s in depth and
value.

What relation this has to the conception of the Godhead will be dealt
with in a later chapter. It is enough at present to bear in mind that,
as far as we have gone, a reality above sense, time, history, and the
content of the individual life has become evident. And it is such a
reality which gives meaning to the events of history.

It has to be borne in mind that much which is natural and of the earth
enters into history. Such effects have become clearly discernible in
modern times. Physical conditions do exercise an influence, and hem the
course of the spiritual life. The indifference of the physical order of
things to the ethical values of history is a problem which constantly
perplexes every thinking mind. No solution to the puzzles of life is to
be found in Nature. What do we discover there? "We discover enchainments
[p.81] of phenomena which seem to conduct to the creation of great
misery and which, with unmerciful callousness, drive man over the brink
of an abyss. The faintest hint would have sufficed to hold him back from
such a catastrophe; but this is not given, and consequently destruction
takes its course. Petty accidents destroy life and happiness; a moment
annihilates the most toilsome work. Often, also, we discover a chaotic
medley, a sudden overthrow of all potency, a seeming indifference
towards all human weal and woe, a blind groping in the dark; we discover
gloomy possibilities constantly sweeping as dark clouds over man and
occasionally descending as a crashing tempest."[24] Hundreds of similar
examples may be found in Eucken's books, and all point to the
insufficiency of the natural process for satisfying the deepest needs of
our being. But in spite of the fact that the natural process accompanies
Life everywhere, man has built a world beyond the world of sense.

With the entrance of the spiritual life a new mode of history makes its
appearance. This fact is to be witnessed in the tools invented by man in
order to overcome physical barriers. The growth of technics in our own
day is a proof of Nature yielding here and there to the demands of life
and intellect. This has all been brought about by mentality, and new
modes of living are the result.

[p.82] And when we enter the domain of human society the superiority of
the spiritual life becomes evident here as well. It is true that we are
as yet far from any ideals of human society which include the good of
all, and which bin