RELIGION AND THEOSOPHY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16728, 10 January 1920, Page 9

RELIGION AND THEOSOPHY.

TO THE F.DITOP. OV "TTTK fIIESS." Sir. —Your correspondent "A.8.C." is only another instance of the many so-called invostieators of thensophy who aro content with a superficial survey of its teachings, and practically no corrcct knowlcdco of tho "nu'son d'etre" of tho Theosophical Sorictv. He remarks: "Mnnv thousands. nay millions, of pcoplo, clerical and lav, havo patiently studied thcosophv'.s complication", nnd rejected it ris inadequate," which may possibly lie true it" we cut out tho millinn-. and it would bo easy to meet this with "tu f]!Kique'' argument relating to the of the many Christian sects, r.nd the consequent great spread of materialism. But this sort of discussion leads nowhere, .simtdy provokes religious antagonism, and makes it all tho harder for theosophy to ho accepted as the handmaid of relicion. which is one of its most laudable T take the word "cornplications" to bo intended in a depreciatory sense. lwv\ni*. ( . "A.8.C." Inter on refers to tho fact that tho Founder of Christianitv demanded no transcendental mind to understand nnd accept his tuition, thorcbv implying ♦hat Christian teachings are elementary

and theosophy suffers by comparison. In <o far ns the ethical pronouncement* are concerned, this is self-evident; hut when it comes to an attempt to gra.«p the tnightv scheme of the Ruler of the Universe I fail to see how any system could be other than complicated, and. to judge bv the amount of timo consumed by" divinity students, the Churches also share this view. Those who have found theosophv inadequate aro probably those who derive nil thev need in tlio way of religions requirements from their own faith, and who are thus obviouslv not in need of any further enffghtonment. Rut, on the other hand, there aro many wb'> snv the orthodox teachings of Christianity are illogical, unreasonable, contradictors and unsatisfying, and it is to these alone that the message of tlieoso phv is of any value. Knowledge of any port- which tho reason docs not ask for, is always unwelcome and—for the time being superfluous. Rut when the mind open> out in a search for the truth, if becomes the bounden duty of tho individual to endeavour to satisfy this desire Theo>.ophy. therefore, .says, hold to vour beliefs so long us thev satisfy your reason, hut not a moment longer, nr<i treat all iheosophical hypotheses in exactly the same way. Nothing could be more explicit nor more honest, and if this can be construed —as your correspondent avers- into seeking to under mine the faith of tho Churches, then such construction is merely the product of the ill-informed or biased mind. I therefore have no hesitation in em phaticallv denying that Mrs Resant. or any other exponent of theosophv, oyer "worked like mohv? at tho Church • foundations." One can have no com plaint whatever with the man who honestly rejects anv system of thought, and mv objection to the antagonism of the Churches is not directed against Mich. Hut the case is different- when theosophv is referred to as an evil work, considerably hover in the moral scale ihan pure undiluted heathenism, aiming at the destruction of one of the world's great religions.

But- let Mrs Besunt speak for herself, in terms as plain and unambiguous as the most humble, .intelligence ran <!•»- sire. She says: 'It is tjio duty of tho society in every land to revive spirituality. to restore to every faith anything that, in tho lapse of time it may have lost or allowed to become covered up on account of tho ignorance of the believers; io curry to every eountrr spirituality in tho garb of its nun religion, not l*>ing wiser than the <«reni Ones who linve given different religions in men for the helping of different temperaments and types; working in the service of every rolipion: not prosolytising. 110 more living to make the Buddhist or the Hindu a Christian than 10 make tho Christian a Hindu or a Buddhist: regarding overy religion a* bolv. as a path to tlie Supreme. Tn order to do thin it studies all religions lo show their essential unity, and thus iv«iablish pence hotwecn them. Thev differ in their garments, not in their life. We compare their doctrines to demonstrate t|io unity of their origin. The more men of nl| faiths know of the faiths of others, the more trill they realise the religious Brotherhood of Man." Of course, the obvious retort, to this plain statement, of policv is to deny the appearance in the world of more than one great religious Teacher, nnd if such u contention could bo substantiated, the whole (structure of this portion of tlioosophv falls to tho ground. Rut such a denial involves tho absurd assumption that, for Kome unexplained reason, the Christian -world has l>een deemed alone to l>o worthv of this consideration on the part of tho Deity, and it also fails to satisfy tho quite reasonable feeling on tho part of so many that no religious system can he conceived as hoing wimplete, which does not embrace the millions who existed before the Christian era. "A.8.C." refers to the wild statements of Theosophists that "Christianity has failed by reason of the Churches," hut, speaking personally, 1 have never come across nn'"' such assertion, and would prefor to regard the fhoosophical attitude tin bring more faithfullv presented by tho statement that Christianity has Rnrvived despite the Churches. As for sniritriaJism. unquestionably, as your correspondent, states, it lias prnved to be "medicine and food for failing sniritual belief." hut from the theosoohicaj standpoint it is nnsystematie and unreliable, and stops short at the proofs of the continuity r,f existence, and the possibility of communicating with the dead. And whilst its phenomena rertainlv have a great value, inasmuch as, thev partake of the natnro of physical demonstrations, the tvnes of so manv of its "spirit mesMiros" render it. quite impossible in dignify the ntudy bv the name of 'Torino manifestation," and more thnn we should artply this term to ♦'he nfhli"nl incident of the Woman of Endor.—Tour*, etc., TCmVAim RRANROOMBE. Christ elmrch. January 9th.