New-York tribune., 1901-04-13
IMMORTALITY
,e-oRY OF THE IDEA BRIEFLY
SKETCHED.

ShL41I2i~'1-
rro1,rTIoN OF IMMoRTAddITY, By s .d, D.
TEE EiEeoonDnel D. D. d, = l. oc'aVo' pp' -o''
le. Macmillan Company
-. work is only sketch, but it is so
I'h -, in style and so original in conception
tsse'a.-,ent that every one who reads it will
sna ." that it is not longer DR.. Mcconnell
be snls outlines the various answers that
frs - -. given 10 the question. IF man die
bsfe So. again?' Plato's teaching was that
shsa is essentially immortal Pythagoras
hs +he +ransmigration OF souls. The popu-
is1s-. ..ian reaching is that the soul and body
GO"-.odiate G and simultaneous creations of
sfs 49,. they live together for time in init
co., ~o-tnership. and then separate, after
HS thev unite in a permanent personality.
vh'- -.orslv 10 state this popular Christian be
SD sa,ai1 is 10 show its essential improbability,
~ n matter Of fact. il is more and more
Sa' 70 he rejected by thoughtful men The
con'-s .,,,ntion on which it is based, that the
d" nd bodv are two distinct entities. is no
.- 81 tenable AS Haeckel puts it:
rbanonlana Of the psychic life are with
Al n.raention rae bound up with material changes
. eDt .ts living substance of the body, the proto-
u We 90 not attribute any peculiar es-
IN
@ gen. .rasrely collective idea of all the psychic
s,,c,ions Of pTotoplasm
-.o new biology and physics have thus over
"a the hope of life after death. The simple
.-.,s, on which that hope rested is no longer
s,..r.bIe- To help those whose faith is ship
..,,ea an attempt has been made TO differen-
-. ,,eason and conscience in man, calling them
- ,or, from instinct in animals, but the de-
fran inst
:. oncorniug tide Some men exhibit instinct.
- sorne animals possess reason. The assump-
=. chat the soul is imperishable is really
..,sn doctrine borrowed from Plato. masquer-
.,,,o in Christian dress. The same may be said
:. the other assumption that all men necessarily
,,rs an immortal soul. II was st. Augustine
-.o ,ook these ideas from Greek philosophy
.,s fixed them on the consciousness of the
c.-;stan Church 1t was sturdily opposed
. negan error by such men as Theophilus
rqsmsnt of Alexandria. Arnobius and Athana-
GINS but It prevailed nevertheless, and its cur
rs,cv in DR.. McConnell's opinion. has probably
.ou,used and obstructed the work of Christ
s,onr men more than all other obstacles COM
binsd"
r-on the point of view of the naturalist man
;s differentiated from all other creatures. but
nsvrhologically this division is misleading. The
nsyhic life called the soul in man, instinct in
me beast and affinity in the germ cell, is the
ssme thing Unless therefore this psychic life
m man is capable of reaching some higher stage,
rthat il can subsist in spite of the disintegra-
i'm Of the body man is not immortal. but at
tsst only 'immorta BILE that is TO say, capable Of
iscoming immortal. This is the pivot which
n McConnells argument turns. Man is po-
.ntally immortal but not all men reach that
sage where they may he said to possess a soul
The fact that il is difficult 10 draw line be
.Eeen the men with souls and those without
Toes not do away with the other fact that
SINE animals come nearer to having souls than
ssme men do. Yet DR.. Mcconnell thinks that a
line may be drawn. ne practice of goodness
may create or develop "A psychic life that will
be not immortal for only God is immortal but
capable Of surviving the dissolution of the body
and living for a time at least in another world
Christ did not teach a universal immortality or
a universal resurrection. He offered life only
10 those who did His will His revelation was
revelation of possible life. He has neither
threats nor promises He makes His appeal TO
the Instinct Of living. If you do thus and thus.
following in My steps. you can secure for your
self life so prepotent that what you call death
cannot ruin it The teaching of Jesus, in other
WORDS was biological and not theological I'm
u the psychic life is developed there is no
"enue leading out from the closed ring of nat
ure. The gateway to the celestial land is con-
Siehce.& whenever, and not until. an individual
naenes the point TO know good and evil he
ieeomes potentially immortal"