Arizona republican., 1913-08-02
THE MYSTERY OF HEAVEN


 The nmaeinaton cannot far ahead of eX- peri,ncc; travel simply along routes only fanty marked 1y adventurous explorers, but it always needs starting point and it cannot project paths into wholly unknown regions The word .Iniuaainablr" suggests the limitation of the ere "tvo, pictorial faculty which has mad" progress possible and is the open door through which, as Doctor Bushnell said. oiod rindS access men II sianificilnt that aH attempts t. describe Heaven end d luminous vagueneSs, while hell and pursa- tory have been only suggested but pictured with terrifying and convincing power
 Dante walks the awful paths of hell with com rnanding authority: he not only and under stands but he describes and interret4 the world punishment with compeIlne power. And in the world e purification. though less dramatic and realistic he is not less at home: he knows whence flow tears ilirssatorE- I;ut when the gates of Paradise open to his nnaccustomed feet, the sight dazzitng he cannot see for the unfamiliar dream His vision has trayelcd far beyond his experience Sin he knows. and rrm"rse and pain bliss of Heaven. he walks with rtltering step in worlds realized"
 The Milton or .I'araat-a Lost. is greater poet than the Milton of Paradise Iicaained." and the Bible, the most concrete and definite of books i'll mysteries "f mans life in the lntr' Fuent rri'rrn'@ Heaven takes refuge in symbolism which the western reader often mistakes for pictorial imagery and is rather hndered than helped hE what hr reads. Iii literature the great sinner is far more powerfully drawn than the great saint. and the most pathetic and appealing Ii2Hr's tn the drama and in fiction the mon and women who. by breaking the law, have set in motion the tremen- dous tra.ir forces The great artist finds his gination re-enforced and eu,rezed by experience when he deals with satan. with As;uucnnou, with Faust. with Richard IT.. but his skill fiIt,rs when he tries to paint saint John '.tluhad
 Sin know, and all the tragic consequences that foIow it in inevitable companiousIiip but tho peace which flows from perfect purity. the radiance that shines the o!d painters saw from the faces the sinlesS. the bliss that for those who stand at home ill the presence of God like happy children, He beyond our experience. and try as We nlaN. cannot give them form body. When try We become irrcVcrcnt and take refuge a kind of sentimental tl"ttraIisIn, the Heaven picture $ golden cloud on the edge of the horizon shining dome hanging unsupported in midair.
 The world of punishment and of purificttion know. but the world of bliss only do know, but 1t cannot be revealed to us; that the reason why the Iongin@s of the heart met, and the cry of the soul for power realize the surroUndngs of those who gone into th. next stage Of life is not answered, told because could not understand. \ description the heavenly life by one who in the heart II would come |" IFS unknown tongue; nothing in our experience would interpret us. IL does not lie even in the power of the Heavenly Father to make these mysteries plain us. as does not lie in our power to make clear little children We love the principals phflpsophy the more ab- stract truths of science, the revelations of ripe Christian experience.