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Lesson VIII: Dharma.391
people, and the teachings worked a change in them, and helped to lay a
foundation for future generations to build upon. It is no discredit to these
prophets, or to the source from which they received their information, to
say that we have advanced far beyond many of their teachings, and today
are enabled to discard nearly all of their precepts, with the exception of a
few fundamental ones which were intended to last. The religious sects are
apt to insist upon the infallibility of these teachings, and to hold that they
were intended as rules of conduct and standards of morality for all people,
at all times. A moment’s thought will show the folly of this idea. Take Moses
for example, and see how the details of his teachings were intended for the
people of his time, and how well they fitted into their requirements, and
yet how absurd many of them would be if applied to our life today. Of
course, the fundamental principles laid down by Moses still obtain in full
force, but the minor rules of conduct laid down for the Jewish people have
been outgrown and no one pretends to observe them. Many critics of the
theory of revelation find fault with many of the rules laid down by Moses,
and point to their savage and barbarous nature, many of which are revolting
to the ideals of today. And yet, these teachings each had a definite purpose,
and were intended for the aid of the slowly evolving souls in the flesh at
that time. The object of all of these teachings was to help man along in his
evolution—to give him something just a little higher than his then mode of
living to serve as an ideal of conduct. Some of these teachings which seem
so barbarous to us today, if examined closely in the light of the condition
of the race at that time, will be seen to be just a few steps in advance of the
customs of the race at the time the teachings were given. To us on the higher
rounds of the ladder, these teachings are seen to be on a lower plane than
ourselves, but if we were to stand on the round occupied by the race at
that time, we would see that the teachings were a round or two higher still.
It is unreasonable to insist that the highest conceivable ideals should have
been given the race in its infancy—just imagine the highest ideals of Christ
submitted to the semi-barbarous tribes of Israel. But here let us call your