THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS 11 



one of the greatest and most sublime characters of all 

 times. His works contain inexhaustible mines of know- 

 ledge and an extraordinary amount of germs out of which 

 great truths may grow if they are attended to by com- 

 petent cultivators, and a great deal that is at present 

 misunderstood and rejected will by future inquirers be 

 drawn to the light, and be cut into some of the noblest 

 blocks in the spiritual Temple of Wisdom. 



The writings of Paracelsus are especially distinguished 

 by the short and concise manner in which his thoughts 

 are expressed. In this regard they may be compared to 

 some ot the writings of Thales, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, 

 Anaxagoras, and Hippocrates. There is no ambiguity 

 in his expressions, and if we follow the roads which he 

 indicated, progressing at the same time along the path 

 of physical science, we shall find the richest of treasures 

 buried at the places that he pointed out with his magic 

 wand. 



Paracelsus was a Christian in the true meaning of 

 that word, and he always attempted to support the doc- 

 trines he taught by citations from the Bible. He asks : 

 " What is a philosophy that is not supported by spiri- 

 tual (internal) revelation ? Moses did not attempt to 

 teach physics ; he wrote in a theological sense calcu- 

 lated to impress the feelings and awaken the faith of the 

 simple-minded, and perhaps he may not have understood 

 physics himself. The scientist, unlike the theologian, 

 does not put any trust in his feelings, but believes only 

 in his experiments, because physical science deals with 

 phenomena and not with faith. The Hebrews, moreover, 

 did not know much about natural science, and as a 

 people they have always been more ignorant than others 

 in that respect." 



" Faith is a luminous star that leads the honest seeker 

 into the mysteries of Nature. You must seek your point 

 of gravity in God, and put your trust into an honest, 

 divine, sincere, pure, and strong faith, and cling to it 



