”Forlife,withallityieldsofjoyandwoe,Andhopeandfear,——believetheagedfriend,——[245]Isjustourchanceo’theprizeoflearninglove,Howlovemightbe,hathbeenindeed,andis;
AndthatweholdthenceforthtotheuttermostSuchprizedespitetheenvyoftheworld,And,havinggainedtruth,keeptruth:thatisall。[250]
Butseethedoublewaywhereinweareled,Howthesoullearnsdiverselyfromtheflesh!
Withflesh,thathathsolittletimetostay,Andyieldsmerebasementforthesoul’semprise,Expectpromptteaching。Helpfulwasthelight,[255]
AndwarmthwascherishingandfoodwaschoiceToeveryman’sflesh,thousandyearsago,Asnowtoyoursandmine;thebodysprangAtoncetotheheight,andstaid:butthesoul,——no!
Sincesageswho,thisnoontide,meditate[260]
InRomeorAthens,maydescrysomepointOftheeternalpower,hidyestereve;
And,astherebythepower’swholemassextends,Somuchextendstheetherfloatingo’erThelovethattopsthemight,theChristinGod。[265]
Then,asnewlessonsshallbelearnedintheseTillearth’sworkstopanduselesstimerunout,Soduly,daily,needsprovisionbeForkeepingthesoul’sprowesspossible,Buildingnewbarriersastheolddecay,[270]
Savingusfromevasionoflife’sproof,Puttingthequestionever,`DoesGodlove,Andwillyeholdthattruthagainsttheworld?’
YeknowthereneedsnosecondproofwithgoodGainedforourfleshfromanyearthlysource:[275]
Wemightgofreezing,ages,——giveusfire,Thereafterwejudgefireatitsfullworth,Andguarditsafethrougheverychance,yeknow!
ThatfableofPrometheusandhistheft,HowmortalsgainedJove’sfieryflower,growsold[280]
Ihavebeenusedtohearthepagansown
Andoutofmind;butfire,howe’eritsbirth,Hereisit,precioustothesophistnowWholaughsthemythofAeschylustoscorn,Asprecioustothosesatyrsofhisplay,[285]
Whotoucheditingaywonderatthething。
Whilewereitsowiththesoul,——thisgiftoftruthOncegrasped,werethisoursoul’sgainsafe,andsureToprosperasthebody’sgainiswont,——
Why,man’sprobationwouldconclude,hisearth[290]
Crumble;forhebothreasonsanddecides,Weighsfirst,thenchooses:willhegiveupfireForgoldorpurpleonceheknowsitsworth?
CouldhegiveChristupwereHisworthasplain?
Therefore,Isay,totestman,theproofsshift,[295]
Normayhegraspthatfactlikeotherfact,Andstraightwayinhislifeacknowledgeit,As,say,theindubitableblissoffire。
Sighye,`Ithadbeeneasieroncethannow?’
TogiveyouanswerIamleftalive;[300]
Lookatmewhowaspresentfromthefirst!
YeknowwhatthingsIsaw;thencameatest,Myfirst,befittingmewhosohadseen:
`ForsaketheChristthousawesttransfigured,HimWhotrodtheseaandbroughtthedeadtolife?[305]
Whatshouldwringthisfromthee?’——yelaughandask。
Whatwrungit?Evenatorchlightandanoise,ThesuddenRomanfaces,violenthands,AndfearofwhattheJewsmightdo!Justthat,Anditiswritten,`Iforsookandfled’:[310]
Therewasmytrial,anditendedthus。
Ay,butmysoulhadgaineditstruth,couldgrow:
Anotheryearortwo,——whatlittlechild,WhattenderwomanthathadseennoleastOfallmysights,butbarelyheardthemtold,[315]
Whodidnotclaspthecrosswithalightlaugh,Orwraptheburningroberound,thankingGod?
Well,wastruthsafeforever,then?Notso。
AlreadyhadbegunthesilentworkWherebytruth,deadenedofitsabsoluteblaze,[320]
Mightneedlove’seyetopiercetheo’erstretcheddoubt。
Teacherswerebusy,whispering`AllistrueAstheagedonesreport;butyouthcanreachWhereagegropesdimly,weakwithstirandstrain,Andthefulldoctrineslumberstillto-day。’[325]
Thus,whattheRoman’sloweredspearwasfound,Abartomewhotouchedandhandledtruth,Nowprovedtheglozingofsomenewshrewdtongue,ThisEbion,thisCerinthusortheirmates,Tillimminentwastheoutcry`SaveourChrist!’[330]
WhereonIstatedmuchoftheLord’slifeForgottenormisdelivered,andletitwork。
Suchworkdone,asitwillbe,whatcomesnext?
WhatdoIhearsay,orconceivemensay,`WasJohnatall,anddidhesayhesaw?[335]
Assureus,ereweaskwhathemightsee!’——
284。themythofAeschylus:embodiedinhis`PrometheusBound’。
295。theproofsshift:seepp。37and38。{Inetext,shortlybeforetwoexcerptsfrom`ADeathintheDesert’,ChapterII,Section1
ofIntroduction。}Objectiveproofs,inspiritualmatters,needreconstruction,againandagain;andwhatevermaybetheircharacter,theyareinadequate,andmustfinally,intheChristianlife,besupersededbysubjectiveproofs——
byman’swinninghiswaytothekingdomofeternaltruthwithinhimself——thekingdomofthe”whatIs”。
307-310。SeeMatt。26:56;Mark14:50;John18:3。
326-328。whattheRoman’sloweredspearwasfound[tobe,namely],abar,[etc。,]nowproved[tobe,etc。]。
329。ThisEbion,thisCerinthus:see`Gibbon’sHistoryoftheDeclineandFalloftheRomanEmpire’,Chaps。15,21,47。Andsee,especially,theablearticles,”Cerinthus”and”EbionismandEbionites”,inthe`DictionaryofChristianBiography’,etc。,editedbyDr。WilliamSmithandProfessorWace。”`Ebion’asanamefirstpersonifiedbyTertullian,wassaidtohavebeenapupilofCerinthus,andtheGospelofSt。Johntohavebeenasmuchdirectedagainsttheformerasthelatter。St。PaulandSt。LukewereassertedtohavespokenandwrittenagainstEbionites。The`ApostolicalConstitutions’vi。c。6
tracedthembacktoApostolictimes;TheodoretHaer。fab。II。c。2
assignedthemtothereignofDomitianA。D。81-96。Theexistenceofan`Ebion’is,however,nowsurrendered。”FromArt。Ebionismin`Dict。ofChristianBiography’。
AndseeProf。GeorgeP。Fisher’s`BeginningsofChristianity’,1877。”Cerinthus,amanwhowaseducatedinthewisdomoftheEgyptians,taughtthattheworldwasnotmadebytheprimaryGod,butbyacertainpowerfarseparatedfromhim,andatadistancefromthatPrincipalitywhoissupremeovertheuniverse,andignorantofhimwhoisaboveall。HerepresentedJesusashavingnotbeenbornofavirgin,butasbeingthesonofJosephandMaryaccordingtotheordinarycourseofhumangeneration,whileheneverthelesswasmorerighteous,prudent,andwisethanothermen。Moreover,afterhisbaptism,ChristdescendeduponhimintheformofadovefromtheSupremeRuler,andthatthenheproclaimedtheunknownFather,andperformedmiracles。ButatlastChristdepartedfromJesus,andthatthenJesussufferedandroseagain,whileChristremainedimpassible,inasmuchashewasaspiritualbeing。”
`TheWritingsofIrenaeus,transl。byRev。AlexanderRoberts,D。D。,andRev。W。H。Rambaut,A。B。’,Edinburgh,1868。Vol。I。,BookI。,Chapxxvi——”Isthisindeedaburthenforlatedays,AndmayIhelptobearitwithyouall,Usingmyweaknesswhichbecomesyourstrength?
Forifababewereborninsidethisgrot,[340]
Grewtoaboyhere,hearduspraisethesun,Yethadbutyonsoleglimmerinlight’splace,——
Onelovinghimandwishfulheshouldlearn,WouldmuchrejoicehimselfwasblindedfirstMonthbymonthhere,somadetounderstand[345]
Howeyes,borndarkling,apprehendamiss:
IthinkIcouldexplaintosuchachildTherewasmoreglowoutsidethangleamshecaught,Ay,norneedurge`Isawit,sobelieve!’
Itisaheavyburthenyoushallbear[350]
Inlatterdays,newlands,oroldgrownstrange,Leftwithoutme,whichmustbeverysoon。
Whatisthedoubt,mybrothers?Quickwithit!
Iseeyoustandconversing,eachnewface,Eitherinfields,ofyellowsummereves,[355]
Onisletsyetunnamedamidthesea;
Orpaceforshelter’neathaporticoOutofthecrowdinsomeenormoustownWherenowthelarkssinginasolitude;
Ormuseuponblankheapsofstoneandsand[360]
IdlyconjecturedtobeEphesus:
Andnooneaskshisfellowanymore`WhereisthepromiseofHiscoming?’but`WasHerevealedinanyofHislives,AsPower,asLove,asInfluencingSoul?’[365]——
346。darkling:anoldadverbialform;inthedark。
See`ParadiseLost’,III。39。”O,wiltthoudarklingleaveme?”
Sh’s`M。N。D。’,II。2。86;”So,outwentthecandle,andwewereleftdarkling。”`Lear’,I。4。237;also`A。andC。’,IV。15。10。
353。Whatisthedoubt,mybrothers?:Headdresseshisbrothersofthefarfuture。Theeightfollowingversesareverybeautiful。
362-365。Thequestion,”WhereisthepromiseofHiscoming?”
askedinJohn’sownday,givesplaceinthefarfuturetowhichthekenofthedyingApostleextends,tothequestionwhetherGodwasindeedrevealedinChrist,`AsPower,asLove,asInfluencingSoul’,orwhether,manhavingalreadyloveinhimself,Christwerenotamereprojectionfromman’sinmostmindv。383?Ifsothereisnothingtofallbackonbutforce,ornaturallaw。Thisanticipatedquestioningandreasoningextendsfromv。370tov。421——”Quick,fortimepresses,tellthewholemindout,Andletusaskandanswerandbesaved!
Mybookspeakson,becauseitcannotpass;
Onelistensquietly,norscoffsbutpleads`Hereisataleofthingsdoneagessince:[370]
Whattruthwasevertoldthesecondday?
Wonders,thatwouldprovedoctrine,gofornaught。
Remainsthedoctrine,love;well,wemustlove,Andwhatwelovemost,powerandloveinone,Letusacknowledgeontherecordhere,[375]
AcceptingtheseinChrist:mustChristthenbe?
HasHebeen?DidnotweourselvesmakeHim?
Ourmindreceivesbutwhatitholds,nomore。
Firstofthelove,then;weacknowledgeChrist——
AproofwecomprehendHislove,aproof[380]
Wehadsuchlovealreadyinourselves,Knewfirstwhatelseweshouldnotrecognize。
’Tismereprojectionfromman’sinmostmind,And,whatheloves,thusfallsreflectedback,Becomesaccountedsomewhatoutofhim;[385]
Hethrowsitupinair,itdropsdownearth’s,Withshape,name,storyadded,man’soldway。
HowproveyouChristcameotherwiseatleast?
Nexttrythepower:Hemadeandrulestheworld:
Certesthereisaworldoncemade,nowruled,[390]
Unlessthingshavebeeneveraswesee。
Oursiresdeclaredacharioteer’syokedsteedsBroughtthesunuptheeastanddownthewest,Whichonlyofitselfnowrises,sets,Asifahandimpelleditandawill,——[395]
Thustheylongthought,theywhohadwillandhands:
Butthenewquestion’swhisperisdistinct,Whereforemustallforceneedsbelikeourselves?
Wehavethehands,thewill;whatmadeanddrivesThesunisforce,islaw,isnamed,notknown,[400]
Whilewillandlovewedoknow;marksofthese。
Eye-witnessesattest,sobooksdeclare——
Asthat,topunishorrewardourrace,ThesunatunduetimesaroseorsetOrelsestoodstill:whatdonotmenaffirm?[405]
ButearthrequiresasurgentlyrewardOrpunishmentto-dayasyearsago,Andnoneexpectsthesunwillinterpose:
Thereforeitwasmerepassionandmistake,Orerringzealforright,whichchangedthetruth。[410]
Goback,far,farther,tothebirthofthings;
Everthewill,theintelligence,thelove,Man’s!——whichhegives,supposinghebutfinds,Aslatehegavehead,body,hands,andfeet,Tohelptheseinwhatformshecalledhisgods。[415]
First,Jove’sbrow,Juno’seyesweresweptaway,ButJove’swrath,Juno’spridecontinuedlong;
Atlast,will,power,andlovediscardedthese,Solawinturndiscardspower,love,andwill。
WhatprovethGodisotherwiseatleast?[420]
Allelse,projectionfromthemindofman!’