Modern Saints and Seers Part 12

CHAPTER III

THE ADEPTS OF THE SUN OF SUNS

Nearly all Communistic theories when applied in practice prove failures, but there seems to be one infallible safeguard--that supplied by religion. Faith, when mingled with the trials and disenchantments of life, appears to mitigate them, and communal experiments based on religious beliefs nearly always prosper. This applies to the half-religious, half-communal sects of modern Russia, and the principle has also been adopted by the American apostles of communism.

One of these, Dr. Teed of Chicago, understood it well, and his sect was, in fact, merely a religious sect based on the principle of communal possessions. Its adherents took the name of _Koreshans_, after the t.i.tle _Koresh_ (or the sun) boasted by its founder. He, _Koresh_, "Light of Lights," "Sun of Suns," was called by Heaven to teach the truth to mortals, and to show them which road to eternal salvation they should follow in order to prosper upon earth. Founded in Chicago, the sect moved recently to Florida, and there, from day to day, Teed had the satisfaction of seeing the number of believers steadily increase.

He had at first to put up with a good deal of ridicule, for his teaching, based upon that of Fourier, and incorporating some of the mystical ideas of Swedenborg, was not at all to the taste of his fellow-citizens. The doctor then evolved the brilliant idea of dividing his system into two doctrines--the way to heaven, or the mystical doctrine; and the way to earthly prosperity, or the economic doctrine. It was permissible to follow the second without adopting the first, and the result may easily be guessed. Attracted by the prospect of terrestrial benefits, believers flocked to the fold, and invariably ended by accepting the second half of the teaching also (the mystical doctrine), all the more willingly because their material happiness and prosperity depended on the degree of their "union" with the founder.

The mysticism of _Koresh_ had some novel features, for the American doctor saw the wisdom of making use of some of the prestige lately gained by science. His religion, consequently, was essentially scientific. He, _Koresh_, was the "unique man," who, thanks to his "scientific studies" and to "celestial inspiration," could understand the mysteries of nature. He had reached the summit of scientific knowledge and the greatest possible human perfection--that is to say, "sainthood"--and all who approached him were made partic.i.p.ators in his "holiness." Thanks to this gift, pertaining only to _Koresh_, his followers could "enjoy the bliss of heaven upon earth"; for the Kingdom of G.o.d upon earth was near at hand, and _Koreshism_ was preparing the way for its disciples.

But what had to be done in order to attain the higher degrees of salvation? Teed was a sufficiently clever psychologist to know that nothing fascinates the crowd so much as mysteries and things that cannot be understood, and he acted accordingly.

His doctrine is so obscure that only those claiming divine illumination could hope to find their way amid its cloudy precepts. Let us give an example:--

"In recognition of the princ.i.p.al source of the force of the intrinsic and innate life of the Christian revelation, the _Koreshan_ doctrine elevates the founder of Christianity to the place of father, become perfect, thanks to the sacrifice of his son, which it has been given to us to understand by the flesh of Jehovah."

The believers could give it whatever meaning they liked, and for those who despaired of understanding this part of the _Koreshan_ revelation, the prophet kept in reserve thousands of other dogmas, all equally enigmatic and equally obscure. We will not attempt to discuss them!

The teaching included the attainment of perfection through marriage, and claimed omniscience for _Koreshism_, which could throw new light upon all things, including such subjects as astronomy and philosophy.

The earth is not round, light is not diffused, as science teaches, and man has not five senses, but seven--so said _Koresh_. He described his doctrine as communistic and co-operative. The use of money was forbidden, its place being taken by cheques representing the amount of services rendered to the community.

The colony founded at Estero, in Florida, was almost exclusively commercial and industrial, not agricultural like most communal settlements. Electric railways and factories were built--and are still being built--there, for steam, like money, is banned in the colony of _Koresh_; while being in possession of a seaport, the _Koreshans_ propose to enter into commercial relationship with the whole world.

The Bureau of Equitable Commerce directs the business affairs of the community, and at its head is the chief of the Commonwealth (or public fortune). All the inhabitants share in the general prosperity, and in order to prevent the more capable individuals from developing into capitalists, the fortunes of all are carefully equalised by means of a progressive tax upon income. The land belongs to all, and is non-transferable, like the factories. No payment is demanded of new-comers; it is enough if they bring the moral capital of an irreproachable life, and are good workers; and any poor people who desire to seek salvation in the colony are enabled to travel to it by contributions from the public funds. Absolute tolerance of all beliefs forms the spiritual basis of the sect.

New Jerusalem, the capital of the colony, covers about eighty-six square miles, having streets four hundred feet in width, and separate industrial quarters. The business affairs of the community are undeniably prosperous.

B. RELIGION AND MIRACLES

"O men born upon earth, why abandon yourselves to death, when you are permitted to obtain immortality?"

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS.

CHAPTER I

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS

The marriage between Science and the Bible, brought about by Mary Baker Eddy, has given birth to a most prosperous sect. In this amalgam, the Christianity is not of the purest, and the Science appears rather in the form of the negation of its own principles; but so great is humanity's desire for the union of revelation and experience that believers crowd from all parts to range themselves behind the hew banner.

There is something almost disconcerting in the ardour and devotion of Mrs. Eddy's followers. Truly, in the success of Christian Science we see one more proof of the ease with which a new religion can be started if, in addition to faith, it concerns itself with man's earthly welfare.

The founder of the sect was a clever woman. Well aware of the power and fascination of the mysterious, she exploited it with a profound understanding of the human heart. She mingled the realities of life with the mysteries of thought, and the sun of her revelations is always veiled by intangible clouds. From her gospel one might cull at random scores of phrases that defy human understanding. "Evil is nothing, no thing, mind or power," she says in _Science and Health_. "As manifested by mankind, it stands for a lie, nothing claiming to be something." And again--"Mortal existence has no real ent.i.ty, but saith 'It is I.'"

The nonsensicalness of her phraseology can find no comparison save in the inconceivable chaos of her teachings. She goes so far as to imply that the supreme effort of a woman's spirit should suffice to bring about conception. Jesus Christ having been conceived of the Holy Ghost, she suggests that man should follow this example, and renounce the l.u.s.ts of the flesh. "Proportionately as human generation ceases, the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually discerned"--and in another place, "When this new birth takes place, the Christian Science infant is born of the spirit, born of G.o.d, and can cause the mother no more suffering."

In the explanations of the Bible given in her _Key to the Scriptures_ we are told that when we come upon the word "fire," we are to translate it as "fear," and the word "fear" as "heat"; while we must remember that Eve never put the blame for her sin upon the serpent, but, having "learnt that corporeal sense is the serpent," she was the first to confess her misdeed in having followed the dictates of the flesh instead of those of the spirit.

Like all prophets and saviours, Mrs. Eddy was crucified during her lifetime. She had to engage in a continuous struggle with the envy and jealousy of those who sought to misrepresent her teachings and bring her glory to the dust. But she was far from being an ordinary woman, and even in childhood seemed to be marked out for an exceptional career. At the age of eight, like Joan of Arc, she heard mysterious voices, and her mother, who was of Scottish origin and subject to "attacks of religion," remembered the story of the Infant Samuel and encouraged her to speak with the Lord. But Mary was alarmed by the voices, and wept and trembled, instead of replying to them like a good child.

About her forty-fifth year, however, being in the grip of a serious illness, she did hold converse with the Lord, who told her how she might be cured. She listened and obeyed, and was cured. This was her "great initiation." She then retired from the world, and spent several years engaged in meditation and prayer, while her study of the Bible revealed to her the key to all mysteries, human and divine.

The deductions of her philosophy are often characterised by an astonishing navete. "G.o.d being All-in-all, He made medicine," she tells us; "but that medicine was Mind. . . . It is plain that G.o.d does not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use; else Jesus would have recommended and employed them in His healing."

She frequently makes use of ingenious statements whose very candour is disarming, but she had considerable dialectical gifts, and can argue persuasively, especially against spiritualism. In _Science and Health_ she violently denies the authenticity of spiritualistic phenomena, "As readily can you mingle fire and frost as spirit and matter. . . . The belief that material bodies return to dust, hereafter to rise up as spiritual bodies with material sensations and desires, is incorrect. . . . The caterpillar, transformed into a beautiful insect, is no longer a worm, nor does the insect return to fraternise with or control the worm. . . . There is no bridge across the gulf which divides two such opposite conditions as the spiritual, or incorporeal, and the physical, or corporeal."

In the confusion of precepts and principles championed by Mrs. Eddy there are sometimes to be found thoughts worthy of a great metaphysician. Her teaching, when purified from admixture, does at any rate break away energetically from all materialistic doctrines.

Her literary output was considerable, for in addition to her gospel, _Science and Health_, she wrote _The Concordance of Science and Health_, _Rudimentary Divine Science_, _Christian Science versus Paganism_, and other works, including some verse.

The Christian Science churches, with their adherents, who number more than a million, are spread all over the world, each having an independent existence. They are found chiefly in the United States, England, Germany, and the British Colonies. The number of "healers"

exceeds several thousands, for the most part of the female s.e.x. In France the first "Church of Christ, Scientist" has been founded in Paris, in the Rue Magellan, under the name of Washington Palace.

The Christian Science leader denounced the established churches and spared them no criticism, and her doctrine contained a seed of truth which enabled it to triumph even over its own lack of logic and coherence.

The world, submerged in matter, either denies spirit or turns away from it. Mrs. Eddy exalts the power of spirit above that of matter, the universal G.o.ddess, by means of statements which are heroic rather than scientific.

Matter does not exist. G.o.d is all, and G.o.d is spirit; therefore all is spirit. Matter is not spirit, but is a fiction which only exists for those who persist in believing in it against the evidence of facts. As matter does not exist, and is only a lie and the invention of Satan, the body, which we see in the form of matter, does not exist either.

The suffering caused by the body is simply an "error of mortal mind,"

for since the body does not exist, there can be no such thing as bodily suffering. Therefore instead of concerning ourselves with the healing of the supposed body, with the prevention or cure of pain and suffering, we must go straight to spirit. Spirit is perfect, and the thought of pain or disease can have no place in it. Let us then leave the curing of our bodies, and seek to rectify our spirits.

Doctors and surgeons, on the contrary, follow the errors of centuries in concerning themselves with the body, and causing it to absorb drugs which, having no connection with disease, can neither cure nor relieve it. "Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as in the cure of sin. The more excellent way is divine Science in every case. . . .

The hosts of Aesculapius are flooding the world with diseases, because they are ignorant that the human mind and body are myths."

A follower of the "true doctrine," according to Mrs. Eddy, is never ill for the simple reason that he does not believe in the body or in any of its infirmities. If he should be overtaken by illness, it is because his spirit is ill, and his faith not sufficiently pure.

From this results a very simple method of healing. The "healer" merely seeks to re-establish the faith of the sufferer, and to convince him of the non-reality of his illness. No medicine is given, the treatment consisting of thoughts and suggestions from _Science and Health_.

Christian Science healers need to have a robust and unshakable faith, for if they do not succeed in their task it is because their own spirit has been infected by doubt.

Mrs. Eddy declared that our concrete and practical age required, above all, a religion of reality; that men could no longer be content with vague promises of future bliss. What they needed was a religion of the present that would end their sufferings and procure for them serenity and happiness on earth. The t.i.tle of "applied Christianity" has been adopted by Christian Science, which advises us to make use of the teachings of Jesus in our daily life, and to reap all the advantages of such a practice. We have need of truth "applied" to life just as we have need of telegraphs, telephones and electric apparatus, and now--say the Scientists--for the first time in man's existence he is offered a really practical religious machinery, which enables him to overcome misfortune and to establish his happiness, his health, and his salvation on a solid basis.

The Scientists claim to have recourse to the same spiritual law by means of which Jesus effected His cures, and they declare that its efficacy is undeniable, since all Mrs. Eddy's pupils who use it are able to heal the sick. One may suggest that Jesus performed miracles because He was the Saviour of the world. Mrs. Eddy replies that statements are attributed to Him which never issued from His lips; that He said (in the Gospel according to St. John) that it was not He who spoke or acted, but His Father; and stated elsewhere, that the Son could do nothing of Himself. Also that Jesus never sent His disciples forth to preach without adding that they should also heal. "Heal the sick," was His supreme command. And that He never counselled the use of drugs or medicines.

The healing of the sick, according to Mrs. Eddy, was one of the chief functions of the representatives of the Church during the first three centuries of Christianity, her subsequent loss of importance and power being largely due to the renunciation of this essential principle.

Healing is not miraculous, but merely the result of a normal spiritual law acting in conformity with the Divine Will. The leader of the new "Scientists" explains that Jesus had no supernatural powers, and that all He did was done according to natural law. Consequently everybody, when once brought into harmony with spiritual truth, can accomplish what He accomplished.

Some of Mrs. Eddy's statements have an undeniable practical value. For instance, she attacks "fear" as one of the chief causes of human misery, and declares that it is wrong to fear draughts of air, or wet feet, or the eating and drinking of certain substances--and wrong, above all, to fear microbes.

But exaggeration is always harmful. The total suppression of fear would mean the suppression of often necessary and desirable precautions. In order to succeed, however, a religion has need of the absolute, for conditional truths are not likely to impress the public; and the founder of Christian Science was well aware of this.