The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-07
,Occultisn, and Christianity
THE MYSTIC PATH OF HUMAN PROGRESS.
DOGMATISM, OR MYSTICISM.

| in the religious life. 1t has place. aid
that is i'll our own time sometimes 100
much forgotten. Dogma has value: it
! is necessary at certain stage of cvoI;G-
ton of the human mind and thought.
Just as ia the statement of every science
YOU find inevitably certain dogmas, which
| contain truths that have been asccr-
tanned so in the facts OF the religious
! life In the great ycrities which cannot
change you inevitably have perioG
! when they must h. taught in the form OF
| dogma, otherwise they cannot be graspco
! At all. The use OF the dogma in religious
knowledge is just the same as that of the
| statement of the expert in any science
/ to the pupil who is learning that science
! at his hands. There are experts in re-
! ligion as well as experts in science, and
I they have their place as teachers. The
mischief of it only arises. as II might
! arise with the teacher of science Whea.
! after the pupil has learned. he is for
| hidden to investigate further. or TO verify
| for himself by new experiment that which
| his teacher has declared. Dogma as
way Of learning truth. the early step
! on the ladder OF neutrality-suspicious. dogma
: is In it's right place. But when from be
, ing a help II becomes limitation; when
, from being n support it becomes nin-
drance 10 further advance; when the
teacher demands that the pupil shall
never rise into the stages OF knowledge
but always remain in that Of submission
and belief, then religious progress Is
cramped, then religious growth is hin
dcred, and the dogma that helped has
, to he shattered into pieces. because Il
! has become an obstacle 10 further ad-
vance on the road to truth.
That is so also with science. The Scien-
| tific man gives. You his formula, tells you
the experiments you are to make: but
what would you think Of him if lie said
! to you: You must never experiment for
yourself I'm order TO find out whether the
| formula I have given you is true or
false" There lies the danger, and it
only arises when the teacher of dogma
is beginning to feel in himself the doubt
| which ne desires should not arise in the
pupils mind. The DogmatiSt tries TO
force dogma on others when he himself
has doubt as to whether it is a full state
ment OF the truth or not. And II YOU
| look INTO the mind even OF the pcrSc-
cutor you will lind his persecution arise
\ from doubt. and not from faith. lie
would fain silence, because he fears Ques-
tons lie cannot answer. He would for
| bid inquiry. because he fears lest it
should show some aspect of the truth
that he has overlooked. And often Il
doubt unreCoSnized. Il doubt that he does
not know doubt. is GnawIng at the
root OF his faith when lie forbidS in
quiry and ShrinkS from experiment
| Hence the importance of realizing tho
place Of dogma. and to know it is a
crutch to help US and not a barrier to
prevent further advance. Then 1t will
play its part in religious evolution. and
will he useful and not dangerous to the
growth of man.
But dogma must always be Inadequate.
| for dogma compared TO the Mystics
! knowledge is az the feeling of the hands
compared to the sight Of the eye. Dogma
| feels round a truth. expresses the part
OF II which il is able to gain by feeling,
handles it. and tries to realize the form.
tries to understand the shape. But just
rs the man who tests an object by feel.
gbrasps the difference between tuOch and
| sight. is it with the DoSnatist and the
Mystic. The dogma gives but one aspect
OF a truth; the Dogmatist can only see
the truth from q particular viewpoint.
and cannot express its full roundness. its
perfection of depth and height. And so
those who stay for the time in the dogma
must ever remember that il is only one
view of the many-sided truth: for spir-
ituaI truth can never he whOliv craSpHd
! hy the reason. and the things of the
Spirit transcend the powers OF the in
tcllect.
But II VIC arc 70 grow. if We are 20
reach the statue Of the spiritual man.
then We must transcend the dogma, and
rise into the spiritual atmosphere and
open the spiritual eye.
TO BE CONCI.rDEp MKT sunday