Page:The Other Life.djvu/46

 itual substances in which the soul or vital spiritual principle lives and is finited, differentiated from God and from all other souls.

Death therefore does not solve the riddles of metaphysics. Spirits and angels discuss the nature and qualities of the soul just as our philosophers do on earth. The soul in its essence is incomprehensible. It is known only by its manifestations. The rational soul is only manifested under the human form. We can never see or understand God outside of that visible human form—the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never comprehend the spiritual principle or soul outside of some thinking, living form in which it resides.

We need not wonder at this. Thought and perception occurring in our finite organs, have necessarily their limitations, their impossibilities. God and the soul will for ever be mysteries. They are only revealed to us through created forms. We know nothing of heat and light but through objects which are heated or luminous. We know nothing of goodness, truth or beauty, but what we learn through those forms or objects which we designate as good, true or beautiful.

Therefore the spiritual world is organic, composed of parts, objects or substances, arranged into