Hawaii holomua = Progress. [volume] (Honolulu) 1893-1895, 1894-12-15

penetrating into many secrets OF
nature. That Is. it proposes with
out the aid OF Revelation to draw
aside the veil that hides from Us
the mysteries of the unseen
world. Now, however much we
NAV admire the efforts that have
been made at various periods
among non-Christian peoples to
solve the mysteries of the Uni
verse, the system that have been
elaborated can add nothing to
what God has revealed TO Us IN
His Holy Word. At best they
are but groupings after truth We
who have Theology have no need
of Theosophy. Theology is the
lnowledge of God in His Being
and Attributes, as far as it has
pleased HIM to reveal Himself,
aud of the universe in relation TO
Him. 1t rests upon the clear
light of Revelation, the record Of
which is the Bible. For a Christ
ian therefore to suppose that he
can have a true guide to Truth
IN Theosophy, and abandon what
he has learned fromthe Word OF
God. is is Irrational as 1t would
be for any one in the study OF the
easth' surface to repudlate geo
graphical science, and adopt the
idea Of the ancIeuts that the earth
Is a plain with the ocean flowing
round il as Il river.
SO far have spoken of Iheos-
ophy in general. for there have
bsen a great variety Of Theoso-
phical systems at different pc
RODS, but our present concern is
with the system now being pro-
mulgated. And the first point |
have to show you is that direct
false hood is used in order to win
attention to its doctrines. 1t Is
maintained 81 that what is
taught is OF the very highest an
! tiouity, and has been handed
down from the earliest times, and
% that no one need give up his
! Christian Faith by becoming a
member of the Theosophical So
ciety.
No doubt those who assert
these honestly believe them. But
that does not make them less
false. In all ages false teachers
|, have been deceived themselves
before they set out to deceive
others.
As to the first point, are the
grounds on which antiquity is
claimed for the doctrines of Theo
sophy reliable or not? In support
of this claim they point to the
Kabbalah, one of the sources
from which their doctrines are
drawn, and assert that the teach
ing of the Kabbalah has beer
transmitted interruptedly by the
mouths OF patriarehs and pro-
phets ever since the creation o.
the world, and was finally gather
ed by up celebrated Rabbi in a
work called Zohar III the first cen
fury of the Christian era. But
this cannot be maintained. i
has been proved that this work
which pretends to have been
compiled at the beginning of the
Christian era vas not produced
till the beginning of the four
teenth century, and its pretended
communications made to Adam
and handed down by patrlarohs
and prophets are found to be the
mystical speeulations of the Mid
die Ages, palmed Oft on a credul-
Gus age, vhen the Bible wss seal
ed up from the people liz dead
language, as the traditional Rev
| elatlon made to mankind. S.
much for the CLAIM Of antiquity.
As to the second point, the AT
tempt to reconcile Theosophy and
Christianity fails Oh the outset.
In pamphlet explaining the
position of Theosophy, which be-
gins with the statement that a
Christian is not required to give
up what he believes, the state
ment Immediately follows that OF
course he would have to modify
some articles OF the orthodox
creed. See what this apparently
mild demand amounts to. 1t is a
fundamental article of the Christ
ian Faith that God has made Him
self known to man as One Eternal
Spirit of infinite power, wisdom
and goodness, the Maker and
Preserver OF all things, both Wis
IDLE and invisible, in the unity of
whose Godhead there are Three
Persons of one substance, power
and eternity, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost. This
must be modified. Theosophy
does not allow you to believe in
One to whom you may kneel and
say: "Our Father which art in
heaven" For it knowsno Per-
sonal God. The God of Theoso-
ply is impersonal, a Divine affia-
tus. of which everything In nature
and we ourselves are manifesto
tons.