Indeed, it tends to exalt our conceptions of him, to imagine this great hierarchy of powers, ascending upward in long gradation, the highest and greatest still far below the ineffable majesty of the Supreme Being. And with this conception of his greatness, there is an increased strength of filial trust and love, in knowing that he reaches down, through this vast range of being, to hold every human soul to himself, by his indwelling spirit, and his perpetual providence. If such a theory as I have suggested be tenable, it would combine in one belief the essential doctrines of evolution, emanation, and creation. All things would be from God, but would come by the mediation of inferior spirits who have emanated from him; and these, as finite spirits, would proceed by finite and tentative methods, creating one after another the varieties of life. The whole flora and fauna of the world would then speak to us, not only of Him in whom all things live and move and have their being, but also of the great multitude of benign intelligences employed by God in these offices of creation. In every flower, every tree, every organ of the humblest animal, we should see, not only the divine presence and providence, but the loving, patient work of spirits akin to ourselves. What an immense gain it would be to substitute for the cold, mechanical theories of evolution by dead force and blind law, a higher doctrine of evolution which, retaining every fact of science, should fill the world with spiritual life and energy. If, beside the Supreme Creator, there are also subordinate creators, we may conceive of them as still present in nature, still helping to reproduce its beauty and life, still visible in the tender coloring of the sky and the graceful sweep of the elm, still audible in "the melodies of woods, and winds, and waters." Gracious and fair were the divinities of the Greeks by the side of their fountains, and in the depths of their forests, but how much higher the conception which, while filling all space with spiritual ever-active powers, still believes in God as the Alpha and Omega, first and last, whose fullness fills all in all, whose light inspires all intelligence, whose life is the animating principle of all being. CHAPTER VIII. PRAYER AND WORSHIP IN ALL RELIGIONS. § 1. Prayer and worship to invisible powers universal. § 2. Prayer among the primitive races. Zulus. North American Indians. Races of Asia. Islands of the Pacific. The principal element of this prayer is supplication for outward good. § 3. Prayer in Ethnic Religions. Adoration the principal element in these prayers. The Vedic Hymns. China. The Greeks. Mexicans. § 4. Prayer in the Catholic Religions. Desire for moral goodness now appears. The Zend-Avesta. Buddhism. Mohammedanism. § 5. The universality of Sacrifices. Their origin. § 6. Jewish Prayers. The Book of Psalms. God spoken to as a friend. Christian Prayer. No liturgy in the New Testament. The prayer of love. § 7. Imprecatory prayer in all religions. Improvement in the spirit and method of prayer. § 8. Decay of prayer at the present time. Divine personality doubted. The Future of Prayer. § 1. Prayer and worship to invisible powers universal. NE of the universal facts in the history of ONE man is the custom of prayer and worship addressed to invisible powers. All that man does must derive its motive from without or from within, from his outward experience or his inward tendencies. Therefore, when we find this custom of wor 1 ship in all races, barbarous and civilized; in all times, the most ancient and most recent; in all religions, from the lowest superstition to the highest spirituality; one of two things must be true. Either men have found that their prayers are answered, and that they actually receive blessings in consequence of prayer which they could not obtain without it; or else, though there is no answer to prayer, and they get no good by it, they continue to pray from the necessity of their own nature. Prayer either brings divine aid, or it does not bring it. If it brings aid, then there are unseen personal beings who hear and answer prayer; and so Materialism and Atheism and Agnostic theories are confuted. If prayer does not bring aid, then, in addition to man's other endowments, he must have been created with such instincts of the heart, intuitions of the mind, and aspirations of the soul as to maintain a communion with powers unperceived by the senses. He talks forever to a silent world from which comes no response. Then he must have a religious organization, which has survived through all the long processes of development. If we accept the doctrine of the "survival of the fittest," we must grant that the fittest man is the man who prays, and that prayer in some way or other has been helpful, and continues to be so. The Evolutionist, at any rate, must believe that he is made to pray, and that it does him good to pray. Zulus. North § 2. Prayer among the primitive races. Beginning with the primitive or tribal religions, we find prayer as universal there as elsewhere. We have seen among the primitive races the beginnings of religious faith in things unseen, in their strong conviction of the continued existence of human souls after death. To these disembodied spirits it is natural to speak. This conversation with the unseen world is the rudimentary form of prayer. The Sioux Indians say, "Spirits of the dead, have mercy on us." The Zulus of Africa call on the spirits of their ancestors, without specifying their wants, thinking these spirits can know without being told. They simply ery aloud, "People of our house!" Sometimes they say, "People of our house; cattle!" "People of our house, good luck and health!" On more solemn occasions, after the cattle-feast and sacrifices are over, the head-man of the tribe speaks thus, amid a profound silence: "Our people! I pray to you. I sacrifice these cattle to you. I pray for more cattle and more corn, and many children; then this your home will prosper, and many will praise and thank you." From such conversation with departed friends { |