The Ascent of the Soul | Page 4

this question of origin teaches that souls are
propagated in the same way and at the same time as bodies; that when a
human being appears he is body and spirit; that both are born together,
both grow together; and then, some add, both die together, while others
believe that the spirit enters at death on a larger and freer stage of
existence.
I have recalled these speculations concerning the soul in order to show
that in all ages this question has been eagerly put and reverently
pressed. How could it have been otherwise? And what more convincing
evidence of the spiritual nature of man could be desired than that he
asks such questions? Would a figure of clay ask whether it were the
abode of a higher order of being? Dust asks no questions concerning
personality; but intelligence can never be satisfied until it knows the
causes of things.
What is the teaching of the New Testament concerning this subject?
The attitude of Jesus toward all the great problems was the practical
one. He attempted to shed no light on causes, but ever endeavored to
show how to make the best of things as they are. Whence came the soul?
we may ask of Him, but He will tell us that a far more important
inquiry is, How may the soul be delivered from imperfection, suffering,
and sin, and saved to its noblest uses and loftiest possibilities?
The reality of spirit is everywhere assumed in the teaching of Jesus, but

nowhere does there appear any effort to throw light on the mystery of
its genesis.
The distinction between spirit and body is indicated by the
Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the narratives of the continued
existence of Jesus after His Crucifixion, by many references to the
heavenly life, and by the appeals and invitations of the Gospel which
are all addressed to intelligence and will. The presence of Jesus in
history is an assertion of the spiritual nature of man. Various
philosophers have tried to satisfy the desire for light on the question of
the origin of personality; but Jesus has told us how, being here, we may
break our prison-houses and rise into the full freedom and glory of the
children of God. While inquirers have been seeking light, Jesus has
brought to them salvation; while they have fruitlessly asked whence
they came, Jesus has told them whither they are going.
The real problem of human life is not one which has to do with our
birth, but with our destiny. We know that we think, choose, love; we
know that we are self-conscious; we feel that we have kinship with
something higher than the ground on which we walk. The stars attract
us because they are above and have motion, but the earth we tread upon
has few fascinations.
Jesus has responded to the essential questions: For what have we been
created? What is our true home? What is the goal of personality? By
what path does man move from the bondage of his will, and the
limitation of his animalism toward the glorious liberty of the children
of God, and toward the fullness of his possible being?
We are thus brought face to face with other questions of deep
importance What part do weakness, limitation, suffering, sorrow, and
even sin, play in the development of souls? Is it necessary that any
should fall in order that they may rise? Did John Bunyan truly picture
the ascent of the soul? Does its path, of necessity, lead through the
Slough of Despond, through Vanity Fair, by Castle Dangerous, and into
the realm of Giant Despair?
Must one pass through hell and purgatory before he may enjoy the

"beatific vision?" Are temptation, sin, sorrow, and even death, angels
of God sent forth to minister to the perfection of man? or are they
fiends which, in some foul way, have invaded the otherwise fair regions
in which we dwell?
These are some of the questions to which we are to seek answers in the
pages which are to follow. I am persuaded that, as the result of our
studies, we shall find that the same beneficent hand which led the
"Cosmic process" for unnumbered ages, until the appearance of man, is
leading it still, that far more wonderful disclosures are waiting for the
children of men as they shall be prepared to receive them, and that the
glory of the "Spiritual Universe," as it approaches its consummation,
when compared with the finest growths of character yet seen, will
transcend them as the ordered creation, with its countless stars,
transcends the primeval chaos.
In the meantime it is well to remember a few very simple and
self-evident facts. One of these is that human souls must vary, at least
as much as the bodies in