爱爱小说网 > 其他电子书 > lecture19 >

第5章

lecture19-第5章

小说: lecture19 字数: 每页3500字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!







'321' Op。 cit。; Letter XXX。















We heard in previous lectures of the vivified face of the world



as it may appear to converts after their awakening。'322' As a



rule; religious persons generally assume that whatever natural



facts connect themselves in any way with their destiny are



significant of the divine purposes with them。 Through prayer



the purpose; often far from obvious; comes home to them; and if



it be 〃trial;〃 strength to endure the trial is given。  Thus at



all stages of the prayerful life we find the persuasion that in



the process of communion energy from on high flows in to meet



demand; and becomes operative within the phenomenal world。  So



long as this operativeness is admitted to be real; it makes no



essential difference whether its immediate effects be subjective



or objective。 The fundamental religious point is that in prayer;



spiritual energy; which otherwise would slumber; does become



active; and spiritual work of some kind is effected really。







'322' Above; p。 243 ff。  Compare the withdrawal of expression



from the world; in Melancholiacs; p。 148。















So much for Prayer; taken in the wide sense of any kind of



communion。  As the core of religion; we must return to it in the



next lecture。







The last aspect of the religious life which remains for me to



touch upon is the fact that its manifestations so frequently



connect themselves with the subconscious part of our existence。



You may remember what I said in my opening lecture'323' about the



prevalence of the psychopathic temperament in religious



biography。  You will in point of fact hardly find a religious



leader of any kind in whose life there is no record of



automatisms。  I speak not merely of savage priests and prophets;



whose followers regard automatic utterance and action as by



itself tantamount to inspiration; I speak of leaders of thought



and subjects of intellectualized experience。  Saint Paul had his



visions; his ecstasies; his gift of tongues; small as was the



importance he attached to the latter。 The whole array of



Christian saints and heresiarchs; including the greatest; the



Barnards; the Loyolas; the Luthers; the Foxes; the Wesleys; had



their visions; voices; rapt conditions; guiding impressions; and



〃openings。〃    They had these things; because they had exalted



sensibility; and to such things persons of exalted sensibility



are liable。  In such liability there lie; however; consequences



for theology。  Beliefs are strengthened wherever automatisms



corroborate them。  Incursions from beyond the transmarginal



region have a peculiar power to increase conviction。  The



inchoate sense of presence is infinitely stronger than



conception; but strong as it may be; it is seldom equal to the



evidence of hallucination。  Saints who actually see or hear their



Saviour reach the acme of assurance。  Motor automatisms; though



rarer; are; if possible; even more convincing than sensations。 



The subjects here actually feel themselves played upon by powers



beyond their will。  The evidence is dynamic; the God or spirit



moves the very organs of their body。'324'







'323' Above; pp。 25; 26。







'324' A friend of mine; a first…rate psychologist; who is a



subject of graphic automatism; tells me that the appearance of



independent actuation in the movements of his arm; when he writes



automatically; is so distinct that it obliges him to abandon a



psychophysical theory which he had previously believed in; the



theory; namely; that we have no feeling of the discharge



downwards of our voluntary motor…centres。  We must normally have



such a feeling; he thinks; or the SENSE OF AN ABSENCE would not



be so striking as it is in these experiences。  Graphic automatism



of a fully developed kind is rare in religious history; so far as



my knowledge goes。  Such statements as Antonia Bourignon's; that



〃I do nothing but lend my hand and spirit to another power than



mine;〃 is shown by the context to indicate inspiration rather



than directly automatic writing。  In some eccentric sects this



latter occurs。  The most striking instance of it is probably the



bulky volume called; 〃Oahspe; a new Bible in the Words of Jehovah



and his angel ambassadors;〃 Boston and London; 1891; written and



illustrated automatically by Dr。 Newbrough of New York; whom I



understand to be now; or to have been lately; at the head of the



spiritistic community of Shalam in New Mexico。  The latest



automatically written book which has come under my notice is



〃Zertouhem's Wisdom of the Ages;〃 by George A。 Fuller; Boston;



1901。















The great field for this sense of being the instrument of a



higher power is of course 〃inspiration。〃  It is easy to



discriminate between the religious leaders who have been



habitually subject to inspiration and those who have not。  In the



teachings of the Buddha; of Jesus; of Saint Paul (apart from his



gift of tongues); of Saint Augustine; of Huss; of Luther; of



Wesley; automatic or semi…automatic composition appears to have



been only occasional。  In the Hebrew prophets; on the contrary;



in Mohammed; in some of the Alexandrians; in many minor Catholic



saints; in Fox; in Joseph Smith; something like it appears to



have been frequent; sometimes habitual。  We have distinct



professions of being under the direction of a foreign power; and



serving as its mouthpiece。  As regards the Hebrew prophets; it is



extraordinary; writes an author who has made a careful study of



them; to see







〃How; one after another; the same features are reproduced in the



prophetic books。  The process is always extremely different from



what it would be if the prophet arrived at his insight into



spiritual things by the tentative efforts of his own genius。



There is something sharp and sudden about it。  He can lay his



finger; so to speak; on the moment when it came。  And it always



comes in the form of an overpowering force from without; against



which he struggles; but in vain。  Listen; for instance; 'to' the



opening of the book of Jeremiah。  Read through in like manner the



first two chapters of the prophecy of Ezekiel。







〃It is not; however; only at the beginning of his career that the



prophet passes through a crisis which is clearly not self…



caused。  Scattered all through the prophetic writings are



expressions which speak of some strong and irresistible impulse



coming down upon the prophet; determining his attitude to the



events of his time; constraining his utterance; making his words



the vehicle of a higher meaning than their own。  For instance;



this of Isaiah's:  'The Lord spake thus to me with a strong



hand;'an emphatic phrase which denotes the overmastering nature



of the impulse'and instructed me that I should not walk in the



way of this people。' 。 。 。 Or passages like this from Ezekiel: 



'The hand of the Lord God fell upon me;' 'The hand of the Lord



was strong upon me。' The one standing characteristic of the



prophet is that he speaks with the authority of Jehovah himself。 



Hence it is that the prophets one and all preface their addresses



so confidently; 'The Word of the Lord;' or 'Thus saith the Lord。'



They have even the audacity to speak in the first person; as if



Jehovah himself were speaking。  As in Isaiah:  'Hearken unto me;



O Jacob; and Israel my called; I am He; I am the First; I also am



the last;'and so on。  The personality of the prophet sinks



entirely into the background; he feels himself for the time being



the mouthpiece of the Almighty。〃'325'







'325' W。 Sanday:  The Oracles of God; London; 1892; pp。 49…56;



abridged。















〃We need to remember that prophecy was a profession; and that the



prophets formed a professional class。  There were schools of the



prophets; in which the gift was regularly cultivated。  A group of



young men would gather round some commanding figurea Samuel or



an Elishaand would not only record or spread the knowledge of



his sayings and doings; but seek to catch themselves something of



his inspiration。  It seems that music played its part in their



exercises。 。 。 。  It is perfectly clear that by no means all of



these Sons of the prophets ever succeeded in acquiring more than



a very small share in the gift which they sought。  It was clearly



possible to 'counterfeit' prophecy。  Sometimes this was done



deliberately。 。 。 。  But it by no means follows that in all cases



where a false message was given; the giver of it was altogether



conscious of what he was doing。'326'







'326' Op。 cit。; p。 91。  This author also cites Moses's and



Isaiah's commissions; as given in Exodus; chaps。 iii。 and iv。;



and Isaiah; chap。 vi。















Here; to take another Jewish case; is the way in which Philo of



Alexandria describes his inspiration:







〃Sometimes; when I have come to my work empty; I have suddenly



become full; ideas being in an invisible manner showered upon me;



and implanted in me from on high; so that through the influence



of divine inspiration; I have become greatly excited; and have



known neither the place in which I was; nor those who were



present; nor myself; nor what I was saying; nor what I was



writing; for then I have been conscious of a richness of



interpretation; an enjoyment of light; a most penetrating



insight; a most manifest energy in all that was to be done;



having such effect on my mind as the clearest ocular



demonstration would have on the eyes。〃'327'







'327' Quoted by Augustus Clissold:  The Prophetic Spirit in



Genius and Madness; 1870; p。 67。  Mr。 Clissold is a



Swedenborgian。  Swedenborg's case is of course the palmary one of



audita et visa; serving as a basis of religious revelation。















If we turn to Islam; we find that Mohammed's revelations all came



from the subconscious sphere。  To the question in what way he got



them







〃Mohammed is said to have answered that sometimes he heard a



knell as from a bell; and that this had the strongest effect on



him; and when the angel went away; he had received the



revelation。  Sometimes again he held converse with the angel as



with a man; so as easily to understand his words。  The later



authorities; however; 。 。 。 distinguish still other kinds。  In



the Itgan (103) the follo

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的