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orthodoxy-第46章

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side of humanity and liberty and love。  Love desires personality;



therefore love desires division。  It is the instinct of Christianity



to be glad that God has broken the universe into little pieces;



because they are living pieces。  It is her instinct to say 〃little



children love one another〃 rather than to tell one large person



to love himself。  This is the intellectual abyss between Buddhism



and Christianity; that for the Buddhist or Theosophist personality



is the fall of man; for the Christian it is the purpose of God;



the whole point of his cosmic idea。  The world…soul of the Theosophists



asks man to love it only in order that man may throw himself into it。 



But the divine centre of Christianity actually threw man out of it



in order that he might love it。  The oriental deity is like a giant



who should have lost his leg or hand and be always seeking to find it;



but the Christian power is like some giant who in a strange



generosity should cut off his right hand; so that it might of its



own accord shake hands with him。  We come back to the same tireless



note touching the nature of Christianity; all modern philosophies



are chains which connect and fetter; Christianity is a sword which



separates and sets free。  No other philosophy makes God actually



rejoice in the separation of the universe into living souls。 



But according to orthodox Christianity this separation between God



and man is sacred; because this is eternal。  That a man may love God



it is necessary that there should be not only a God to be loved;



but a man to love him。  All those vague theosophical minds for whom



the universe is an immense melting…pot are exactly the minds which



shrink instinctively from that earthquake saying of our Gospels;



which declare that the Son of God came not with peace but with a



sundering sword。  The saying rings entirely true even considered



as what it obviously is; the statement that any man who preaches real



love is bound to beget hate。  It is as true of democratic fraternity



as a divine love; sham love ends in compromise and common philosophy;



but real love has always ended in bloodshed。  Yet there is another



and yet more awful truth behind the obvious meaning of this utterance



of our Lord。  According to Himself the Son was a sword separating



brother and brother that they should for an aeon hate each other。 



But the Father also was a sword; which in the black beginning



separated brother and brother; so that they should love each other



at last。







     This is the meaning of that almost insane happiness in the



eyes of the mediaeval saint in the picture。  This is the meaning



of the sealed eyes of the superb Buddhist image。  The Christian



saint is happy because he has verily been cut off from the world;



he is separate from things and is staring at them in astonishment。 



But why should the Buddhist saint be astonished at things?



since there is really only one thing; and that being impersonal can



hardly be astonished at itself。  There have been many pantheist poems



suggesting wonder; but no really successful ones。  The pantheist



cannot wonder; for he cannot praise God or praise anything as really



distinct from himself。  Our immediate business here; however; is with



the effect of this Christian admiration (which strikes outwards;



towards a deity distinct from the worshipper) upon the general



need for ethical activity and social reform。  And surely its



effect is sufficiently obvious。  There is no real possibility



of getting out of pantheism; any special impulse to moral action。 



For pantheism implies in its nature that one thing is as good



as another; whereas action implies in its nature that one thing



is greatly preferable to another。  Swinburne in the high summer



of his scepticism tried in vain to wrestle with this difficulty。 



In 〃Songs before Sunrise;〃 written under the inspiration of Garibaldi



and the revolt of Italy he proclaimed the newer religion and the



purer God which should wither up all the priests of the world:







〃What doest thou now      Looking Godward to cry      I am I;



thou art thou;      I am low; thou art high;      I am thou that thou



seekest to find him; find thou but thyself; thou art I。〃







     Of which the immediate and evident deduction is that tyrants



are as much the sons of God as Garibaldis; and that King Bomba



of Naples having; with the utmost success; 〃found himself〃



is identical with the ultimate good in all things。  The truth is



that the western energy that dethrones tyrants has been directly



due to the western theology that says 〃I am I; thou art thou。〃 



The same spiritual separation which looked up and saw a good king in



the universe looked up and saw a bad king in Naples。  The worshippers



of Bomba's god dethroned Bomba。  The worshippers of Swinburne's god



have covered Asia for centuries and have never dethroned a tyrant。 



The Indian saint may reasonably shut his eyes because he is



looking at that which is I and Thou and We and They and It。 



It is a rational occupation:  but it is not true in theory and not



true in fact that it helps the Indian to keep an eye on Lord Curzon。 



That external vigilance which has always been the mark of Christianity



(the command that we should WATCH and pray) has expressed itself



both in typical western orthodoxy and in typical western politics: 



but both depend on the idea of a divinity transcendent; different



from ourselves; a deity that disappears。  Certainly the most sagacious



creeds may suggest that we should pursue God into deeper and deeper



rings of the labyrinth of our own ego。  But only we of Christendom



have said that we should hunt God like an eagle upon the mountains: 



and we have killed all monsters in the chase。







     Here again; therefore; we find that in so far as we value



democracy and the self…renewing energies of the west; we are much



more likely to find them in the old theology than the new。 



If we want reform; we must adhere to orthodoxy:  especially in this



matter (so much disputed in the counsels of Mr。 R。J。Campbell);



the matter of insisting on the immanent or the transcendent deity。 



By insisting specially on the immanence of God we get introspection;



self…isolation; quietism; social indifferenceTibet。  By insisting



specially on the transcendence of God we get wonder; curiosity;



moral and political adventure; righteous indignationChristendom。 



Insisting that God is inside man; man is always inside himself。 



By insisting that God transcends man; man has transcended himself。







     If we take any other doctrine that has been called old…fashioned
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