The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-01-01
From the chronological Journal
Our Immortality.
BY II. CLAY NEVILLE.


of all the conceptions of which the hu-
man mind is capable, the highest, the
deepest, and the grandest is the idea of
the immortal existence of the soul. To
givea mere mental assent to this doc
trine when they hear it preached from
the pulpit, and to ignore it wholly in
their everyday thoughts, seems to be
the extent of consideration bestowed.
on the subject by many. They received
the belief from Others, justas it had been
transmitted from generation to genera
ton. without questioning its genuineness.
or trying to corroborate it by personal
investigation. Such persons live in the
flesh. and derive their enjoyment from
the ''loaves and fishes" of this world
They have so narrow conception of the
capacities of the spirit for happiness, that
the death of the bodily senses is to them
the humiliation of all the sources of en-
joyment. Hence the idea of any other
state of existence than this they regard
as terrible mystery, and endeavor to
drive the thought from their minds by
devoting themselves to sensual pleasures.
But there are those to whom the idea
of an immortal existence is not a mere
traditional impression, exciting fearful
expectations of the future; but it is a
living, comforting, and constantly in
creasing faith, q hope which they delight
to cherish as the richest boon that
Heaven has given to man. The evidence
on which his faith is founded is not the
testimony of others solely, but is evolved
from the intuitive comprehension of the
soul itself From the hidden depths of
within itself is not tangible to our coarser
faculties, and though the reasoning from
which conclusion finally follows is too
subtitle to be expressed by the terms of
common logic, yet the inquiry does dis
close hidden proof of the souls immor-
tality, and we are reassured that the ex-
pectation of existence beyond this brief
life is not without foundation Then
does the soul, secure in its eternal ex-
istence, smile at the phantom of annihi-
hilatioE, and follow trustingly the light
of an immortal hope, feeling, "Oh, death,
where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is
thy victory r.
Sometimes, it is true, we lose our faith
in the eternal and glorious. destiny of
man. Life seems a transient and pur-
poseless bubble floating down the stream
of time, soon to be engulfed in the hope
less abyss of death. But these seasons of
despair are of short duration, the inner
life arise convictions of Immortality
which abstract reasoning can not pro-
duce. The mind tremblingly attempts,
by the aid of an objective logic, to prove
immortality, but it soon turns from this
presumptuous effort, and accepts it as a
selfconscious truth. Reason approaches
the end of this life. and recoils at what
appears to be annihilation but the soul
stands fearlessly on the brink of the
dark river" and by its stronger sight
penetrates the interposing mist, and dis
covers the dim outlines of a world on the
other side. This mysterious land can
not be reached by the guidance of ma
terial philosophy. 1t is linked to this
world by no chain of cause and effect
which the most profound thinker can
follow. The lamp of reason alone sheds
but faint light on the darkness beyond
ife's terminus, and they who look fur
ther than the confines of this world for
existence must have sight strengthened
by an inward faith.
But this intuitive belief in imm tality
does not come sunsought, nor can it be
maintained except on its own peculiar
evidence. 1t is developed by that earnest
inquiry which the soul makes when it
turns to itself and questions its own ma
ture and destiny. When the mysteries
of life perplex us, when the world loses
its beauty and harmony, and material
destruction seems inevitable, we turn
from the chaos of fear and doubt to our
inward selves and ask that our faith be
renewed and the darkness of unbelief
dissipated. And though the the evidence
adduced by this investigation which the
spirit makes from which we hasten back
to the faith that our everlasting Father,
in His own inscrutable way, rules all
things in harmony with His infinite
goodness, and that the belief in immor-
tality is not vain hallucination of the
mind but a prophetic knowledge impart
ed by God himself to direct the soul to
the deathless world. in which He has
prepared glorious and eternal home
In comparison with this grand idea of
our Immortality, the dogmas which con-
stitute the subject of religious controver-
sizes dwindle into insignifcance. While
from the difference of our natural capaci-
ties of mind, and from the force of our
different educations, we will inevitably
have different opinions on some points of
both natural and revealed religion, we
can, think, agree on this fundamental
doctrine of all religions, which nature
contributes to and Revelation teaches