Three Theories Of Life

Only three noteworthy theories have been offered as solutions to the

riddle of existence and in order that the reader may be able to make the

important choice between them, we will state briefly what they are and

give some of the arguments which lead us to advocate the doctrine of

Rebirth as the method which favors soul-growth and the ultimate attainment

of perfection, thus offering the best solution to the problem of life.
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1) THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY teaches that life is but a short journey from

the cradle to the grave, that there is no higher intelligence in the

universe than man; that his mind is produced by certain correlations of

matter and that therefore death, and dissolution of the body terminate

existence.



There was a day when the arguments of Materialistic philosophers seemed

convincing, but as science advances it discovers more and more that there

is a spiritual side to the universe. That life and consciousness may exist

without being able to give us a sign, has been amply proven in the cases

where a person who was entranced and thought dead for days has suddenly

awakened and told all that had taken place around the body. Such eminent

scientists as Sir Oliver Lodge, Camille Flammarion, Lombroso and other men

of highest intelligence and scientific training, have unequivocally stated

as the result of their investigations, that the intelligence which we call

man survives death of the body and lives on in our midst as independently

of whether we see them or not as light and color exist all about the blind

man regardless of the fact that he does not perceive them. These

scientists have reached their conclusion after years of careful

investigation. They have found that the so-called dead can, and under

certain circumstances do, communicate with us in such a manner that

mistake is out of the question. We maintain that their testimony is worth

more than the argument of materialism to the contrary, for it is based

upon years of careful investigation, it is in harmony with such well

established laws as the law of conservation of matter and the law of

conservation of energy. Mind is a form of energy, and immune from

destruction as claimed by the materialist. Therefore we disbar the

materialistic theory as unsound, because out of harmony with the laws of

nature and with well established facts.



2) THE THEORY OF THEOLOGY claims that just prior to each birth a soul is

created by God and enters into the world where it lives for a time varying

from a few minutes to a few score of years; that at the end of this short

span of life it returns through the portal of death to the invisible

beyond, where it remains forever in a condition of happiness or misery

according to the deeds done in the body during the few years it lived

here.



Plato insisted upon the necessity of a clear definition of terms as a

basis of argument and we contend that that is as necessary in discussing

the problem of life from the Bible point of view as in arguments from the

platonic standpoint. According to the Bible man is a composite being

consisting of body, soul and spirit. The two latter are usually taken to

be synonymous, but we insist that they are not interchangeable and present

the following to support our dictum.



All things are in a state of vibration. Vibrations from objects in our

surroundings are constantly impinging upon us and carry to our senses a

cognition of the external world. The vibrations in the ether act upon our

eyes so that we see, and vibrations in the air transmit sounds to the ear.



We also breathe the ether which is charged with pictures of our

surroundings and the sounds in our environment, so that by means of the

breath we receive at each moment of our life, internally an accurate

picture of our external surroundings.



That is a scientific proposition. Science does not explain what becomes of

these vibrations however, but according to the Rosicrucian Mystery

teaching they are transmitted to the blood, and then etched upon a little

atom in the heart as automatically as a moving picture is imprinted upon

the sensitized film, and a record of sounds is engraven upon the

phonographic disc. This breath-record starts with the first breath of the

newborn babe and ends only with the last gasp of the dying man, and "soul"

is a product of the breath. Genesis also shows the connection between

breath and soul in the words: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of

the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man

became a living soul" (The same word: nephesh, is translated breath and

soul in the above quotation.)



In the post mortem existence the breath-record is disposed of. The good

acts of life produce feelings of pleasure and the intensity of attraction

incorporates them into the spirit as soul-power. Thus the breath-records

of our good acts are the soul which is saved, for by the union with the

spirit they become immortal. As they accumulate life after life, we become

more soulful and they are thus also the basis of soulgrowth.



The record of our evil acts is also derived from our breath in the moments

when they were committed. The pain and suffering they bring cause the

spirit to expel the breath-record from its being in Purgatory. As that

cannot exist independently of the life-giving spirit, the breath-record of

our sins disintegrates upon expurgation, and thus we see that "the soul

that sinneth, it shall die." The memory of the suffering incidental to

expurgation however, remains with the spirit as conscience, to deter

from repetition of the same evil in later lives.



Thus both our good and evil acts are recorded through the agency of the

breath, which is therefore the basis of the soul, but while the

breath-record of good acts amalgamates with the spirit and lives on

forever as an immortal soul, the breath-record of evil deeds is

disintegrated; it is the soul that sinneth and dies.



While the Bible teaches that immortality of the soul is conditional upon

well-doing, it makes no distinction in respect of the spirit. The

statement is clear and emphatic that when ... "The silver cord be loosed

... then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall

return to God who gave it."



Thus the Bible teaches that the body is made of dust and returns thereto,

that a part of the soul generated in the breath is perishable, but that

the spirit survives bodily death and persists forever. Therefore a "lost

soul" in the common acceptance of that term is not a Bible teaching, for

the spirit is uncreate and eternal as God Himself, and therefore the

orthodox theory cannot be true.



3) THE THEORY OF REBIRTHS which teaches that each spirit is an integral

part of God, that it enfolds all divine possibilities as the acorn enfolds

the oak; that by means of many existences in an earthy body of gradually

improving texture its latent powers are being slowly unfolded and

become available as dynamic energy; that none can be lost but that all

will ultimately attain to perfection and reunion with God, each bringing

with it the accumulated experience which is the fruitage of its pilgrimage

through matter.



Or, as we may poetically express it: