THE LITERARY MARVELS OF ST. LUKE. 



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to, we are asked whether we can find out what was St. Luke's 

 intention in constructing his wonderful system of triplications. 



It seems to me the answer is, that underlying the actual words 

 of the living oracles of God, there is a wonderful system of science 

 and philosophy, of which these triplications in St. Luke's writings 

 are a good illustration. 



In God's world of Nature we can trace on every hand indications 

 of latent geometry and of the arithmetic of beauty, in the crystal, 

 in the flower, and in the human form — so it is in a hidden way with 

 His written Word. 



In my paper on Theosophy, in 1911, 1 wrote : " Those of us who 

 have studied the geometrical philosophy of the ancients are aware 

 that Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch, who was well instructed 

 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, introduced in an esoteric manner 

 into Genesis, the science of geometrical form and of arithmetical 

 numbers." 



The trines such as 333, 666, and 888 in the New Testament belong 

 to the hidden " wisdom " which is a complete answer to the perversion 

 of God's truth in the " mysteries " of Paganism. 



Dr. ScHOPiELD sent the following: Perhaps I may be allowed 

 to suggest a reason for St. Luke's and other triplets that possibly 

 has not been brought forward. 



We live in a world of three dimensions, and men are bounded 

 by this threefold concept. From the glimpses afforded of the 

 spirit-world we find many traces of what would be true of it were it 

 a world of four dimensions. 



Scripture is not without evidence of some effort to express this : 

 " Length, breadth, depth, and height, etc." I need not give further 

 instances now, as I have elaborated the subject elsewhere. Suffice 

 it to say that a threefold aspect of anything gives completeness 

 and satisfies an intellect, hence the firstly, secondly, and thirdly of our 

 sermons, and the constant presentation of triplets in our material 

 daily life. It is not then in the least surprising that St. Luke,, 

 writing as a man for men in his presentation of our Lord as the 

 Son of Man, should constantly give the threefold picture that we 

 find unconsciously satisfies our intellectual need, but it is surprising 

 to find how deeply the Lecturer has dug, and what a number of 

 triplets, and triplets within triplets, he has found. 



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