The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1913. THE WILL TO LIVE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1704, 22 March 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1913. THE WILL TO LIVE.

. rThe pagan derivation of the word Easter, and the fact that we share the Easter hop© of a future life with ' many other religions, ancient and modern, reminds us that Christianity . waa not in its . origin and development - absolutely isolated from all . other forms ' of faith and- worship. Tho scientific study of anthropology and comparative religion has broadened and deoponcd our outlook, and we have como to seo that Christianity is rooted in tho spiritual hopes and aspirations of the whole human race, going right back tq tho day whon the first glimmer of religious insight lit up the mind of some pre-historic ancestor. The signs of belief in a future life can be followed back as far as we are able to trace man'B strange eventful story. "From the lonely cairn, whore the early races o£ njanltind loft their dead with tlie implements of tho chaso or of war to tho cross in. our churchyards, graven with tlie word 'resurgam,' is a. long way to travel in tho history of religious hopes," writes Dr. Maccullooh. "But both these monuments, and all those, which lie botweon, testify to man's imperishable hope of immortality." This belief was no doubt held in a very crude and simple form by primitive man, but increasing thought rovealed more and more of the spiritual side of humanity, and this, aided by an innate will to live, gave the idea of a future lifo that sure placo in, tho mind and heart of man from which it has never been dislodged. A picture cannot-be judged by the first dab of paint on tho canvas; its meaning can only be grasped as tho artist brings his work_ _

towards completion. So it iB with tho idea of immortality; it cannot be adequately understood or interpreted by its rudimentary beginnings, but by its highest and noblest manifestations—by what it has become and is becoming, and by all that it has meant for mankind.

Tho belief in a future life was not in its .origin tho result of any systematic process of reasoning. The belief came first, tho reasons being afterthoughts. It has, however, survived the keenest intellectual criticism, and though modern evolutionary philosophy has weakened some of tho old arguments, it has provided new ones in their place. Tho hopo of immortality is supported by many lines of reasoning, tho cumulative effect of which is sufficient to establish a -very high degreo of probability. Beyond this the logical process seems unable to carry us in any branch of study, for, as a distinguished scientist tells us, it is never possible to do more for any proposition than to show that the balance of probabilities are in its favour. Though it is impossible in a newspaper article to givo even the barest outline of the various arguments which have _ been used to justify 1 belief in life beyond the grave, it may be mentioned that Bekgson likens the evolution of life to a current of consciousness which flows into matter as into a tunnel, which endeavours to advance, which makes efforts on every ' side, thus digging galleries most of which are stopped by a rock that is too hartj, but which, in one direction at least, comes through and breaks out into the light once more. This direction is tho line of evolution resulting in man. If, therefore, in man consciousness has finally left the tunnel and displays itself in true personalities capable of remembering, willing and controlling their past and future, it is not difficult to believe that in man consciousness pursues its path beyond this earthly life. Another argument, arising out of the relations of man to his environment, has been stated with great force by, Fism and is briofly summarised by De. vjimpson, Professor of Natural Soence at New College, Edinburgh, Jii his recent book on the Spiritual Interpretation of Nature. If man is only a physical being, the argument runs, why is he not satisfied like othar creatures with merely physical conditions ? What has ho to do with a spiritual environment] If all values to him perish with his body, what is the meaning of his instincts, and affinities for tho infinite, the perfect, and the permanent? If we are living in a rational universe, is it not anomalous that man should have these instincts if there is nothing in his environment and destiny corresponding to them? Every feature in man's life has been evolved in response to something external to him —the eye to ethereal undulations, the ear to the impact of waves of sound, maternal love to tho needs of the child. In view of these facts it is unreasonable to think that this spiritual sense, with its infinite scope and outlook, and which we feel to be greater than all that is around us, corresponds to nothing real. That it should vanish with the body would bo contrary to the , whole' cosmic economy, which subordinates the lower to tho higher—a gigantic anticlimax to the great evolutionary process that has culminated in man,

There is, however, a class of mind which insists that every belief must justify- itself from a sociological standpoint, and the social , value of the idea of immortality ' has been vigorously challenged in recent years." It has been accused of being a bar to progress and of "suppressing life in this world in favour' of a very pr6blomatic ultorior.existence." Such a charge indicates a very mean, harrow, and distorted conception of the doctrine of' a future life; but it must bo admitted that this doctrine has nothing in common with that gross form of economic materialism that regards progress as merely a "question of the stomach." If life has no high purpose or eternal value, but is merely a brief and sordid scramble for food and fun, would it really be worth while to seriously strive for social betterment ? Would not "Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die'/ bo a more rational motto for sana men 1 Realising tho importance of this aspect of the question, some of tne foremost leaders of social, reform ai'e deeply troubled at the efforts of not a few of their comrades to eliminato religious ideas from the movement. They know that tho Promised Land can never. be attained without tho help of great "moral forces capable of strengthening consciences and uniting souls. M. Leroy Beaulieu declares that economic materialism runs counter to the noblest aspirations of tho heart and constitutes a weakness that will end in defeat. When in quiet moments of reflection we realise how small are the results of our greatest efforts to improvo social conditions, and how little can be accomplished in the_ longest and 'most active lifetime, it is enough to discourage the biggest heart; but, as a recent American writer puts it, "if wo are working, not for one generation, but for all time; if it is riot simply raising tho standard of comfort one peg higher, but of opening the door for immortal spirits into a larger life; if the beginning that we see here is really the beginning and not the ending—then the case is altered. A new and higher motive has been introduced, and effort that seemed quixotic bccomes legitimate and rational." Baron yon Hugel, a distinguished Roman Catholic layman, who can speak with authority from tho point of view both of religion and o philosophy, states that the healthy soul has a double impetus— on tho ono hand to improvo man's < lot. and on the other to do it without impatience. Life hero is regarded as a means to an end wliicE lies beyond. This imparts a spirit of optimism, and takes all feverishness out of our work. _ These views bear out the idea that immortality is one ■ of those religious sentiments which in the words of the late Professor Wir.MAu .James "produce a dynamic expansion which gives tone and vigour to tho vital powers." It may in its origin havo been a venture of faith—a splendid leap In the dark; but it is such faith as this which Tolstoy defines as "that which makes mon live."