The Washington herald., 1915-01-10
OccuZtisn and Christianity
The Mystic Path of Human Progress
Second Advent of Christ

I Of new ora alike of religion and civil
ization. that You could trace a definite
order. could recOcniZc quite iutelliEi-
h'r sequence Of world religions. rising
on" after another and appearing in III
world when the previous civilization and
religion WIS beginning to show signs Of
failing in its power. and of no longer
, beng able thoroughly 10 cope with the
conditions surrounding it. That thus,
looking back over the long history Of
the world. it was possible TO see CycleS,
recurring cycles. each Of which began
with the coming OF a World Teacher,
that coming being followed by step for
ward in the evolution Of mankind. by
the daWninG Of q new civilization, en-
bodying some definite principle and help
. ing il TO evolve along a quite definite
. line: that looking thus al the worlds his
: tory. one perceived not only that each
-reIiCi0n marked a step forward in civil
iZatiuu. but. also. that it brought out
some particular feature valuable to man
4 kind. on which less stress had been laid
i'm tn" religion that preceded it. And 50
gradually there grew up conception OF
religion and civilization which one may
outline briefly in the following way: That
mankind had To learn many lessons and
To develop many different kinds OF quail
irieS. that these lessons and qualities
cam" forward in special religions which
are adapted to emphasize particular
teachings. that the teachings then were
owbodied i'm civilization: and 50 human
itv. learning the lessons, developing the
qualities impaired by the civilization
gradually shows an advance with ever
enriched qualities. and one by one, learns
the necessary lessons taught 10y World
Teachers and incorporated in religions.
As YOU look into the worlds history and
study il. that view comes out more and
more clearly.
We need not 20 further hack for our
purpose than to thu beginning Of the
great Nryan race. from which we all are
OffshOots. You will find there in its
earliest stock, that developed the great
Hindu faith. certain points coming out
definitely and clearly which are the Hindu
contribution, as it were, to the great uni
vcrsal religion. You find the idea Of the
immaucuCe Of God: growing out OF that
the idea Of duty: then out Of that there
is the recognition Of the unity OF man.
So plainly do these teachings come out
and dominate Hinduism. that YOU find
that great Presbyterian missionary. Or.
MIilar. saving. aS tho result Of his many
years work. and study and activity in
India. that Hinduism has given to the
world two great doctrines the imman-
enc" of God and the solidarity Of man.
Leaving Hinduism take the next OF tho
great Teachers and His work. 1t belongs
to what We call the second great migra-
ton from the Aryan fatherland. 1t af-
f"Uts the civilization Of Egypt. Tho name
Of Thoth or Hermes. turning the Egyp-
tiau name into Greek. is the name Of the
World Teacher that is there recognized
And His teaching is that of science
which built up the Egyptian religion on
profound investigation Of Nature and the
mastery of natural powers: so that YOU
find the contribution Of Egypt to the
worlds evolution is in the value of sci
enCc and knowledge of the physical world.
Pass on to the third great migration,
that which built up Persia, and you find
YOUR world prophet Zoroaster. building
up a civilization Of which the keynote is
purity. Purity Of thought: purity Of
word: purity of aCt'-that is the sentence
which every Zoroastrian repeats every
morning when he rises. and that search
ing after purity is the mark of the Zorro
astrian faith.
Come westward from Persia into
Greece. and you find the great Teacher
appearing as OrpheUs. Beauty is the
note Of the Greek religion and the Greek
civilization. and It was the worship. the
following of beauty. which made Greece !
so mighty in the older civiliza tions of
our world.
From Greece to Rome. and quite an
other idea comes out there. There you
have the thought of Law-the duty Of the
citizen TO the community. Turning to the
religion of the Lord Buddha. spread so
far and wide in the East you have the
idea Of right knowledge, Of wisdom, of
man learning how to live and seeking in |
all things to understand.
When you have reached Christianity. |
that Faith on which has been built the
civilization of Christendom, two notes are
struck, the one naturally following upon
the other. The first is the value Of the |
individual. You notice in Christianity. as
you have never noticed before in the |
earlier history Of religions, that il laws
stress on the-enoTmous value of the in
dividual and seeks to build up the idea of /
individuality; and you find in addition to |
that idea, not so much by precept as by |
exquisite example, that when power has
been gained II is to be used for service;
when greatness has been attained then
the greatest is TO be as he that doth |
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