THE BASIC PROPOSITIONS. "HE whole theory of Creation-the creation of the Universe, of the race of men, of the soul of manis at variance with the trend, deductions and demonstrations of modern science. JUS USTICE cannot be built upon a foundation of injustice, nor morality upon a foundation of immorality. If God or Nature has created one man good and another bad, then God or Nature has been unjust. If God or Nature has created a vicious, base or depraved creature, then God or Nature has been immoral. HE E who honors any man for his wisdom or goodness, or scorns another for being dull or vile, repudiates both Materialism and Theology. For, if the creative theory of either Materialism or Theology be true, no man deserves the least credit or discredit for what he is. The good man is but as a good engine or machine, reflecting much credit upon his Maker; and the bad man is as an imperfect machine, a dangerous engine, or a poisonous compound, reflecting discredit upon his Maker. THE HE man who has been created base-if we assume that man is created - has been wronged beyond all our knowledge of wrong in its darkest aspect. Our conception of the worst forms of wrong may be found in the brute flaying the bare backs of women and children, or in the savage bigot delivering a martyr to the consuming flames. But these outrages and atrocities pale in comparison with the deeper and blacker wrong done by a Creative Power which could place the stain of crime, the stamp of debauchery, the indelible brand of dishonor, upon a helpless human soul which, if it could have had a choice, would have been innocent, noble and good. He only who, in his natural feelings, can look constantly upon the mean and depraved with the tenderest and keenest sympathy, and upon the good and noble without respect, can accept fully the doctrine of both Materialism and Theology-that man is a thing that has been made. TH HE Creative theory has been the blunder of the ages. It has set man wrong in all of his eternal reckonings. It is as though the whole of our arithmetical calculations were based on the presumption that one and one make three. USTICE can be established only upon one theory JUSTI and ent, immortal and eternal. This philosophy alone maintains the responsibility of man, the freedom of man, and the dignity of the soul of man. There must be a law of evolution for the mind, character and soul, as well as for the physical body, of man. MA His AN will forever be what he makes himself. follies and vices are his own; his strength and goodness are his own. From the awful responsibility for himself he cannot escape. Suicide cannot kill him; death cannot destroy him. No ritual, ceremony, fasting, confession or repentance; no imploration, prostration or sacrifice to the gods; no mediation, no form of faith, can save him. He has no friend at court; no attorney can appear for him. The Law works silently, constantly; it is a stranger to pity, mercy, love or hate; it knows only Justice-Justice to the finest degree, as exact as arithmetic, as the movements of the stars, as the order of the Universe. THE 'HE greatest things in this world are not its rivers, lakes and mountains; not its forests, plains and palaces. None of these can see, feel or love; none can think, aspire or dare. Man-who can build palaces, who can conquer the forests and plains, who can read the stars and suns, who can taste of both pain and joy-is the noblest object in this world. The raggedest child in London is greater than St. Paul's; the poorest peasant in France is nobler than the tallest peak of the Alps. Man need not grovel or abase himself. He is older than the city of Rome, older than the Pyramids, older than the Koran or the Bible, older than any book ever written or printed; and he will survive them all. THE HE man of high and noble character, though he be poor and of humble station, is really rich and great; and he who is possessed of a frivolous, selfish or vicious character, though he have great earthly possessions, though even he sit upon a throne, is actually a pauper. RELIGION is in harmony with morality and justice, and Theology is the doctrine of Fatalism, which is at war with morality and justice. Religion is natural, and Theology is artificial. Religion is the faith of freedom; while the creeds, which set a limit to what man can believe, or even think, all belong to Theology, which is the doctrine of man's moral and mental enslavement. Religion is based upon works, and Theology upon faith. Religion has been and forever will be in harmony with science and all other truth; while Theology has been and forever will be at war with truth. Theology is dying; but Religion is not dying, and will not die. Theology is the mortal and corrupt body of the church; while Religion is the immortal and incorruptible soul of human faith. |