The Divine Mystery
Allen Upward
- Mr.
- Allen
- Upward,
- better
- known
- to
- fame
- as
- a
- war
- correspondent,
- has
- attempted
- to
- give
- us
- "a
- reading
- of
- the
- history
- of
- Christianity
- down
- to
- the
- time
- of
- Christ,"
- and
- however
- much
- we
- may
- disagree
- with
- some
- of
- his
- conclusions
- we
- must
- at
- least
- applaud
- the
- sincerity
- and
- the
- originality
- as
- well
- as
- the
- erudition
- of
- his
- effort.
- Mr.
- Upward
- finds
- in
- the
- dawn
- of
- Christianity
- a
- story
- that
- has
- been
- told
- mystically
- from
- age
- to
- age.
- Its
- words
- and
- signs
- are
- inherited
- from
- a
- primeval
- language,
- from
- prehistoric
- peoples,
- and
- from
- tales
- that
- are
- still
- the
- Bible
- of
- the
- peasant
- and
- the
- child.
- It
- is,
- he
- says,
- a
- recrystallization
- of
- universal
- fears
- and
- hopes,
- carried
- out
- in
- the
- crucible
- of
- a
- planetary
- heat
- wave,
- whose
- coming
- had
- been
- more
- or
- less
- distinctly
- felt
- by
- "a
- series
- of
- true
- prophets
- from
- Zoroaster
- to
- John
- the
- Baptist."
- Mr.
- Upward
- believes
- that
- Christ
- was
- an
- historical
- personage,
- but
- that
- the
- story
- of
- his
- life
- is
- an
- allegorical
- repetition
- of
- the
- greater
- story
- that
- is
- as
- old
- as
- the
- world
- it-
- self.
- To
- this
- end
- he
- collects
- all
- the
- threads
- of
- folklore
- within
- his
- reach,
- all
- the
- "superstitions"
- that
- perhaps
- are
- not
- superstitions,
- and
- that
- tend
- to
- show
- the
- stirrings
- of
- a
- higher
- consciousness
- and
- knowledge
- that
- culminates
- in
- the
- genius
- and
- the
- savior.
- If
- sometimes
- he
- seems
- to
- be
- inadequate
- or
- superficial
- we
- must
- remember
- the
- greatness,
- the
- almost
- incredible
- magnitude
- of
- the
- quarries
- from
- which
- he hews.
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