SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES.
The next meeting of the Scripture Club of Valley Rest was impatiently
looked forward to by all the club members. Although there were at that
time plenty of political theories to quarrel over, two or three fine
projects for new lines of lake navigation, and at least a dozen for
making of the neighboring city the greatest Western rival to New York,
conversation on these subjects was only fitful on the boats which
carried the business men of Valley Rest between their homes and the
city. Before the second Sunday of the existence of the class, each
member had in mind at least one religious topic upon which he wanted
full, exhaustive, and decisive discussion; he also in his innermost
heart, and sometimes on his lips, had the settled conviction that he
was just the man to speak the decisive word, and thus readjust human
thought to the newly-discovered requirements of eternal truth.
Nor was excitement on religious topics confined to the members of the
club. Not a day of the week passed without bringing to Deacon Bates a
new candidate for admission. First came Mr. Hopper, who took
enthusiastic delight in whatever was new, whether in religion, politics,
medical theories, or popular smoking tobaccos. As Mr. Hopper was a rich
man, good Deacon Bates hastily assured him that the class would be
delighted to have him as a member, and Mr. Hopper graciously responded
by offering to read at the very first meeting a seventeen-page paper,
from a very heavy but comparatively new quarterly, on "The True Location
of the Holy Sepulchre." Then came Mr. Jodderel, who had once defrayed
the entire cost of producing a bulky pamphlet, the motive of which was
the probable final settlement of all departed spirits, in renewed
bodies, on some one of the terrestrial globes which he believed had been
in preparation from the foundation of the world. Mr. Jodderel more than
hinted that he would like to see considerable attention given to this
topic in the new class, and though good Leader Bates trembled at the
thought, having heard the same subject discussed in season and out of
season ever since Mr. Jodderel had made the coming peerless city of the
West his place of business, he was true to the sentiment which had led
to the formation of the class, and therefore gave Mr. Jodderel a hearty
fraternal welcome. Then, like Nicodemus, there came by night, and from
fear of the orthodox, Brother Prymm, to whom the slightest letter of the
law was of more importance than the whole of the spirit thereof. He had
made the matter of joining the class a subject of special prayer, he
said, and had made up his mind that if it were really the intention of
the members to encourage free speech and honestly search for the actual
truth regarding the will of God, it was his duty to join the class, and
serve his blessed Master to the extent of his poor abilities. Mr. Maddle
came next, and Leader Bates' heart gladdened to receive him, for Mr.
Maddle was one of the most successful organizers in the State; he had
planned and executed at least two remarkably successful campaigns in the
local political field, and had reorganized, out of nothing, more than
one shapeless business enterprise so admirably that the backers thereof
could not learn what they had expended, nor could the creditors discern
what they themselves had received. With such a man behind him, Leader
Bates rose superior to his own fears of the possible disintegration
which the diversity of views of his fellow-members had seemed to make
possible. And then, as if providentially sent to give the class the
impress and protection of the highest order of mentality, came Dr.
Fahrenglohz, Ph.D., Göttingen, who had additional repute as being a
good physician and a man who always paid his bills. All these were
present at the opening hour of the next meeting, and with them came
several people of the class which yields capital listeners, and proves
the wondrous capacity of the human mind for absorbing information
without ever being moved to lend any of it again to others.
The meeting was opened with prayer. Deacon Bates remarked prefatorily
that such would be the proper thing in a class composed of adults, and
then he looked around hesitatingly for the proper man to make the first
formal committal of the class into the hands of the Lord; but Squire
Woodhouse saved him the trouble by springing to his feet and
volunteering to Heaven an address so concise that there remained nothing
unsaid. Then Bibles were distributed, and opened at the fifth chapter of
Matthew's Gospel, and every one looked unspeakably profound, though Mr.
Hopper had the presence of mind to place his hand beneath his
coat-tails and take hold of the review containing the paper on "The True
Location of the Holy Sepulchre," so as to be ready in case occasion
offered.
"Let us begin with the beatitudes," said the leader. "'Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' By the way, I
would suggest that each member speaks in the order of his sitting. Mr.
Lottson," continued Deacon Bates, addressing the insurance president,
"whom do you suppose Jesus referred to as 'the poor in spirit'?"
"Before answering that question," said Mr. Lottson, "I think attention
should be called to a passage in the opening of the chapter. It is said
that 'When he was set, _his disciples_ came unto him. And he opened his
mouth and taught _them_, saying,' etc. Now, before we try to understand
this beautiful succession of blessings, we should realize whom they were
spoken to--to the disciples, who had left all and followed him, and
therefore to a set of men to whom he could say things which it would be
nonsensical for him to say to the common people and business men around
him. The disciples were out of business, and lived on their friends--it
was right enough for them to do so under the circumstances, but for this
very reason Jesus told them the things which nobody else could
understand. This sermon was preached to self-forgetting preachers, not
to men who had to make their living and take the world as they found it;
and I suppose the first beatitude meant to them just what it said.
_They_ were poor in spirit--any man has to be, if he be willing to go
around without a cent in his pocket--but to pay them for it he gave them
the kingdom of heaven, that is, the church of which Christ is prophet,
priest, and king. It's the greatest charge in the world; all business
enterprises are nothing in comparison with it; but Jesus showed his
divine nature by giving them this, for while they managed it splendidly,
it's the only great affair in the world that a lot of poor-spirited men
could manage without running it into the ground."
"That depends upon what 'poor in spirit' means," remarked Squire
Woodhouse. "President Lottson seems to think it's the same thing as
mean-spirited, but if it is, I can tell him that there's more money for
that kind of chaps in other businesses. Now I'm a farmer--my principal
crop is hay, and when my barn burned down last winter with eleven tons
loose and forty odd tons pressed, and I went to the insur----"
"The members will please speak as called upon," said the leader, whose
watchful ear imagined it detected a personality in the immediate future
of the Squire's address. Squire Woodhouse subsided after a soft whisper
to his right-hand neighbor, which caused that gentleman to notice that
President Lottson's face was flushing a little, and his lips touching
each other more firmly than usual.
"It seems to me," said Mr. Radley, who was next called upon, "that the
passage means just what it says. The kingdom of heaven means the place
we all hope to get to some day, and the poor in spirit are the people
who aren't touchy and don't put on airs Christ was a man of this kind
himself, and he knew by experience what he was talking about."
"Then how did he come to call a lot of good church members vipers?"
demanded Squire Woodhouse, before the leader could bring him to order.
"Because they _were_ vipers," answered Mr. Radley. "Being poor in
spirit--humble--doesn't need to keep anybody from telling the truth.
It's your _high_-spirited chaps that do most of the lying in the
world--they do in business circles anyway."
"Next," said Deacon Bates, and Captain Maile lifted up his voice.
"Judging by the notions most people have of the kingdom of heaven," said
he, "I don't think anybody but poor-spirited people can ever want to go
there."
Next in order came Mr. Jodderel, and, as he afterward told his wife, he
breathed a small thank-offering to Heaven for preparing so perfect an
occasion for the presentation of his own theological pet.
"I don't wonder," he said, "that my military friend turns up his nose at
the home-made heaven of most people, but I want him to understand that
it was no such place that the Lord was talking about. What did he mean
when he said, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world'? What sensible man
imagines that the kingdom he spoke of meant any such place as Christians
talk about, or even the place where the Lord himself is? It can't be the
latter, for _that_ wasn't prepared from the foundation of the world; it
existed long before, and didn't need any preparation. If he prepared the
kingdom from the foundation of the world, and made the sun, moon, and
stars when he founded the world--a fact which I fully and implicitly
believe because it is recorded in the inspired Word--the kingdom must be
in some other sphere. And if, as astronomers say, and I have no reason
to doubt, these spheres are worlds, a great deal like ours, we will have
material bodies when we go to them."
"And poor spirits?" queried the insurance president.
"Yes!" exclaimed Mr. Jodderel fearlessly. "We can't go there without
first dying here, and I never yet saw a man on his death-bed who thought
a high spirit, or what men call a high spirit, had ever done him any
good."
President Lottson tried to swallow a sigh which was a little too quick
for him; he had once or twice imagined himself on his own death-bed, and
had gained thereon some practical intimations which he had made haste to
forget when he got back to business. Mr. Prymm, who sat next to Mr.
Jodderel, cleared his throat and said:
"I think we owe Mr. Lottson our thanks for calling our attention to an
important fact which has escaped general notice. The sermon _was_
undoubtedly preached to the disciples, and should be considered
accordingly; a great many mistakes of interpretation are doubtless due
to the habit of Christians in taking to themselves every saying of the
Lord and his prophets. I confess that the view advanced is so new a one
to me that I am unable at present to express any opinion upon it, but I
derive already this benefit from it--I learn anew how necessary it is to
pay close attention to the letter of the Word."
"Then," said young Mr. Waggett, who sat next Mr. Prymm, and who was
principally remarkable for undeviating devotion to Number One, "then the
passage has nothing to do with the great affair of the salvation of our
own souls."
"Supposing it hasn't," said Squire Woodhouse, in spite of the warning
glance of the leader, "Sunday isn't a business day, and if we want to
talk about some of our best friends then there's no harm in doing so,
nor any time wasted either."
"Brother Scott," said Deacon Bates. The young lawyer, who had been
exerting over himself a degree of control that was simply terrible,
considering his temptations to interruption, said:
"May it please the class: There are some evident misunderstandings
abroad. Mr. Lottson's position is untenable, as the context of the same
sermon proves; no examination, according to the rules of evidence, can
fail to prove that the sermon was addressed to the whole people. The
passage cannot mean literally what it says, as Mr. Radley thinks,
because literally it is illogical, and had such been its intention it
could never have been accepted by that consistent apologist for the
integrity of the Scriptures, the Apostle Paul, whose mind was so
marvelously under control of the legal instinct. Captain Maile's
assumption as to the general idea of heaven is utterly without support
from fact; for poverty of spirit is not the prevailing characteristic of
those whose opinions of heaven are verbally made manifest. As for Mr.
Jodderel's proposition, it involves the literal accuracy of the Book of
Genesis, which many orthodox Christians are unprepared to admit. Mr.
Prymm's notion that the sayings of Jesus may be wrongly taken by
individuals, as applying to themselves, is not in accordance with
logical deductions from other portions of Holy Writ. And how can Mr.
Waggett sustain his position that there is _any_ eternal truth that is
not necessary to salvation?"
A soft chorus of long-drawn breaths followed the delivery of this
speech, and then Squire Woodhouse said:
"Well, now that you've knocked all the rest down, what are you going to
do yourself?"
"That," replied Lawyer Scott, evidently pleased by the compliment but
puzzled by the question, "cannot be answered as easily as it is asked,
and I must beg the gentleman's indulgence until I have time to prepare
my case."
Mr. Buffle, founder of the class, was next in order, and admitted that
he could not see that Jesus, being a clear-headed man, could ever have
meant anything but what he said. He, Mr. Buffle, always said what he
meant, no matter whether he was talking to preachers, shippers, or the
deck-hands on his own boats; he had found that if a man said exactly
what he meant, the stupidest of people could understand him, while
smarter people needed no more. He would consider himself a fool if he
talked over the head of any one who was listening to him, and of course
Jesus couldn't have been foolish. He was very glad, though, to listen to
the many different views that had been advanced on the subject; they
proved just what he had always believed, that men would learn more about
a thing by hearing all sides of it than he could from the smartest
talker alive who knew only one side. He liked the liberality of the
members of the class; it was what he _called_ liberality, to listen to
various views courteously, even if you couldn't accept them all or make
them agree.
The question had now reached Dr. Fahrenglohz, and the members, both
liberal and narrow, prepared for something terrible. They knew, in
general, that he believed nothing that they themselves did; how then
could his own ideas be anything but dreadful?
The doctor looked mildly from behind his very convex glasses, and said:
"Jesus was a mystic. From the spiritual plane on which he lived it was
impossible for him to descend. He could say only that which he believed.
Pure-minded and wholly regardless of ordinary earthly interests, he
could not be a utilitarian, in the vulgar acceptation of the word. What
thought he, what thinks any philosopher, of how his theories may affect
the world? It is his duty to discover the truth, help or hinder
whomsoever it may, and to speak it as he understands it, not in such
fragments as other people may comprehend it. What did Buddha and Brahma?
They spoke, they gave forth that which originated with them."
"And what did it all amount to?" asked Squire Woodhouse. "Business don't
amount to a row of pins among _their_ followers, according to the
_Missionary Herald_, and virtue is worse off yet."
The doctor smiled condescendingly. "'He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear' as _your_ prophet says. Is virtue and good business always to be
found with those who sit under the words of Jesus?"
"N-no," said the Squire, "and that's just what we're driving at. If the
words are understood--and followed--men can't help being good and
successful."
"And so there is all the more need of careful, prayerful study of the
words," remarked Mr. Prymm.
There was general disappointment, among those who had yet to speak, at
the lack of any startling heresy in the doctor's utterances. Builder
Stott in particular had felt that he might have an opportunity of
defending the faith which he so unhesitatingly accepted, at no matter
what intellectual difficulties, by abusing some heterodox utterance of
the doctor; but the doctors statements had seemed to him to resemble
either a sphere--and a hollow one--from which all projectiles would
glance harmlessly, or mere thin air, in which there was nothing to aim
at. So he could do nothing but assert his own orthodoxy.
"I believe everything that Jesus said was meant just as it was spoken,"
said he; "whether what we call common sense has got anything to do with
it or not, is none of our business. Of course we can't live up to it
all--we're born in sin and shapen in iniquity; our hearts are deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked--but what we can't do, he did
for us, by dying on the cross. _We_ can never act according to his
teachings--we'd go to the poor-house or into our coffins as soon as we
attempted it. If we _could_ do it, there wouldn't have been any need of
an atonement."
"Then the atonement is an excuse for rascality, is it?" asked Captain
Maile. The Captain's own house had been erected by Builder Stott, and
many had been his complaints of features which had proved not in
accordance with the spirit of the contract.
Leader Bates felt extremely uncomfortable; he never had liked
personalities, and hated them all the worse when they interfered with
that heavenly feeling which was to him the principal object of all
religious meetings. He made haste to call upon Mr. Alleman, and that
gentleman replied:
"Mr. Leader, there can be no doubt that this passage was spoken to
living men, about living interests, and that it not only can be lived up
to by the exercise of such qualities as men already have, but that it
_must_ be treated and respected as truth if men do not wish the disgrace
and penalties of hypocrisy. Of what consequence is it to true
righteousness if men will or will not reconcile scriptural injunctions
with business desires? Bring business up to truth, not truth down to
business, is the earthly application of Christ's teachings."
"That," said Builder Stott, "may be all right in running a first-class
academy, but you can't run the building business on any such basis."
The hour for dismission was reached at that instant, with Mr. Hopper
still nervously shaking the coat-tail pocket which contained the review
with the article on the "True Location of the Holy Sepulchre." Two or
three of the members departed, but the greater number stood about and
discussed the discussion.
"Well, everybody had a chance to speak his mind," said Mr. President
Lottson.
"That's so," said Mr. Buffle, founder of the class, rubbing his hands
enthusiastically. "Nobody was afraid of his neighbor's opinions."
"There seemed a general disposition to view the subject from all
points," remarked Mr. Prymm.
"Not much regard paid to evidence," said young Lawyer Scott, "but still
an evident willingness to open the case fairly."
"There was not a proper interest displayed in the future location of the
soul," complained Mr. Jodderel; "still the members acted like good
listeners."
"There was a little too much talking back," said Mr. Radley; "men should
be more careful about treading on each other's corns. But there was a
real, liberal spirit shown throughout, and that's what religious
societies need."
"Men shouldn't _have_ corns, if they don't want them trodden on," said
Captain Maile. "I won't complain, though--I never saw so little
narrowness in so large a religious gathering."
"I take great delight in recalling the conference we have had," said Dr.
Fahrenglohz. "I supposed, when I heard of this association, that it
would not bear the test of differences of opinions, but I am grateful
for the respect shown to me, and pleased at the courtesy displayed
toward others."
Squire Woodhouse waited until Mr. Alleman disappeared, and then burst
into a small group exclaiming:
"Now, I like Alleman first rate--all of my children go to his
academy--but I _do_ wonder whether he could run a farm with those
notions of his? I'm glad the class listened respectfully, though--it
showed that nobody was afraid that a little liberality would hurt any
one."