vi] Immortality 1 93 



us in some measure unsatisfied. And the same is true of 

 all the ordinary arguments for immortality. Why? 



Press home this argument from the apparent reason- 

 ableness of the universe, and you find it is based on 

 anthropomorphism that much abused, innate convic- 

 tion that comes so near to the truth. For why do we 

 believe ourselves able to understand something of the 

 nature of God? Unquestionably, because we believe 

 that our best selves mirror God in little. And this is 

 simply the reverse of a thought whose obverse is crude 

 anthropomorphism. The savage pictures God as like 

 himself, having the passions of a man ; the philosopher of 

 to-day pictures man as like God. The essential, endur- 

 ing qualities of man's personality his will, his love, his 

 freedom the very quality of endurance itself, are just 

 the things that reason demands as postulable of God. 

 And of God man postulates them, because his own 

 actions are purposive and moral and loving, and there 

 seems to be the need of purpose and morality and love 

 in the Creator if the existence of these things in himself 

 is at all to be understood. Purpose and morality and 

 love are in the world, and we must needs contrive some 

 explanation of the fact. Obverse and reverse, both are 

 there also in the philosopher's subtler belief. The an- 

 thropomorphism of the savage is reached again by the 

 latest thinker. The argument returns full-circle on 

 itself, as any ultimately true argument must that in- 

 volves a final cause. God is like man because man is like 

 God. 



It seems reasonable, but even yet we are unsatisfied. 

 The poet-pessimist complained that of making many 

 books there was no end, and that much study was but a 

 weariness of the flesh. The man who thought himself 

 born to set right a world whose times were out of joint 

 opened a book and found' Words, words, words.' So 

 here. Once more, why? 



Ml'. '3 



