The Ascent of the Soul | Page 2

at the sight; And, while I
gazed, there came to me a thought That even I beyond my natural race
Might step as thou dost now:--might one day trace Some ground not
mine; and, strong her strength above, My soul, an apparition in the
place, Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove!
--Wordsworth.

I

THE SOUL
Subjects which a few years ago were regarded as the exclusive property
of cultured thinkers, are now common themes of thought and
conversation. Psychology has been popularized. Materialistic doctrines
are at a discount even in this age of physical science.
It is difficult to explain the somewhat sudden appearance of intense
interest in questions which have to do with the life of the spirit; but,
whatever the theory of its genesis, there is no doubt of its presence.
This, therefore, is a favorable time for a somewhat extended study of
the stages through which we pass in our spiritual growth. I shall
endeavor to use the inductive method in this inquiry, and trust that I am
not presumptuous in giving to these essays the title,
THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL.
The phrases, "The Ascent of Man" and "The Descent of Man" are
familiar to all readers of the literature of modern science. One of the
most eminent of American writers on science and philosophy too soon
taken from his work, if any act of Providence is ever too soon, has
made a clear distinction between evolution as applied to the body and
as applied to the spirit. In lucid and luminous pages he has taught us
that evolution, as a physical process, having culminated in man can go
no further along those lines; that henceforward "the Cosmic force" will
be expended in the perfection of the spirit, and that that process will
require eternity to complete.
More perspicuously than any other author, John Fiske has introduced to
modern English thought the conception of the ascent of the soul,
considered in its relation to the individual and to the race.
This subject naturally divides itself into two departments, viz.--the
ascent of each individual soul and, then, the far-off perfecting of
humanity. I shall make suggestions along both lines of inquiry. I do not
know of any writer who has, in a compact form, presented the results of
such studies, although there have been illustrations, especially in
literature, which indicate that many thinkers have had in mind the

attempt to trace and describe the progress of the soul from its bondage
to animalism toward its perfection and glory in the freedom of the
spirit.
Goethe, in "Faust," has made an effort to follow the process by which a
weak woman and a weaker man, ignorant of the forces struggling
within them and susceptible to malign influences from without, through
terrible mistakes and bitter failure, at length reach the heights of
character.
The Trilogy of Dante is a study of the soul in its slow and painful
passage from hell, through purgatory, to heaven. Perhaps, however, the
noblest and truest effort in this direction to be found in the world's
literature is "The Pilgrim's Progress," in which a man of glorious genius
and vision, but without academic culture, reflecting too much the crude
and materialistic theology of his time and condition, follows the
progress of a soul in its movement from the City of Destruction to the
City Celestial. The City of Destruction is the state of animalism and
selfishness from which the race has slowly emerged; and the City
Celestial is not only the Christian's heaven, but also the state of those
who, having escaped from earthliness, having conquered animalism
and risen into the freedom of the spirit, breathe the air and enjoy the
companionship of the sons of God.
It is my purpose in a different way to attempt to trace some of the steps
of what may be called the evolution of the spirit, or, in the light of
modern knowledge, the growth of the soul as it moves upward. At the
outset I must make it plain that I am speaking of evolution since the
time when man as a spirit appeared. Given the spiritual being, what are
the stages through which he will pass on his way to the goal toward
which he is surely pressing?
Just here we should ask, What do we mean by the soul? The word is
used in its popular sense, as synonymous with spirit or personality.
Man has a dual nature; one part of his being is of the dust and to the
dust it returns; the other part is a mystery; it is known only by what it
does. Man thinks, loves, chooses, and is conscious of himself as
thinking, loving, choosing. The unity of this being who thinks, loves,

chooses in a single self-consciousness