The Washington herald., 1915-02-21
By DIR. W. W. BAKER.

worthy that this phrase constantly
accompanies the exercise of His heal
ing powers, the release from physical
and moral disease being thus marked
as simultaneous. In fact, on one &C.
casion He pointed to the healing of
palsy-stricken man as sign that
He had a right TO declare TO 4 man
that his sins were forgiven. So also
Of one woman il vas said: Her
sins. which are many, are forgiven,
for she loved much" In the famous
Gnostic treatise. the Pistic Sophia,
the Yer: purpose OF the Mysteries is
said TO he the remission of sins.
Should they have been sinners. should
they have been in all the sins and all
the iniquities of the world, OF which
I have spoken Unto you, neverthe-
less If they turn themselves and re-
pent, and have made the remuneration
which ! have just described unto you.
give We unto them the mysteries of
the kingdom of light: hide them not
from them at all 1t is because of sin
that I have brought these mysteries
into the world, for the remission of
all the sins which they have commit
ted from the beginning. Wherefore
have l said unto you aforetime, L
came not to call the righteous. Now,
therefore, have brought the mys-
/, teries, that the sins of all men may
be RENTED, and they be brought into
the kingdom of light For these
mysteries are the boon of the first
mystery of the destruction of the sins
and iniquities of all sinners" &c. r.
S. Mead, translated. Z. 81
In these Mysteries. the remission of
sin is by baptism. as in the acknOwl-
edgement in the Nicene creed. Jesus
says: 'Harken. again. that l may
tell you the word in truth. of what
type is the mystery of baptism which
remi<teth sins. When a man receiveth
the mysteries Of the baptisms. those
mysteries become 4 mighty fire, ex-
ceedingly fierce, wise, which burneth
up all sins; they enter into the soul
occultly. and devour all the sins which
the spiritual counterfeit hath i'm
planted in it," And after describing
further the process of publication.
Jesus adds: This is the way in
which the mysteries of the baptisms
remit sins and every iniquity." CG.
r. :. Mead)
In one form or another the forgive
ness of sins appears in most. If not IN
all. religions; and wherever this consen-
sus OF opinion is found. We may safely
conclude according to the principle al
ready laid down, that some fact in nature
| underlies it. Moreover. there is a re-
sins are forgiven; We notice that people
suffer under q consciousness of wrong
doing, and that when they shake them
selves clear of their past. and free them
selves from the Stacking letters OF re-
morse they go forward with glad hearts
and sunlit eyes though erstwhile en-
clouded by darkness. They feel as
! though a burden were lifted off them.
! clog removed The sense of Sin" has
| MI ,t-it 10
pain They know the springtime of the
soul the word of power which makes all
things new A song of gratitude wells up
as the natural outburst of the heart,
the time for the singing of the, birds -
come there is 10y among the Angels.
This not uncommon experience Is one
that becomes puzzling. when the person
experiencing it. or seeing 1t in anotner'
begins to ask himself what has ALREADY
taken place, what has brought about the
change in consciousness, the effects OF
which are so manifest
Modern thinkers, who have thoroughly
assimilated the idea of changeless laws
underlying all phenomena. and who nave
studied the working of these laws. are
at first apt to reject any and every
/ theory Of the forgiveness of sins as oeins
| inconsistent with that rundamehta,
truth. lust as the scientist. penetrated
with the idea of the inviolability of law.
rcpels all thought which Is inconsistent
| with IL And both are right in foundinS
themselves on the unfaltcrinG working OF
! law, for law is but the expression OF the
/ divine Nature. in which there Is no va
. rIableness, neither shadow OF turning.
! ANY view of the forgiveness OF sins that
we may adopt must not clash with this
fundamental idea, as necessary 10 ethicai
as to physical science. THE bottom
would fall out Of everything" if we could
| not rest securely in the everlasting arms
Of the Good Law.
But in pursuing our investigations, we
! are struck with the fact that the very
Teachers who are most insistent on the
/ changcless working of laws are also
| those who emphatIcally proclaim the for-
| rtyeness Of sins. At one time Jesus is
saving: That every idle word that men
! shall speak. they shall give account
| thereof in the day of Judgment, ana AT
| another: .Son. he of good cheer. thy sins
he forgiven thee" So in the Bhagavad
! Gita We read constantly of the bonds OF
action. that 1.-THE world is bound by ac-
! tIon." and that a man 'recovereth the
characteristics of his former body and
/ vet is said that "even II the most sinfui
| worship me. with undivided heart. he
too. must be accounted righteous" It
| would seem, then. that whatever may
| have been intended in the worlds Scrip
! lures by the phrase the forgiveness OF
! sins" 1t was not thought. by Those VINO
| best know the law. to clash with the IN
violable sequence Of cause and effect
! II We examine even the crudest idea OF
| the forgiveness of sins prevalent in our
! day. We find that the believer in 1t does
; not mean that the forgiven sinner Is TO
! escape from the consequences OF his sin
| in this world; the drunkard. whose sins
| are forgiven on his repentance, is still
seen to suffer from shaken nerves, in
! haired digestion. and the lack of conn-
| dence shown toward him by his fellow
| men. The statements made as to forgive
! ness. when they are examined. are ulti-
| ,nateIv found to refer to the relations be-
! tween the repeItant sinner and God. and
| TO the Post-mortem penalties attached
| TO unforgiven sin in the. creed of the
| speaker and not TO any escape from the
mundane consequences of sin. The loss
] of belief In reincarnation, and of sane
view as To the continuity of life, whether
! Il we're spent IN this or in the next two
| worlds brought with it various incon-
| gruities and indefensible assertions.
among them the bIasphemous and ter
| rible idea of the eternal torture of the
human soul for sins committed during
| the brief span of one life spent on
earth.
| In order to escape from this night
mare. theologians posted a forgive
ness which should release the sinner
from this dread Imprisonment 81 an
! eternal he'll. 1t did not and IS never
supposed to. set him free III this world
from the natural consequences Of his