CONVERSATION XXVII. ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. HUMAN NATURE. - Mission of Jesus, from the Sacred Text.— Significance of the Passover. Conditions of Self-Insight -Intuition of Duty. Aspiration after Holiness.- Christ in the Soul. Faith in Humanity. Inability of Unbelief. Spiritual Blindness. - Subsistence of the Human Spirit on Holiness.- Absolute Good. Phenomenal Existence of Evil. - Good and Evil. Eternity of Holiness. Immortality of Holiness. Religion. Trinity of Powers in Conscience. - Order of Spiritual Growth. Instinct. Faith. Imagination. Reason. - Fruits of Spiritual Growth. -Truth. Good. Beauty. Elements of Absolute Being. -God.Elements and Products of Human Nature. Destiny of Humanity.— Irregular Growth of Powers. Allegory of the Human Faculties. thesis of Being. Mr. Alcott read the lesson for the day. Before the WISDOM OF JESUS. Vulgar Era, 27. Psychology. Julian Period, 4740. his JOHN ii. 23-25. - Syn 23 Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for *he knew what was in man. Significance of EDWARD J. The feast at Jerusalem was the Passover. because God did so much for the Jews, carrying them through the Red Sea, ELLEN. The feast was the passover. That made me thi k of the plagues in Egypt, and I thought, too, of the feast at Jerusalem, and of the Jews sitting or rather reposing at their tables, eating such things as we do on communion day. Condition of MR. ALCOTT. How did Jesus know "what was in man"? JOSIAH. He was good, and he got wha he knew from God, just as I do. MR. ALCOTT. Does God give you all the knowledge you try after? JOSIAH. Yes; and he gave me one thing I did not try after, and that is my Spirit, and he put it in my body. My body could not go to God and try after a spirit. MR. ALCOTT. Can your spirit carry your body to God? JOSIAH. No; my body cannot even be carried to God. Only spirit can go to God. AUGUSTINE. I think Jesus knew what was in man because he made men and always sees into them, and is the only real man himself. MR. ALCOTT. Is man God? AUGUSTINE. No; but God is the only real man. SAMUEL R. I think as Augustine does, that Jesus made man, and so he knew what was in him; but I cannot know, for I did not make him. MR. ALCOTT. Who made Jesus Christ? SAMUEL R. No one made his Spirit. FRANKLIN. Jesus always was. Intuition of Duty. LEMUEL. God tells us something, if we try to get truth. MR. ALCOTT. Yes; Jesus says, "If any one would know of the Doctrine let him do the Will of God." WELLES. Jesus did not need the testimony of man, because virtue testifies itself. Conscience is its own testifier. JOSEPH. Jesus must have found out what was in man by a miracle, for he could not have found it, in the way that people find out other things. MR. ALCOTT. Where was the miracle? JOSEPH. In his mind, he was so much better than we are. MR. ALCOTT. If you was very good, would there be miracles in your mind? JOSEPH. If I was as good as he. There never was any miracle in my mind, but I should like to have one. GEORGE K. He knew what was in man because he was good. MR. ALCOTT. Do people know other people, according as they are good themselves? GEORGE K. Yes. MR. ALCOTT. Where did Jesus get his knowledge? MARTHA. He went into his own Soul. SAMUEL R. I thought Jesus found out what was in man because he was so good. People who are not good do not know what is in other people. Aspiration after Holiness. what he tells JOHN B. Jesus knew what was in man, because God told him. MR. ALCOTT. In a different way from ? you JOHN B. No; but Jesus was better, and God told him more. MR. ALCOTT. Does God's telling depend on you or on God? JOHN B. God tells us all we ought to know always. MR. ALCOTT. Then if you were as willing and eager to be taught by God as Jesus was, could you know as much? is the knowledge ready for you? JOHN B. Yes; but God gave Jesus more power than he gave me. MR. ALCOTT. Whether he tried or not? JOHN B. No; it does depend on trying. Christ in the Soul. MR. ALCOTT. May we say that there is a Christ in the depths of our Spirit,* which may be brought out, if we will try as Jesus did. Do you think so? (All rose but Frederic, Welles, and Augustine.) AUGUSTINE. No; because Jesus was God, and we cannot be said to have God in us. FREDERIC. I do not think Jesus Christ himself is in but only powers equal to his. my Spirit THE REST. EMMA. Faith in That was what we meant. We have lessened our powers. MR. ALCOTT. Must we believe in any thing first, in order to believe in Jesus Christ? FREDERIC. Yes s; we must believe in God, as he shows himself in our spirits. These people thought of a different kind of Messiah. - A man like Alexander the Great, or Mahomet. CHARLES. I should have expected the same. MR. ALCOTT. What if you had read the prophets? CHARLES. Yes; they describe him as an outward deliverer. MR. ALCOTT. They knew that prophets spoke in emblems. Strictly speaking, we cannot say that we have the power now, because we have yielded to temptation, but we were born with it, I think. *This is what Josiah recalled in his conversation on the Woman of Samaria. WELLES. I don't think we could have so Inability of much power as Jesus, if we were ever so good. MR. ALCOTT. When he was a baby, was he different from you as a baby? WELLES. Yes; a little different. MR. ALCOTT. You have not so much faith in your nature as the rest, and, you do not accomplish as much moral work as those who believe more in their nature. Spiritual ANDREW. Jesus did not commit himself” Could bad men see his miracles? MR. ALCOTT. cle. MR. ALCOTT. Is the outward world committed to a blind man? FREDERIC. No; because he has no eyes. MR. ALCOTT. Is there not such a thing as being blind to the spiritual world? FREDERIC. Yes; and it is not committed to some. MR. ALCOTT. Would bad men think Jesus was bad? ANDREW. Yes; because of their own badness. FREDERIC. Jesus only told his disciples who he was. If he had told others, they would not have known what he meant. CHARLES. Did he not wish to tell them that he was the Son of God? He wanted I suppose to see what effect his miracles would have. MR. ALCOTT. What is this power of working miracles? GEORGE K. Holiness. |