Theism Doctrinal and Practical, or, Didactic Religious Utterances. By Francis W. Newman |
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The Letter and the Spirit.
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The Letter and the Spirit.
“All are not Israel, who are of Israel,”
Proclaimed of old the great apostle of the Gentiles:
Nor is easy to overlook, that under every creed
Some men are votaries of Goodness and others votaries of Self:
And though Truth is valuable, and a sounder creed better than a baser,
Yet under a worse creed are sometimes found better men,—
Better than those who join speculative truth with self-seeking.
Proclaimed of old the great apostle of the Gentiles:
Nor is easy to overlook, that under every creed
Some men are votaries of Goodness and others votaries of Self:
And though Truth is valuable, and a sounder creed better than a baser,
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Better than those who join speculative truth with self-seeking.
Many Jews and many Christians have been upright, noble and holy,
But neither Jew nor Christian esteems such the majority of his brethren:
It is confessed that the many have a form without the substance.
The like differences must exist in the heart of religions less known to us.
The like must exist among those who dissent from each religion,
Some through intellectual disgust, others with higher sentiment.
To love goodness and to hate evil everywhere,—
Chiefly the evil in one's self,—is to be really good:
And he who loves goodness, loves God, who is essential goodness,
Even if he discern not God and gravely doubt his existence.
But God exists, despite of man's doubt; and reigns in man's heart,
Whenever any man is subject to the high command of Conscience,
Which is truly God within, though the Atheist know it not:
And to love goodness, and to obey all the law which we discern,
Is better than to believe more fully and to disobey,
Loving self and following sin, in spite of religious notions.
So neither is the Pagan, or a Pantheist whose God is not moral,
Brought nearer to true goodness by his religious creed,
Or nearer to the worship of him in whom goodness is impersonate.
Nay, if they worship an immoral image, discerning its immorality,
Their idolatry is stark rebellion against the true God,
Though it counterfeit religion and use sacred words,
Which the Atheist rejects, perhaps through virtuous honesty.
But neither Jew nor Christian esteems such the majority of his brethren:
It is confessed that the many have a form without the substance.
The like differences must exist in the heart of religions less known to us.
The like must exist among those who dissent from each religion,
Some through intellectual disgust, others with higher sentiment.
To love goodness and to hate evil everywhere,—
Chiefly the evil in one's self,—is to be really good:
And he who loves goodness, loves God, who is essential goodness,
Even if he discern not God and gravely doubt his existence.
But God exists, despite of man's doubt; and reigns in man's heart,
Whenever any man is subject to the high command of Conscience,
Which is truly God within, though the Atheist know it not:
And to love goodness, and to obey all the law which we discern,
Is better than to believe more fully and to disobey,
Loving self and following sin, in spite of religious notions.
So neither is the Pagan, or a Pantheist whose God is not moral,
Brought nearer to true goodness by his religious creed,
Or nearer to the worship of him in whom goodness is impersonate.
Nay, if they worship an immoral image, discerning its immorality,
Their idolatry is stark rebellion against the true God,
Though it counterfeit religion and use sacred words,
Which the Atheist rejects, perhaps through virtuous honesty.
Among Atheists and Pantheists, and among Theists of every grade,
Good men may be found, and bad men, as in every nation:
Yet as each nation has its character, and one is higher than another,
Higher as to the average, though not always as to individuals,
Not unlike is the comparison between creed and creed.
No class of men is cast away by him whose Spirit pervades us.
Our part it is, to love and choose Truth alway,
But likewise, to love and honour Goodness alway,
Under whatever disguise we find it, under whatever ignorance:
For he who loves God for his goodness, cannot but love goodness in man.
Good men may be found, and bad men, as in every nation:
Yet as each nation has its character, and one is higher than another,
Higher as to the average, though not always as to individuals,
Not unlike is the comparison between creed and creed.
No class of men is cast away by him whose Spirit pervades us.
Our part it is, to love and choose Truth alway,
But likewise, to love and honour Goodness alway,
Under whatever disguise we find it, under whatever ignorance:
For he who loves God for his goodness, cannot but love goodness in man.
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