God incarnates himself as the son of Mary, and Jesus says, "I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in darkness." Christna says, "Though I am unborn, and my nature is eternal, and I am the Lord also of all creatures, yet taking control of my nature-form, I am born by my illusive power. For whenever piety decays, O son of Bharata, and impiety is in the ascendant, then I produce myself. For the protection of good men, for the destruction of evildoers, for the re-establishment of piety, I am born from age to age." (Bhagavadgita.) The historical Buddha taught that he was only one of a long series of Buddhas, who appear at intervals in the world, and who all teach the same system. After the death of each Buddha his religion flourishes for a time and then decays, till at last it is completely forgotten and wickedness and violence rule the earth. The names of twenty-four of these Buddhas who appeared previous to Gautama have been handed down to us, just as the "second coming of Christ" is believed in and referred to among the Christians. Even the Mohammedan Koran refers to this succession of prophets and messengers of Allah. The same is true of the Parsis. "I have said that I first of all chose Abad, and after him I sent thirteen prophets in succession, all called Abad. By these fourteen prophets the world enjoyed prosperity." "Tradition informs us that when these auspicious prophets and their successors behold evil to prevail among mankind, they invariably withdraw from among them--as they could not endure to behold or hear wickedness." This is precisely what happened to Egypt after the ambitious priesthood had gained the ascendency. The Master Builders retired. Bonwick says ("Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought"): "What is commonly called the _Christ idea_ of humanity, thus appears to have been the hope and consolation of the ancient Egyptians so many thousand years ago." That which thus appears and disappears, dies out and is born again, is the spiritual light in the soul of man. The diversity of man's intellectual activities exercise, elaborate, and deepen his mental perceptions, and these largely concern the things of sense and time, his appetites, passions, desires, and ambitions. Back of and beyond all these lie the things of the spirit. On the physical plane of life the former obscure and crowd out the latter, which are thus continually in need of renewal. In adapting the new revelation to the conditions of life on the physical plane, it is intellectualized and theologized. Pundits and theologians undertake to _explain_ what it all means and how it happened to be. Hence arise wrangles, disputes, and finally creeds, dogmas, and persecution. "Men fight like devils for the love of God." This is the ultimate history of every religion known to man. Meantime, the soul of man, a spiritual being dwelling in a material body on the physical plane, is seeking real knowledge of spiritual things.