§ 10: The Soul’s Immortality as Witnessed by Social Life

Social life is a most powerful proof of the soul’s immortality. If humanity had overcome all enemies and all foes seeking its destruction, had prevailed in the universal struggle of beings against which, wrestling against all, it proved victorious, had subjected all things and placed them under its feet, had become ruler and imposing its power on animate and inanimate nature, this is due to its social life. Humanity through social life was led to the height of perfection; at this point it is seen elevated through social life, adorned, beautified, glorified and clothed in the splendid robe of wisdom that reveals it as a divine image. The wonders of art and knowledge throughout the ages that provoke the amazement and admiration of all are due to humanity’s social life. Society provided it with all the means for its development; it was the generator of the first ideas; it as a faithful custodian of spirits’ products preserved all arts and sciences and handed down to subsequent generations the entire spiritual wealth of antiquity. Social life prepared humanity’s prosperity and happiness, and finally secured its preservation, development, and advancement. Society therefore is the greatest good and the horn of plenty, the inexhaustible source of goods, and the provider of all benefit.

But what is the binding force of societies? What is the solid rock upon which they are founded? What is the power that made humanity social? Did it from an innate simple inclination like gregarious animals form its first societies? But then how did not rationality dissolve them? This power of objectifying external things, generating countless delusions and driving humanity to violence against its kind, through which its annihilation and destruction are sought? The idea that common interest formed the first societies is a hypothesis having probability but not explaining the reason for its preservation; it expresses the necessity of social life but not the means of its perpetuation; reciprocal interest is not a strong bond for the preservation of societies, for greed and other passions can generate deception, guile, and secret betrayal of the mutual agreement; and the stronger may oppress and annihilate the weaker and paralyze the societies. Hence reciprocal interest is a weak means for supporting the social bond and societies. Societies are upheld and perpetuated by the moral law; if the moral law did not exist, societies would not be preserved; hence the moral law is and has been the binding force of societies; and ethics is the necessary condition for the formation of human societies, for it alone contributes to the foundation of society and to the progress and prosperity of humanity. But if progress, happiness, and development are products of society without which they are not attained, these being absolutely necessary for perfection, it follows that without society the development, advancement, and perfection of humanity are wholly impossible, and that society and social life are an indispensable necessity of human life. Since society without moral life is not established, an inevitable necessity imposes on humanity the moral life, so that society is sustained and through it humanity advances, develops, and is perfected and lives happily. But if societies are necessary and the moral law is their continuous support, it follows that societies must necessarily be moral. Since humanity is by nature social, and societies are necessarily moral, it must follow that humanity is also by nature moral; for otherwise it could not form societies. But morality and the perfection sought through society are notions incomprehensible and superfluous for one despised. In nature all things are purposeful, for the divine creator made all things in wisdom; is it possible that these two lofty virtues—morality and perfection—be purposeless? But if every purposeful thing has necessary existence for some reason of divine will, what is the reason for humanity’s ethical perfection? If we view it as material and ending at the grave, from the depths of which it perishes, this is fruitless toil and vain display; the expense expended from bodily well-being is much greater than the benefit obtained; but is it possible, that ethical perfection be pursued at the disreputable cost of living, so that it vanish in the grave? No! Thousands of times no! For it contradicts God’s wisdom and justice; hence humanity’s ethical perfection has a purpose lying beyond the grave; thus humanity as a social and moral being has an immortal soul, because the ethical perfection sought through it does not vanish in the grave but continues beyond it.

Hence clearly those denying the soul’s immortality and the moral law undermine and excavate the foundations of societies which they desire to see reduced to ruins, in order to reveal humanity as an ape from which they boast of drawing their ancestry. But fortunately societies have always repelled with aversion these destructive ideas, opposed with their moral strength and the moral conscience of ancestral nobility. Materialist ideas have always corrupted societies, while moral and psychological ideas have always benefited them; the history of all nations testifies to the truth; let us examine the history of ancient Greece; Greece was the birthplace of philosophy; which of her philosophers benefited Greece? Whose principles elevated it? Whose principles overthrew and corrupted its citizens? Behold Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, and the other workers of serious philosophy, the forerunners of Christian philosophy; what age would ever forget them? Who does not marvel at the epoch when they flourished as the epoch of glory and greatness? But behold, there is also the circle of the Epicureans; who were the impious Diagoras, the Aristippuses, the Hegesias, and their like, fellow-workers in ancient misfortunes? What are their works? History has dark pages written upon them. What would have happened if the principles of such philosophers had gained universal acceptance? Who now could accept as true and correct ideas and principles destructive of the foundations of social life?

To arm sentiments fighting against happiness and well-being of humanity itself? Which annihilate what is beautiful, good, noble, high, magnanimous, wonderful, worthy, precious, brilliant, divine, and construct on ruins what is ugly, evil, base, mean, craven, hateful, ignoble, despised, worthless, and satanic? Who could consent to believe that this lawless life is the life fitting for humanity? No one! No one! For humanity has a consciousness of its nobility, and even if it still ignores its origin.

Those who debase humanity to the rank of irrational animals and equate its soul with that of irrational animals—denying the greatness and the peculiar activity of its spiritual powers and the lofty destiny of humanity—are blind, not seeing it in its works which the ages manifestly display; they are deaf to the voice higher than all trumpets, which the works of its powers emit. The human soul is something extraordinary, which divine virtues adorn through which the earthly dwelling place is sanctified. Humanity was truly formed to sanctify the earth; and this truth was testified in its social life.

The followers of ape-descent ignore humanity and its lofty destiny, for they have denied it the soul and divine revelation; they have cast off the spirit, and the spirit has abandoned them; they have turned away from God, and God has turned away from them, for thinking themselves wise they became foolish; God has given them a reprobate mind to do what is not fitting; and the poet says most wisely: ‘When divine wrath harms a man, first it strips him of good sense of mind, turns him to the worse thought, that he may see nothing of what he sins.’ Most true indeed, had they acted in knowledge, they would not so much preen over themselves nor boast of drawing the race from the most shameful of animals; rightly the prophet said of them: ‘Humanity in honor does not understand, is brought alongside irrational animals and becomes like them’; unfortunately those assimilated to animals, priding themselves on the nobility of animals, seek to make proselytes, seek new workers to overturn moral principles, new sappers to undermine the foundations of society and render it useless. Their moral principles constitute their civilizing work. Behold these: ‘Good,’ they say, ‘is pleasure, or drunkenness, or love;’ but hate too is good. Beautiful is the possession of something contributing to our ease; good is power satisfying our superiority; good is truth insofar as it provides us enjoyment; good further is falsehood, or hypocrisy, or perjury, deceit, flattery insofar as they contribute to our gain; good is faith insofar as it is repaid; good also is betrayal if it promises greater repayment. Good is marriage insofar as it makes us happy, but equally good is adultery when marriage satiety comes. Good is deception, theft, robbery, and murder insofar as they give us mastery of something for enjoyment. Beautiful is vengeance or our satisfied feeling. Good is life insofar as it remains an enigma for us, but good also is suicide when this enigma is dissolved.’

Who now does not acknowledge that the moral law alone sustains societies, and that it alone has sustained them to now, for how is it possible a society could stand under such principles? No, societies are eternal witnesses of humanity’s morality and spirituality by which alone they were established, advanced, and developed. These principles, revealed two thousand two hundred years ago, society rejected. Aristippus, one of Socrates’ disciples and founder of the Cyrenaic school, in his native city taught the same doctrines as today’s wise men; one of the school’s leaders, named Hegesias, a fervent follower of Aristippus, developed and taught suicide for the lack of pleasure through which, he said, humanity was formed. But humanity did not receive his teaching, for it had consciousness of the height of its destiny which guides it always to a calculated end, and it trod down and crushed all abortions of the distorted mind and walked with firm step forward toward perfection to which it is ever advancing.

The reigning moral and spiritual development and progress in general is humanity’s triumph and testimony of morality and sociality; it is the most eloquent advocate of humanity’s spirituality and witness of the superiority of its rational soul and its nobility; it is the clearest expression of rejection of materialist theories; it is the victory of spirit over matter and a more brilliant affirmation of humanity’s morality and sanctity. Humanity’s social life speaks to the ears of those having ears to hear and understand, that humanity has a rational and immortal soul.