| The Bible. The Bible contains the annals of the heavens, the earth, and the human race; like the Deity himself, it contains all that was, is, and will be. On its first page we read of the beginning of time and of things, and on [[83]]its last page the end of time and of things. It begins with Genesis, which is an idyll, and ends with Revelation, which is a funeral chant. Genesis is as beautiful as the fresh breeze which sweeps over the world; as the first dawn of light in the heavens; as the first flower that opens in the meadows; as the first word of love spoken by men; as the first appearance of the sun in the east. Revelation is as sad as the last palpitation of nature; as the last ray of the sun; as the last breath of a dying man. And between the funeral chant and the idyll there pass in succession before the eyes of God all generations and all peoples. The tribes and the patriarchs go by; the republics and the magistrates; the monarchies and their kings; the empires and their emperors. Babylon and all its abominations go by; Nineveh and all its pomps; Memphis and its priests; Jerusalem and its prophets and temple; Athens and its arts and heroes; Rome and its diadem of conqueror of the world. Nothing lasts but God; all else passes and dies, like the froth that tips the wave. [[84]] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A prodigious book, which mankind began to read three and thirty centuries ago, and of which, if it read all day and night, it would not exhaust the wealth. A prodigious book in which all was calculated before the science of arithmetic was invented; in which the origin of language is told without any knowledge of philology; in which the revolutions of the stars are described without any knowledge of astronomy; in which history is recorded without any documents of history; in which the laws of nature are unveiled without any knowledge of physics. A prodigious book, that sees everything and knows everything; that knows the thoughts hidden in the hearts of men and those in the mind of God; that sees what is happening in the abysses of the sea and in the bowels of the earth; that records or foretells all the catastrophes of nations, and in which are accumulated all the treasures of mercy, of justice, and of vengeance. A book, in fine, which, when the heavens are folded like a gigantic fan, and the earth [[85]]sinks, and the sun withdraws its light, and the stars are extinguished, will remain with God, because it is his eternal word, echoing for ever in the heights.[1] [[82]] | Anthropism. One of the main supports of the reactionary system is what we may call “anthropism.” I designate by this term that powerful and world-wide group of erroneous opinions which opposes the human organism [[83]]to the whole of the rest of nature, and represents it as the preordained end of organic creation, an entity essentially distinct from it, a god-like being. Closer examination of this group of ideas shows it to be made up of three different dogmas, which we may distinguish as the anthropocentric, the anthropomorphic, and the anthropolatrous. 1. The anthropocentric dogma culminates in the idea that man is the preordained centre and aim of all terrestrial life—or, in a wider sense, of the whole universe. As this error is extremely conducive to man’s interest, and as it is intimately connected with the creation-myth of the three great Mediterranean religions, and with the dogmas of the Mosaic, Christian, and Mohammedan theologies, it still dominates the greater part of the civilised world. 2. The anthropomorphic dogma, also, is connected with the creation-myth of the three aforesaid religions and of many others. It likens the creation and control of the world by God to the artificial creation of an able engineer or mechanic, and to the administration of [[84]]a wise ruler. God, as creator, sustainer, and ruler of the world, is thus represented after a purely human fashion in his thought and work. Hence it follows that man in turn is god-like. “God made man to his own image and likeness.” The older, naive theology is pure “homotheism,” attributing human shape, flesh, and blood to the gods. It is more intelligible than the modern mystic theosophy which adores a personal God as an invisible—properly speaking, gaseous—being, yet makes him think, speak, and act in human fashion; it offers us the paradoxical picture of a gaseous vertebrate. 3. The anthropolatric dogma naturally results from this comparison of the activity of God and man; it ends in the apotheosis of human nature. A further result is the belief in the personal immortality of the soul, and the dualistic dogma of the twofold nature of man, whose “immortal” soul is conceived as the temporary inhabitant of a mortal frame. Thus these three anthropistic dogmas, variously adapted to the respective professions of the [[85]]different religions, came at length to be vested with extraordinary importance, and proved to be the source of the most dangerous errors.[2] |
In June, 1904, the Bulletin published the following figures in regard to the attendance at school. At that time the publications of the Modern School were in use in thirty-two other schools throughout the country, and its influence was thus felt in Seville and Malaga, Tarragona and Cordova, and other towns, as well as Barcelona and the vicinity. The number of scholars in our schools was also steadily rising, as the following table shows:— [[87]]
List of the Pupils in the Modern School During the First Three Years.
| MONTHS. | GIRLS. | BOYS. | TOTAL. | ||||||
| 1901–2. | 1902–3. | 1903–4. | 1901–2. | 1902–3. | 1903–4. | 1st year. | 2nd year. | 3rd year. | |
| Opening day | 12 | — | — | 18 | — | — | 30 | — | — |
| September | 16 | 23 | 24 | 23 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 63 | 64 |
| October | 18 | 28 | 43 | 25 | 40 | 59 | 43 | 68 | 102 |
| November | 21 | 31 | 44 | 29 | 40 | 59 | 50 | 71 | 103 |
| December | 22 | 31 | 45 | 30 | 40 | 59 | 52 | 71 | 104 |
| January | 22 | 31 | 47 | 32 | 44 | 60 | 54 | 75 | 107 |
| February | 23 | 31 | 47 | 32 | 48 | 61 | 55 | 79 | 108 |
| March | 25 | 33 | 49 | 34 | 47 | 61 | 59 | 80 | 110 |
| April | 26 | 32 | 50 | 37 | 48 | 61 | 63 | 80 | 111 |
| May | 30 | 33 | 51 | 38 | 48 | 62 | 68 | 81 | 113 |
| June | 32 | 34 | 51 | 38 | 48 | 63 | 70 | 82 | 114 |
[[88]]
[1] Extract from a speech delivered by Donoso Cortés at his admission into the Academy. [↑]
[2] Haeckel’s Riddle of the Universe, Chap. I. [↑]