The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-09-25
THE MYSTERIES OF RELIGION.
By REV. WIN. TICKER. D. d.
Mount Gilead, o.

Nature and the Bible are full of mys-
teries. Matter, force, life and mind are
all mysterious. Intelligence, emotion,
and will are mysteries. Thought, feel
ingand volition, are known but as incom-
prehensible facts. Mystery is not igor
ance, but imperfect knowledge. That
which is entirely unknown has to our
intelligence and reason no existence,
and therefore cannot be mystery to
US. The existence Of mystery involves
partial knowledge, that which is imper-
fectly known is alone mysterious. The
finite cannot comprehend the infinite,
and there is an element of infnity in
all that God has made, hence mans
knowledge of nature and God, while it
is real, and true, is partial and imper-
feet.
ALI religion is mysterious, because it
implies the existence of God and our
relation to him as our Creator, Father
and Providence. God as the self exist
ent Creator of all things, is infinite, and
any revelation of him to the finite mind
of man must have in it the elements of
mystery. 1t is therefore evident that
there can be no religion that is not
mysterious. To reject Christianity be-
cause it reveals things that are mys-
terious, is to reject it because it is
religion. Nature and the Bible are
alike mysterious, for the reason that
they reveal God, and God is infinite.
Any and all revelations of the Infinite
present to man mysteries, because they
reveal truths that he may know, but
cannot perfectly comprehend.
Man may know God as fact or a
person, but not as thought. To know
God as thought, you must compre-
hend his infinite nature, acts and rela-
tions. This, man cannot do. The
child knows the locomotive as fact.
He can see, hear and feel it; but he
does not and cannot at his age know it
as thought, because he cannot under
stand its mechanism. We know the
material universe as fact, for it is
recognized by the senses, but we only
know it in part as a thought, because
we do not perfectly comprehend all the
thought revealed in it. There are a
great many facts, that as facts we know
well, but do not understand their logic,
philosophy and science, and hence do
mot knew-them- pszfss slN6ssAs
of thought.
We may know Gods existence with
out knowing the mode or manner of his
existence. The mystery is not in the
fact of being, but it is in the mode or
manner of being. We know the fact
of life, but we do not understand its
nature or comprehend the mode of its
action. We know the existence of
mind, but we do not know the mode of
its existence, or the manner of its ac-
tion. We know that man exists, but we
do not know how the soul and body are
united in man. Weknow the existence
of Christ, but we do not know the mode
of the union of divinity and humanity
in his person and life. We know tiat
God exists, but we do not know the
mode of his existence. We do not un-
derstand the manner in which he oper-
rates ON matter and mind. We know
God is intelligent, but we do not know
how He thinks. We know He is om-
niscient, but we do not know how He
knows. The mystery that we find all
about US, is not in the fact of existence,
but in the mode of being. The fact of
existence is clearly revealed, the mode
is not revealed, and is therefore myste-
rious.
The mysteries of the Bible clearly
reveal It's Divine origin. Whatever
man can invent or create, man can un-
derstand. The fact that man cannot
perfectly comprehend the Bible is pos
tive proof that it is not of human or
igin. Not only the light, but the deep
mystery of the Divine and infinite is on
its pages. 1t is like all other things
that have originated with God, mystic
rious. Matter, life, mind and thought
are all like the Bible, in this that while
we know they are, we cannot perfectly
comprehend them. The plant, animal,
and man are as mysterious as the Bible;
and for the same reason they are divine.
They are full of divine thought and life.
We should expect to find mysteries in
the Bible if it is revelation from, and
a revelation Of God. All his other rev.
elations to man are mysterious, and we
should therefore look for mystery in
the Bible if it be Divine revelation.
The human child cannot perfectly COM
prehend the Divine and Infinite Father;
therefore there is much in his word
that is mysterious.
II the Bible were not a mysterious
book it would not be adapted to man.
Mystery has great attraction for man.
The human intellect has an affinity for
the mysterious. This gives to fiction
its power over the mind. 1t is this
that makes nature SO attractive and
stimulating. The Bible also holds
mans attention nv the smell of its rnvs-