The Substance of Faith Allied with Science (6th Ed.): A Catechism for Parents and TeachersLodge, Oliver, Sir
Religion
The Substance of Faith Allied with Science (6th Ed.): A Catechism for Parents and Teachers
Lodge, Oliver, Sir
Religion and science
“Enough that he heard it once; we shall hear it by and by.” The
Christian God is revealed as the incarnate Spirit of humanity; or rather
the incarnate spirit of humanity is recognised as a real intrinsic part
of God. “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”
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XIV
INSPIRATION
_Q. 14. How may we become informed concerning things too
high for our own knowledge?_
_A._ We should strive to learn from the great teachers, the
prophets and poets and saints of the human race, and should
seek to know and to interpret their inspired writings.
* * * * *
CLAUSE XIV
People at a low stage of development are liable to think that they can
arrive at truth by their unaided judgment and insight, and that they
need not concern themselves with the thoughts and experiences of the
past. Unconscious of any inspiration themselves, they decline to believe
in the possibility of such a thing, and regard it as a fanciful notion
of unpractical and dreamy people.
Great men, on the other hand, are the fingerposts and lodestars of
humanity; it is with their aid that we steer our course, if we are wise,
and the records of their thought and inspiration are of the utmost value
to us.
This is the meaning of literature in general, and of that mass of
ancient religious literature in particular, on which hundreds of
scholars have bestowed their best energies: now translated, bound
together, and handed down to us as the Canon of Scripture, of which some
portions are the most inspired writings yet achieved by humanity. It is
impossible for us to ignore the concurrent mass of human testimony
therein recorded, the substantial and general truth of which has been
vouched for by the prophets and poets and seers of all time.
Accordingly, if we are to form worthy beliefs regarding the highest
conceptions in the Universe, we must avail ourselves of all this
testimony; discriminating and estimating its relative value in the light
of our own judgment and experience, studying such works and criticism as
are accessible to us, asking for the guidance of the Divine Spirit, and
seeking with modest and careful patience to apprehend something in the
direction of the truth.
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XV
A CREED
_Q. 15. What, then, do you reverently believe can be
deduced from a study of the records and traditions of the
past in the light of the present?_
_A._ I believe in one Infinite and Eternal Being, a guiding
and loving Father, in whom all things consist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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