Article March 21, 1925 Issue

Without Age

ORLANDO J. MC CLURE

THAT man's existence begins with birth and ends with death, that man's life is to be measured by the years between the cradle and the grave, is a popular belief. Concurrent thereto are the notions that man exists in a material body, that this body attains its maximum strength and vitality when it is full-grown, and that it then begins to deteriorate gradually until a state of decrepitude is reached. Decrepitude, according to this theory, is a state produced by decay and the infirmities of old age.

Each stage of this material existence, so called, appears to be subject to certain conditions and afflictions. This is true not only of the physical realm, but of the mental as well. Youth is not generally credited with possessing much profundity of thought, whereas the counsel of those who have attained maturer years is often sought because of their experience. That one grows wiser as he grows older is a conclusion drawn from the belief that during the span of years between physical birth and physical death he acquires whatever wisdom or intelligence he may seem to possess.

The Scriptures teach the opposite; and human experience fulfills Scriptural teaching. Thus in music, art, mathematics, and many other walks of life, youth has sometimes accomplished remarkable results. In his incomparable career, Jesus proved conclusively that wisdom does not depend upon age: at the age of twelve he was found in the temple teaching the learned doctors. A thoughtful study of the Bible reveals the fact that God is Spirit, and that man, made in the image and likeness of God, is spiritual. This being true, it follows that man's existence is not dependent upon a so-called physical body, and is not limited by bodily development. In the epistle to the Hebrews, man is referred to as "having neither beginning of days, nor end of life," clearly meaning that life is not circumscribed by physical limits.

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