dent therefore that man is ruler over nature's sphere and
province. Nature is inert, man is progressive. Nature has no
consciousness, man is endowed with it. Nature is without volition and acts
perforce whereas man possesses a mighty will. Nature is incapable of
discovering mysteries or realities whereas man is especially fitted to do
so. Nature is not in touch with the realm of God, man is attuned to its
evidences. Nature is uninformed of God, man is conscious of Him. Man
acquires divine virtues, nature is denied them. Man can voluntarily
discontinue vices, nature has no power to modify the influence of its
instincts. Altogether it is evident that man is more noble and superior;
that in him there is an ideal power surpassing nature. He has
consciousness, volition, memory, intelligent power, divine attributes and
virtues of which nature is completely deprived, bereft and minus;
therefore man is higher and nobler by reason of the ideal and heavenly
force latent and manifest in him.

How strange then it seems that man, notwithstanding his endowment with
this ideal power, will descend to a level beneath him and declare himself
no greater than that which is manifestly inferior to his real station. God
has created such a conscious spirit within him that he is the most
wonderful of all contingent beings. In ignoring these virtues he descends
to the material plane, considers matter the ruler of existence and denies
that which lies beyond. Is this virtue? In its fullest sense this is
animalistic, for the animal realizes nothing more. In fact from this
standpoint the animal is the greater philosopher because it is completely
ignorant of the Kingdom of God, possesses no spiritual susceptibilities
and is uninformed of the heavenly world. In brief, this is a view of the
pathway of nature.

The second pathway is that of religion, the road of the divine Kingdom. It
involves the acquisition of praiseworthy attributes, heavenly illumination
and righteous actions in the world of humanity. This pathway is conducive
to the progress and uplift of the world. It is the source of human
enlightenment, training and ethical improvement; the magnet which attracts
the love of God because of the knowledge of God it bestows. This is the
road of the holy Manifestations of God for they are in reality the
foundation of the divine religion of oneness. There is no change or
transformation in this pathway. It is the cause of human betterment, the
acquisi