The sun., 1873-09-13

| rejects them ALL osuecially that which would di-
| vide them into natural religions and revealed re-
ligions. The fatal objection to that class ncation
he says is that every religion is held 10y ITS dcvo-
tees to he a revealed ne, and they are quick to
resent any impuguution Of its claims to be Of
| divine origin. Besides, no religion, says Mr.
| Muller, though founded on revelation, can ever
| be entirely separated from natural religion. The
! tencts Of natural religion, though by them
selves they never constituted real historical
religion, supply the only ground on which re-
| vealcd religion can stand the only soil where II
| can strike root, and from which II can receive
| nouri-hment and life. In order to choose be-
tween different gods and different forms OF
faith a man must possess the faculty of choosing
| the instruments Of testing truth and untruth,
whether revealed or not.
Even Jehovah appealed TO this faculty Of
| choice in presenting the religion OF the Old
Testament to the Jews. He did not impose 1t
arbitrarily upon them. lie presented II for ac-
ceptance or rejection, saying, II II seem evil
unto you TO serve the Lord, choose you this day
whom We will serve" We cannot get rid Of
natural religion, any more than we can get
rid Of natural language. The same class OF
philosophers, says Mr.. M0lltr, who insist
upon primeval revelation OF religion.
considering that language was too wonder
ful ~ achievement for the human nina, insisted
on the necessity of admitting universal prime
val language. revealed directly by God To man,
or rattle 80 mute beings while the mos
though ful and the more reyercnt among the
fathers Of the Church and among the founders
of modern philosophy pointed out that 1t was
more consonaut with the general working 80 au
al-wiac and all powerful Creator, that lie should
have endowed human nature with germinant
faculties of speech, instead ~ prcsenting mute
beings with granumars and dictionaries ready
made. The same, says Mr.. Mailer, applies In re-
leon 4 universal primeval rcli igiOn, revealed
direct 10y God to man, or rather TO crowd cf
atheists. may, to our human wisdom, sectu the
best solution Of all difficulties but higher
wisdom .ucll- 10 us from out the realities u
HISTORY. ard teaches Us, If we Will bat learn.
tina, tive have all to seek the Lord. II haply W.
may feel after Him, ard Ind Him, though be bc
not far from every one uf u-.
Mr Muler say- that In the vast desc. .f drift
Ing human speech, three and only thce oa-e-
have been formed Ia which. before the beginning
Of an history, language became permanent and
traditional These three oascs ~ language are
known hy the name of Turluian. Aryln. and
Semitic; and Mr.. MUllcr secks, also, To show tnat
We really have clear evidence of three indc-
pendent settlements Of religion, the Turanian,
the Aryan, and the semitic, concomitautly
with the three great settlements Of language.
Taking Chinese for the earliest representative
81 Turanian speech, there is found la China an
ancient, culorless, and unpoetical religion, a
religion which we might almost venture to call
mouos yllahic, consisting II the worship of a
most Of single spirits, the names of the most
prominent powers # nature which are supposed
TO exercise an influence for good or evil on the
life II man. Among the ancient Semitic na-
tions including, uf course. the Jews, we inu a
religion which was prermncntly worship Of
God In history, Of God a. affecting TIC dcstinies
of individuals, and races. and nations, rather
than Of God as welding the powers Of nature.
And lastly, In the ancient worship Of the Aryan
race we find religion which was preUmincntly
worship of God in nature, Of God as appearing
through the veil ~ nature, rather than as Ind
den behind the veil ~ the sanctuary Of the
human heart.
According to Mr.. Muller, the earliest charac-
terization or naming II the Infinite IN the Tura-
niau and Ar>an religions was by terms meaning
ky, the sky most readily arordns 10 every
people beneath II the suggestion Of an image of
that unutterable longing Of the human soul for
protecting, broodinG power. with this name
of sky were associated terms expressive Of pa
ternal bonignity. We have in the Veda the in
vocation Dyua pitdr, the Greek ZcU pdtcr, the
Latin Jupiter. and that means In all the three
languages what it meant before these three Ian
guagcs were torn asuuder-it means Heaven
Father.
Those Two words" saws Mr Mailer, are not
mere Word-, turN are To- NV mind tAc Oldest
poem the utu'st ifaler ut Wdnhlnd' 81 az least
OF that pare UrauCh Of u to which We belong
anu an a. LIu'IH convinced 'Al ''ls P'NtI
unknowu God before SaLskrit was Snsktit and
Greek was Greek, rs, when | sec the l"ld
fraNer "a the languages - Polynesia aud Ne
lauc,ia, feel certain that II was hrst uttered in
the lansuase Of JerasaIGn.. We h!ile thgHshJ
/ when we heard for the nr@t time the name q
/ Jupiter, degraded IL may he by Homer or ovid
/ into scoldiuc husband or a faithle-s lover,
wuat sacred nrc"Id- laN thsuIlhed IN tIls uh-
holy name. We shall have t. learn the same
lesson again and again in the Science II keli,
giun. namely, that the place whcreon we stand
I is holy ground. Thousands II YEAR have pH--' q
sincS the Ar(an nations separated to travel T.
the North and the SOUTH the West and the East :;
they have each formed their language, they
have each founded empires and PHILOSOPHERS,
they have each built temples and ra2Cd them t.
the ground they have all grown older, and 1t
may be wiser and better; but when they search
/ for n name for what is most exalted and vet
most dear to every one Of us, when they wish to
/ express both awe and love, the infinite and the
finite. they can but do what their old father
did when gazing up to the eternal sky, and feel
III. the presence ~ being as ar a. far. and a.
i near as near can be theN can but combine the
self-samc words, and utter once more the
/ primeval Aryan prayer lIeayen-Father, in that
| form which will endure forever. Our Father
which art IN heaven,
| Mr.. Muller, in summing up the results Of his
inquiries is to the class acatun II languages and
religions, saws:
I've found nrst Of all, that there is natural
connection between language and religion, and
/ that therefore the classification ~ languages l.
applicable to the ancient religions Of the
. world.
We found, secondly, that there was n COM
/ mon Aryan religion before the separation Of the
/ ArNan race, a common Semitic religion before
] the separation of the semitic race and a COM
J mon TuraniC religion before the SEPARATION Of
/ the Chinese and the other tribes belonging to
] the IuranIan class. We found, in fact, three
ancient centres Of religion, as We had found be-
fore three ancient centres Of language, and we
/ have thus gained, believe, truly historical
basis for a scientific classification Of the priuci-
/ pal religions Of the world
hr Mailer having thus, as he believes estab-
lshed scientific basis for religious inquiry,
concludes with an elaborate, eloquent and
powerful appealin behalf OF a spirit Of Impair
tialty and chartableness in the study and
Interpretations Of the ancient religions;
No Judge, II he had before him the worst Of
! criminals, would treat HIM as most historians
and theologians have treated the religions uf the
world Every act ia the lives OF their founders,
! which shows that they were but men, Is eagerly
seized and judged without mercy every doc
/ uine that Is not carefully guarded Is inter
/ preted in the worst sense that II will bear
/ every act Of worship that differs from our own
way OF serving God Is held W to rdicule and
! contempt And this is not done by accident.
/ but with "A set purpose, nay, with sonnet hing Df