OUR INDEBTEDNESS TO REVELATION—No. VI.

BY P.T. RUSSELL.

THE NATURE OF MAN NECESSITATED REVELATION.

The above proposition rests upon and is in harmony with all the relations existing between natural wants and supplies, being itself a supply. Does the power of vision make light a necessity? Yes; without it the eye would be useless. Could man create his own light? It has taken ages upon ages to invent the limited artificial light which we now have. Man is endowed with the powers of locomotion. Could he create an earth to move upon? Could he create the air for breathing? Were these and all such matters necessities? And was man entirely unable to provide for his own natural wants? The faculties with which man is endowed call for these supplies, and they are necessities on account of the existence of these faculties. Think of a being, if you can, with the powers of vision in the entire absence of light, with no air to breathe nor earth to move upon. Do you say such would be a grand failure? So it would. But the Creator has not given powers to man for which he has no use, having nothing to meet their demands. The existence of a faculty or power leads logically to the conclusion which all candid, intelligent people have reached, viz: that the Creator has made a supply for the use of every faculty, or power which was designed and provided. Do you ask, what of all this? I answer, man has the power to become religious, but he had no more power to invent a supply for this faculty than he had to create light for the eye or air to breathe. So the necessity for this must be met with a supply from the Creator as well as all other natural demands or powers.

Now, as we have a desire for the knowledge that we are approved of God, and as religion consists in this knowledge, and in the knowledge of our relations, dependence and obligations to God; and, as we have but one means of obtaining this knowledge, and that is the means of his will concerning us, then by knowing through that will that our actions are such as he desires and approves, the one question remains to be answered, How can man obtain the knowledge of the will of another concerning himself? Ans.—Only by a revelation of the will of the one to the other. I know not the will of the reader of this essay concerning myself. My style of writing may not please him, but if he would tell me just how he wishes me to write, then, by following his directions, I should obtain the knowledge of his approbation as a necessary result experienced in my own mental nature. This is plain, but no more plain than God's revelation to man and its results experienced in conscious knowledge.

AN IMPORTANT THOUGHT.

In order to man's highest happiness, all his powers must be so called into activity by education that each faculty may act with energy, but at the same time in exact harmony with all of its kindred powers. There must be no clash, no jar nor friction. No one power must be highly exercised and cultivated at the expense of the rest, but each must be brought out by its own appropriate food. Material food is for the body—it can not feed upon thought, nor mind upon bread. "Man should not live upon bread alone." This is an axiomatic truth endorsed by man's two-fold nature. If you feed and exercise the body only you may acquire the strength of an Ajax, but your countenance will be as stolid and your eye as dull as the Hottentot's. Such a fellow would be of almost no use whatever. Add to the education of the body the cultivation of the intellect only; now the prospect is fearful, for the intellect always works for its master, and in this case, the man being without moral and religious training, the master Will be his animal desires. Can you imagine the depth of infamy and pollution that is possible in this case? The entire motive power that moves his intellect is carnal, sensual and devilish. He now needs the sanction of a higher authority. The man is but half educated. There are two groups of faculties in his nature that are lying dormant. His moral and religious powers have not as yet been brought into action—they have had no food nor exercise, and without this there can be no development. These, as well as the intellect and the body, must have their own appropriate food, which must be in kind with their nature. Moral truth is for the moral powers. This directs us in our moral relations and obligations to our fellows with whom we may be associated. Religious truth is for our religious faculties. Now add to all this the sanction of the authority of God, which is like the balance-wheel in a watch, regulating and controlling every movement. Man, thus educated, is prepared to act in harmony with his entire nature. He can now reach a position of moral, religious, social and intellectual grandeur worthy of his nature.

Reader, is all of this demanded by the elements of our nature? Then a revelation of God to man of the knowledge of his being, wisdom, goodness, power, authority and law was and is a necessity, without which man must have remained in part uneducated, not perfectly developed.

Is the development of man's religious nature necessary in order to a full, perfect and harmonious growth? Yes. There neither is, nor can be, a harmonious growth while any one power is dwarfed by starvation. Without the knowledge of God man's religious powers must remain dwarfed, and these can not be fed without a revelation. Are these powers so many empty buckets, never filled and never to be filled? No. Hence my conclusion, that man's nature made revelation a necessity, rests upon the bed-rock of truth. Let him who feels able try to shake my position.

REVELATION PROBABLE.

Our series of essays are such that this requires no argument here. There are certain analogies that we may, nevertheless, speak of, which will not down at the bidding of David's fool. The facts stand thus: a supply for each and every one of our other faculties, sufficient in quantity for all their necessities, is placed within our reach for their use. Now let us look at the analogy. I have food to eat, good water to drink, light for the eye, air to breathe, and a good earth to walk upon and space in which to move, beauties of nature to admire, its music to listen to with rapture, and things with their combinations to perceive and think of.

Now, Mr. Skeptic, you know that man has religious faculties, otherwise he could never become religious, no more than he could see without eyes and hear without ears. Now, what say you? Did the author of all things make a mistake here by conferring upon us a power that would be of no use? Is this the reason of your rejection of religion? Do you say it is of no use? Or do you say that the Great Creator and wise and merciful Provider forgot to give a supply just here? Come! You boast of reason. Give us your reason. Will you? To one or the other of these conclusions you are irresistibly driven. No other retreat is open. Take either, and, if true, the harmony of the universe is destroyed. Take either, and your folly is so plain that it needs no words of mine to point it out. This is the true conclusion; all analogy points directly and clearly to the probability and fact of a revelation.

A REVELATION OF THAT WHICH WAS NECESSARY?

To answer this question we must keep in mind the nature of man's religious powers, and from this deduce the nature of the supply that is called for. Would the simple idea of the existence of a first cause, or creator of all things, be sufficient? This idea, by itself, could not quicken reverence and adoration and a desire to worship, and without these there is no religion. Would a knowledge, by revelation, of the power, intelligence, wisdom and goodness of God be sufficient in the absence of anything more? No. What more? Would it not be enough, in addition to what you have named, to have a knowledge of our relation to and dependence upon him for all we enjoy? No; we must have one thing more shown to us or the whole will be imperfect and unworthy of God as its author. Religion can not be without something to do, and that something must be done upon or by the authority of its author. Add this to all the other items and the system is complete, meeting perfectly the necessities of man's nature.

THE NECESSARY ORDER OF REVELATION.

The proper arrangement of the various parts of any communication designed to convey knowledge from one to others, is an important factor in this subject of revelation. Remember "the clear is the true." This is the case in all methodic arrangements; to this rule there are no exceptions. The fundamental truth must first be developed. A child must first be instructed in the rudiments of numbers in order to learn the science of mathematics, otherwise no sensible progress can be made. Intricate problems in Euclid are not to be presented to beginners for solution. So, in religion, the primary thought of the existence of God is the first great truth made known. Second, we are taught that he possesses power, wisdom and goodness. This instruction must also be adapted to the capacity of those who are to be taught. We know that the very young mind needs more simple instruction than the adult. As, of necessity, there was a first man, and a time when that first man began to be, so, of necessity, in the beginning of the life of that man, however perfectly developed his body might have been, his mind was infantile—destitute of the first principles of an education.

Object lessons were called for. Here they come in hills and dales, dry lands and running waters, in trees and vines, in shrubs and grass, flowers and fruits, beasts, birds and winged insects and creeping things, and higher up in the sun with his brilliant light, and in the moon with her paler rays, and in all her attending, sparkling stars. Here are the objects for man's first lesson. Just now the wise man of this world, a skeptic, asks the question, Could not the first man, with all these objects before him, learn by the use of reason the fact that all these objects originated from a creator? And if he could he certainly needed no revelation, for, reasoning from nature up to nature's God, he might then, from the order, beauty and harmony of all, reach the idea of his character, and from this deduce a knowledge of his will, and if so a revelation was not necessary. This seems to me very clear, and you often say "the clear is the true." This is my reason for rejecting the idea that a revelation was ever made.

Will you, Mr. Christian, grapple with this? I would with pleasure if there was anything in it to grapple with, but you will see nothing real in your premises, for objects teach nothing without an instructor. There lies a brick, pick it up and examine its surface closely; do you, from it, reach the idea of its maker? No. Yet I know it must have been made, for I have seen other bricks made, and this resembles them. Very well. Did you ever see worlds made, and, if so, does our earth resemble them? But when you saw those bricks made were there not several men engaged in their manufacture, as well as horses? There is no analogy in your premises; you beg the question entirely; you take the whole foundation for granted; your argument is "as clear as mud."

Had you seen others made by only one maker, then and only then could you by analogy have reached even the idea that ours was made also. Also, the makers of those bricks may have been of the most base and malignant disposition, for you can learn nothing of their disposition from the bricks; they only testify of the skill of their makers—this is all. Do you not see that you give me nothing to grapple with? The truth is this, nature gives you no sufficient foundation for religion. Revelation must of necessity furnish us with that. Without revelation no one can learn of the existence and character of God. The knowledge of his existence, power and wisdom might excite reverence, but this alone could not bring man's religious powers into activity. To this must be added the knowledge of his goodness and kindness towards, and his love of, those who are required to worship him. And in addition to all this, there must be a revelation of the divine will concerning human action, for the term worship indicates submission and obedience; without this, very important elements would be wanting, and the system show great imperfection and want of wisdom—as man could not learn his relation nor obligation to that great Creator and Preserver of all. But give in addition the knowledge of man's relation to and dependence upon God, with a knowledge of his will in the form of law or commands, with promises of good annexed, resting upon the condition of obedience. Such a system of revelation would be perfect, fitted to the necessities of human nature. And you, Mr. Skeptic, have agreed with me, that the nature of man was true and right. Now, when we find a perfectly straight edge, and then find another edge that fits it, we know that the last is also perfectly straight, for straight and crooked edges do not match. Having already found the kind of a revelation that human nature made necessary, in my next I shall show that such a revelation is contained in the Bible. Then as human nature is true, and as the Bible's revelation is exactly fitted to it, the inevitable conclusion will follow that the Bible does contain a revelation from God to man.