Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches
by Saul and in another way by his companions, cannot now be determined; but I have confined myself to indisputable fact in stating that Saul “saw a sight and heard words which other people, his companions, with the same opportunities for seeing and hearing, did not see and did...
by Saul and in another way by his companions, cannot now be determined; but I have confined myself to indisputable fact in stating that Saul “saw a sight and heard words which o...
2. i. Reality1. _Absolute reality cannot be comprehended by men, and can only be apprehended as God or in God by a combination of Desire and Imagination, to which we give the name of Faith._
3. ii. ForceWhy “immediately”? Because a particle of “matter”—attracting, as it does, every other particle of “matter”—may be said to “tend to produce motion.” Yet “matter” is not said to _...
4. iii. Cause and Effect5. iv. Spirit_Spirit, i.e. Breath or Wind, is a metaphorical name—implying subtleness, invisibility, ubiquitousness and life-giving power—given to the ultimate Cause of Force; and hence some...
6. v. MatterThe existence of Matter has never been proved; and it is nothing but a hypothesis. All the phenomena called “material” might be explained, without Matter, by the hypothesis of a...
7. vi. Nature1. _Nature means sometimes the (1) ordinary, or (2) orderly course of things apart from the present and direct intervention of human Will; sometimes the (3) ordinary or (4) orde...
8. vii. WillAn addition might be suggested: “the power of controlling our desires.” But we appear never to control our desires except by enthroning some one desire (or group of desires)—whe...
9. viii. Attention10. ix. Memory11. x. Imagination_Imagination is the power by which we combine or vary the mental images retained by Memory, often with a view to finding some unity in them; and by which we are enabled to image...
12. xi. Reason_Reason (or, as some prefer to call it in this limited sense, Understanding) is the power by which we compare, and, from our comparisons, draw inferences or conclusions. By mean...
13. xii. Hope14. xiii. FaithThe following Definition appears to me to be the basis of all theology. It is no more than an emphatic restatement of the old saying, “Faith is the _assurance of_ (or _giving su...
15. xiv. Belief16. xv. Certainty, or Conviction17. xvi. Knowledge1. _Absolute knowledge, which is possessed by no man, would be an identity between our mental affirmations and those of the Creator; who knows all things in their Essence and Ca...
18. xvii. Illusions and DelusionsSome might prefer “harmonize with experience _or with fact_.” But “harmony with _fact_” can _never_ be proved: you can only prove harmony with your experience, or with the gener...