Read Ebook: The Seekers by Sampter Jessie E Jessie Ethel Royce Josiah Author Of Introduction Etc

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Ebook has 1890 lines and 77363 words, and 38 pages

All agreed to this except Henry. He said that he thought people were as religious as ever.

"I think," said Florence to Henry, "that you are confusing religion and creed. People belong to churches and temples, and think they are religious, but they don't know what they believe."

I saw Henry was not convinced, so I said to him: "I think perhaps we do not mean the same thing by religion, therefore we might as well go on, and speak of it later, when we do understand.

"Now, I believe there is a definite historic reason for our religious lack, and I will tell it to you."

Then I reviewed briefly the history of ancient religions, Brahmanism, the Egyptian creed, the Greek and the early Catholic religions, to show that all these for various reasons--but chiefly because of the ignorance of the populace--had been, as it were, double religions. There was an initiated religion of the priests, who did indeed see truth, who were monotheists of the universal vision, and were filled with the sense of unity in all things. Besides this was the religion of myths, the popular religion. The people took literally the poetical tales told by the prophets; and these prophets, or priests, even went so far as to deceive the people purposely, for what they considered the people's good.

"I don't see how the priests could have known the truth," Ruth said, "if they meant to deceive the populace. Those who knew the truth would not wish to deceive."

"You are right," I answered; "they had not the whole truth, but in so far as they saw, they saw truly."

Ruth seemed to doubt this historic account. I quietly proved to her and the others that it was true. I read them a passage from Plato's "Republic," in which he recommends telling the people a myth because belief in it would put them in the proper frame of mind.

I went on to explain how the democratic spirit began to destroy the religion of the initiated. The aristocracy of religion was as much resented as the aristocracy of government.

The result was that every one believed the popular, mythical religion; and that is what most of our churches have lived upon since then. All the superstitions of creeds, the absurd stories that are believed literally by some people even to-day, are the poetic symbols of prophets and teachers, accepted as narratives of fact.

Next came the scientific spirit, and said: "The world is more than six thousand years old; it was not created in a week; the whale could not have swallowed Jonah, and given him up again." Now people cried out: "Religion is not true. We will believe nothing but science."

When I spoke of the difference between mythical and true religion, I found the children already understood this, that they realized Moses' true meaning when he spoke of the burning bush; that they knew Jesus, when he spoke of himself as the son of God, meant to express the divinity of man. I said the true religion spoke in poetry, and the popular made its figures of speech into gods.

"For instance," I said, "from where comes the line, 'The rosy fingers of the dawn'?"

"From Homer," answered Marian, "from the Odyssey."

"Well," I went on, "a person reading that might say, 'Just think, the dawn has fingers; then it must have a hand.'"

"Then," said Virginia, "he would add, 'So the dawn is a woman.'"

I said one might worship an image of a god, but if he kept his mind upon the vast divine unity he would not be an idol worshiper.

"But," objected Henry, "if he did it long enough, he would become an idol worshiper."

"He might," I said, "but he need not."

Now we came to the question of science. What has religion to do with science?

Alfred said science led in the same direction, was looking for the same thing.

Henry said science was supposed to be in opposition to religion, because it destroyed her creeds.

That, I answered him, seemed to me a good thing.

Virginia said she thought religion and science were almost the same. She meant that her scientific knowledge of the universe led her to her religious convictions.

Florence said she thought science and religion were altogether separate, had nothing to do with each other.

Marian said she did not see how science could help us to religious knowledge. But it turns out that she has read no science at all, save what she was taught in school.

Ruth said that science was the enemy of religion, that two things seeking in a different way could not possibly both reach the truth; that science might tell us of material facts, but could not possibly give us the divine truth.

I asked: "Are you sure material truth is not divine truth?"

Then I said that I myself thought science was the servant of religion, that it was valuable only in so far as it helped us to a knowledge of life--divine and whole-- and that I did think it helped us so. It gave us a sense of unity, of our relation with the whole world, because we knew that the same law moved us and the stars.

"Now," I went on, "Marian mentioned the other day that she had heard people say they were too educated to need religion. They meant they knew too much science. Can science replace religion?"

They all said no.

They saw at once that behind every science was the mystery, the unexplained, and that every scientist must begin with a philosophy.

I said: "I have heard people say that science disproves immortality."

Virginia answered: "It does not disprove immortality. It proves, indeed, that nothing ever is destroyed."

"Do you think," I asked, "that there is such a thing as absolute religious knowledge?"

"Yes," they said.

"Do you think we can get it? That it is a certain knowledge?"

They answered "Yes."

"But," said Ruth, "you would want it proved."

"I mean self-evident knowledge," I said. "If to-day the priests and the myths are dead, if we are to have a democratic religion, then each one of us must be a prophet. We here to-day, we seven, shall find the unanswerable truth. Shall we?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"How do we know that such truth is to be reached? We do know certain things in ourselves? We know the mystery is there? We know that which we call God?"

"Yes," they said.

"Is there any other reason for believing that the truth can be known?"

Marian said: "In past times some men have known it, we feel certain."

"That is just what I meant, Marian. Such men, you mean, as Moses and Jesus?"

"Yes."

"And we here shall get it. We shall know.

"I believe," I said, "that when we have talked everything over we shall know the truth, and it shall be the same for each."

"In fundamentals, perhaps," said Ruth, "but not in all things."

No religion could be the true religion, we said, if it fostered antagonism or bitterness toward those of another persuasion.

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