The Portland daily press., 1896-05-18
MISS GUILDS CLOSING LECTURE.
There is No conflict Between Chris
tianity and Theosophy.

The Message of Christ Not Understood,
and Warning Factions Contending Ov-
er His Words-What He Taught, Theos-
ophy Receives.
Miss Guild began her closing public
address on theosophy yesterday morning
at II o'clock. She said that one OF the
objects of the society is a study of, not
belief, in the sacred writings of other
ages, and as she had previously read
from the sacred book of the east she
would read from another sacred book be-
lieved in and received today. She read
Cor. 1:12.
She said that her selection would be
understood in the light of what she
might have to say. She had, been asked
to say if theosophy is opposed to Chris
tianity. That is a somewhat difficult
question to answer, involving as it does
the. question, "What do you mean by
Christ1anity?"
I look over the land and I see more
than 300 churches, all different in many
respects, and yet all claiming to be the
true exponents of Christianity, and all
resting ON the collection Of books we
call the Bible | go to one church and
I am told that almost 1900 years ago the
eternal God himself was born to this
world, and that in order to be Christian
Ismust believe in the divinity Of Christ
I go to another church and / am told that
Jesus was not God, but that he was a
divine man. l go to another church and
l am told shat Christ was not divine ex-
ceptas He made himself So One church
tells me to believe in the trinity, in
three persons in one, and in another ]
am pointed to the one living God. One
church tells me that the Holy Spirit is
personality, and another that there
is a divine force SO termed.
. Now under all this confusion, is the
idea that Christianity is the only true
religion. and that it was divinely intro
duced to men. On what does this rest |?
On this book a collection of essays and
histories collected together and termed
the Bible. We are told that it was writ
ten by inspired men, but the only proof
is the assertion of the writer's themselves.
This book did not come as one vivid
flash of inspiration. or we should have
had the original The Oldest writings
we have Of the new testiment do not
date back further than the year 800, but
this might not SO greatly trouble US if
only the men who claimed to have re-
ceived this divine illumination did but
come up to our idea of diyinely moved
and inspired men. Ii they had only
been calm, wise and holy, instead of be-
ing hot, passinate and ambitious men.
Christ was forced over and over again to
rebuke their passionate disputes over
which should be the greatest, and some
of the letters Of Paul, written not more
"a of no If 1f
were intended to contradict the teach
ings of Peter, and again he was forced to
refute charges made BY Peter. It is true
that Peter did not speak as an inspired
mar, should, end that he tried to have
his tho controlling influence in the
early church. He did not see the mes
sage Christ tried so hard to teach the
divinity of ever soul. Peter thought that
Christ came with a revelation only to
the Jews, while Paul, with deeper
spiritual nature and "a wider spiritual
vision, saw that oil the world must be
baptized with His spirit, and SO Paul
brought the wider spiritual message to
all the world he believed he had learned
from Christ, wnile Peter planned to be
the head Of the church, and preached
the forms and ceremonies from which
Paul saw that Christ came to save men.
But Cbristianityis after all, the teach
ings of Christ. apd theosophy is in accord
with His teachings, just asit is in accord
with the teachings Of every one who has
had message from God. The sunlight
Is pure. but the medium through which
it reaches us may be colored.
The Jews were not an important m
tion, and what civilization thu y had they
largely learned of others, mostly while
in captivity, and their deepest spiritual
teachings apart from Christ must be
sought elsewhere. We must go to the
writings of other nations IN order to find
that they believed. They but crudely
comprehend the symbols set forth in the
story of the creation. We know now
that the Jews did not go to Egypt, and
therefore could not have come up out of
it, and so the books said to have been
written by Moses, must be taken as