Chapter 3
Tae said: Now I perceive, O Jehovih, I am not wise, and that of myself I am nothing, having nothing. Neither is it possible for man to discern truth in abstract, nor Your laws, whether You have or do not have laws. No, he cannot adjust the scales to his own self, and prove what part is his alone; nor in fact can he prove if he has an entity of self within himself.
How then shall I comprehend the magnitude or the laws of Your universe? Yet, when in my life have I not talked learnedly of these things, and of exact science?
Hear me, O Jehovih; I will not go back to the ancients to learn wisdom, nor will I shut my eyes against trying to understand. In You, only, I have faith. And since all other things in heaven and earth are Yours, there is no one else I can justly come to. Give me light, O Jehovih! You, Who gave me myself shall answer me. What, then, is the true pursuit of man? Shall he be a beggar, and pray for light, and yet not receive it after all?
Jehovih answered Tae through His son, Corpor:
Corpor said: Hear me, O man, for my wisdom shall be borne home to you. Nor will I discourage you in your knowledge.
Know then, you are; and that your body is made from the corporeal earth. Jehovih is sufficient, for Jehovih made you so. He gave to you the desires of the earth. Is it wise, then, to defer corporeal happiness until you have risen in heaven? What does it matter to you, whether you are built up out of wheat and fruits, or flesh (meat)? Is it not sufficient that you can enjoy the building of your body?
What is science to you? Or truth or laws of the universe? Is your earth life not sufficient for the earth, and the earth for you? If Jehovih made the earth in wisdom, has He not also wisely made heaven? (Why then concern yourself over it—you will get there soon enough. Therefore:)
Leave off these abstract studies, O man, and be contented in the place your Father has assigned you. You, who talk of science, do not even understand yourself and are without explanation. Nor can you define truth. How, then, can you judge, or even know what is before you?
You talk of laws, divine and natural, but know no law, no divinity, no nature. Is law a thing? Where does it keep? You see a tree grow, but put Jehovih away, and say, behold it grows by natural law! Are you ashamed of Jehovih, that you do not say He grows it? Is He not sufficient? For what reason, then do you say LAW! —Except to put Him away? And for what reason do you say NATURE! —Except to put Him away and deny His Person?
Corpor said: Is the earth not good, that you turn away, calling: Heaven! Heaven! Give me light from your far-off worlds! Endow me with signs, miracles and prophecies!
I will not discourage you, but you should be wise and happy in your dwelling place. Are these not to be desired greater than all other things? To this end the Kosmon era has come; not to carry man up to heaven, but to found the Father’s kingdom on earth.
You have wisely asked: How shall a corporean’s life affect his life in the next world? Hear me, then, and be wise in your corporeal judgment. For am I, Corpor, not Jehovih’s? Science is great; great learning is great; truth is great; but a greater than all is to know how to be happy. You shall not put me away saying: All the earth is sin. || I will not have it. For if you do not benefit in Jehovih’s Person (that which is seen), how can you attain His Spirit (that which is unseen)? For are the two: His Person and His Spirit, not the All One?
Teach yourself to be happy; and to perfect yourself in the way Jehovih has created you.
Tae said: Now I will be wise in You, O Jehovih. Neither will I talk anymore of nature, nor of law; but when I mean You, I will speak of You, and to You.
Neither will I boast of science, learning, or truth; nor will I deny them. For as Your spirit is within and over all; what is science, learning and truth, but glimpses of Your All Light?
Yet as a man proud in his estate, I come before You, saying: Give me light! I have looked over the broad earth, and found it full of sin, misery and death.
I will not pray to You to remove these things. I will not meddle in Your affairs. What more is it, at best, to pray than to beg? By Your spirit, I am no beggar! As You go forth in majesty, so am I, Your son, inspired to likewise go forth in Your behalf.
If You have filled this world full of darkness, sin, misery and death; what more can I hope to find in heaven? Are they not both the work of Your hands?
My hope has ever looked ahead for the achievement of happiness, but when the time comes I am sorely tried. My judgment teaches me, therefore, that heaven can be, at most, only a little improvement over earth.
Then give me light, O Jehovih! For I would answer the children of darkness with good argument, and teach them to glorify You in Your works.
Then Jehovih answered through His son, Uz.
Uz said: Behold me in my power, O Tae. I am the fourth dimension, the vanishment of things to the unseen. You have labored with Kosmon and Corpor, but did not find sufficiently satisfying light. Hear me and be wise.
This, your corporeal body is mine; your flesh waits for me, and the moment you relinquish your hold, I will molder you (your corporeal body) into dust. Yet I am not your enemy, for while you are master over your flesh, I will not touch it.
Out of the darkness man is brought forth a blank, and his entity is a spark of Jehovih. His entity will never cease to grow. Yes, from the hour of conception it is a new star in the world, and it magnifies itself forever.
For man, the trials of the flesh are like nutriment for his spirit’s growth. And yet, do not think you should rejoice in your neighbor’s trials, saying, it is good for his spirit’s growth. But as Jehovih gave all He had, and thus made all things, be like Jehovih and give to the man in trial, lest you rob yourself.
You do not know how far you yourself have been lifted up. Can any man, with his own hands lift himself up in the air? Do not flatter yourself, then, that man alone can lift himself up in spirit, or that he has power to evolve himself, one generation above another. Do all nations not perish? As they come up out of darkness, do they not go down in darkness? (Think, then, how does man advance?)
Is it wise to be dissatisfied with Jehovih, saying: O Jehovih, why did You do this? Or why did You not do this? All your importuning will not turn Jehovih or His plans one tiny fraction. Turn your eyes inward, then, O Tae, and seek to adapt yourself to the Father and His kingdoms, of which this earth is one.
Tae said: How can I comprehend Your wisdom, O my Father in heaven! I am tripped up at every corner; and yet I perceive that my generation is wiser than the ancients. For what purpose, then, did You stir me up? The ancients found joy in an idol; were content to eat and sleep, their faith being equal to their wisdom.
But those who come after, cried out to You for wisdom, and You gave. And so I am born above the faith of the ancients. I have grown beyond the measure of Your old revelations; my soul cries out to You for more light.
I know that You have enough for all things. Give me wisdom, so that I can help myself. If I had been born in darkness, the idols of my forefathers would have sufficed.
Hear me, O Jehovih, in what I have done! I have measured the earth and its high standing rocks, the mountains You reared up, and the valleys You scooped out. Your footstool (the earth) has shown me a record not written by man, and it proclaims the earth to be millions of years old. How then can I shut up my understanding, which You gave me, and believe the books of the ancients?
Yes, I have measured the stars in Your firmament, and the sun and moon, and weighed them, and they proclaimed a greater glory to You. Their number is more than there are drops of water in the ocean; and many of them are a thousand times larger than the earth. I have found them rich in air and water, and heat and cold, and they proclaim themselves birthplaces for men, even as the earth is.
I have measured the light and computed the time of its coming, and lo, they have also existed for millions of years.
How have I done wrong in this? You gave me my talents, and You have continually pressed me forward to search Your glorious works.
A man cannot make himself into a small child [i.e., grow backward –ed.], neither can I compress my out-bursting soul, which has ripened on the magnitude and glory of Your works.
How, then, shall I say that Your worlds, which have existed for millions of years, were created by a man born two thousand years ago! Must I stoop myself to blasphemy against You for the sake of accepting the idols of men in darkness? Jehovih forbid this.
Now I will put my question to You plainly, and Your voice shall not fail me. Why, then, did Your angels of past ages not reveal to man the truth about Your works? Or if they revealed the truth, why did You permit man to lose the truth? Give me light, O Jehovih!
You made me! You are my Father; and, by the power You gave me, I come to You in majesty. No one shall stand between You and me; neither Your Lords nor Your angels from heaven, nor any man that is on the earth. I would know why You permitted idols of stone, wood, and graven images. Yes, and why man builds an idol on earth, or imagines one in heaven. I know You are sufficient for the worship of all men. For what purpose, then, have men set up Mohammed, Brahma, Buddha, Christ, and the prophets of old? For, it is for these idols that they have cursed the whole earth around with war and destruction. Give me light, O Jehovih!
Jehovih heard the voice of Tae, and He answered him through His son, Seffas.
Seffas said: Hear me, O man, and be wise, for I will answer you because of the justness of your questions. More, I will not only answer you, but put you on the path to prove all things to your own judgment.
But do not be puffed up with conceit; you are only a little in advance of the ancients. They erected pyramids, obelisks and great temples, and they said: Behold, how greater and wiser we are than the ancients!
You have also boasted, saying: Behold our ships of war! Behold our engines, railroads, and the telegraphs. How greater and wiser we are than the ancients!
I say to you, the pyramids and temples did not raise up the poor, and cause them to glorify the Father because they were born into life. Neither do the warships in this day; nor do the engines nor railroads contribute, except a little, to raise man up out of sorrow and poverty. And is this not the true scale to weigh the resurrection of men and nations?
Be considerate and wise in the Father’s sight. You are prone to overlook all things; you berate idols and graven images, without weighing your speech. What more are the letters of a written word than graven images? Does all the wisdom in books not hang on these? Nor can you prove a single problem in mathematics without graven images, idols and symbols.
How can you convince a man who never saw a hat, that such a thing exists, except by using a sign, image, symbol, an idol of one, or by one itself? And, if you have none to show him, then you will have to make something of some corporeal thing, in order to convey to his mind that which is in your mind.
Why, then, complain against the angels of old? If you were with Asu, who could not talk, consider what stratagems you would have resorted to in order to teach him to think. For is it not the greatest of all wisdom to teach man to think for himself? Is this not better for man than to reveal all things to him? For, in the latter case you would deprive him of the use of his own talents, and thus thwart the plan of Jehovih.
You have portraits of your wife and daughters, for they assist your memory to recall their beauty to your soul; but when you desire to convey to your friend’s mind a place he never saw, you bring him a landscape picture, saying: See, this is the place! Now, you utter a falsehood, for it is only a piece of cloth painted, while the place you speak of, is land, trees, and water.
Consider now, how you have resorted to falsehood in order to convey a truth to your friend’s mind. Was it really a falsehood if it succeeded in conveying a truth? Nor could you convey the truth to your friend except by a falsehood, unless you took him to the place.
How, then, could the angels of Jehovih teach man of Jehovih, except by idols and graven images? Weigh the matter, and you shall perceive that knowledge is conveyed from man to man by idols and images. Even the sound of a spoken word, is an idol of an idea; and the idea is carried within that which is not the real thing itself, but merely wind.
Your corporeal senses can only be reached by corporeal things. Spiritual things, of which ideas are a part, can be conveyed by es force, and without idols and images (including spoken words). Understand my words, and you shall find the way to your Father’s kingdom.
Having taught man of Jehovih through stone and wood, it was necessary, next, to teach him by means of spirit, that Jehovih was disassociated from the earth, otherwise man would not have the desire to rise to the heavens in etherea. To this end, man was taught that Jehovih’s sons had ascended and were sitting at His right hand (i.e., sitting at His side).
As you do not speak to the picture of your wife and by doing so, expect she will hear you, neither shall you worship the Lord, nor Buddha, nor Christ, nor any other idol, but Jehovih alone. He is sufficient to all men and nations, and acceptable to them. Do not be angry with the past, but broad in your perception; for all things, whether stones, wood, or men, are from Jehovih, for the ultimate resurrection of men’s souls to His etherean worlds, for their own happiness, and to glorify Jehovih forever.