第3章

andifweonlyknewthefactsintimatelyenough，weshoulddoubtlesssee“theliver“determiningthedictaofthesturdyatheistasdecisivelyasitdoesthoseoftheMethodistunderconvictionanxiousabouthissoul。Whenitaltersinonewaythebloodthatpercolatesit，wegetthemethodist，wheninanotherway，wegettheatheistformofmind。Soofallourrapturesandourdrynesses，ourlongingsandpantings，ourquestionsandbeliefs。Theyareequallyorganicallyfounded，betheyreligiousorofnon-religiouscontent。

Topleadtheorganiccausationofareligiousstateofmind，then，inrefutationofitsclaimtopossesssuperiorspiritualvalue，isquiteillogicalandarbitrary，unlessonehasalreadyworkedoutinadvancesomepsycho-physicaltheoryconnectingspiritualvaluesingeneralwithdeterminatesortsofphysiologicalchange。Otherwisenoneofourthoughtsandfeelings，notevenourscientificdoctrines，notevenourDIS-beliefs，couldretainanyvalueasrevelationsofthetruth，foreveryoneofthemwithoutexceptionflowsfromthestateofitspossessor’sbodyatthetime。

Itisneedlesstosaythatmedicalmaterialismdrawsinpointoffactnosuchsweepingskepticalconclusion。Itissure，justaseverysimplemanissure，thatsomestatesofmindareinwardlysuperiortoothers，andrevealtousmoretruth，andinthisitsimplymakesuseofanordinaryspiritualjudgment。Ithasnophysiologicaltheoryoftheproductionoftheseitsfavoritestates，bywhichitmayaccreditthem；anditsattempttodiscreditthestateswhichitdislikes，byvaguelyassociatingthemwithnervesandliver，andconnectingthemwithnamesconnotingbodilyaffliction，isaltogetherillogicalandinconsistent。

Letusplayfairinthiswholematter，andbequitecandidwithourselvesandwiththefacts。Whenwethinkcertainstatesofmindsuperiortoothers，isiteverbecauseofwhatweknowconcerningtheirorganicantecedents？No！itisalwaysfortwoentirelydifferentreasons。Itiseitherbecausewetakeanimmediatedelightinthem；orelseitisbecausewebelievethemtobringusgoodconsequentialfruitsforlife。Whenwespeakdisparaginglyof“feverishfancies。”surelythefever-processassuchisnotthegroundofourdisesteem——foraughtweknowtothecontrary，103degreesor104degreesFahrenheitmightbeamuchmorefavorabletemperaturefortruthstogerminateandsproutin，thanthemoreordinaryblood-heatof97or98degrees。Itiseitherthedisagreeablenessitselfofthefancies，ortheirinabilitytobearthecriticismsoftheconvalescenthour。Whenwepraisethethoughtswhichhealthbrings，health’speculiarchemicalmetabolismshavenothingtodowithdeterminingourjudgment。Weknowinfactalmostnothingaboutthesemetabolisms。Itisthecharacterofinnerhappinessinthethoughtswhichstampsthemasgood，orelsetheirconsistencywithourotheropinionsandtheirserviceabilityforourneeds，whichmakethempassfortrueinouresteem。

Nowthemoreintrinsicandthemoreremoteofthesecriteriadonotalwayshangtogether。Innerhappinessandserviceabilitydonotalwaysagree。Whatimmediatelyfeelsmost“good“isnotalwaysmost“true。”whenmeasuredbytheverdictoftherestofexperience。ThedifferencebetweenPhilipdrunkandPhilipsoberistheclassicinstanceincorroboration。Ifmerely“feelinggood“coulddecide，drunkennesswouldbethesupremelyvalidhumanexperience。Butitsrevelations，howeveracutelysatisfyingatthemoment，areinsertedintoanenvironmentwhichrefusestobearthemoutforanylengthoftime。Theconsequenceofthisdiscrepancyofthetwocriteriaistheuncertaintywhichstillprevailsoversomanyofourspiritualjudgments。Therearemomentsofsentimentalandmysticalexperience——weshallhereafterhearmuchofthem——thatcarryanenormoussenseofinnerauthorityandilluminationwiththemwhentheycome。Buttheycomeseldom，andtheydonotcometoeveryone；andtherestoflifemakeseithernoconnectionwiththem，ortendstocontradictthemmorethanitconfirmsthem。Somepersonsfollowmorethevoiceofthemomentinthesecases，someprefertobeguidedbytheaverageresults。Hencethesaddiscordancyofsomanyofthespiritualjudgmentsofhumanbeings；adiscordancywhichwillbebroughthometousacutelyenoughbeforetheselecturesend。

Itis，however，adiscordancythatcanneverberesolvedbyanymerelymedicaltest。Agoodexampleoftheimpossibilityofholdingstrictlytothemedicaltestsisseeninthetheoryofthepathologicalcausationofgeniuspromulgatedbyrecentauthors。“Genius。”saidDr。Moreau，“isbutoneofthemanybranchesoftheneuropathictree。”“Genius。”saysDr。Lombroso，“isasymptomofhereditarydegenerationoftheepileptoidvariety，andisalliedtomoralinsanity。”“Wheneveraman’slife。”writesMr。Nisbet，“isatoncesufficientlyillustriousandrecordedwithsufficientfullnesstobeasubjectofprofitablestudy，heinevitablyfallsintothemorbidcategory……Anditisworthyofremarkthat，asarule，thegreaterthegenius，thegreatertheunsoundness。”[3]

[3]J。F。Nisbet：TheInsanityofGenius，3ded。，London，1893，pp。xvi。，xxiv。

Nowdotheseauthors，afterhavingsucceededinestablishingtotheirownsatisfactionthattheworksofgeniusarefruitsofdisease，consistentlyproceedthereupontoimpugntheVALUEofthefruits？Dotheydeduceanewspiritualjudgmentfromtheirnewdoctrineofexistentialconditions？Dotheyfranklyforbidustoadmiretheproductionsofgeniusfromnowonwards？andsayoutrightthatnoneuropathcaneverbearevealerofnewtruth？

No！theirimmediatespiritualinstinctsaretoostrongforthemhere，andholdtheirownagainstinferenceswhich，inmereloveoflogicalconsistency，medicalmaterialismoughttobeonlytoogladtodraw。Onediscipleoftheschool，indeed，hasstriventoimpugnthevalueofworksofgeniusinawholesaleway(suchworksofcontemporaryart，namely，ashehimselfisunabletoenjoy，andtheyaremany)byusingmedicalarguments。[4]Butforthemostpartthemasterpiecesareleftunchallenged；andthemedicallineofattackeitherconfinesitselftosuchsecularproductionsaseveryoneadmitstobeintrinsicallyeccentric，orelseaddressesitselfexclusivelytoreligiousmanifestations。

Andthenitisbecausethereligiousmanifestationshavebeenalreadycondemnedbecausethecriticdislikesthemoninternalorspiritualgrounds。

[4]MaxNordau，inhisbulkybookentitledDegeneration。

Inthenaturalsciencesandindustrialartsitneveroccurstoanyonetotrytorefuteopinionsbyshowinguptheirauthor’sneuroticconstitution。Opinionshereareinvariablytestedbylogicandbyexperiment，nomatterwhatmaybetheirauthor’sneurologicaltype。Itshouldbenootherwisewithreligiousopinions。Theirvaluecanonlybeascertainedbyspiritualjudgmentsdirectlypasseduponthem，judgmentsbasedonourownimmediatefeelingprimarily；andsecondarilyonwhatwecanascertainoftheirexperientialrelationstoourmoralneedsandtotherestofwhatweholdastrue。

Immediateluminousness，inshort，philosophicalreasonableness，andmoralhelpfulnessaretheonlyavailablecriteria。SaintTeresamighthavehadthenervoussystemoftheplacidestcow，anditwouldnotnowsavehertheology，ifthetrialofthetheologybytheseothertestsshouldshowittobecontemptible。

Andconverselyifhertheologycanstandtheseothertests，itwillmakenodifferencehowhystericalornervouslyoffherbalanceSaintTeresamayhavebeenwhenshewaswithusherebelow。

Youseethatatbottomwearethrownbackuponthegeneralprinciplesbywhichtheempiricalphilosophyhasalwayscontendedthatwemustbeguidedinoursearchfortruth。Dogmaticphilosophieshavesoughtfortestsfortruthwhichmightdispenseusfromappealingtothefuture。Somedirectmark，bynotingwhichwecanbeprotectedimmediatelyandabsolutely，nowandforever，againstallmistake——suchhasbeenthedarlingdreamofphilosophicdogmatists。ItisclearthattheORIGINofthetruthwouldbeanadmirablecriterionofthissort，ifonlythevariousoriginscouldbediscriminatedfromoneanotherfromthispointofview，andthehistoryofdogmaticopinionshowsthatoriginhasalwaysbeenafavoritetest。Origininimmediateintuition；origininpontificalauthority；origininsupernaturalrevelation，asbyvision，hearing，orunaccountableimpression；

originindirectpossessionbyahigherspirit，expressingitselfinprophecyandwarning；origininautomaticutterancegenerally——theseoriginshavebeenstockwarrantsforthetruthofoneopinionafteranotherwhichwefindrepresentedinreligioushistory。Themedicalmaterialistsarethereforeonlysomanybelateddogmatists，neatlyturningthetablesontheirpredecessorsbyusingthecriterionoforigininadestructiveinsteadofanaccreditiveway。

Theyareeffectivewiththeirtalkofpathologicaloriginonlysolongassupernaturaloriginispleadedbytheotherside，andnothingbuttheargumentfromoriginisunderdiscussion。Buttheargumentfromoriginhasseldombeenusedalone，foritistooobviouslyinsufficient。Dr。Maudsleyisperhapsthecleverestoftherebuttersofsupernaturalreligionongroundsoforigin。Yethefindshimselfforcedtowrite：——

“WhatrighthavewetobelieveNatureunderanyobligationtodoherworkbymeansofcompletemindsonly？Shemayfindanincompletemindamoresuitableinstrumentforaparticularpurpose。Itistheworkthatisdone，andthequalityintheworkerbywhichitwasdone，thatisaloneofmoment；anditmaybenogreatmatterfromacosmicalstandpoint，ifinotherqualitiesofcharacterhewassingularlydefective——ifindeedhewerehypocrite，adulterer，eccentric，orlunatic……Homewecomeagain，then，totheoldandlastresortofcertitude——namelythecommonassentofmankind，orofthecompetentbyinstructionandtrainingamongmankind。”[5]

[5]H。Maudsley：NaturalCausesandSupernaturalSeemings，1886，pp。256，257。

Inotherwords，notitsorigin，butTHEWAYINWHICHITWORKSON

THEWHOLE，isDr。Maudsley’sfinaltestofabelief。Thisisourownempiricistcriterion；andthiscriterionthestoutestinsistersonsupernaturaloriginhavealsobeenforcedtouseintheend。Amongthevisionsandmessagessomehavealwaysbeentoopatentlysilly，amongthetrancesandconvulsiveseizuressomehavebeentoofruitlessforconductandcharacter，topassthemselvesoffassignificant，stilllessasdivine。InthehistoryofChristianmysticismtheproblemhowtodiscriminatebetweensuchmessagesandexperiencesaswerereallydivinemiracles，andsuchothersasthedemoninhismalicewasabletocounterfeit，thusmakingthereligiouspersontwofoldmorethechildofhellhewasbefore，hasalwaysbeenadifficultonetosolve，needingallthesagacityandexperienceofthebestdirectorsofconscience。Intheendithadtocometoourempiricistcriterion：Bytheirfruitsyeshallknowthem，notbytheirroots。JonathanEdwards’sTreatiseonReligiousAffectionsisanelaborateworkingoutofthisthesis。TheROOTSofaman’svirtueareinaccessibletous。Noappearanceswhateverareinfallibleproofsofgrace。Ourpracticeistheonlysureevidence，eventoourselves，thatwearegenuinelyChristians。

“Informingajudgmentofourselvesnow。”Edwardswrites，weshouldcertainlyadoptthatevidencewhichoursupremeJudgewillchieflymakeuseofwhenwecometostandbeforehimatthelastday……ThereisnotonegraceoftheSpiritofGod，oftheexistenceofwhich，inanyprofessorofreligion，Christianpracticeisnotthemostdecisiveevidence……Thedegreeinwhichourexperienceisproductiveofpracticeshowsthedegreeinwhichourexperienceisspiritualanddivine。”

Catholicwritersareequallyemphatic。Thegooddispositionswhichavision，orvoice，orotherapparentheavenlyfavorleavebehindthemaretheonlymarksbywhichwe<22>maybesuretheyarenotpossibledeceptionsofthetempter。SaysSaintTeresa：——

“Likeimperfectsleepwhich，insteadofgivingmorestrengthtothehead，dothbutleaveitthemoreexhausted，theresultofmereoperationsoftheimaginationisbuttoweakenthesoul。

Insteadofnourishmentandenergyshereapsonlylassitudeanddisgust：whereasagenuineheavenlyvisionyieldstoheraharvestofineffablespiritualriches，andanadmirablerenewalofbodilystrength。Iallegedthesereasonstothosewhosooftenaccusedmyvisionsofbeingtheworkoftheenemyofmankindandthesportofmyimagination……Ishowedthemthejewelswhichthedivinehandhadleftwithme：——theyweremyactualdispositions。AllthosewhoknewmesawthatIwaschanged；myconfessorborewitnesstothefact；thisimprovement，palpableinallrespects，farfrombeinghidden，wasbrilliantlyevidenttoallmen。Asformyself，itwasimpossibletobelievethatifthedemonwereitsauthor，hecouldhaveused，inordertolosemeandleadmetohell，anexpedientsocontrarytohisowninterestsasthatofuprootingmyvices，andfillingmewithmasculinecourageandothervirtuesinstead，forIsawclearlythatasingleoneofthesevisionswasenoughtoenrichmewithallthatwealth。”[6]