The times., 1898-04-04
THE RESURRECTION
A Raised Body by Evolution Rather
Than Body Raised.


Major James Albert Clark addressed
large and intelligent audience last night
at Theosophic Hall, Metzerott Building,
his subject being 'Theosophic Views of
the Resurrection : ~
The theme selected was by special re-
quest Of many q, tsde the tenets of the
particular school 10 which the lecturer
belongs, and thus in order to present i'll
some connected aud philosophical manner
the conflicting views which have been
floating in the orthodox consciousness
since the school of the higher criticism
denied the revival to life of flesh and
bones, and more especially since the stir
occasioncd by Rev. Heber Newton, Of the
Episcopal Church. who boldly preached
against any survival except, that of the
spiritual part If man, and who declared
that neither II ire creeds affirms kat
the risen Nazarene appeared in His phys
cal body Prof. Schmidt also, who was
deposed from chair in Colgate CGiver
sity and tried aor !e,csy, interpreted the
traditions of the earlier Christian centu-
ries in like effect. Rev. Lyman Abbott
approaches this stan,l ruanfully, and more
recently seemingly large chool within
the evangelical camp have come to admit
the same conclusion.
'sTheosophy," the lecturer said, lays
all stress, not on a body raised, but
raised body; raised to a higher plane in
| this life, where it belongs raised TO its
utmost capacity on the line of evolution
| iny development, a prophecy of the uld-
mate perfection, the very essence of the
Of ha 80
death which follows is but a transition,
necessary incident in the line of further
| progress, but this change of vibration
| into a more ethereal state does not call
| for a transplanting also of the same cal
| cium in the bones, nitrogen in the tissues
and iron in the blood. Nor will Il miracle
| force chemical elements of this low plane
| of physical existence into an attuning to
| the higher We stand with Huxley in his
answer to the dogmatic preacher who de-
| clared addressing the men of science,
| And | would warn you very distinctly
against this new contrivance. Christian
! ity is essentially miraculous and falls TO
| the ground if miracles be impossible.
| The great scientist answered: Well,
| warning for warning. / venture to warn
| this preacher and those who, with him,
| persist in identifying Christianity with the
| miraculous that such forms of Christian
| ity are not only doomed to fall to the
|
| tury they have been driven that way with
| continually accelerated velocity.
''Theosophy sees a difference only in de-
! gree between the magic and sorcery of
| the savage and the miracle of the theolo-
| gian when it is pushed to a doSmatic
| insistence as il is in relation to the bodily
resurrection of any human even semi
| divine being. That many believe 1t can be
resolved by a psychological analysis into
| a state of light hypnosis. the strong men
| tai cells having by centuries of constant
| teaching become atrophied Then 1t be-
| comes easy to align the belief with Ter
tuIlian 145-220 A. D., who said in his ON
| the Flesh of Christ, And the Son of God
| died This is quite credible, because it Is
| absurd: and though buried, He is risen;
! this is certain. because II is impossible.
| And this beginning of the 'Credo quiae
| absurdam has not left the world even in
| this enlightened era, nor VIII 1t until cell
| can vibrate with cell, attaining Spencer's
| equilibrium. Then atrophy will cease and
superstition will disappear, and this will
| in no wise impair the exalted ideal of the
| NazaFene teacher, who died for the good
| of others, as many have before and many
will again, but whose death did not in
| the least affect the immutable law of
karma, that whatsoever man soweth
that must he reap. rheosophy teaches
that He rose, as do all good men, for
elaboration is upward when the aspira-
tions tend in normal lines toward devel-
opment 1t teaches also that He yet lives.
as do all the great teachers-Socrates
Plato, krishna, BuddHa-and all men light
their torches from the living flame which
was the same in all masters. And all
true men of this free age of thought have
learned that the essence and value of an
ethical principle do not need the re-en-
forcement of miracle to make it more
valuable or more essential. Deity never
condescended ta the wiles of a Snowman
TO convince an enlightened conscience
that truth stands on it's own merit. New
ertheless, ii will need time to educate the
MASSES to interpret historical incidents in
the light OF the temper of mind of the age
in which they occurred; the more so, be-
cause of such Sunday School teaching as
appeared but twent y-four hours, ago in