CHAPTER IV.

Christian Regeneration.
The world is full of religions, of teachers, and of priests. Regarded from any standpoint, all other religions are overtopped by that which embodies the real teachings of Jesus as distinguished from th_eology, or so-called Christianity.
Jesus came five hundred years after Gautama, the Buddha, who remodeled Brahmanism and checked idolatry in India. Gautama denied the existence of any God as a creator and ruler of the universe, and taught that man alone could achieve salvation through the merit of good karma, which is the merit of actions. Jesustaught the parental care and providence of a Divine Father and the godhood resident in man, his son.
Gautama sought a way whereby the successions of birth into matter could be lessened and finally ended ; Jesus taught man how to overcome sorrow and death, how to become immortal here and now, thus becoming an independent factor in existence, not subject to the laws of karma and reincarna- tion. Note in this the immense evolution in thought, in the five hundred years between
39
40 Regejieration.
Gautama's time and the advent of Jesus. No teacher prior to Jesus had advocated the attain- ment of immortality while in the flesh. Gautama never hinted such a possibility, although in many respects the teachings of the two were similar.
The conclusions reached from the teachings of Jesus will depend upon whether they are under- stood to mean exactly what he is reported to have said in the four gospels. If so, leaving out of the question the writings of others, all of doubtful origin, we reach the conclusion that he taught the doctrine of the immortality of the body.
Much depends on the definition of terms used. Remembering the ignorance and unbelief of the apostles in their undeveloped stage, the reasons why so much of the teachings of Jesus are abbrevia- tions, or ambiguous, are explained. The records which ought to have contained some elucidations of his doctrines are merely narrations of his doings. Such narratives are a matter of memory ; they certainly require no inspiration. The inspiration is in his sermons, parables, and sayings, not in the report or the reporter. Lapses in memory are human, and the disagreements and differences in the four gospels are thus easily explained. The narratives are not ''the gospel truth."
The miracles ascribed to Jesus were evidently looked upon by the writers of these narratives, as exhibitions of power to exalt the ma7i, rather than
Christiafi Regeneration. 41
as vehicles to convey grand truths of value to the race. It must be evident to every thoughtful per- son, that the gospel of Jesus, as taught by him, was that of health and life on the earth, to which end he healed the sick at every opportunity.
Often in synagogue and temple, he preached to the people of a new life, of a better way of living this life ; but, alas, where are those sermons ? A few denunciations of hypocrites, a few hard words hurled at the aristocratic church of the time, are all that remain. In giving an account of his sayings, there is incompleteness, garbled extracts with only a few words which were remembered by someone who heard' him, and afterwards repeated to someone else who may have wTitten them down.
As an evidence of the want of apprehension of the apostles, observe the frequency with which Jesus explained to them in private the meaning of the parables. \Miy did he talk to the people at all if his teaching was so enveloped in mystery that none could understand him .? He was a re- former, and to change customs and opinions it was necessary that he should speak plainly and simply, expounding what were to the masses dark sayings, and without doubt that is just what he did. It is the report alone which is obscure. Take for ex- ample, the conversation with Nicodemus. The idea then enunciated was so astounding that Nic- odemus might well ask the question that he asked.
42 Regeneration.
Can we imagine that one-tenth or even a hun- dredth part of the teaching of Jesus on that oc- casion is recorded ? The declaration made was, on the face of it, entirely at variance with natural law, and we cannot belie v^e that Jesus would leave his remarkable statement with so little elucidation, thus insulting the intelligence of the distinguished man who, in search of truth, sought him out at night, when he could be free from interruption. That Nicodemus went away satisfied in his own mind of the profundity of the Master's teaching, whether he was ready to accept it or not, is evi- dent from the regard he showed for him ever after- ward. Yet there is nothing reported that could, unaided, satisfy a searching mind as to the nature of Regeneration, or the way to its attainment.
It is evident from the declaration, "Except ye be born again ye cannot see the kingdom of God," and again, " If ye be not born of water and the Spirit ye cannot enter the kingdom of God," that something in relation to sex inheres in the teaching of Jesus on this important theme. Both these declarations are vague, and to the majority of minds incomprehensible, and the interpretations given by the church are equally vague. Baptism as a saving ordinance, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the immanent presence of God in the Eucharist, all supposed to relate to the new birth, — together with the washing away of sin by the blood of atone-
C/iristian Regeneration. 43
ment, — serve only as points of separation and show- plainly the degeneracy of the so-called " Body of Christ." We find the churches of today not a whit advanced beyond the civilization of the time in which Jesus lived, notwithstanding he denounced the very evils under which we are now^ suffering, in language not to be mis- construed.
One ought to condemn nothing unless prepared to point to something better, and unless a plain and certain way to a more advanced type of Re- generation than that held by the Christian Church can be pointed out, it w^ere better to leave that conception to work out such good results as may be possible even to truth misunderstood and effoH misdirected.
It is not possible for a perfect thing to become any better ; the basic principles that Jesus taught are perfect, and can never be excelled, but the human nature which they are designed to ren- ovate, to build anew, is very imperfect. The gospel as it fell from the lips of the Master, or as it was objectified in the so-called miracles and in his life and death, was much of it seed scattered by the wayside and in the stony places and arid soil, where the perfect seed could only produce imperfect results. These imperfect results, this degenerate form of Christianity, is that which was organized in the churches and which
44 Regeneration.
survives to the present day, a weak imitation of that immortaUty which Paul says Jesus brought to Hght.
In the interview with Nicodemus, Jesus says, '' Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" What things? Evidently the physiological facts relating to generation with which all persons of education would naturally be acquainted. The " earthly things" alluded to must have been facts of physical generation and birth, while the ''heavenly things" had reference to the second birth and to the creature made new and completely fitted to enter into the kingdom of heaven, which kingdom he elsewhere positively declares to be "within you."
There was a wide difference between the nat- ural and the regenerate man in the thought of Jesus, as is evidenced by the statement, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it Cometh, or whither it goeth ; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." Notwithstanding this test of the new birth, it is a common experience for men and women to affirm that they are " born of the Spirit '' who are no more like the wind than they are like horses and oxen.'
The doctrine of the new birth, marks the differ-
^ .See the story of Philip and the eunuch in Acts \\\\. 39, 4c, for an ex- ample of one born of the spirit.
Christian Regencratioji. 45
ence between Christianity and all other religions. It is the great legacy of Jesus to the faith, but it is impossible to harmonize the different views of what constitutes Regeneration that are held by the various sects of Christendom.
All other religions teach the doctrine of future rewards for good conduct and punishment for evil acts, — but Christian theology assumes to provide a way whereby the sinner may escape the j ust conse- quence of his evil deeds, the way of belief that the blood of the gentle Jew who suffered on Calvary, can be mysteriously applied to efface from the eternal record, written by the sinner, all knowl- edge or remembrance of his ill-doing. Paul says : *' Salvation is not of works lest any man should boast," and that appears to be the generally re- ceived opinion of the churches, a death-bed repent- ance being a passport direct to " miansions in the skies." Most murderers become "Christians" at the near prospect of a gibbet, passing, according to this theology, through the gate of repentance and belief in the atoning blood of a Saviour into the company of "the pure in heart" who alone shall "see God." Belief then in certain dogmas of the church must, according to this theory, constitute the new birth, which is Regeneration, and the pro- cess, forsaking natural methods of gestation and growth, is instantaneous, the foul being thus born, ranking at once with the hoary saint who has
4-6 Regeiicratioji.
''seen of the travail of his soul" in giving birth to the slowly growing " new creature."
Except a man be born again he cannot even ^^ see the kingdom of God." These words must have been wrung from the lips of the Great Mas- ter in view of the blindness and depravity of man-
kind. Who has understood his meaning, or understanding, has reported the truth }
To open wide the gate of belief, — which after all is only opinion, something held by the mind until knowledge is attained; — to make broad and easy the "way," which Jesus declared to be ''strait" and "narrow," seems to be the mission of the churches. Certainly none of the " signs " he declared should follow with all those who believed on him, with the belief of faith, which is the soul's knowledge, not the mind's opinion, can be said to follow the modern believer. According to the teaching of Jesus, a man's belief was only the beginning of his journey Godward, not the end; for he said : " Not everyone who sayeth ' Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom, but he w^ho doeth the will of my Father." Paul, who never saw the Master, thought differently ; he, however, taught theology, \vhile Jesus showed the way to immor- tality. The early churches were organized on communistic principles, for the little flock of be- lievers on the new ^Messiah "had all things in com- mon," previous to the organization of the church.
CJiristian Regeneration. 47
Force, that actuates man's animal nature, directly antagonizes the spiritual principle, which is love; therefore the teaching of Jesus, ''Resist not evil," the spirit of meekness and non-resistance which prepares the way to Regeneration, is not ac- ceptable to the natural man. The unregenerate Peter w^hen he smote off the ear of the High Priest's servant, brought on himself the stern rebuke of the Master, " Put up thy sword," together wnth the intimation that legions of angels were ready to respond to his call if he wished to array force against force.
In the dismay resulting from the Master's appar- ent death on the cross, the disciples fell from the state of absolute belief in the words of Jesus,' into the horrors of doubt. They had not grasped the inner significance of his teaching ; even if he rose again, he had suffered death like all mortal things. In this turmoil of spirit, how difficult to realize his presence, himself in his immortal body ; not differ- ent, but the same ! Nineteen hundred years after, we find that distrust and hesitation congealed into the positive denial of his immortality as Man, his deification as God, and the assertion in the lives of his reputed follow^ers that only gods can live his hfe, or die as he did into immortality of the entire being, body, soul, and spirit.
Gautama counseled his followers that, on passing
" He that believeth on me shall never die."
48 Regeneration.
from among them, he should no more return, or heed or hear if they called on him for help. Jesus, on the contrary, assured the disciples that "when two or three were gathered together in his name, there he should be in the midst of them,'' and that whatever they asked of the Father in his name should be granted. It was this declaration that induced them to meet together to weep and mourn as they recalled his teaching, and from such small gatherings sprang the church with its public worship and social prayer-meeting, all in distinct opposition to his command : " When ye pray, enter into thy closet and sJiut tJic door^ The public worship which Jesus denounced in the Pharisees, has be- come the corner-stone of the Christian ideal of Regeneration !
The Christ in Jesus announced- the fulfilment of the law of force, and ushered in the law of love; yet even his immediate followers conceived the command to love as God loves to be a love of external objects, rather than an inward spiritual condition. How difficult it was to reverse the law of force — to live the law of love — for the first followers of Jesus appeared in the incipient organi- zation of the church. Ananias and Saphira keeping back a part of their property, and lying about it, were slain by the spiritual force wielded by Peter. Oh, pitiful spectacle ! The prostitution of spiritual power to the rule of force in -the man-
Christian Regeneration. 49
agement of the temporal interests of the infant church !
The pozver was there, as Jesus promised it should be, but it gradually withdrew from the church, together with the power of healing the^sick, casting out devils, speaking in tongues, the spirit of prophecy, and the communion of angels. These gifts have passed from the church, together with the regenerating love that alone made them possible; the church has left the secret recesses of the soul to appear only in glib words of formal religion on the tongue. Jesus urged on his follow- ers the immense value of Silence, showing them the emptiness of wordy and resounding prayers, which have their reward in the approbation of men, and assuring them that *'the Father who seeth in secret " would openly reward the prayer of silence.
No one is required to regenerate another ; it would be a vain effort. Regeneration requires a constant inward gaze, together with patient effort to i)idraiu the animal or force nature, that it may be transformed into Spiritual Love.