A Psychological Interpretation of the Gospel (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from A Psychological Interpretation of the Gospel In my interpretation of the Book of Genesis I have stated that each historical personage represented a fourfold meaning, that is, Historical, Geographical, and Psychological, involving Spiritual. Viewing the psychological aspect of the Gospel we must not be unmindful of these relational phenomena of minds' history. As given in the four Gospels, the spiritual takes precedency, and unless we be aware the picturesqueness of the divine revelation obscures its psychological meaning. St. Matthew gives the historical as a clothing of the latter. He begins his record by the genealogy of the Jews: "The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren." Now in my treatise of Genesis I have enunciated that the character Abraham involved the expression of mans fourfold evolution with especial reference to the key to Intellectual Evolution. Therefore, in its psychological meaning the word Abraham meant prophetic vision, or focused energy begotten of religious habit controlling mind through many generations. Moreover that Abraham was an individual, a mind of a higher type in mental energy, evolved by psychological stimulus. Therefore, in the history of Jesus Christ St. Matthew expresses the truth scientifically and psychologically when we realise his idea that the son of David the son of Abraham involved the intense and persistent psychological stimulus of idea from Abraham to David and through fifty-six generations. The psychological Individual of so sustained, persistent and intense stimulus would be of a type phenomenal, a type we express in the word spiritual. St. Matthew affirms that the Virgin Mary was the Individual produced by this psychological stimulus. And if we knew all that this category of historic characters involved and expressed in minds' history we would not marvel or be shocked at the phenomenon in the character of the Virgin Mary. I have hinted in my other treatise that every development in the history of Human Emotion is focussed in Jewish genealogy expressed in the picture-writing of historical characters, and that the Hebrew Religion has initiated all mental energy, and is the author of all originality such as genius. This category of names in Jesus Christ's genealogy, therefore, involves the history of Intellect, geographically, historically, psychologically, and spiritually, inclusive of mind's concrete expression, viz., all expression on emotional feeling found its origin in the focus of Hebrew Religion. And though to prove this would involve immense labour in research yet it will be done in God's good time. Then we shall not be surprised at a psychological phenomenon in the form of a self-fertilizing-automaton evolved by persistent and intense psychic stimulus of many generations of ritual and formular. Indeed stage by stage from generation to generation shall we trace its evolution and not marvel at its climax - affinity and adaptation to spiritual environment. In treating Matthew I will follow the former treatise in the page for page analysis, but it will only be as a body for the clothing of the psychological interpretation of truth involved therein. Continuing from my quotation of the text: - "And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ, " i. e., the physical affinity of this psychological phenomena Mary was of royal lineage and further it was added he was of high character, and undoubtedly of physical grace and beauty. But the genealogy is solely concerned with the psychical part played by Mary's sexual affinity, her husband Joseph. I will endeavor, after an analysis of the mystic verses, to interpret it: -