CHARACTERISTIC RELIGION
On the level of "Universal" religion great changes have taken place in
life. The consciousness and conviction of the reality of a new kind of
world have arisen; the sensuous, and even partially the intellectual,
domains have been relegated to a secondary place: other values, higher
in their nature and more universal in their scope, have attracted the
attention of mind and soul. In all this a change has taken place in the
disposition as well as in the will. Prior to this change the character
had not become conscious of its own inwardness, but remained subservient
to the norms of social and moral inheritance. Some amount of morality
and good will have issued forth in this manner, and, indeed, the gain
cannot be overestimated. But it is evident that something further has to
happen if the movement of society is to proceed onward and upward, and
if the energy for such a movement is to be discovered within the soul.
The whole material which enters into consciousness has to obtain a
deeper meaning [p.152] than it hitherto possessed. And this happens on
the level of "Universal" religion. The _spiritual_ is now recognised as
the highest manifestation of life; and this spiritual is seen to be
something which has to be gained through a struggle which calls the
whole nature into activity. Such a movement from the less to the more
spiritual proceeds side by side with the _freedom_ of the individual.
Freedom has now taken a new meaning. Hitherto it meant little more than
the consciousness of the individual moving along the line of least
resistance. The effort to move in such a direction is generally
pleasurable; and when it tends to become painful the individual gives up
the effort. The highest norms were not present with a categorical
affirmation of their reality and value. But when they are present, the
will is turned from the direction of ordinary life and its ease to the
conception of the meaning and value of the highest norms. Something,
appearing as of intrinsic value, now makes itself felt, and stirs the
whole nature. Thus, a _new movement_ begins; the _passive_ attitude of
the soul gives way to an _autonomous_ attitude and movement. The will,
consequently, is conscious of a deeper need than any hitherto
experienced, and therefore calls into being some deeper elements of its
own in order to reach its goal. The whole nature has now affirmed the
_idea of the good_, which had dawned upon it as an imperative. It is in
[p.153] such a moment that the real nature becomes free--it becomes
conscious, through and through, of the possibility of leaving its old
world and of ascending into a new one. This is, in Eucken's words, the
real spiritual evolution (_Wesensbildung_) of human nature. This
evolution, which, prior to this, was considered very largely as a kind
of gift of the environment, is now perceived as capable of realisation
only in so far as the spiritual norms are willed. When we examine the
progress of humanity, we discover that it has taken place in this
manner; a task had to be set and the whole nature had to be called forth
to realise it. The result is that a new creation takes place in the
history of the world. Such a creation becomes a new norm in the moral
world, as well as a possession in the life of the individual who has
struggled to realise it.
Such a spiritual process, after something of its nature has been
realised, finds necessities laid upon it on all hands. Once we have
stepped into the very centre of spiritual norms and ideals they begin to
reveal with a wonderful rapidity and impressiveness their own intrinsic
content and value. "Universal" religion has enabled us to realise that
we are dealing with "grounds" which are a demand of the deepest nature,
and with convictions which seem, without a doubt, "to ring true." The
man has found a shelter in the midst of all the chaos and welter of the
natural process, [p.154] and his deepest reason has not failed to come
to the assistance of his spiritual need. He now becomes conscious of
security and even of victory in the enterprise before the battle has
really begun on an arena outside his own nature; a conviction is being
brought into being within his deepest soul that the best and strongest
elements in the universe are on his side. Although hindrances and
entanglements of all kinds increase in number, the increase in spiritual
certainty, and faith in the final issue of his life, have grown at a
greater ratio. Such a man has settled his destiny; he has come to the
great spiritual affirmation of life--an affirmation which has to be
repeated so often, and which each time distils something of a higher
order within the soul.
It is evident that such an affirmation of the reality of spiritual
ideals, which have now an existence of their own, should lead us
farther. If they mean so much, why cannot they mean more? If they
subsist in themselves, they must be what they _are_. They are to us
meaning and value of infinite significance. But such and other spiritual
characteristics are _not things_, and, as we have seen, not mere
projections of our own individual selves. There is nothing short of
personality and over-personality by which they can be even partially
designated and determined. We are forced to this conclusion if they are
to be objects of communion and union: and we are forced [p.155] further
to gather the Many into the One. That was what was done on all lower
planes. Why stop short here, because infinitely much happens when the
Many find their points of union and meaning in the One?[52] We have said
that infinitely much happens when the Many find their meaning in the
One. A need of the nature has arisen which demands this, and it has
arisen at its _highest possible level alone_. Such a nature will never
become absolutely certain of the meaning and value of all that has led
up to this until the One obtains a self-subsistence. If this effort
fails, the whole effort of development towards unity and inwardness
fails. And when such a chain of effort snaps at its highest link of
spiritual development, everything that had entered into the process at
all the levels below it snaps along with it in so far as it had any
validity whatever in the light of what is higher than itself.
But the fact that this conception of the One, conceived as Absolute
Spiritual Life, has produced so many effects of the highest kind is a
proof of its existence. Qualities come into being which can never come
with such power in any other way. The spiritual experiences, revealed at
such a level, have something to say on this matter. These experiences,
[p.156] although aware of the meaning of universal concepts, have become
aware of something higher still: Knowledge has given place to Love; a
region has been reached beyond all the contradictions of the world and
beyond all the dialectics of knowledge. It is a region which includes
the good of all without injuring the good of any; and all the meaning of
the world and of life is interpreted from this highest standpoint. This
is the essence of "characteristic "or specific religion. On the level of
"universal" religion, God was seen from the standpoint of the world; in
"characteristic" religion the world is seen from the standpoint of God.
The appearance of the world is consequently different from each
standpoint. All must now be viewed and valued from the standpoint of
"characteristic" religion, from the standpoint of the One--the Godhead;
and if humanity is ever to be brought to this standpoint, the nature and
the meaning of the One have to be presented to it. And it is this, as
Eucken shows, which has been partially accomplished by the religions of
the world. Their founders were personalities who had scaled the heights
towards the "holy of holies" of the One; they descended into the plains
to reveal what they had seen and heard and experienced on the heights.
They had been able to commune with the Alone, and their natures had been
completely transformed. In passing thus from the stage of "universal"
[p.157] religion to the higher stage of "characteristic," men have
discovered a further security and spiritual evolution of their whole
being. Their views of man and the world have become changed; they now
long to make mankind the possessor of the "vision splendid" which has
meant all for them. Communion with the One as Infinite Love has revealed
to them a peace and a power which are far beyond all the lower unities.
It is of value, in the midst of all the complexities of life, of the
partial interpretations of the various branches of knowledge, to have
passed through the several stages below the One. Some must guard the
highest citadel of religion and keep open the avenues to Infinity,
Eternity, and Immortality. And the greater the number who are able to do
this, the better for the world and for the individual. But a taste of
this Infinite Love can be obtained without all this. Just as some of us
are able to walk without a knowledge of the bodily mechanism and to eat
and digest without a knowledge of the history of our bread, so the
deeper spiritual potencies inherent in man are able to find a vast
amount of satisfaction by resting upon and trusting in a Love Absolute,
Eternal, and Infinite. Here, man is in a region of infinite calm beyond
the distractions of the world and of knowledge. He cannot remain here
for any great length of time; he has to return to the world, but he is
never [p.158] again the same being after having scaled the "mount of
transfiguration." "Religion holds as certain and conclusive that this
new inner foundation is the greatest thing of all and the wonder of
wonders, because it carries within itself the power and certainty of the
overcoming of the old world and the creation of a new one; it is on
account of this that religion longs for the conviction of the whole man,
and brands the denial of this as pettiness and unbelief. The world may
therefore remain to the external view as it appeared before--a kingdom
of opposition and darkness; its hindrances within and without may seem
to nullify everything else; they may contract and even seemingly destroy
man and his spiritual potencies; all his acts may seem fruitless and
vain, and his whole existence may seem to sink into nothingness and
worthlessness. Yet, through the entrance of the new life and a new
world, everything is transformed from within, and the clearness of the
light appears all the more by contrast with all the depth of the
darkness. Indeed, in the midst of all the mysteries of existence, hope
and conviction and certainty will consolidate our experience, so that
ultimately evil itself must serve the development of the good."[53] Or
in the words of Luther: "This is the spiritual power which reigns and
rules in the midst of enemies, and is powerful in the midst [p.159] of
all oppression. And this is nothing other than that strength is
perfected in weakness, and that in all things I can gain life eternal,
so that cross and crown are compelled to serve and to contribute towards
my salvation."[54]
Eucken shows how this idea of God comes from the Life-process itself.
The Godhead is present, not as an external revelation but as the ever
fuller meaning and experience which have been carried along in the soul
in its passage from the natural level to the highest spiritual plane. At
its summit the development unfolds its true spiritual content of Love.
The Highest Power--however much there still remains dark concerning
it--has had communication with man, is present within his soul, has
become his own life and nature, as well as his self-subsistence over
against the order of the world. Here Love is raised up into an image of
the Godhead--Love as a self-communication and as an essential elevation
of the nature, and as an expression of inmost fellowship.[55] "There
originates a mutual intercourse of the soul and God as between an I and
a Thou." It has already been stated that Eucken insists that no close
determination, in an intellectual form, should be given to this
conception and experience of God. The idea of a personality of God is
not an intellectual idea presented in any doctrinal form; it is an idea
[p.160] born _within_ the _Life-process_ on its highest levels. On such
levels it becomes obvious and indispensable. Man may be clearly
conscious of the symbolism of the idea, and yet, at the same time, grasp
in it an incontestable intrinsic truth which he knows to be far above
all mere anthropomorphism. Eucken shows that it is not merely a human
greatness that has been transferred to the Divine, but that the whole
meaning here is a return to the source of a Divine Life and its mutual
communication with man; and therefore the whole process is not an
argument of man concerning the Divine, because the Divine has to be
apprehended through the Divine within us. "All opposition to the idea of
the Divine personality is ultimately explained by the fact that an
energetic Life-process is wanting--a Life-process which entertains the
question not so much from without as from within. Whenever such a
Life-process is found, there is simultaneously found, often in overt
contradiction to the formal doctrinal statement, an element of such a
personal character of God."[56] But this _immanent_ aspect of the idea
of God is accompanied by a _transcendent_ aspect. We have noticed
already that the very nature of the _Ought_ included a transcendent and
objective aspect.[57] The same fact becomes evident in [p.161] religious
experience. The two poles--immanence and transcendence--are
complementary. The former shows that something of the Divine nature has
been implanted within human nature; the latter shows that more is in
existence than we have already possessed. Spiritual norms never decrease
but increase in splendour the nearer man is to their attainment.
Something is here discovered which is not found in the world; it is a
kind of transcendent summit, a mysterious sublimity. And an approach
towards this summit produces experiences never to be possessed in any
other kind of way. As Eucken himself puts it: "If this sublimity
superior to the world secures an abode in the soul, and, indeed, becomes
the inmost and most intimate part of our being, and enables us to
participate in the self-subsistence of infinity, it opens up within us a
fathomless depth, in which the existence that lies nearest to our hands
is swallowed up, and it makes us a problem to ourselves--a problem which
transforms the whole of life--whilst it enables us to understand and to
handle what at the outset appeared to be its whole life as a mere phase
and appearance. Thus it is the same religion which opens out from God to
man and which simultaneously opens itself out in man himself and becomes
a great mystery to him. Therefore, in the idea of God the intimate and
the ultimate must both be present if religion is to reach its full
development and to [p.162] avoid the dangers which everywhere threaten
it."[58] Both these aspects interlace in one Life-process; the unity is
present in the manifold, and the ultimate present in the intimate.
According to Eucken, it is out of such an experience as we have noticed
that the idea of immortality becomes a firm belief and faith within the
soul. The idea cannot be proved scientifically, simply because its
spiritual content is greater than anything which is _below_ it. The
whole proof lies within the experience itself at this, its highest
summit. "The Infinite Power and Love that has grounded a new spontaneous
nature in man, over against a dark and hostile world, will conserve such
a new nature and its spiritual nucleus, and shelter it against all
perils and assaults, so that life as the bearer of life eternal can
never be wholly lost in the stream of time." We are here in a region
farthest removed from sense and understanding; but the remarkable thing
is that the conviction of immortality does not dawn on any lower level;
it is not on the lower levels a portion of spiritual experience. It
seems as if an element of immortality is only to be gained at a certain
height of the spiritual life. On all levels below, men seek for proofs
in the analogies of Nature, in the supposed return of the spirits of the
dead, and in the craving found in their own lives. All these proofs have
one thing in common: they [p.163] are all of a lower order of value than
the meaning which the content of experience gives to immortality on its
highest level. For at this highest level the proof is not something
happening outside the man; it is the deepest part of his own being which
now actually possesses a taste of life eternal. It seems, then, that
there is no answer to the problem outside ourselves, because it is not
something to be known, but something to be experienced after long toil
and a stirring of the nature to its lowest depths in the drift of all
that is highest and best.[59] It is sufficient for us to possess a life
which is spiritual and timeless in its nature: and when such a life is
possessed, empirical proofs are neither demanded nor desired. It is
within one's own new and spiritual world that proofs are now discovered,
and they are timeless and spaceless in their own intrinsic nature. "Do
this, and thou shalt live." If the man has to negate all concerning the
preservation of his natural individuality, the new world he has gained
for his soul will have abundant affirmation within itself, without the
support of any earthly props. It is his own highest life which testifies
to him that "death does not count" at all.
Eucken's whole plea is that spiritual life at the point of its highest
manifestation should not be interpreted by anything below itself.
[p.164] We have already noticed how, on lower levels, spiritual life was
even there interpreted by its _norms_, and not by its connections with
what was _below itself_. The disappearance of miracle in religion is an
indispensable stage which must be passed over. It is necessary only on a
mid-level of religion, and has really been far more of the nature of a
symbol than of a fact. It is at our peril that in religion we give up
such a symbol until a more "inward wonder" has happened within our own
soul. When the self-subsistence of the spiritual life and the reality of
the norms of the over-world, now all united in God, are experienced, all
miraculous manifestations of the Divine, imaginary or real, are
relegated to a secondary place. They all belong to a point which the man
has passed; they are milestones to which he can never return. "An evil
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign
be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet." As Eucken points out,
"This is no other than the sign of spiritual power and of a Divine
message and greatness." The movement from signs and miracles is a
movement from the outward to the inward, from percept to spirituality;
and the essence of religion, as a reality in itself and as an experience
of the soul, is to be found by taking such a step. The centre of gravity
of life has now been shifted from the outward to the inward. To
accomplish this means nothing less than a [p.165] struggle for _the
governing centre of life_. Unless we succeed in this struggle, the inner
life will reach no independence and subsistence of its own. Even when
the struggle succeeds in gaining its longed-for depth, it has not
removed for once and for all the contradictions from without and within.
Difficulties, from the lower side, will accompany the spiritual life in
its higher evolution, but once it has become conscious of its own Divine
nature and certainty it will gain sufficiently in content and power to
relegate them all to the periphery. Something has happened within the
soul which can never be obliterated. As Eucken says: "The contradiction
is now removed from the centre to the periphery of life; it can
therefore only touch us from without, and is not able to overthrow what
is within; it will not so much weaken as strengthen the certainty,
because it calls life to a perpetual renewal and brings to fruition the
greatness of the conquest."[60]
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