The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-02-26
BIBLICAL THEosoPHY.
Prof. Bjerregaarde Lectures TO

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Prof. R-jerregaarde Lectures to a
Large Audience at Hasbrouck HAIL.
Under the auspices of s'The Odd Volumes"
Prof. Bjerregaarde last Saturday night adj
dressed a large audience at Hasbrouck Hall
on the subject, biblical Theosophy and the
Culture of the Inner Life" The lecture was
in effect a continuation of another on True
T~heosophy,n given at the residence OF Mrs.
Beach two weeks ago. Miss Celie Games,
President of the club, introduced Prof.
B-ierregaarde, saving that it was indeed UNI
usual for a few odd volumes to attract d
whole encyclopaedia.
Prof. B~jerregaarde p~refaced his address
by alphabetically disclaiming any connection
with the Theosophical Society or sympathy
with Blavatskyism, indeed with distinctive
Orientalism. The theosophy OF which ne
was to speak was far older than the neo-
Buddhism of Blavatsky's school, found IN
Western as well as Oriental thought, ana
found especially in the Bible.
With this introduction, he said in sub
stance
There is no one who would not gladly turn
hack to view the world with the eyes OF a
little child, if at the same time he could re-
tain the experience bought with his added
wears. To combine the two is the true the
osophical state; to look upon life with all the
freshness and sincerity of the little child, YET
with a mind rich i'll the wisdom OF expert
ence. The basis of all reasoning, to the the
osophist, is the recognition OF Deity the
omnipresence of Deity. 70 attempt to es-
tablish this by proof appears to him as FUTILE
and unnecessary as the questions OF the
fishes in the Eastern fable, who wished to
find out what water was. proceeding from
this basis, the t~heosophist believes chat since
Deity prevades all. the soul in his own breast
must be one with God, so that the pure
-,o,,1%in0S nf this Cnirlt olive nm an lnJl-
mate knowledge of the nature and purposes
of Deity. T~heosophy, coming from the
Greek theos, god and sophia wisdom, means
wisdom not from God, since that implies
distance between God and the soul, put OF
God, since that implies their identity. When
adiured to know God,' it is this union with
Deity, the pervading principle, to which the
expression refers; when, on the other mana,
we are told that the way OF God are past
finding OUT it is to God manifest that refer
ence is made, a distinction in terms carefully
observed in metaphysical discourse. IL Is
with God manifest that theology has to 90;
with Deity imminent in creation that
theosophy treats.
1.-The ideal relation of the th~eosophist to
Deity is expressed in the mystic parable
which tells of a crippled beggar who, when
greeted, God give thee good morrow, re-
plied that he had never had an i'll morrow;
WIell dllSh0I6u. lCItOh Got GACNl -
answerest thou mep rejoined that he needed
not Heaven to save him. since he had never
been lost: all things, coming from God, were
to him Just and right, since the perfect JUS
tice OF God prevented them from being other
wise.
s.Asked what he should do if God chose to
cast him into hell, he answered that this
God in His infinite Righteousness would pot
do, but should it so please Him, he mad YET
two arms to grasp Him-with the one, tfu
humility, and the other, love, he VIII draw
Him down even into He'll, which with him
were better than heaven without Him.
The Bible we study anthropologically, IN
its relation to man.; sociolog1caiiy III It's feia-
ton to the community, and theologlcally. In
its relation to God manifest; but few consld-
er it from a theosophical point OF view, IN It's
relation to the Deity imminent In creation.
That this is expressly borne out by its con-
tents, Prof. B~jerregaarde sought to prove by
references. 1t is supposed by the mystlcs
that it was this which Jesus taught the
twelve in the course of that obstruction
which He impaired to those ready to re-
ceive it.
William Blake once said that when his
ewes looked at the sun he saw not a ball
orange, red like a guinea, but he saw IN
Vulnerable hosts of angels, and heard their
choirs chanting the sanctus. So IN the
world, and especially in reading the Bible, IL
is necessary for the true culture of the
inner life to see not with the eye but through
the eye. The ideal condition of the mind IS
quiet-equilibrium. 1t is told in the fable OF
the MAJ who, for dread Of his footsteps and
his shadow, continually ran to escape from
himself, of whom the wise man said, IF he
had but stepped into the shade his shadow
would have vanished; had he but rested II
quiet, the clatter of his footsteps would
have ceased" Toward the attainment of
this condition there are -four stepping
stones. The first is the realization of the
Eternal No. ceasing to struggle after such
as is from its nature denied. The second is
the bringing of the individual will into
harmony with the Universal Will. The third
is the a~bnegation of desire. The fourth is in
a sense the effacement of thought, allowing
the soul within to reach wisdom in its own
way through its divine connection. These
are made possible through love and through
suffering.
Prof. Bjerregaarde is evidently familiar
with transcendental philosophy, but in
quoting Emerson, he slipped in saying,
Hitch your coach to a starr AS he will no
doubt recollect, it is plain wagon" in the
original.