Book 4 (Part II)

28 (even Sattvas) as evil. This is a correct view, but only from above; and we prefer, if we are truly wise, to avoid this everlasting wail which characterizes the thought of the Indian peninsula: "Everything is sorrow," etc. Accepting their doctrine of the two phases of the Absolute, we must, if we are to be consistent, class the two phases together, either as good or as bad; if one is good and the other bad we are back again in that duality, to avoid which we invented the Absolute. The Christian idea that sin was worth while because salvation was so much more worth while, that redemption is so splendid that innocence was well lost, is more satisfactory. St. Paul says : " Where sin abounded, there did grace much more abound. Then shall we do evil that good may come? God forbid." But (clearly!) it is exactly what God Himself did, or why did He create Satan with the germ of his " fall " in him? Instead of condemning the three qualities outright, we should consider them as parts of a sacrament. This par- ticular aspect of the Scourge, the Dagger, and the Chain, suggests the sacrament of penance. The Scourge is Sulphur: its application excites our slug- gish natures; and it may further be used as an instrument of cor- rection, to castigate rebellious volitions. It is applied to the Nephesh the Animal Soul, the natural desires.