The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUS-Sir: In fol-
lowing up the extremely interesting discussion
OF Immortality to which you have so gener-
ously lent the columns OF your paper during
several weeks past. have been struck by the
absence OF any definite statement, on tho part
OF your contributors. as to what the soul"
really is. w. II. Renhart OF Wheeling makes
some statements in to-day's Sun from which
one may. in general way. infer that he be-
lieves the soul to be a part OF. or something
from. God Himself. which Ia temporarily loaned.
or oeded. to material man for use in this life
and at death returns to God. but that tho
body may be raised again and reinyested with
a soul
Now. It would seem very desirable to get on
some ommon ground as to the identity OF tho
soul to bring this discussion to a focus.
In an Argument for Immortality" in THE
SUN OF May I'D endeavored to make the point
that the soul is in Gods mind. prior to the out
ward form. and is the real ego. Just as the con-
ception OF a house or an invention In the mind
OF man is prior to the house. or invention. and
is the essential house. or invention. The mans
eharacter-aye. even his body-is formed from
this prior conception in tho rind OF the Creator
But IN this stupendous mystery OF infusnR the
Divine spark into an outward image O. God
there is something lore than mere loan in
yoved. God gives this lie. or soul and with
II. selfhood-that 10, will and reason combined
These elements. then. together with their cor
relatives, love and truth. are the elements from
which the Creator forms tho soul These are
the souls pure spiritual substances. as tissue
and blood are substances OF the body.
The spiritual substances or elements are
indestructible. Just as thu original elements OF
the human body are indestructibe; but tho
reason they are an immortal identity is that
DOiV thay N nj "a ma n,t,r ri
form. or garment" given for temporary use
in this preparatory life. but they are the real
man himself, Electricity, so much spoken OF
by some OF your correspondents. is simply the
most tang BILE manifestation of Gods power in
this world-the vehicle by which he establishes
commuu ication between the spiritual soul and
tho material body.
From the above IL may be seen that the soul
while coming. as Mr.. Reinhart says originally
from God when He blew into mans nostrils
the breath Of life" is. after conception. essen
italy inherent In the human being and is never
taken away. but becomes the essential human
being himself
To maintain the liberalism OF Genesis how
ever. is an error. The history OF creation il
symbocal OF the new birth-Adam and Eve
representing the renewed elements, under
standing and will in the soul which is born
again and arguments based on its literal
narrative are misleading. In a general. or
lower. sense. man there mentioned means
the whole human race. and breathing into his
nostrils the breath Of life" typifes In general
sense the spiritual influx from God into the
whole human race.
So God does moro than loan a part Of nimsef
to the human which He has created for use
during this life. He keeps His creatures In a
state Of freedom OF choice while In this life and
permits them by their own volition. to absorb
further increments OF elemental spiritual life
every day. as they are hungry for them. God
ever keeps love, truth and al their derivatives
before ma and presses upon him to chooss and
Ia ke what he will. Thus he who is principled
IN good chooses good elemsnts and bullds up
his soul 10 the tuli stature OF man" Then
this TN shed. the body decays and the soul
like the full plant from the seed. is perfected.
composed OF the spiritual substances. truth
and love and all their derivatons tor, in the evil
being exactly ike the material IN a spiritus
sense-that is, having eyes Ito see the truth a
mouth and digestive organs Ito. assimilate
S SseI tr Janus anu 1857 ' perform functions OF
II the above be an Ineligible description Of
determine II i will continue to exist indetl-
nitely. II Gods conception OF the merely ma
terial universe primarily intended as a habi-
tation for material man. has resulted in a prac-
tically indestructib!e earth ifman 2 conception
OF sastIC or krnpGsannon results in COM
the human conception OF material being re-
suits In the genesis OF a human entity. often on
during physically for 100 years Ia relatively
long period how can one for moment question
that in the conception OF mans soul. for which
all the snlendors OF this enduring universe
were created. God contemplated anything short
OF immortality for that soul?
But when we come to realize, what ia really
a fact. that in the spiritual world exists neither
time moi, space-as we know these qualities OF
matter-but that states OF good or evil, Joy or
sorrow. take their place. how much more is
tho conviction forced upon us that when man
shall have done with the limitations Of tom
poral life. he will enter into realm Of immor-
tai glory. EMILE PICKHARDT
IsLINGToN Mass. Oct. 8.
Tho Results of n Good Start in Educatiun.