登陆注册
5381100000004

第4章

Thus, at the first step in the theory, the Supreme Being is reduced to the function of a motive power, a mainspring, a corner-stone, or, if a still more trivial comparison may be allowed me, a constitutional sovereign, reigning but not governing, swearing to obey the law and appointing ministers to execute it.But, under the influence of the mirage which fascinates him, the theist sees, in this ridiculous system, only a new proof of the sublimity of his idol; who, in his opinion, uses his creatures as instruments of his power, and causes the wisdom of human beings to redound to his glory.

Soon, not content with limiting the power of the Eternal, man, increasingly deicidal in his tendencies, insists on sharing it.

If I am a spirit, a sentient me giving voice to ideas, continues the theist, I consequently am a part of absolute existence; I am free, creative, immortal, equal with God.Cogito, ergo sum, -- I think, therefore I am immortal, that is the corollary, the translation of Ego sum qui sum: philosophy is in accord with the Bible.The existence of God and the immortality of the soul are posited by the conscience in the same judgment: there, man speaks in the name of the universe, to whose bosom he transports his me;

here, he speaks in his own name, without perceiving that, in this going and coming, he only repeats himself.

The immortality of the soul, a true division of divinity, which, at the time of its first promulgation, arriving after a long interval, seemed a heresy to those faithful to the old dogma, has been none the less considered the complement of divine majesty, necessarily postulated by eternal goodness and justice.Unless the soul is immortal, God is incomprehensible, say the theists; resembling in this the political theorists who regard sovereign representation and perpetual tenure of office as essential conditions of monarchy.But the inconsistency of the ideas is as glaring as the parity of the doctrines is exact: consequently the dogma of immortality soon became the stumbling-block of philosophical theologians, who, ever since the days of Pythagoras and Orpheus, have been making futile attempts to harmonize divine attributes with human liberty, and reason with faith.A subject of triumph for the impious!....But the illusion could not yield so soon:

the dogma of immortality, for the very reason that it was a limitation of the uncreated Being, was a step in advance.Now, though the human mind deceives itself by a partial acquisition of the truth, it never retreats, and this perseverance in progress is proof of its infallibility.Of this we shall soon see fresh evidence.

In making himself like God, man made God like himself: this correlation, which for many centuries had been execrated, was the secret spring which determined the new myth.In the days of the patriarchs God made an alliance with man; now, to strengthen the compact, God is to become a man.He will take on our flesh, our form, our passions, our joys, and our sorrows; will be born of woman, and die as we do.Then, after this humiliation of the infinite, man will still pretend that he has elevated the ideal of his God in making, by a logical conversion, him whom he had always called creator, a saviour, a redeemer.Humanity does not yet say, I am God: such a usurpation would shock its piety; it says, God is in me, IMMANUEL, nobiscum Deus.

And, at the moment when philosophy with pride, and universal conscience with fright, shouted with unanimous voice, The gods are departing! excedere deos! a period of eighteen centuries of fervent adoration and superhuman faith was inaugurated.

But the fatal end approaches.The royalty which suffers itself to be limited will end by the rule of demagogues; the divinity which is defined dissolves in a pandemonium.Christolatry is the last term of this long evolution of human thought.The angels, saints, and virgins reign in heaven with God, says the catechism; and demons and reprobates live in the hells of eternal punishment.Ultramundane society has its left and its right:

it is time for the equation to be completed; for this mystical hierarchy to descend upon earth and appear in its real character.

When Milton represents the first woman admiring herself in a fountain, and lovingly extending her arms toward her own image as if to embrace it, he paints, feature for feature, the human race.-- This God whom you worship, O man! this God whom you have made good, just, omnipotent, omniscient, immortal, and holy, is yourself: this ideal of perfection is your image, purified in the shining mirror of your conscience.God, Nature, and man are three aspects of one and the same being; man is God himself arriving at self- consciousness through a thousand evolutions.In Jesus Christ man recognized himself as God; and Christianity is in reality the religion of God-man.There is no other God than he who in the beginning said, ME;

there is no other God than THEE.

Such are the last conclusions of philosophy, which dies in unveiling religion's mystery and its own.

同类推荐
  • 皱水轩词筌

    皱水轩词筌

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Poems

    Poems

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 政论

    政论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 丽白楼诗话

    丽白楼诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 旧闻证误

    旧闻证误

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 凤凰蛋:腹黑上神VS大白鸟

    凤凰蛋:腹黑上神VS大白鸟

    传闻白衣凤凰英勇善战,唯独掉下忘川后记性不好,见一个忘一个。传闻白衣上神只记得长的好看的美男,见一个喜欢一个。传闻……凤栖喝着酒卧在竹塌上:“咦,说的是我?我明明一千年不曾迈出栖凤山。”华莲:“上神可记得在下?”凤栖:“哦,老身记得你,你长得很好看。”华莲:“是的,你记得我,所以你爱我。”凤栖:“咦,说的是我?我明明自断情根,断情绝爱。”佛曰:花开并蒂,步步莲华。不可说啊,不可说。凤凰蛋书友群欢迎大家:398599680叩门砖:书中任意人名新书(懒仙下凡:一睹定三生)已发,木木哒
  • 错嫁金婚:总裁求抱走

    错嫁金婚:总裁求抱走

    一场意外,她误闯了他的世界,一纸婚约,她成为他的妻子。人尽皆知,婚后赫赫有名的豪门大少叶靖皇竟然成了一位不折不扣宠妻奴。“总裁门外有只狐狸精!”“放狗!”“总裁有人说要追我!”“放狗!”“总裁我们离婚吧!”“放狗!”“(⊙o⊙)……”
  • The Cash Boy

    The Cash Boy

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 爱你时的万丈星辰

    爱你时的万丈星辰

    南辰走到她面前,捏着她的下巴问道:“你非要这么贱吗?我最讨厌的就是受人要挟!”顾如低声笑了:“我最讨厌的,就是别人抢我的东西。”南辰也不跟她啰嗦:“这孩子我不会留!”决绝的模样,深深的刺痛了顾如,输液倒流,鲜血顺着指间一滴一滴的滴落在盖在肚子上的白色的床单,绽放出鲜红妖娆的花。恨意徒然庞大,将顾如仅剩下的那一点良知都淹没。“我记得,你家四代单传?”他们的关系像猫和老鼠,一生都在追逐着彼此,可惜的是猫一辈子都斗不过狡猾的老鼠。
  • 快穿王者之英雄有点苏

    快穿王者之英雄有点苏

    【系统大人】:小可欣,你最喜欢王者峡谷里的哪个英雄?苏可欣:“都一般般。”【系统大人】:“那帅帅的兰陵王?苏可欣:“不好,太冷了。【系统大人】:“那大众情人李白?苏可欣:“不好,有太多脑残粉了。”【系统大人】:“那大暖男百里守约?”苏可欣:“不好,有个哥控弟弟。”......【系统大人】:“那你究竟喜欢哪一个啊?!”“我喜欢安琪拉。”“why”“因为她会做披萨给我吃,我还喜欢张良。”“这次又是因为什么。”“因为他是王者峡谷里最有文化的,而我最喜欢男男恋,嘿嘿。”【系统大人】:“……”
  • 国破山河在

    国破山河在

    萨苏编著的《国破山河在》讲了一部抗战史,本书的作者翻阅大量的资料,使我们更全面地了解抗日战争的历史,历史已经过去,现在走在大街小巷,依然可以看到当年那场战争留下的种种痕迹——都市中随处可见的慰灵碑、墓园中大片四棱尖顶的墓碑,都在无言地述说着对那场战争渐渐消逝的记忆。
  • 大佬只能我拯救

    大佬只能我拯救

    本应该成为人生赢家的大佬们,因为各种天灾人祸偏离了原本的轨迹,而温情需要帮助大佬们重新登上人生巅峰。
  • 念念不忘:盛世豪门宠妻

    念念不忘:盛世豪门宠妻

    他仗着身后的权势飞扬跋扈,她仗着他的宠爱刁蛮任性,最好的年纪,他们相爱,也相互伤害。安泽一脸戏谑的看着凌晓,“遮什么遮,又不是没有看过!”凌晓的脸愈发红润,“你个流氓,给我滚出去!”当岁月带走稚嫩,他们在彼此的爱里慢慢成长,她一袭高雅的长裙站在他身边,等着他给她颁发影后的奖杯,一对璧人,只是站在那里,就是绝美的风景。她红唇轻启:“今天,我站在这里,最感谢的就是我身边的安泽先生,我也想问他一个问题,你能不能再娶我一次?”
  • 回望半世人生

    回望半世人生

    在小小农村有个名字叫小涛(化名)从小生长在农村,年轻时儿心重过于好玩,一路没有经过什么大风大雨,人一生那能如此完美,从他结婚开始一切磨难就想大浪一样一拥而来,精力生死边缘挣扎后的他看开了一些,人生也不过如此,如今努力之中总有些心有余而力不足,身为中年的他对未来看淡了许多!!
  • The Last Thing You Said

    The Last Thing You Said

    Last summer, Lucy's and Ben's lives changed in an instant. One moment, they were shyly flirting on a lake raft, finally about to admit their feelings to each other after years of yearning. In the next, Trixie—Lucy's best friend and Ben's sister—was gone, her heart giving out during a routine swim. And just like that, the idyllic world they knew turned upside down, and the would-be couple drifted apart, swallowed up by their grief. Now it's a year later in their small lake town, and as the anniversary of Trixie's death looms, Lucy and Ben's undeniable connection pulls them back together. They can't change what happened the day they lost Trixie, but the summer might finally bring them closer to healing—and to each other.