THE doctrine of Jesus is to bring the kingdom of God upon earth. The
practice of this doctrine is not difficult; and not only so, its
practice is a natural expression of the belief of all who recognize its
truth. The doctrine of Jesus offers the only possible chance of
salvation for those who would escape the perdition that threatens the
personal life. The fulfilment of this doctrine not only will deliver men
from the privations and sufferings of this life, but will put an end to
nine-tenths of the suffering endured in behalf of the doctrine of the
world.
When I understood this I asked myself why I had never practised a
doctrine which would give me so much happiness and peace and joy; why,
on the other hand, I always had practised an entirely different
doctrine, and thereby made myself wretched? Why? The reply was a simple
one. Because I never had known the truth. The truth had been concealed
from me.
When the doctrine of Jesus was first revealed to me, I did not believe
that the discovery would lead me to reject the doctrine of the
Church.[22] I dreaded this separation, and in the course of my studies
I did not attempt to search out the errors in the doctrine of the
Church. I sought, rather, to close my eyes to propositions that seemed
to be obscure and strange, provided they were not in evident
contradiction with what I regarded as the substance of the Christian
doctrine.
[22] See Appendix.
But the further I advanced in the study of the Gospels, and the more
clearly the doctrine of Jesus was revealed to me, the more inevitable
the choice became. I must either accept the doctrine of Jesus, a
reasonable and simple doctrine in accordance with my conscience and my
hope of salvation; or I must accept an entirely different doctrine, a
doctrine in opposition to reason and conscience and that offered me
nothing except the certainty of my own perdition and that of others. I
was therefore forced to reject, one after another, the dogmas of the
Church. This I did against my will, struggling with the desire to
mitigate as much as possible my disagreement with the Church, that I
might not be obliged to separate from the Church, and thereby deprive
myself of communion with fellow-believers, the greatest happiness that
religion can bestow. But when I had completed my task, I saw that in
spite of all my efforts to maintain a connecting-link with the Church,
the separation was complete. I knew before that the bond of union, if it
existed at all, must be a very slight one, but I was soon convinced that
it did not exist at all.
My son came to me one day, after I had completed my examination of the
Gospels, and told me of a discussion that was going on between two
domestics (uneducated persons who scarcely knew how to read) concerning
a passage in some religious book which maintained that it was not a sin
to put criminals to death, or to kill enemies in war. I could not
believe that an assertion of this sort could be printed in any book, and
I asked to see it. The volume bore the title of "_A Book of Selected
Prayers_; third edition; eighth ten thousand; Moscow: 1879." On page 163
of this book I read:--
"What is the sixth commandment of God?
"Thou shalt not kill.
"What does God forbid by this commandment?
"He forbids us to kill, to take the life of any man.
"Is it a sin to punish a criminal with death according to the law, or to
kill an enemy in war?
"No; that is not a sin. We take the life of the criminal to put an end
to the wrong that he commits; we slay an enemy in war, because in war we
fight for our sovereign and our native land."
And in this manner was enjoined the abrogation of the law of God! I
could scarcely believe that I had read aright.
My opinion was asked with regard to the subject at issue. To the one who
maintained that the instruction given by the book was true, I said that
the explanation was not correct.
"Why, then, do they print untrue explanations contrary to the law?" was
his question, to which I could say nothing in reply.
I kept the volume and looked over its contents. The book contained
thirty-one prayers with instructions concerning genuflexions and the
joining of the fingers; an explanation of the _Credo_; a citation from
the fifth chapter of Matthew without any explanation whatever, but
headed, "Commands for those who would possess the Beatitudes"; the ten
commandments accompanied by comments that rendered most of them void;
and hymns for every saint's day.
As I have said, I not only had sought to avoid censure of the religion
of the Church; I had done my best to see only its most favorable side;
and knowing its academic literature from beginning to end, I had paid no
attention whatever to its popular literature. This book of devotion,
spread broadcast in an enormous number of copies, awakening doubts in
the minds of the most unlearned people, set me to thinking. The contents
of the book seemed to me so entirely pagan, so wholly out of accord with
Christianity, that I could not believe it to be the deliberate purpose
of the Church to propagate such a doctrine. To verify my belief, I
bought and read all the books published by the synod with its
"benediction" (_blagoslovnia_), containing brief expositions of the
religion of the Church for the use of children and the common people.
Their contents were to me almost entirely new, for at the time when I
received my early religious instruction, they had not yet appeared. As
far as I could remember there were no commandments with regard to the
beatitudes, and there was no doctrine which taught that it was not a sin
to kill. No such teachings appeared in the old catechisms; they were
not to be found in the catechism of Peter Mogilas, or in that of
Beliokof, or the abridged Catholic catechisms. The innovation was
introduced by the metropolitan Philaret, who prepared a catechism with
proper regard for the susceptibilities of the military class, and from
this catechism the _Book of Selected Prayers_ was compiled. Philaret's
work is entitled, _The Christian Catechism of the Orthodox Church, for
the Use of all Orthodox Christians_, and is published, "by order of his
Imperial Majesty."[23]
[23] This book has been in use in all the schools and churches of
Russia since 1839.--TR.
The book is divided into three parts, "Concerning Faith," "Concerning
Hope," and "Concerning Love." The first part contains the analysis of
the symbol of faith as given by the Council of Nice. The second part is
made up of an exposition of the _Pater Noster_, and the first eight
verses of the fifth chapter of Matthew, which serve as an introduction
to the Sermon on the Mount, and are called (I know not why) "Commands
for those who would possess the Beatitudes." These first two parts treat
of the dogmas of the Church, prayers, and the sacraments, but they
contain no rules with regard to the conduct of life. The third part,
"Concerning Love," contains an exposition of Christian duties, based not
on the commandments of Jesus, but upon the ten commandments of Moses.
This exposition of the commandments of Moses seems to have been made for
the especial purpose of teaching men not to obey them. Each commandment
is followed by a reservation which completely destroys its force. With
regard to the first commandment, which enjoins the worship of God alone,
the catechism inculcates the worship of saints and angels, to say
nothing of the Mother of God and the three persons of the Trinity
("Special Catechism," pp. 107, 108). With regard to the second
commandment, against the worship of idols, the catechism enjoins the
worship of images (p. 108). With regard to the third commandment, the
catechism enjoins the taking of oaths as the principal token of
legitimate authority (p. 111). With regard to the fourth commandment,
concerning the observance of the Sabbath, the catechism inculcates the
observance of Sunday, of the thirteen principal feasts, of a number of
feasts of less importance, the observance of Lent, and of fasts on
Wednesdays and Fridays (pp. 112-115). With regard to the fifth
commandment, "_Honor thy father and thy mother_," the catechism
prescribes honor to the sovereign, the country, spiritual fathers, all
persons in authority, and of these last gives an enumeration in three
pages, including college authorities, civil, judicial, and military
authorities, and owners of serfs, with instructions as to the manner of
honoring each of these classes (pp. 116-119). My citations are taken
from the sixty-fourth edition of the catechism, dated 1880. Twenty years
have passed since the abolition of serfdom, and no one has taken the
trouble to strike out the phrase which, in connection with the
commandment of God to honor parents, was introduced into the catechism
to sustain and justify slavery.
With regard to the sixth commandment, "_Thou shalt not kill_," the
instructions of the catechism are from the first in favor of murder.
"_Question._--What does the sixth commandment forbid?
"_Answer._--It forbids manslaughter, to take the life of one's neighbor
in any manner whatever.
"_Question._--Is all manslaughter a transgression of the law?
"_Answer._--Manslaughter is not a transgression of the law when life is
taken in pursuance of its mandate. For example:
"1st. When a criminal condemned in justice is punished by death.
"2d. When we kill _in war_ for the sovereign and our country."
The italics are in the original. Further on we read:--
"_Question._--With regard to manslaughter, when is the law transgressed?
"_Answer._--When any one conceals a murderer or sets him at liberty"
(_sic_).
All this is printed in hundreds of thousands of copies, and under the
name of Christian doctrine is taught by compulsion to every Russian, who
is obliged to receive it under penalty of castigation. This is taught to
all the Russian people. It is taught to the innocent children,--to the
children whom Jesus commanded to be brought to him as belonging to the
kingdom of God; to the children whom we must resemble, in ignorance of
false doctrines, to enter into the kingdom of God; to the children whom
Jesus tried to protect in proclaiming woe on him who should cause one of
the little ones to stumble! And the little children are obliged to learn
all this, and are told that it is the only and sacred law of God. These
are not proclamations sent out clandestinely, whose authors are punished
with penal servitude; they are proclamations which inflict the
punishment of penal servitude upon all those who do not agree with the
doctrines they inculcate.
As I write these lines, I experience a feeling of insecurity, simply
because I have allowed myself to say that men cannot render void the
fundamental law of God inscribed in all the codes and in all hearts, by
such words as these:--
"Manslaughter is not a transgression of the law when life is taken in
pursuance of its mandate... when we kill in war for our sovereign and
our country."
I tremble because I have allowed myself to say that such things should
not be taught to children.
It was against such teachings as these that Jesus warned men when he
said:--
"_Look, therefore, whether the light that is in thee be not darkness._"
(Luke xi. 35.)
The light that is in us has become darkness; and the darkness of our
lives is full of terror.
"_Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the
kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither
suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a
pretense ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater
condemnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye
make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye
blind guides...._
"_Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the
sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and
say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, ice should not have been
partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness
to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. Fill ye
up, then, the measure of your fathers.... I send unto you prophets, and
wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some
of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to
city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,
from the blood of Abel...._
"_Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy
against the Spirit shall not be forgiven._"
Of a truth we might say that all this was written but yesterday, not
against men who no longer compass sea and land to blaspheme against the
Spirit, or to convert men to a religion that renders its proselytes
worse than they were before, but against men who deliberately force
people to embrace their religion, and persecute and bring to death all
the prophets and the righteous who seek to reveal their falsehoods to
mankind. I became convinced that the doctrine of the Church, although
bearing the name of "Christian," is one with the darkness against which
Jesus struggled, and against which he commanded his disciples to strive.
The doctrine of Jesus, like all religious doctrines, is regarded in two
ways,--first, as a moral and ethical system which teaches men how they
should live as individuals, and in relation to each other; second, as a
metaphysical theory which explains why men should live in a given manner
and not otherwise. One necessitates the other. Man should live in this
manner because such is his destiny; or, man's destiny is this way, and
consequently he should follow it. These two methods of doctrinal
expression are common to all the religions of the world, to the religion
of the Brahmins, to that of Confucius, to that of Buddha, to that of
Moses, and to that of the Christ. But, with regard to the doctrine of
Jesus, as with regard to all other doctrines, men wander from its
precepts, and they always find some one to justify their deviations.
Those who, as Jesus said, sit in Moses' seat, explain the metaphysical
theory in such a way that the ethical prescriptions of the doctrine
cease to be regarded as obligatory, and are replaced by external forms
of worship, by ceremonial. This is a condition common to all religions,
but, to me, it seems that it never has been manifested with so much pomp
as in connection with Christianity,--and for two reasons: first, because
the doctrine of Jesus is the most elevated of all doctrines (the most
elevated because the metaphysical and ethical portions are so closely
united that one cannot be separated from the other without destroying
the vitality of the whole); second, because the doctrine of Jesus is in
itself a protest against all forms, a negation not only of Jewish
ceremonial, but of all exterior rites of worship. Therefore, the
arbitrary separation of the metaphysical and ethical aspects of
Christianity entirely disfigures the doctrine, and deprives it of every
sort of meaning. The separation began with the preaching of Paul, who
knew but imperfectly the ethical doctrine set forth in the Gospel of
Matthew, and who preached a metaphysico-cabalistic theory entirely
foreign to the doctrine of Jesus; and this theory was perfected under
Constantine, when the existing pagan social organization was proclaimed
Christian simply by covering it with the mantle of Christianity. After
Constantine, that arch-pagan, whom the Church in spite of all his crimes
and vices admits to the category of the saints, after Constantine began
the domination of the councils, and the centre of gravity of
Christianity was permanently displaced till only the metaphysical
portion was left in view. And this metaphysical theory with its
accompanying ceremonial deviated more and more from its true and
primitive meaning, until it has reached its present stage of
development, as a doctrine which explains the mysteries of a celestial
life beyond the comprehension of human reason, and, with all its
complicated formulas, gives no religious guidance whatever with regard
to the regulation of this earthly life.
All religions, with the exception of the religion of the Christian
Church, demand from their adherents aside from forms and ceremonies, the
practice of certain actions called good, and abstinence from certain
actions that are called bad. The Jewish religion prescribed
circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, the giving of alms, the
feast of the Passover. Mohammedanism prescribes circumcision, prayer
five times a day, the giving of tithes to the poor, pilgrimage to the
tomb of the Prophet, and many other things. It is the same with all
other religions. Whether these prescriptions are good or bad, they are
prescriptions which exact the performance of certain actions.
Pseudo-Christianity alone prescribes nothing. There is nothing that a
Christian is obliged to observe except fasts and prayers, which the
Church itself does not recognize as obligatory. All that is necessary to
the pseudo-Christian is the sacrament. But the sacrament is not
fulfilled by the believer; it is administered to him by others. The
pseudo-Christian is obliged to do nothing or to abstain from nothing for
his own salvation, since the Church administers to him everything of
which he has need. The Church baptizes him, anoints him, gives him the
eucharist, confesses him, even after he has lost consciousness,
administers extreme unction to him, and prays for him,--and he is saved.
From the time of Constantine the Christian Church has prescribed no
religious duties to its adherents. It has never required that they
should abstain from anything. The Christian Church has recognized and
sanctioned divorce, slavery, tribunals, all earthly powers, the death
penalty, and war; it has exacted nothing except a renunciation of a
purpose to do evil on the occasion of baptism, and this only in its
early days: later on, when infant baptism was introduced, even this
requirement was no longer observed.
The Church confesses the doctrine of Jesus in theory, but denies it in
practice. Instead of guiding the life of the world, the Church, through
affection for the world, expounds the metaphysical doctrine of Jesus in
such a way as not to derive from it any obligation as to the conduct of
life, any necessity for men to live differently from the way in which
they have been living. The Church has surrendered to the world, and
simply follows in the train of its victor. The world does as it pleases,
and leaves to the Church the task of justifying its actions with
explanations as to the meaning of life. The world organizes an existence
in absolute opposition to the doctrine of Jesus, and the Church
endeavors to demonstrate that men who live contrary to the doctrine of
Jesus really live in accordance with that doctrine. The final result is
that the world lives a worse than pagan existence, and the Church not
only approves, but maintains that this existence is in exact conformity
to the doctrine of Jesus.
But a time comes when the light of the true doctrine of Jesus shines
forth from the Gospels, notwithstanding the guilty efforts of the Church
to conceal it from men's eyes, as, for instance, in prohibiting the
translation of the Bible; there comes a time when the light reaches the
people, even through the medium of sectarians and free-thinkers, and the
falsity of the doctrine of the Church is shown so clearly that men begin
to transform the method of living that the Church has justified.
Thus men of their own accord, and in opposition to the sanction of the
Church, have abolished slavery, abolished the divine right of emperors
and popes, and are now proceeding to abolish property and the State. And
the Church cannot forbid such action because the abolition of these
iniquities is in conformity to the Christian doctrine, that the Church
preaches after having falsified.
And in this way the conduct of human life is freed from the control of
the Church, and subjected to an entirely different authority. The Church
retains its dogmas, but what are its dogmas worth? A metaphysical
explanation can be of use only when there is a doctrine of life which it
serves to make manifest. But the Church possesses only the explanation
of an organization which it once sanctioned, and which no longer exists.
The Church has nothing left but temples and shrines and canonicals and
vestments and words.
For eighteen centuries the Church has hidden the light of Christianity
behind its forms and ceremonials, and by this same light it is put to
shame. The world, with an organization sanctioned by the Church, has
rejected the Church in the name of the very principles of Christianity
that the Church has professed. The separation between the two is
complete and cannot be concealed. Everything that truly lives in the
world of Europe to-day (everything not cold and dumb in hateful
isolation),--everything that is living, is detached from the Church,
from all churches, and has an existence independent of the Church. Let
it not be said that this is true only of the decayed civilizations of
Western Europe. Russia, with its millions of civilized and uncivilized
Christian rationalists, who have rejected the doctrine of the Church,
proves incontestably that as regards emancipation from the yoke of the
Church, she is, thanks be to God, in a worse condition of decay than the
rest of Europe.
All that lives is independent of the Church. The power of the State is
based upon tradition, upon science, upon popular suffrage, upon brute
force, upon everything except upon the Church. Wars, the relation of
State with State, are governed by principles of nationality, of the
balance of power, but not by the Church. The institutions established by
the State frankly ignore the Church. The idea that the Church can, in
these times, serve as a basis for justice or the conservation of
property, is simply absurd. Science not only does not sustain the
doctrine of the Church, but is, in its development, entirely hostile to
the Church. Art, formerly entirely devoted to the service of the
Church, has wholly forsaken the Church. It is little to say that human
life is now entirely emancipated from the Church; it has now, with
regard to the Church, only contempt when the Church does not interfere
with human affairs, and hatred when the Church seeks to re-assert its
ancient privileges. The Church is still permitted a formal existence
simply because men dread to shatter the chalice that once contained the
water of life. In this way only can we account, in our age, for the
existence of Catholicism, of Orthodoxy, and of the different Protestant
churches.
All these churches--Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant--are like so many
sentinels still keeping careful watch before the prison doors, although
the prisoners have long been at liberty before their eyes, and even
threaten their existence. All that actually constitutes life, that is,
the activity of humanity towards progress and its own welfare,
socialism, communism, the new politico-economical theories,
utilitarianism, the liberty and equality of all social classes, and of
men and women, all the moral principles of humanity, the sanctity of
work, reason, science, art,--all these that lend an impulse to the
world's progress in hostility to the Church are only fragments of the
doctrine which the Church has professed, and so carefully endeavored to
conceal. In these times, the life of the world is entirely independent
of the doctrine of the Church. The Church is left so far behind, that
men no longer hear the voices of those who preach its doctrines. This
is easily to be understood because the Church still clings to an
organization of the world's life, which has been forsaken, and is
rapidly falling to destruction.
Imagine a number of men rowing a boat, a pilot steering. The men rely
upon the pilot, and the pilot steers well; but after a time the good
pilot is replaced by another, who does not steer at all. The boat moves
along rapidly and easily. At first the men do not notice the negligence
of the new pilot; they are only pleased to find that the boat goes along
so easily. Then they discover that the new pilot is utterly useless, and
they mock at him, and drive him from his place.
The matter would not be so serious if the men, in thrusting aside the
unskilful pilot, did not forget that without a pilot they are likely to
take a wrong course. But so it is with our Christian society. The Church
has lost its control; we move smoothly onward, and we are a long way
from our point of departure. Science, that especial pride of this
nineteenth century, is sometimes alarmed; but that is because of the
absence of a pilot. We are moving onward, but to what goal? We organize
our life without in the least knowing why, or to what end. But we can no
longer be contented to live without knowing why, any more than we can
navigate a boat without knowing the course that we are following.
If men could do nothing of themselves, if they were not responsible for
their condition, they might very reasonably reply to the question, "Why
are you in this situation?"--"We do not know; but here we are, and
submit." But men are the builders of their own destiny, and more
especially of the destiny of their children; and so when we ask, "Why do
you bring together millions of troops, and why do you make soldiers of
yourselves, and mangle and murder one another? Why have you expended,
and why do you still expend, an enormous sum of human energy in the
construction of useless and unhealthful cities? Why do you organize
ridiculous tribunals, and send people whom you consider as criminals
from France to Cayenne, from Russia to Siberia, from England to
Australia, when you know the hopeless folly of it? Why do you abandon
agriculture, which you love, for work in factories and mills, which you
despise? Why do you bring up your children in a way that will force them
to lead an existence which you find worthless? Why do you do this?" To
all these questions men feel obliged to make some reply.
If this existence were an agreeable one, and men took pleasure in it,
even then men would try to explain why they continued to live under such
conditions. But all these things are terribly difficult; they are
endured with murmuring and painful struggles, and men cannot refrain
from reflecting upon the motive which impels them to such a course. They
must cease to maintain the accepted organization of existence, or they
must explain why they give it their support. And so men never have
allowed this question to pass unanswered. We find in all ages some
attempt at a response. The Jew lived as he lived, that is, made war,
put criminals to death, built the Temple, organized his entire existence
in one way and not another, because, as he was convinced, he thereby
followed the laws which God himself had promulgated. We may say the same
of the Hindu, the Chinaman, the Roman, and the Mohammedan. A similar
response was given by the Christian a century ago, and is given by the
great mass of Christians now.
A century ago, and among the ignorant now, the nominal Christian makes
this reply: "Compulsory military service, wars, tribunals, and the death
penalty, all exist in obedience to the law of God transmitted to us by
the Church. This is a fallen world. All the evil that exists, exists by
God's will, as a punishment for the sins of men. For this reason we can
do nothing to palliate evil. We can only save our own souls by faith, by
the sacraments, by prayers, and by submission to the will of God as
transmitted by the Church. The Church teaches us that all Christians
should unhesitatingly obey their rulers, who are the Lord's anointed,
and obey also persons placed in authority by rulers; that they ought to
defend their property and that of others by force, wage war, inflict the
death penalty, and in all things submit to the authorities, who command
by the will of God."
Whatever we may think of the reasonableness of these explanations, they
once sufficed for a believing Christian, as similar explanations
satisfied a Jew or a Mohammedan, and men were not obliged to renounce
all reason for living according to a law which they recognized as
divine. But in this time only the most ignorant people have faith in any
such explanations, and the number of these diminishes every day and
every hour. It is impossible to check this tendency. Men irresistibly
follow those who lead the way, and sooner or later must pass over the
same ground as the advance guard. The advance guard is now in a critical
position; those who compose it organize life to suit themselves, prepare
the same conditions for those who are to follow, and absolutely have not
the slightest idea of why they do so. No civilized man in the vanguard
of progress is able to give any reply now to the direct questions, "Why
do you lead the life that you do lead? Why do you establish the
conditions that you do establish?" I have propounded these questions to
hundreds of people, and never have got from them a direct reply. Instead
of a direct reply to the direct question, I have received in return a
response to a question that I had not asked.
When we ask a Catholic, or Protestant, or Orthodox believer why he leads
an existence contrary to the doctrine of Jesus, instead of making a
direct response he begins to speak of the melancholy state of scepticism
characteristic of this generation, of evil-minded persons who spread
doubt broadcast among the masses, of the importance of the future of the
existing Church. But he will not tell you why he does not act in
conformity to the commands of the religion that he professes. Instead of
speaking of his own condition, he will talk to you about the condition
of humanity in general, and of that of the Church, as if his own life
were not of the slightest significance, and his sole preoccupations were
the salvation of humanity, and of what he calls the Church.
A philosopher of whatever school he may be, whether an idealist or a
spiritualist, a pessimist or a positivist, if we ask of him why he lives
as he lives, that is to say, in disaccord with his philosophical
doctrine, will begin at once to talk about the progress of humanity and
about the historical law of this progress which he has discovered, and
in virtue of which humanity gravitates toward righteousness. But he
never will make any direct reply to the question why he himself, on his
own account, does not live in harmony with what he recognizes as the
dictates of reason. It would seem as if the philosopher were as
preoccupied as the believer, not with his personal life, but with
observing the effect of general laws upon the development of humanity.
The "average" man (that is, one of the immense majority of civilized
people who are half sceptics and half believers, and who all, without
exception, deplore existence, condemn its organization, and predict
universal destruction),--the average man, when we ask him why he
continues to lead a life that he condemns, without making any effort
towards its amelioration, makes no direct reply, but begins at once to
talk about things in general, about justice, about the State, about
commerce, about civilization. If he be a member of the police or a
prosecuting attorney, he asks, "And what would become of the State, if
I, to ameliorate my existence, were to cease to serve it?" "What would
become of commerce?" is his demand if he be a merchant; "What of
civilization, if I cease to work for it, and seek only to better my own
condition?" will be the objection of another. His response always will
be in this form, as if the duty of his life were not to seek the good
conformable to his nature, but to serve the State, or commerce, or
civilization.
The average man replies in just the same manner as does the believer or
the philosopher. Instead of making the question a personal one, he
glides at once to generalities. This subterfuge is employed simply
because the believer and the philosopher, and the average man have no
positive doctrine concerning existence, and cannot, therefore, reply to
the personal question, "What of your own life?" They are disgusted and
humiliated at not possessing the slightest trace of a doctrine with
regard to life, for no one can live in peace without some understanding
of what life really means. But nowadays only Christians cling to a
fantastic and worn-out creed as an explanation of why life is as it is,
and is not otherwise. Only Christians give the name of religion to a
system which is not of the least use to any one. Only among Christians
is life separated from any or all doctrine, and left without any
definition whatever. Moreover, science, like tradition, has formulated
from the fortuitous and abnormal condition of humanity a general law.
Learned men, such as Tiele and Spencer, treat religion as a serious
matter, understanding by religion the metaphysical doctrine of the
universal principle, without suspecting that they have lost sight of
religion as a whole by confining their attention entirely to one of its
phases.
From all this we get very extraordinary results. We see learned and
intelligent men artlessly believing that they are emancipated from all
religion simply because they reject the metaphysical explanation of the
universal principle which satisfied a former generation. It does not
occur to them that men cannot live without some theory of existence;
that every human being lives according to some principle, and that this
principle by which he governs his life is his religion. The people of
whom we have been speaking are persuaded that they have reasonable
convictions, but that they have no religion. Nevertheless, however
serious their asseverations, they have a religion from the moment that
they undertake to govern their actions by reason, for a reasonable act
is determined by some sort of faith. Now their faith is in what they are
told to do. The faith of those who deny religion is in a religion of
obedience to the will of the ruling majority; in a word, submission to
established authority.
We may live a purely animal life according to the doctrine of the world,
without recognizing any controlling motive more binding than the rules
of established authority. But he who lives this way cannot affirm that
he lives a reasonable life. Before affirming that we live a reasonable
life, we must determine what is the doctrine of the life which we regard
as reasonable. Alas! wretched men that we are, we possess not the
semblance of any such doctrine, and more than that, we have lost all
perception of the necessity for a reasonable doctrine of life.
Ask the believers or sceptics of this age, what doctrine of life they
follow. They will be obliged to confess that they follow but one
doctrine, the doctrine based upon laws formulated by the judiciary or by
legislative assemblies, and enforced by the police--the favorite
doctrine of most Europeans. They know that this doctrine does not come
from on high, or from prophets, or from sages; they are continually
finding fault with the laws drawn up by the judiciary or formulated by
legislative assemblies, but nevertheless they submit to the police
charged with their enforcement. They submit without murmuring to the
most terrible exactions. The clerks employed by the judiciary or the
legislative assemblies decree by statute that every young man must be
ready to take up arms, to kill others, and to die himself, and that all
parents who have adult sons must favor obedience to this law which was
drawn up yesterday by a mercenary official, and may be revoked
to-morrow.
We have lost sight of the idea that a law may be in itself reasonable,
and binding upon every one in spirit as well as in letter. The Hebrews
possessed a law which regulated life, not by forced obedience to its
requirements, but by appealing to the conscience of each individual; and
the existence of this law is considered as an exceptional attribute of
the Hebrew people. That the Hebrews should have been willing to obey
only what they recognized by spiritual perception as the incontestable
truth direct from God is considered a remarkable national trait. But it
appears that the natural and normal state of civilized men is to obey
what to their own knowledge is decreed by despicable officials and
enforced by the co-operation of armed police.
The distinctive trait of civilized man is to obey what the majority of
men regard as iniquitous, contrary to conscience. I seek in vain in
civilized society as it exists to-day for any clearly formulated moral
bases of life. There are none. No perception of their necessity exists.
On the contrary, we find the extraordinary conviction that they are
superfluous; that religion is nothing more than a few words about God
and a future life, and a few ceremonies very useful for the salvation of
the soul according to some, and good for nothing according to others;
but that life happens of itself and has no need of any fundamental rule,
and that we have only to do what we are told to do.
The two substantial sources of faith, the doctrine that governs life,
and the explanation of the meaning of life, are regarded as of very
unequal value. The first is considered as of very little importance, and
as having no relation to faith whatever; the second, as the explanation
of a bygone state of existence, or as made up of speculations
concerning the historical development of life, is considered as of great
significance. As to all that constitutes the life of man expressed in
action, the members of our modern society depend willingly for guidance
upon people who, like themselves, know not why they direct their fellows
to live in one way and not in another. This disposition holds good
whether the question at issue is to decide whether to kill or not to
kill, to judge or not to judge, to bring up children in this way or in
that. And men look upon an existence like this as reasonable, and have
no feeling of shame!
The explanations of the Church which pass for faith, and the true faith
of our generation, which is in obedience to social laws and the laws of
the State, have reached a stage of sharp antagonism. The majority of
civilized people have nothing to regulate life but faith in the police.
This condition would be unbearable if it were universal. Fortunately
there is a remnant, made up of the noblest minds of the age, who are not
contented with this religion, but have an entirely different faith with
regard to what the life of man ought to be. These men are looked upon as
the most malevolent, the most dangerous, and generally as the most
unbelieving of all human beings, and yet they are the only men of our
time believing in the Gospel doctrine, if not as a whole, at least in
part. These people, as a general thing, know little of the doctrine of
Jesus; they do not understand it, and, like their adversaries, they
refuse to accept the leading principle of the religion of Jesus, which
is to resist not evil; often they have nothing but a hatred for the name
of Jesus; but their whole faith with regard to what life ought to be is
unconsciously based upon the humane and eternal truths comprised in the
Christian doctrine. This remnant, in spite of calumny and persecution,
are the only ones who do not tamely submit to the orders of the first
comer. Consequently they are the only ones in these days who live a
reasonable and not an animal life, the only ones who have faith.
The connecting link between the world and the Church, although carefully
cherished by the Church, becomes more and more attenuated. To-day it is
little more than a hindrance. The union between the Church and the world
has no longer any justification. The mysterious process of maturation is
going on before our eyes. The connecting bond will soon be severed, and
the vital social organism will begin to exercise its functions as a
wholly independent existence. The doctrine of the Church, with its
dogmas, its councils, and its hierarchy, is manifestly united to the
doctrine of Jesus. The connecting link is as perceptible as the cord
which binds the newly-born child to its mother; but as the umbilical
cord and the placenta become after parturition useless pieces of flesh,
which are carefully buried out of regard for what they once nourished,
so the Church has become a useless organism, to be preserved, if at all,
in some museum of curiosities out of regard for what it has once been.
As soon as respiration and circulation are established, the former
source of nutrition becomes a hindrance to life. Vain and foolish would
it be to attempt to retain the bond, and to force the child that has
come into the light of day to receive its nourishment by a pre-natal
process. But the deliverance of the child from the maternal tie does not
ensure life. The life of the newly born depends upon another bond of
union which is established between it and its mother that its
nourishment may be maintained.
And so it must be with our Christian world of to-day. The doctrine of
Jesus has brought the world into the light. The Church, one of the
organs of the doctrine of Jesus, has fulfilled its mission and is now
useless. The world cannot be bound to the Church; but the deliverance of
the world from the Church will not ensure life. Life will begin when the
world perceives its own weakness and the necessity for a different
source of strength. The Christian world feels this necessity: it
proclaims its helplessness, it feels the impossibility of depending upon
its former means of nourishment, the inadequacy of any other form of
nourishment except that of the doctrine by which it was brought forth.
This modern European world of ours, apparently so sure of itself, so
bold, so decided, and within so preyed upon by terror and despair, is
exactly in the situation of a newly born animal: it writhes, it cries
aloud, it is perplexed, it knows not what to do; it feels that its
former source of nourishment is withdrawn, but it knows not where to
seek for another. A newly born lamb shakes its head, opens its eyes and
looks about, and leaps, and bounds, and would make us think by its
apparently intelligent movements that it already has mastered the secret
of living; but of this the poor little creature knows nothing. The
impetuosity and energy it displays were drawn from its mother through a
medium of transmission that has just been broken, nevermore to be
renewed. The situation of the new comer is one of delight, and at the
same time is full of peril. It is animated by youth and strength, but it
is lost if it cannot avail itself of the nourishment only to be had from
its mother.
And so it is with our European world. What complex activities, what
energy, what intelligence, does it apparently possess! It would seem as
if all its deeds were governed by reason. With what enthusiasm, what
vigor, what youthfulness do the denizens of this modern world manifest
their abounding vitality! The arts and sciences, the various industries,
political and administrative details, all are full of life. But this
life is due to inspiration received through the connecting link that
binds it to its source. The Church, by transmitting the truth of the
doctrine of Jesus, has communicated life to the world. Upon this
nourishment the world has grown and developed. But the Church has had
its day and is now superfluous.
The world is possessed of a living organism; the means by which it
formerly received its nourishment has withered away, and it has not yet
found another; and it seeks everywhere, everywhere but at the true
source of life. It still possesses the animation derived from
nourishment already received, and it does not yet understand that its
future nourishment is only to be had from one source, and by its own
efforts. The world must now understand that the period of gestation is
ended, and that a new process of conscious nutrition must henceforth
maintain its life. The truth of the doctrine of Jesus, once
unconsciously absorbed by humanity through the organism of the Church,
must now be consciously recognized; for in the truth of this doctrine
humanity has always obtained its vital force. Men must lift up the torch
of truth, which has so long remained concealed, and carry it before
them, guiding their actions by its light.
The doctrine of Jesus, as a religion that governs the actions of men and
explains to them the meaning of life, is now before the world just as it
was eighteen hundred years ago. Formerly the world had the explanations
of the Church which, in concealing the doctrine, seemed in itself to
offer a satisfactory interpretation of life; but now the time is come
when the Church has lost its usefulness, and the world, having no other
means for sustaining its true existence, can only feel its helplessness
and go for aid directly to the doctrine of Jesus.
Now, Jesus first taught men to believe in the light, and that the light
is within themselves. Jesus taught men to lift on high the light of
reason. He taught them to live, guiding their actions by this light, and
to do nothing contrary to reason. It is unreasonable, it is foolish, to
go out to kill Turks or Germans; it is unreasonable to make use of the
labor of others that you and yours may be clothed in the height of
fashion and maintain that mortal source of ennui, a salon; it is
unreasonable to take people already corrupted by idleness and depravity
and shut them up within prison walls, and thereby devote them to an
existence of absolute idleness and deprivation; it is unreasonable to
live in the pestilential air of cities when a purer atmosphere is within
your reach; it is unreasonable to base the education of your children on
the grammatical laws of dead languages;--all this is unreasonable, and
yet it is to-day the life of the European world, which lives a life of
no meaning; which acts, but acts without a purpose, having no confidence
in reason, and existing in opposition to its decrees.
The doctrine of Jesus is the light. The light shines forth, and the
darkness cannot conceal it. Men cannot deny it, men cannot refuse to
accept its guidance. They must depend on the doctrine of Jesus, which
penetrates among all the errors with which the life of men is
surrounded. Like the insensible ether filling universal space,
enveloping all created things, so the doctrine of Jesus is inevitable
for every man in whatever situation he may be found. Men cannot refuse
to recognize the doctrine of Jesus; they may deny the metaphysical
explanation of life which it gives (we may deny everything), but the
doctrine of Jesus alone offers rules for the conduct of life without
which humanity has never lived, and never will be able to live; without
which no human being has lived or can live, if he would live as man
should live,--a reasonable life. The power of the doctrine of Jesus is
not in its explanation of the meaning of life, but in the rules that it
gives for the conduct of life. The metaphysical doctrine of Jesus is not
new; it is that eternal doctrine of humanity inscribed in all the hearts
of men, and preached by all the prophets of all the ages. The power of
the doctrine of Jesus is in the application of this metaphysical
doctrine to life.
The metaphysical basis of the ancient doctrine of the Hebrews, which
enjoined love to God and men, is identical with the metaphysical basis
of the doctrine of Jesus. But the application of this doctrine to life,
as expounded by Moses, was very different from the teachings of Jesus.
The Hebrews, in applying the Mosaic law to life, were obliged to fulfil
six hundred and thirteen commandments, many of which were absurd and
cruel, and yet all were based upon the authority of the Scriptures. The
doctrine of life, as given by Jesus upon the same metaphysical basis, is
expressed in five reasonable and beneficent commandments, having an
obvious and justifiable meaning, and embracing within their restrictions
the whole of human life. A Jew, a disciple of Confucius, a Buddhist, or
a Mohammedan, who sincerely doubts the truth of his own religion,
cannot refuse to accept the doctrine of Jesus; much less, then, can this
doctrine be rejected by the Christian world of to-day, which is now
living without any moral law. The doctrine of Jesus cannot interfere in
any way with the manner in which men of to-day regard the world; it is,
to begin with, in harmony with their metaphysics, but it gives them what
they have not now, what is indispensable to their existence, and what
they all seek,--it offers them a way of life; not an unknown way, but a
way already explored and familiar to all.
Let us suppose that you are a sincere Christian, it matters not of what
confession. You believe in the creation of the world, in the Trinity, in
the fall and redemption of man, in the sacraments, in prayer, in the
Church. The doctrine of Jesus is not opposed to your dogmatic belief,
and is absolutely in harmony with your theory of the origin of the
universe; and it offers you something that you do not possess. While you
retain your present religion you feel that your own life and the life of
the world is full of evil that you know not how to remedy. The doctrine
of Jesus (which should be binding upon you since it is the doctrine of
your own God) offers you simple and practical rules which will surely
deliver you, you and your fellows, from the evils with which you are
tormented.
Believe, if you will, in paradise, in hell, in the pope, in the Church,
in the sacraments, in the redemption; pray according to the dictates of
your faith, attend upon your devotions, sing your hymns,--but all this
will not prevent you from practising the five commandments given by
Jesus for your welfare: Be not angry; Do not commit adultery; Take no
oaths; Resist not evil; Do not make war. It may happen that you will
break one of these rules; you will perhaps yield to temptation, and
violate one of them, just as you violate the rules of your present
religion, or the articles of the civil code, or the laws of custom. In
the same way you may, perhaps, in moments of temptation, fail of
observing all the commandments of Jesus. But, in that case, do not
calmly sit down as you do now, and so organize your existence as to
render it a task of extreme difficulty not to be angry, not to commit
adultery, not to take oaths, not to resist evil, not to make war;
organize rather an existence which shall render the doing of all these
things as difficult as the non-performance of them is now laborious. You
cannot refuse to recognize the validity of these rules, for they are the
commandments of the God whom you pretend to worship.
Let us suppose that you are an unbeliever, a philosopher, it matters not
of what special school. You affirm that the progress of the world is in
accordance with a law that you have discovered. The doctrine of Jesus
does not oppose your views; it is in harmony with the law that you have
discovered. But, aside from this law, in pursuance of which the world
will in the course of a thousand years reach a state of felicity, there
is still your own personal life to be considered. This life you can use
by living in conformity to reason, or you can waste it by living in
opposition to reason, and you have now for its guidance no rule
whatever, except the decrees drawn up by men whom you do not esteem, and
enforced by the police. The doctrine of Jesus offers you rules which are
assuredly in accord with your law of "altruism," which is nothing but a
feeble paraphrase of this same doctrine of Jesus.
Let us suppose that you are an average man, half sceptic, half believer,
one who has no time to analyze the meaning of human life, and one
therefore who has no determinate theory of existence. You live as lives
the rest of the world about you. The doctrine of Jesus is not at all
contrary to your condition. You are incapable of reason, of verifying
the truths of the doctrines that are taught you; it is easier for you to
do as others do. But however modest may be your estimate of your powers
of reason, you know that you have within you a judge that sometimes
approves your acts and sometimes condemns them. However modest your
social position, there are occasions when you are bound to reflect and
ask yourself, "Shall I follow the example of the rest of the world, or
shall I act in accordance with my own judgment?" It is precisely on
these occasions when you are called upon to solve some problem with
regard to the conduct of life, that the commandments of Jesus appeal to
you in all their efficiency. The commandments of Jesus will surely
respond to your inquiry, because they apply to your whole existence.
The response will be in accord with your reason and your conscience. If
you are nearer to faith than to unbelief, you will, in following these
commandments, act in harmony with the will of God. If you are nearer to
scepticism than to belief, you will, in following the doctrine of Jesus,
govern your actions by the laws of reason, for the commandments of Jesus
make manifest their own meaning, and their own justification.
"_Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world
be cast out._" (John xii. 31.)
"_These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In
the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world._" (John xvi. 33.)
The world, that is, the evil in the world, is overcome. If evil still
exists in the world, it exists only through the influence of inertia; it
no longer contains the principle of vitality. For those who have faith
in the commandments of Jesus, it does not exist at all. It is vanquished
by an awakened conscience, by the elevation of the son of man. A train
that has been put in motion continues to move in the direction in which
it was started; but the time comes when the intelligent effort of a
controlling hand is made manifest, and the movement is reversed.
"_Ye are of God, and have overcome them because greater is he that is
within you than he that is in the world._" (1 John v. 4.)
The faith that triumphs over the doctrines of the world is faith in the
doctrine of Jesus.