, 1872-11-10
RELIGIONS:

JA1ENl AELAbAOttof T1NO 4A14-AA' AA41--4- A@H'
TO UNIVERSAL RELIGION. by sAMuE1 JOHN
son, 1>;D1A. Boston: James R. osgood CO. Chi
cago .Iausen, McClurg Co.
Under tho Investigations which Mr.. Johnson
gives us in this book lies the scientific spirit that
8 now nnimating modern research, and giving our
physicists and motaphyeicists freedom OF reach
md freshness of result impossible in the dull.
traditional circlo Of authority and unthinklng
faith. Somebody has said thora are no solitary
facts in Nature. Explorers in the realm OF the
material forces are showing, as Huxley has done,
That the diverse phenomena of life are under
pinned by ore great structural law. The
fungi which swarm by mill
ions in q simple fly; the giant pine
of California, of cathedral height; the Tndian
fg-tree. shadowing acres. the animalculcs Of
uid-occan, so minute that millions INDY dance on
the point OF needle; the Finner whale, husost
of BEASTS, disporting ninety feet Of bone and
hlubber on pillows that would overcome man-
of-var; the flower that decks our maidens, and
the blood that courses through their
veins. arc all but varying COM
binations OF the same essential germs.
Heat. and light. and electricity, and the laws OF
chemical coordination, are believed, by the most |
advanced Thinkers to be essentially one. Spencer
has developed the doctrines OF evolution, till |
all Thought all lifo all matter, are projected |
bae7 into almost predicate past in which they
existed aa identical atoms Darwin and his
school, i'll their stndies are suggesting the most
unpleasant unitieB in animate nature. Tyndau
is putting prayer OIL the same physical
basis as gymnastic exercises. Buckle long ago
taught that, beneath all the vicissitudes and
variations Of human action recorded IN history,
ran the same unifying and regnant laws for all
men.
In carrying into the study Of human theologies
this same broad spirit of generalization, Mr.
johnson treads path, not new, with Bucl! fresh
zeal, that his results have al the charm OF noy-
city. The point OF application for his scholastic
! lever is India, and he seeks to find, III
it's religions and their effects, support for his
theory that, under all the historic, traditional.
aoctrinal ceremonial, and sentimental aspects OF
the worlds religions, there may: be found the
manifestations Of one epirtuals purport Of Ma
| ture.-one universal religion.
The studies presented in these volumes have
been pursued for twenty years: The views they
with a patience significant again Of his scien-
| tiio spirit they we're withheld al Newton with
held the publication OF his theory Of grayitation,
till the disclosures Of later inquiry fortified the
written not in advocacy Of Christianity, or Butl-
dhism, or any other distinctive religion, but to
| elucidate the religious sentiment under all it's
great historic forms. Another generalization,
which is i'll harmony with those OF other SCI
ences,-as where DeTocquevi1le teaches that
| and when Bastiat shows TINT
all men are approaching the same level, and
that the level is always rising,-is Mr.. john
sons theory, that, among all religions, thore is e
movement toward unity, on q plan where all
their distinctive differences will disappear.
Mr.. johnson says that the distinction between
"sacred" and "profane" history, interpret as
we will, yanishes forever as we look into the
derivation Of aa1 ancient Sdo mXtnolo Xteom,
Of mans relations to the Infinite: The
same fate befalls the claims OF special rellg-
ions to have been given to men perfect from
the first, and to have been possessed OF reVela:
tions Divine, and, consequently, complete and
final In this view, "profane history" is mis-
nomer. II anything is from God, all must be
and all things, mundane and supernal, must b
J Of Divine origin. Millions Of men, in all races
have been pressed on BY their ntultf'e spiL3sna
! Of origin, life, aud future, and to CIV
expression, in some form, to their imperfect in
t. sight. Civilization, our author says, il tounde
on Christianity only as single one OF man
process of Divine force. There is no poin
where the Deity enters, either in religion Q
9 other cosmical growth, for there is no poin
< where be is absent.
q ty, Mr. Johnson claims. is but on
I development in human thought; earli*
t and later beliefs are, and are right, by the san
j. warrant Of human nature that 1ust.nes Chtl
n tianty. There is, between all religions, an q
Q sential harmony of origin and function, q
r though between the defenders OF the faith
the front, there has ever been Perverse mlsu1
derstanding and conflict. Our authors sense
justice is touched by the partiality which seen
to him to have been shown to the Christie
creed at the expense Of other faiths, and he pr
u poses, as part Of his task, to "place the
on their real merits before the conscience OF
r civilization which has, until very recently. 81
q pended almost all its hospitality on the CLAIM
:; OF Christianity alone.' He represents the r
+ action against the assertions, that moral and
q ligious truth had no existence before tho Chri
70 tian epoch, as il the Sermon on the Mount i
= troduced into humanity the love and trust
u taught that belief in Immortality came IN
!, the world through the teachings OF the NJ
y Testament; that the virtues of Pagan phlle
70 ophers were, at Calvin amiably charged, hyF
10 critcal that the Sanskrt language and liter
n tnro we're, AZ Dugad Stewart said. inventions
~ Brahmans; that all that WAS noble and DIV.
u. in heather religions was imported from the
re brew books. The older religious should now
e. studied in the light of their own intrinsic valu
IN "in the maturity Of science, with somethl
e. OF the tenderness We feel for our own e.
10 liest intuitions and emotions; with q n
. cront use too, Of thoae faculties OF j
rs aginaton and contemplation which are
way Of to
instance, must look into the religious TOLERATE
prevailing in China from antiquity, to doc
fe. whether there WAS not in it the germ OF
us highest spiritual dignity attained in Europe
'st America. The self-abnegation Of the Buddhl
IL is equal in practical benevolence, and in ard
zeal for ideal development, to the finest aspi
tons OF our day. Even in the "e
meut-worship OF the early Aryans
germ Of Monotheism which destr'
the claim Of the Shemitic Hebrews to the
elusive depositarics of the doctrine OF One g
''Thus the cardinal virtues and beliefs belo1
not to one religion, but to all religions; q
the diversites Of forms into which each OF th'
ideals is broken by differences Of race and .
turo do not affect its essential identity in til
all. We everywhere find ourselves at home
the worlds great faiths, thro'
their common appeal to what
nearest and most familiar to us in solving
great facts and relations with which the SOU
forever called to deal. Everywhere wo greet
sontial meanings Of the unity Of God with N
of fate and freedom, OF sacrifice, inBprati
progress immortality, practical duties, and
nlanities just Al We everywhere ind tue II
teries Of birth and death the bliss OF loving
sharing, the aelf-respect Of moral loyalty,
stress Of idenl desire.'
These Divine insignia, which !
been appropriated exclusively by Oh
AAE