsubstantial1 as if our future expectations were the foolish dreams of children1 as if there could not be any other possible verdict arrived at upon the evidence brought forward4 #b #a ,bchner3 ,force and ,matter1 #c;d ed41 p4 #bcb4 #b ,the ,creed of ,science1 p4 #afi4 ,can we go on in the teeth of so real an obstruction8 ,has not our own weapon turned against us1 ,science abolishing with authoritative hand the very truth we are asking it to define8 ,what the philosopher has to throw into the other scale can be easily indicated4 ,generally speaking1 he demurs to the dogmatism of the conclusion4 ,that mind and brain react1 that the mental and the physiological processes are related1 and very intimately related1 is beyond controversy4 ,but how they are related1 he submits1 is still altogether unknown4 ,the correlation of mind and brain do not involve their identity4 ,and not a few authorities accordingly have consistently hesitated to draw any conclusion at all4 ,even ,bchner's statement turns out1 on close examination1 to be tentative in the extreme4 ,in prefacing his chapter on ,personal ,continuance1 after a single sentence on the dependence of the soul and its manifestations upon a material substratum1 he remarks1 ,though we are unable to form a definite idea as to the how of this connection1 we are still by these facts justified in asserting1 that the mode of this connection renders it apparently impossible that they should continue to exist separately4 #a ,there is1 therefore1 a flaw at this point in the argument for materialism4 ,it may not help the spiritualist in the least degree positively4 ,he may be as far as ever from a theory of how consciousness could continue without the material tissue4 ,but his contention secures for him the right of speculation4 ,the path beyond may lie in hopeless gloom2 but it is not barred4 ,he may bring forward his theory if he will4 ,and this is something4 ,for a permission to go on is often the most that ,science can grant to ,religion4 #a ,force and ,matter1 p4 #bca4 ,men have taken advantage of this loophole in various ways4 ,and though it cannot be said that these speculations offer us more than a probability1 this is still enough to combine with the deep-seated expectation in the bosom of mankind and give fresh lustre to the hope of a future life4 ,whether we find relief in the theory of a simple dualism2 whether with ,ulrici we further define the soul as an invisible enswathement of the body1 material yet non-atomic2 whether1 with the ,unseen ,universe1 we are helped by the spectacle of known forms of matter shading off into an evergrowing subtilty1 mobility1 and immateriality2 or whether1 with ,wundt1 we regard the soul as the ordered unity of many elements1 it is certain that shapes can be given to the conception of a correspondence which shall bridge the grave such as to satisfy minds too much accustomed to weigh evidence to put themselves off with fancies4 ,but whether the possibilities of physiology or the theories of philosophy do or do not substantially assist us in realizing ,immortality1 is to ,religion1 to ,religion at least regarded from the present point of view1 of inferior moment4 ,the fact of ,immortality rests for us on a different basis4 ,probably1 indeed1 after all the ,christian philosopher never engaged himself in a more superfluous task than in seeking along physiological lines to find room for a soul4 ,the theory of ,christianity has only to be fairly stated to make manifest its thorough independence of all the usual speculations on immortality4 ,the theory is not that thought1 volition1 or emotion1 as such are to survive the grave4 ,the difficulty of holding a doctrine is this form1 in spite of what has been advanced to the contrary1 in spite of the hopes and wishes of mankind1 in spite of all the scientific and philosophical attempts to make it tenable1 is still profound4 ,no secular theory of personal continuance1 as even ,butler acknowledged1 does not equally demand the eternity of the brute4 ,no secular theory defines the point in the chain of ,evolution at which organisms become endowed with ,immortality4 ,no secular theory explains the condition of the endowment1 nor indicates its goal4 ,and if we have nothing more to fan hope than the unexplored mystery of the whole region1 or the unknown remainders among the potencies of ,life1 then1 as those who have hope only in this world1 we are of all men the most miserable4 ,when we turn1 on the other hand1 to the doctrine as it came from the lips of ,christ1 we find ourselves in an entirely different region4 ,he makes no attempt to project the material into the immaterial4 ,the old elements1 however refined and subtle as to their matter1 are not in themselves to inherit the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,that which is flesh is flesh4 ,instead of attaching ,immortality to the natural organism1 ,he introduces a new and original factor which none of the secular1 and few even of the theological theories1 seem to take sufficiently into account4 ,to ,christanity1 he that hath the ,son of ,god hath ,life1 and he that hath not the ,son hath not ,life4 ,this1 as we take it1 defines the correspondence which is to bridge the grave4 ,this is the clue to the nature of the ,life that lies at the back of the spiritual organism4 ,and this is the true solution of the mystery of ,eternal ,life4 ,there lies a something at the back of the correspondences of the spiritual organism--just as there lies a something at the back of the natural correspondence4 ,to say that ,life is a correspondence is only to express the partial truth4 ,there is something behind4 ,life manifests itself in correspondences4 ,but what determines them8 ,the organism exhibits a variety of correspondences4 ,what organizes them8 ,as in the natural1 so in the spiritual1 there is a ,principle of ,life4 ,we cannot get rid of that term4 ,however clumsy1 however provisional1 however much a mere cloak for ignorance1 ,science as yet is unable to dispense with the idea of a ,principle of ,life4 ,we must work with the word till we get a better4 ,now that which determines the correspondence of the spiritual organism is a ,principle of ,spiritual ,life4 ,it is a new and ,divine ,possession4 ,he that hath the ,son hath ,life2 conversely1 he that hath ,life hath the ,son4 ,and this indicates at once the quality and the quantity of the correspondence which is to bridge the grave4 ,he that hath ,life hath the ,son4 ,he possesses the ,spirit of the ,son4 ,that ,spirit is1 so to speak1 organized within him by the ,son4 ,it is the manifestation of the new nature--of which more anon4 ,the fact to note at present is that this is not an organic correspondence1 but a spiritual correspondence4 ,it comes not from generation1 but from regeneration4 ,the relation between the spiritual man and his ,environment is1 in theological language1 a filial relation4 ,with the new ,spirit1 the filial correspondence1 he knows the ,father and this is ,life ,eternal4 ,this is not only the real relation1 but the only possible relation3 ,neither knoweth any man the ,father save the ,son1 and he to whomsoever the ,son will reveal ,him4 ,and this on purely natural grounds4 ,it takes the ,divine to know the ,divine--but in no more mysterious sense than it takes the human to understand the human4 ,the analogy1 indeed1 for the whole field here has been finely expressed already by ,paul3 ,what man1 he asks1 knoweth the things of a man1 save the spirit of man which is in him8 even so the things of ,god knoweth no man1 but the ,spirit of ,god4 ,now we have received1 not the spirit of the world1 but the ,spirit which is of ,god2 that we might know the things that are freely given to us of ,god4 #a #a #a ,cor4 ii4 #aa1 #ab4 ,it were idle1 such being the quality of the new relation1 to add that this also contains the guarantee of its eternity4 ,here at last is a correspondence which will never cease4 ,its powers in bridging the grave have been tried4 ,the correspondence of the spiritual man possesses the supernatural virtues of the ,resurrection and the ,life4 ,it is known by former experiment to have survived the changes in the physical state of the environment1 and those mechanical actions and variations of available food1 which ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer tells us are liable to stop the processes going on in the organism4 ,in short1 this is a correspondence which at once satisfies the demands of ,science and ,religion4 ,in mere quantity it is different from every other correspondence known4 ,setting aside everything else in ,religion1 everything adventitious1 local1 and provisional2 dissecting into the bone and marrow we find this--a correspondence which can never break with an ,environment which can never change4 ,here is a relation established with ,eternity4 ,the passing years lay no limiting hand on it4 ,corruption injures it not4 ,it survives ,death4 ,it1 and it only1 will stretch beyond the grave and be found inviolate-- ,when the moon is old1 ,and the stars are cold1 ,and the books of the ,judgment-day unfold4 ,the misgiving which will creep sometimes over the brightest faith has already received its expression and its rebuke3 ,who shall separate us from the love of ,christ8 ,shall tribulation1 or distress1 or persecution1 or famine1 or nakedness1 or peril1 or sword8 ,shall these changes in the physical state of the environment which threaten death to the natural man destroy the spiritual8 ,shall death1 or life1 or angels1 or principalities1 or powers1 arrest or tamper with his eternal correspondences8 ,nay1 in all these things we are more than conquerors through ,him that loved us4 ,for ,i am persuaded that neither death1 nor life1 nor angels1 nor principalities1 nor powers1 nor things present1 nor things to come1 nor height1 nor depth1 nor any other creature1 shall be able to separate us from the love of ,god1 which is in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4 #a #a ,rom4 viii4 #ce-ci4 ,it may seem an objection to some that the perfect correspondence should come to man in so extraordinary a way4 ,the earlier stages in the doctrine are promising enough 2 they are entirely in line with ,nature4 ,and if ,nature had also furnished the perfect correspondence demanded for an ,eternal ,life the position might be unassailable4 ,but this sudden reference to a something outside the natural ,environment destroys the continuity1 and discovers a permanent weakness in the whole theory8 ,to which there is a twofold reply4 ,in the first place1 to go outside what we call ,nature is not to go outside ,environment4 ,nature1 the natural ,environment1 is only a part of ,environment4 ,there is another large part which1 though some profess to have no correspondence with it1 is not on that account unreal1 or even unnatural4 ,the mental and moral world is unknown to the plant4 ,but it is real4 ,it cannot be affirmed either that it is unnatural to the plant2 although it might be said that from the point of view of the ,vegetable ,kingdom it was supernatural4 ,things are natural or supernatural simply according to where one stands4 ,man is supernatural to the mineral2 ,god is supernatural to the man4 ,when a mineral is seized upon by the living plant and elevated to the organic kingdom1 no tresspass against ,nature is committed4 ,it merely enters a larger ,environment1 which before was supernatural to it1 but which now is entirely natural4 ,when the heart of a man1 again1 is seized upon by the quickening ,spirit of ,god1 no further violence is done to natural law4 ,it is another case of the inorganic1 so to speak1 passing into the organic4 ,but1 in the second place1 it is complained as if it were an enormity in itself that the spiritual correspondence should be furnished from the spiritual world4 ,and to this the answer lies in the same direction4 ,correspondence in any case is the gift of ,environment4 ,the natural ,environment gives men their natural faculties2 the spiritual affords them their spiritual faculties4 ,it is natural for the spiritual ,environment to supply the spiritual faculties2 it would be quite unnatural for the natural ,environment to do it4 ,the natural law of ,biogenesis forbids it2 the moral fact that the finite cannot comprehend the ,infinite is against it2 the spiritual principle that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of ,god renders it absurd4 ,not1 however1 that the spiritual faculties are1 as it were1 manufactured in the spiritual world and supplied ready-made to the spiritual organism--forced upon it as an external equipment4 ,this certainly is not involved in saying that the spiritual faculties are furnished by the spiritual world4 ,organisms are not added to by accretion1 as in the case of minerals1 but by growth4 ,and the spiritual faculties are organized in the spiritual protoplasm of the soul1 just as other faculties are organized in the protoplasm of the body4 ,the plant is made of materials which have once been inorganic4 ,an organizing principle not belonging to their kingdom lays hold of them and elaborates them until they have correspondences with the kingdom to which the organizing principle belonged4 ,their original organizing principle1 if it can be called by this name1 was ,crystallization2 so that we have now a distinctly foreign power organizing in totally new and higher directions4 ,in the spiritual world1 similarly1 we find an organizing principle at work among the materials of the organic kingdom1 per forming a further miracle1 but not a different kind of miracle1 producing organizations of a novel kind1 but not by a novel method4 ,the second process1 in fact1 is simply what an enlightened evolutionist would have expected from the first4 ,it marks the natural and legitimate progress of the development4 ,and this in the line of the true ,evolution--not the linear ,evolution1 which would look for the development of the natural man through powers already inherent1 as if one were to look to ,crystallization to accomplish the development of the mineral into the plant1--but that larger form of ,evolution which includes among its factors the double ,law of ,biogenesis and the immense further truth that this involves4 ,what is further included in this complex correspondence we shall have opportunity to illustrate afterwards4 #a ,meantime let it be noted on what the ,christian argument for ,immortality really rests4 ,it stands upon the pedestal on which the theologian rests the whole of historical ,christianity--the ,resurrection of ,jesus ,christ4 #a ,vide ,conformity to ,type1 page #bhg4 ,it ought to be placed in the forefront of all ,christian teaching that ,christ's mission on earth was to give men ,life4 ,i am come1 ,he said1 that ye might have ,life1 and that ye might have it more abundantly4 ,and that ,he meant literal ,life1 literal spiritual and ,eternal ,life1 is clear from the whole course of ,his teaching and acting4 ,to impose a metaphorical meaning on the commonest word of the ,new ,testament is to violate every canon of interpretation1 and at the same time to charge the greatest of teachers with persistently mystifying ,his hearers by an unusual use of so exact a vehicle for expressing definite thought as the ,greek language1 and that on the most momentous subject of which ,he ever spoke to men4 ,it is a canon of interpretation1 according to ,alford1 that a figurative sense of words is never admissible except when required by the context4 ,the context1 in most cases1 is not only directly unfavorable to a figurative meaning1 but in innumerable instances in ,christ's teaching ,life is broadly contrasted with ,death4 ,in the teaching of the apostles1 again1 we find that1 without exception1 they accepted the term in its simple literal sense4 ,reuss defines the apostolic belief with his usual impartiality when--and the quotation is doubly pertinent here--he discovers in the apostle's conception of ,life1 first1 the idea of a real existence1 an existence such as is proper to ,god and to the ,word2 an imperishable existence--that is to say1 not subject to the vicissitudes and imperfections of the finite world4 ,this primary idea is repeatedly expressed1 at least in a negative form2 it leads to a doctrine of immortality1 or1 to speak more correctly1 of life1 far surpassing any that had been expressed in the formulas of the current philosophy or theology1 and resting upon premises and conceptions altogether different4 ,in fact1 it can dispense both with the philosophical thesis of the immateriality or indestructibility of the human soul1 and with the theologicial thesis of a miraculous corporeal reconstruction of our person2 theses1 the first of which is altogether foreign to the religion of the ,bible1 and the second absolutely opposed to reason4 ,second1 the idea of life1 as it is conceived in this system1 implies the idea of a power1 an operation1 a communication1 since this life no longer remains1 so to speak1 latent or passive in ,god and in the ,word1 but through them reaches the believer4 ,it is not a mental somnolent thing2 it is not a plant without fruit2 it is a germ which is to find fullest development4 #a #a ,history of ,christian ,theology in the ,apostolic ,age1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dif4 ,if we are asked to define more clearly what is meant by this mysterious endowment of ,life1 we again hand over the difficulty to ,science4 ,when ,science can define the ,natural ,life and the ,physical ,force we may hope for further clearness on the nature and action of the ,spiritual ,powers4 ,the effort to detect the living ,spirit must be at least as idle as the attempt to subject protoplasm to microscopic examination in the hope of discovering ,life4 ,we are warned1 also1 not to expect too much4 ,thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth4 ,this being its quality1 when the ,spiritual ,life is discovered in the laboratory it will possibly be time to give it up altogether4 ,it may say1 as ,socrates of his soul1 ,you may bury me--if you can catch me4 ,science never corroborates a spiritual truth without illuminating it4 ,the threshold of ,eternity is a place where many shadows meet4 ,and the light of ,science here1 where everything is so dark1 is welcome a thousand times4 ,many men would be religious if they knew where to begin2 many would be more religious if they were sure where it would end4 ,it is not indifference that keeps some men from ,god1 but ignorance4 ,good ,master1 what must ,i do to inherit ,eternal ,life8 is still the deepest question of the age4 ,what is ,religion8 ,what am ,i to believe8 ,what seek with all my heart and soul and mind8--this is the imperious question sent up to consciousness from the depths of being in all earnest hours2 sent down again1 alas1 with many of us1 time after time1 unanswered4 ,into all our thought and work and reading this question pursues us4 ,but the theories are rejected one by one2 the great books are returned sadly to their shelves1 the years pass1 and the problem remains unsolved4 ,the confusion of tongues here is terrible4 ,every day a new authority announces himself4 ,poets1 philosophers1 preachers1 try their hand on us in turn4 ,new prophets arise1 and beseech us for our soul's sake to give ear to them--at last in an hour of inspiration they have discovered the final truth4 ,yet the doctrine of yesterday is challenged by a fresh philosophy to-day2 and the creed of to-day will fall in turn before the criticism of to-morrow4 ,increase of knowledge increaseth sorrow4 ,and at length the conflicting truths1 like the beams of light in the laboratory experiment1 combine in the mind to make total darkness4 ,but here are two outstanding authorities agreed--not men1 not philosophers1 not creeds4 ,here is the voice of ,god and the voice of ,nature4 ,i cannot be wrong if ,i listen to them4 ,sometimes when uncertain of a voice from its very loudness1 we catch the missing syllable in the echo4 ,in ,god and ,nature we have ,voice and ,echo4 ,when ,i hear both1 ,i am assured4 ,my sense of hearing does not betray me twice4 ,i recognize the ,voice in the ,echo1 the ,echo makes me certain of the ,voice2 ,i listen and ,i know4 ,the question of a ,future ,life is a biological question4 ,nature may be silent on other problems of ,religion2 but here she has a right to speak4 ,the whole confusion around the doctrine of ,eternal ,life has arisen from making it a question of ,philosophy4 ,we shall do ill to refuse a hearing to any speculation of ,philosophy2 the ethical relations here especially are intimate and real4 ,but in the first instance ,eternal ,life1 as a question of ,life1 is a problem for ,biology4 ,the soul is a living organism4 ,and for any question as to the soul's ,life we must appeal to ,life-science4 ,and what does the ,life-science teach8 ,that if ,i am to inherit ,eternal ,life1 ,i must cultivate a correspondence with the ,eternal4 ,this is a simple proposition1 for ,nature is always simple4 ,i take this proposition1 and1 leaving ,nature1 proceed to fill it in4 ,i search everywhere for a clue to the ,eternal4 ,i ransack literature for a definition of a correspondence between man and ,god4 ,obviously that can only come from one source4 ,and the analogies of ,science permit us to apply to it4 ,all knowledge lies in ,environment4 ,when ,i want to know about minerals ,i go to minerals4 ,when ,i want to know about flowers ,i go to flowers4 ,and they tell me4 ,in their own way they speak to me1 each in its own way1 and each for itself--not the mineral for the flower1 which is impossible1 nor the flower for the mineral1 which is also impossible4 ,so if ,i want to know about ,man1 ,i go to his part of the ,environment4 ,and he tells me about himself1 not as the plant or the mineral1 for he is neither1 but in his own way4 ,and if ,i want to know about ,god1 ,i go to ,his part of the ,environment4 ,and he tells me about ,himself1 not as a ,man1 for ,he is not ,man1 but in ,his own way4 ,and just as naturally as the flower and the mineral and the ,man1 each in their own way1 tell me about themselves1 ,he tells me about ,himself4 ,he very strangely condescends indeed in making things plain to me1 actually assuming for a time the ,form of a ,man that ,i at my poor level may better see ,him4 ,this is my opportunity to know ,him4 ,this incarnation is ,god making ,himself accessible to human thought--,god opening to man the possibility of correspondence through ,jesus ,christ4 ,and this correspondence and this ,environment are those ,i seek4 ,he ,himself assures me1 ,this is ,life ,eternal1 that they might know ,thee1 the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ whom ,thou has sent4 ,do ,i not now discern the deeper meaning in ,jesus ,christ whom ,thou has sent8 ,do ,i not better understand with what vision and rapture the profoundest of the disciples exclaims1 ,the ,son of ,god is come1 and hath given us an understanding that we might know ,him that is ,true8 #a #a #a ,john v4 #bj4 ,having opened correspondence with the ,eternal ,environment1 the subsequent stages are in the line of all other normal development4 ,we have but to continue1 to deepen1 to extend1 and to enrich the correspondence that has been begun4 ,and we shall soon find to our surprise that this is accompanied by another and parallel process4 ,the action is not all upon our side4 ,the ,environment also will be found to correspond4 ,the influence of ,environment is one of the greatest and most substantial of modern biological doctrines4 ,of the power of ,environment to form or transform organisms1 of its ability to develop or suppress function1 of its potency in determining growth1 and generally of its immense influence in ,evolution1 there is no need now to speak4 ,but ,environment is now acknowledged to be one of the most potent factors in the ,evolution of ,life4 ,the influence of ,environment1 too1 seems to increase rather than diminish as we approach the higher forms of being4 ,the highest forms are the most mobile2 their capacity of change is the greatest2 they are1 in short1 most easily acted on by ,environment4 ,and not only are the highest organisms the most mobile1 but the highest parts of the highest organisms are more mobile than the lower4 ,environment can do little1 comparatively1 in the direction of inducing variation in the body of a child2 but how plastic is its mind6 ,how infinitely sensitive is its soul6 ,how infallibly can it be tuned to music or to dissonance by the moral harmony or discord of its outward lot6 ,how decisively indeed are we not all formed and moulded1 made or unmade1 by external circumstance6 ,might we not all confess with ,ulysses1-- ,i am a part of all that ,i have met8 ,much more1 then1 shall we look for the influence of ,environment on the spiritual nature of him who has opened correspondence with ,god4 ,reaching out his eager and quickened faculties to the spiritual world around him1 shall he not become spiritual8 ,in vital contact with ,holiness1 shall he not become holy8 ,breathing now an atmosphere of ineffable ,purity1 shall he miss becoming pure8 ,walking with ,god from day to day1 shall he fail to be taught of ,god8 ,growth in grace is sometimes described as a strange1 mystical1 and unintelligible process4 ,it is mystical1 but neither strange nor unintelligible4 ,it proceeds according to ,natural ,law1 and the leading factor in sanctification is ,influence of ,environment4 ,the possibility of it depends upon the mobility of the organism2 the result1 on the extent and frequency of certain correspondences4 ,these facts insensibly lead on to further suggestion4 ,is it not possible that these biological truths may carry with them the clue to a still profounder philosophy--even that of ,regeneration8 ,evolutionists tell us that by the influence of environment certain aquatic animals have become adapted to a terrestrial mode of life4 ,breathing normally by gills1 as the result and reward of a continued effort carried on from generation to generation to inspire the air of heaven direct1 they have slowly acquired the lung-function4 ,in the young organism1 true to the ancestral type1 the gill still persists--as in the tadpole of the common frog4 ,but as maturity approaches1 the true lung appears2 the gill gradually transfers its task to the higher organ4 ,it then becomes atrophied and disappears1 and finally respiration in the adult is conducted by lungs alone4 #a ,we may be far1 in the meantime1 from saying that this is proved4 ,it is for those who accept it to deny the justice of the spiritual analogy4 ,is religion to them unscientific in its doctrine of ,regeneration8 ,will the evolutionist who admits the regeneration of the frog under the modifying influence of a continued correspondence with a new environment1 care to question the possibility of the soul acquiring such a faculty as that of ,prayer1 the marvellous breathing-function of the new creature1 when in contact with the atmosphere of a besetting ,god8 ,is the change from the earthly to the heavenly more mysterious than the change from the aquatic to the terrestrial mode of life8 ,is ,evolution to stop with the organic8 ,if it be objected that it has taken ages to perfect the function in the batrachian1 the reply is1 that it will take ages to perfect the function in the ,christian4 ,for every thousand years the natural evolution will allow for the development of its organism1 the ,higher ,biology will grant its product millions4 ,we have indeed spoken of the spiritual correspondence as already perfect--but it is perfect only as the bud is perfect4 ,it doth not yet appear what it shall be1 any more than it appeared a million years ago what the evolving batrachian would be4 #a ,vide also the remarkable experiments of ,frulein v4 ,chauvin on the ,transformation of the ,mexican ,axoloti into ,amblystoma4--,weismann's ,studies in the ,theory of ,descent1 vol4 ii4 pt4 iii4 ,but to return4 ,we have been dealing with the scientific aspects of communion with ,god4 ,insensibly1 from quantity we have been led to speak of quality4 ,and enough has now been advanced to indicate generally the nature of that correspondence with which is necessarily associated ,eternal ,life4 ,there remain but one or two details to which we must lastly1 and very briefly1 address ourselves4 ,the quality of everlastingness belongs1 as we have seen1 to a single correspondence1 or rather to a single set of correspondences4 ,but it is apparent that before this correspondence can take full and final effect a further process is necessary4 ,by some means it must be separated from all the other correspondences of the organism which do not share its peculiar quality4 ,in this life it is restrained by these other correspondences4 ,they may contribute to it1 or hinder it2 but they are essentially of a different order4 ,they belong not to ,eternity but to ,time1 and to this present world2 and1 unless some provision is made for dealing with them1 they will detain the aspiring organism in this present world till ,time is ended4 ,of course1 in a sense1 all that belongs to ,time belongs also to ,eternity2 but these lower correspondences are in their nature unfitted for an ,eternal ,life4 ,even if they were perfect in their relation to their ,environment1 they would still not be ,eternal4 ,however opposed1 apparently1 to the scientific definition of ,eternal ,life1 it is yet true that perfect correspondence with ,environment is not ,eternal ,life4 ,a very important word in the complete definition is1 in this sentence1 omitted4 ,on that word it has not been necessary hitherto1 and for obvious reasons1 to place any emphasis1 but when we come to deal with false pretenders to ,immortality we must return to it4 ,were the definition complete as it stands1 it might1 with the permission of the psycho-physiologist1 guarantee the ,immortality of every living thing4 ,in the dog1 for instance1 the material framework giving way at death might leave the released canine spirit still free to inhabit the old ,environment4 ,and so with every creature which had ever established a conscious relation with surrounding things4 ,now the difficulty in framing a theory of ,eternal ,life has been to construct one which will exclude the brute creation1 drawing the line rigidly at man1 or at least somewhere within the human race4 ,not that we need object to the ,immortality of the dog1 or of the whole inferior creation4 ,nor that we need refuse a place to any intelligible speculation which would people the earth to-day with the invisible forms of all things that have ever lived4 ,only we still insist that this is not ,eternal ,life4 ,and why8 ,because their ,environment is not ,eternal4 ,their correspondence1 however firmly established1 is established with that which shall pass away4 ,an ,eternal ,life demands an ,eternal ,environment4 ,the demand for a perfect ,environment as well as for a perfect correspondence is less clear in ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer's definition than it might be4 ,but it is an essential factor4 ,an organism might remain true to its ,environment1 but what if the ,environment played it false8 ,if the organism possessed the power to change1 it could adapt itself to successive changes in the ,environment4 ,and if this were guaranteed we should also have the conditions for ,eternal ,life fulfilled4 ,but what if the ,environment passed away altogether8 ,what if the earth swept suddenly into the sun8 ,this is a change of ,environment against which there could be no precaution and for which there could be as little provision4 ,with a changing ,environment even1 there must always remain the dread and possibility of a falling out of correspondence4 ,at the best1 ,life would be uncertain4 ,but with a changeless ,environment--such as that possessed by the spiritual organism--the perpetuity of the correspondence1 so far as the external relation is concerned1 is guaranteed4 ,this quality of permanence in the ,environment distinguishes the religious relation from every other4 ,why should not the musician's life be an ,eternal ,life8 ,because1 for one thing1 the musical world1 the ,environment with which he corresponds1 is not eternal4 ,even if his correspondence in itself could last eternally1 the environing material things with which he corresponds must pass away4 ,his soul might last forever--but not his violin4 ,so the man of the world might last forever--but not the world4 ,his ,environment is not eternal2 nor are even his correspondences--the world passeth away and the lust thereof4 ,we find1 then1 that man1 or the spiritual man1 is equipped with two sets of correspondences4 ,one set possesses the quality of everlastingness1 the other is temporal4 ,but unless these are separated by some means the temporal will continue to impair and hinder the eternal4 ,the final preparation1 therefore1 for the inheriting of ,eternal ,life must consist in the abandonment of the non-eternal elements4 ,these must be unloosed and dissociated from the higher elements4 ,and this is effected by a closing catastrophe--,death4 ,death ensues because certain relations in the organism are not adjusted to certain relations in the ,environment4 ,there will come a time in each history when the imperfect correspondences of the organism will betray themselves by a failure to compass some necessary adjustment4 ,this is why ,death is associated with ,imperfection4 ,death is the necessary result of ,imperfection1 and the necessary end of it4 ,imperfect correspondence gives imperfect and uncertain ,life4 ,perfect correspondence1 on the other hand1 according to ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 would be perfect ,life4 ,to abolish ,death1 therefore1 all that would be necessary would be to abolish ,imperfection4 ,but it is the claim of ,christianity that it can abolish ,death4 ,and it is significant to notice that it does so by meeting this very demand of ,science--it abolishes ,imperfection4 ,the part of the organism which begins to get out of correspondence with the ,organic ,environment is the only part which is in vital correspondence with it4 ,though a fatal disadvantage to the natural man to be thrown out of correspondence with this ,environment1 it is of inestimable importance to the spiritual man4 ,for so long as it is maintained the way is barred for a further ,evolution4 ,and hence the condition necessary for the further ,evolution is that the spiritual be released from the natural4 ,that is to say1 the condition of the further ,evolution is ,death4 ,mora janua ,vit1 therefore1 becomes a scientific formula4 ,death1 being the final sifting of all the correspondences1 is the indispensable factor of the higher ,life4 ,in the language of ,science1 not less than of ,scripture1 ,to die is gain4 ,the sifting of the correspondences is done by ,nature4 ,this is its last and greatest contribution to mankind4 ,over the mouth of the grave the perfect and the imperfect submit to their final separation4 ,each goes to its own--earth to earth1 ashes to ashes1 dust to dust1 ,spirit to ,spirit4 ,the dust shall return to the earth as it was2 and the ,spirit shall return unto ,god who gave it ,altemus' ,illustrated ,holly-,tree ,series --- ,,altemus' ,,illustrated ,,holly-,,tree ,,series --- ,a series of good1 clean books for young people1 by authors whose fame for delightful stories is world-wide4 ,they are well printed on fine paper1 handsomely illustrated1 have colored frontispieces1 and are bound in cloth decorated in gold and colors4 #ej cents4 44 #a ,,the ,,holly-,,tree4 ,by ,charles ,dickens4 44 #b ,,then ,,marched ,,the ,,brave4 ,by ,harriet ,t4 ,comstock4 44 #c ,a ,,modern ,,cinderella4 ,by ,louisa ,m4 ,alcott4 44 #d ,,the ,,little ,,missionary4 ,by ,amanda ,m4 ,douglas4 44 #e ,,the ,,rule ,,of ,,three4 ,by ,susan ,coolidge4 44 #f ,,chuggins4 ,by ,h4 ,irving ,hancock4 44 #g ,,when ,,the ,,british ,,came4 ,by ,harriet ,t4 ,comstock4 44 #h ,,little ,,foxes4 ,by ,rose ,terry ,cooke4 44 #i ,,an ,,unrecorded ,,miracle4 ,by ,florence ,morse ,kingsley4 44 #aj ,,the ,,story ,,without ,,an ,,end4 ,by ,sarah ,austin4 44 #aa ,,clover',s ,,princess4 ,by ,amanda ,m4 ,douglas4 44 #ab ,,the ,,sweet ,,story ,,of ,,old4 ,by ,l4 ,haskeli4 ,altemus' ,illustrated ,one-,syllable ,series --- ,,altemus' ,,illustrated ,,one-,,syllable ,,series ,,for ,,young ,,readers --- ,embracing popular works arranged for the young folks in words of one syllable4 ,printed from extra-large1 clear type on fine paper1 and fully illustrated by the best artists4 ,the handsomest line of books for young children before the public4 ,handsomely bound in cloth and gold1 with illuminated sides1 #ej cents4 44 #a sop's ,,fables4 #fb illustrations4 44 #b ,a ,,child',s ,,life ,,of ,,christ4 #di illustrations4 44 #d ,,the ,,adventures ,,of ,,robinson ,,crusoe4 #gj illustrations4 44 #e ,,bunyan',s ,,pilgrim',s ,,progress4 #df illustrations4 44 #f ,,swiss ,,family ,,robinson4 #ej illustrations4 44 #g ,,gulliver',s ,,travels4 #ej illustrations4 44 #i ,a ,,child',s ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,testament4 #cc illustrations4 44 #aj ,a ,,child',s ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament4 #dj illustrations4 44 #aa ,,bible ,,stories ,,for ,,little ,,children4 #da illustrations4 44 #ab ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,jesus4 #dj illustrations ,transcriber's note3 misspellings have been left as they are in the source material4