Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th CenturiesJones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew)
Religion
Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries
Jones, Rufus M. (Rufus Matthew)
Mysticism; Reformers
We need not blame the psychologist for this radical reduction of the
age-long pretensions of religion. If he is to bring religion over into
the purview of the scientific field, he can do nothing else but reduce
it. Science can admit into its world nothing that successfully defies
descriptive treatment. The poet may know of flowers which "can give
thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears," but science discovers
no such flowers in its field. Its flowers are amazingly complex, but
they call for no handkerchief. They are merely aggregations of
describable parts, each of which has well-defined functions. The "man"
whom science studies is complicated almost beyond belief. He is an
aggregation of trillions of cells. He is such a centre of vibrations
that a cyclone is almost a calm compared to the constant cyclic storms
within the area of man's corporeal system. His "mental states" have
their entries and exits before "the foot-lights of consciousness" and
exhibit a drama more intricate than any which human genius has
conceived. But each "state" is a definite, more or less describable,
_fact_ or _phenomenon_. For science, "man's" inner life, as well as
his corporeal bulk, is an aggregate of empirical items. No loophole is
left for freedom--that is for any novel undetermined event. No
shekinah remains within for a mysterious "conscience" to inject into
this fact-world insights drawn from a higher world of noumenal, or
absolute, reality. "Man" is merely a part of the naturalistic order,
and has no way of getting out of the vast net in which science catches
and holds "all that is."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account