power or [P. 263] ability to abstract the universal from the individual and particular … .” [300F-LER: p. 262-263]
[301F-LER: p. 265]
“ … they [“the Christians”] also conclude that because there is not room enough for man’s mental powers and capacities within the confines of this life, this body – because in this life man cannot fulfill all his desires and potentialities – there must be an eternal, infinite life to come; they conclude that because man wants to know everything, because his thirst for knowledge is unlimited, he will inevitably know everything some day; that because man has not only an infinite capacity for perfection, but also an infinite drive toward perfection and happiness, which can never be fulfilled on this small earth, in this brief life span, in this vale of tears – therefore man, or the human mind, must some day become perfectly ethical and happy, or, as our cautious and cagey rationalists put it, perhaps not absolutely perfect, but at least progressively more perfect ad infinitum.” [301F-LER: p. 265]
[302F-LER: p. 266]
“Nature brings death, God alone confers immortality.” [302F-LER: p. 266]
[303F-LER: p. 267]
“In theory, in doctrine, immortality is merely a consequence of the belief in God; but in practice, in reality, the belief in immortality is the motive for the belief in God. (…)
(…) … the divinity and eternity of a nature god … do not imply human immortality: nature is heartless, impervious to man’s wishes, without concern for man.” [303F-LER: p. 267]
[304F-LER: p. 268]
“Another type of God with whom the belief in immortality is not associated is a mere national God, the God of the early Jews … . The Jews did not believe in immortality, but only in the survival of the race through reproduction; they wished only for long life and progeny, wherein they resembled all the ancient peoples, especially those of the Orient … .” [304F-LER: p. 268]
[305F-LER: p. 269]
“A God is essentially a being who fulfills man’s desires. And the most heartfelt desire, at least of those men whose desires are not curtailed by natural necessity, is the desire not to die, to live forever; this is indeed man’s highest and ultimate desire … .” [305F-LER: p. 269]
[306F-LER: p. 270]
“ … the true reason why at the end of religion – the present stage in our development – eschatological doctrine represents man as a divine being, … is that God, at least the Christian God, is nothing other than the essence of man.” [306F-LER: p. 270]
