Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker Discourse volume 1.djvu/171

124 gives us a distinct Idea of Him, and from this Idea also it follows that he must supply these wants.

The question then comes as to the fact: Is there, or is there not, a regular law, that is, a constant mode of operation, by which the religious wants are supplied, as by a regular law the body's wants are met? Now, animated by the natural trust, or faith, which is the spontaneous action of the religious Element, we should say: Yes, it must be so. God takes care of the sparrow's body; can he neglect Man's Soul? Then, reasoning again from the general analogy of God's providence, as before shown, and still more from the Idea of God, as above laid down, we say again: It must be so. Man must, through the religious Element, have a connection with God, as by the senses with Matter. He is, relative to us, the object of the soul, as much as matter is the object of the senses. As God has an influence on passive and unconscious Matter, so he must have on active and conscious Man. As this action in the one case is only modified by the conditions of Matter, so will it be in the other only by the conditions of Man. As no obedient animal is doomed to wander up and down, seeking rest, but finding none; so no obedient man can be left hopeless, forlorn, without a supply, without a guide.

Now it might be supposed that the spontaneous presentiment of this supply for our spiritual demands, this two-fold argument from the Idea of God and the Analogy of his action in general, would satisfy both the spontaneous and the reflective mind, convincing them of Man's general capability of a connection with God, of receiving truth in a regular and a natural way from him, by revelation, inspiration, suggestion, or by what other name we may call the joint action of the divine and human mind. Such indeed is the belief of nations in an early and simple state. It is attested by the literature, traditions, and monuments of all primitive people. They believed that God held converse with Men. He spoke in the voices of nature; in signs and omens; in dreams by night; in deep, silent thoughts by day; skill, strength, wisdom, goodness, were referred to Him. The highest function of men was