This evening I wish to speak to you concerning the mystery of sacrifice.
There are two kinds of sacrifice: the physical and the spiritual. The
explanation made by the churches concerning this subject is, in reality,
superstition. For instance, it is recorded in the Gospel that Christ said,
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever." He also said, "This [wine] is my blood ...
which is shed for many for the remission of sins." These verses have been
interpreted by the churches in such a superstitious way that it is
impossible for human reason to understand or accept the explanation.
They say that Adam disobeyed the command of God and partook of the fruit
of the forbidden tree, thereby committing a sin which was transmitted as a
heritage to His posterity. They teach that because of Adam's sin all His
descendants have, likewise, committed transgression and have become
responsible through inheritance; that, consequently, all mankind deserves
punishment and must make retribution; and that God sent forth His Son as a
sacrifice in order that man might be forgiven and the human race delivered
from the consequences of Adam's transgression.
We wish to consider these statements from the standpoint of reason. Could
we conceive of the Divinity, Who is Justice itself, inflicting punishment
upon the posterity of Adam for Adam's own sin and disobedience? Even if we
should see a governor, an earthly ruler punishing a son for the wrongdoing
of his father, we would look upon that ruler as an unjust man. Granted the
father committed a wrong, what was the wrong committed by the son? There
is no connection between the two. Adam's sin was not the sin of His
posterity, especially as Adam is a thousand generations back of the man
today. If the father of a thousand generations committed a sin, is it just
to demand that the present generation should suffer the consequences
thereof?
There are other questions and evidences to be considered. Abraham was a
Manifestation of God and a descendant of Adam; likewise, Ishmael, Isaac,
Jeremiah and the whole line of prophets including David, Solomon and Aaron
were among His posterity. Were all these holy men condemned to a realm of
punishment because of a deed committed by the first father, because of a
mistake said to have been made by their mutual and remotest ancestor Adam?
The explanation is made that when Christ came and sacrificed Himself, all
the line of holy Prophets who preceded Him became free from sin and
punishment. Even a child could not justly make such an assertion. These
interpretations and statements are due to a misunderstanding of the
meanings of the Bible.
In order to understand the reality of sacrifice let us consider the
crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. It is true that He sacrificed
Himself for our sake. What is the meaning of this? When Christ appeared,
He knew that He must proclaim Himself in opposition to all the nations and
peoples of the earth. He knew that mankind would arise against Him and
inflict upon Him all manner of tribulations. There is no doubt that one
who put forth such a claim as Christ announced would arouse the hostility
of the world and be subjected to personal abuse. He realized that His
blood would be shed and His body rent by violence. Notwithstanding His
knowledge of what would befall Him, He arose to proclaim His message,
suffered all tribulation and hardships from the people and finally offered
His life as a sacrifice in order to illumine humanity--gave His blood in
order to guide the world of mankind. He accepted every calamity and
suffering in order to guide men to the truth. Had He desired to save His
own life, and were He without wish to offer Himself in sacrifice, He would
not have been able to guide a single soul. There was no doubt that His
blessed blood would be shed and His body broken. Nevertheless, that Holy
Soul accepted calamity and death in His love for mankind. This is one of
the meanings of sacrifice.
As to the second meaning: He said, "I am the living bread which came down
from heaven." It was not the body of Christ which came from heaven. His
body came from the womb of Mary, but the Christly perfections descended
from heaven; the reality of Christ came down from heaven. The Spirit of
Christ and not the body descended from heaven. The body of Christ was but
human. There could be no question that the physical body was born from the
womb of Mary. But the reality of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the
perfections of Christ all came from heaven. Consequently, by saying He was
the bread which came from heaven He meant that the perfections which He
showed forth were divine perfections, that the blessings within Him were
heavenly gifts and bestowals, that His light was the light of Reality. He
said, "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." That is to
say, whosoever assimilates these divine perfections which are within me
will never die; whosoever has a share and partakes of these heavenly
bounties I embody will find eternal life; he who takes unto himself these
divine lights shall find everlasting life. How manifest the meaning is!
How evident! For the soul which acquires divine perfections and seeks
heavenly illumination from the teachings of Christ will undoubtedly live
eternally. This is also one of the mysteries of sacrifice.
In reality, Abraham sacrificed Himself, for He brought heavenly teachings
to the world and conferred heavenly food upon mankind.
As to the third meaning of sacrifice, it is this: If you plant a seed in
the ground, a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed
sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it. The seed is
outwardly lost, destroyed; but the same seed which is sacrificed will be
absorbed and embodied in the tree, its blossoms, fruit and branches. If
the identity of that seed had not been sacrificed to the tree which became
manifest from it, no branches, blossoms or fruits would have been
forthcoming. Christ outwardly disappeared. His personal identity became
hidden from the eyes, even as the identity of the seed disappeared; but
the bounties, divine qualities and perfections of Christ became manifest
in the Christian community which Christ founded through sacrificing
Himself. When you look at the tree, you will realize that the perfections,
blessings, properties and beauty of the seed have become manifest in the
branches, twigs, blossoms and fruit; consequently, the seed has sacrificed
itself to the tree. Had it not done so, the tree would not have come into
existence. Christ, like unto the seed, sacrificed Himself for the tree of
Christianity. Therefore, His perfections, bounties, favors, lights and
graces became manifest in the Christian community, for the coming of which
He sacrificed Himself.
As to the fourth significance of sacrifice: It is the principle that a
reality sacrifices its own characteristics. Man must sever himself from
the influences of the world of matter, from the world of nature and its
laws; for the material world is the world of corruption and death. It is
the world of evil and darkness, of animalism and ferocity,
bloodthirstiness, ambition and avarice, of self-worship, egotism and
passion; it is the world of nature. Man must strip himself of all these
imperfections, must sacrifice these tendencies which are peculiar to the
outer and material world of existence.
On the other hand, man must acquire heavenly qualities and attain divine
attributes. He must become the image and likeness of God. He must seek the
bounty of the eternal, become the manifestor of the love of God, the light
of guidance, the tree of life and the depository of the bounties of God.
That is to say, man must sacrifice the qualities and attributes of the
world of nature for the qualities and attributes of the world of God. For
instance, consider the substance we call iron. Observe its qualities; it
is solid, black, cold. These are the characteristics of iron. When the
same iron absorbs heat from the fire, it sacrifices its attribute of
solidity for the attribute of fluidity. It sacrifices its attribute of
darkness for the attribute of light, which is a quality of the fire. It
sacrifices its attribute of coldness to the quality of heat which the fire
possesses so that in the iron there remains no solidity, darkness or cold.
It becomes illumined and transformed, having sacrificed its qualities to
the qualities and attributes of the fire.
Likewise, man, when separated and severed from the attributes of the world
of nature, sacrifices the qualities and exigencies of that mortal realm
and manifests the perfections of the Kingdom, just as the qualities of the
iron disappeared and the qualities of the fire appeared in their place.
Every man trained through the teachings of God and illumined by the light
of His guidance, who becomes a believer in God and His signs and is
enkindled with the fire of the love of God, sacrifices the imperfections
of nature for the sake of divine perfections. Consequently, every perfect
person, every illumined, heavenly individual stands in the station of
sacrifice. It is my hope that through the assistance and providence of God
and through the bounties of the Kingdom of Abha you may be entirely
severed from the imperfections of the world of nature, purified from
selfish, human desires, receiving life from the Kingdom of Abha and
attaining heavenly graces. May the divine light become manifest upon your
faces, the fragrances of holiness refresh your nostrils and the breath of
the Holy Spirit quicken you with eternal life.
2 December 1912
Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney
780 West End Avenue, New York