Article August 21, 1920 Issue

The Lectures

with contributions from John Pisteur, Rosa W. Sawyer, J. Y. Sanders, Jr., Harold C. Kain, Reginald C. Smith, Harriet Jessie Jewson, Architect Schiedt, Benjamin F. Meyers, Myrtle Swift

Geneva, Switzerland (Society).—Lecturer introduced by John Pisteur, who said in part:—

Throughout the centuries the same and almost pitiful question has occurred which was asked by Pontius Pilate in the presence of Jesus: "What is truth?" And when the procurator of Judea asked it, this question was already as old as humanity itself. For at all times and in every clime the human mind has been obsessed by life's enigma and has tried to tear the veil of mystery thrown over the invisible realities by the fugitive appearance of things; and so, whether out of skepticism or the depth of despair, humanity has questioned the infinite with these same words of Pilate: "What is truth?" Many hypotheses have already disappointed men, or given them but little satisfaction. Is truth so remote that only a few privileged ones can perceive and attain it? Nearly twenty centuries ago, Jesus, the gently Nazarene, came to prove the contrary by revealing it to the humble and proclaiming it to all who wanted to hear it, affirming the constant possibility to realize it with these words: "The kingdom of God is within you." Yes, almost twenty centuries ago he demonstrated most wonderfully the efficacy of his preaching by absolute fidelity to these absolute words: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord," a paraphrase of the great commandment: "I am the Lord thy God. ... Thou shalt have no other gods before me." And so he made the truth to shine in all its splendor, this truth which in modern language one might call the monism of Spirit; that is, one Life, one power, good, encircling the whole universe.

Alas! and to their own misery, mankind have made themselves other gods, suggested to their imagination by material beliefs. That is why even in Christian history, Jesus' Christianity no longer found its integral expression, and for most Christians the tyranny of the flesh with its suffering and decay has hidden the blessings of Spirit.

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