Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/158

158THE HALLIG.

what we know of him, must be his own free gift, not
the doubtful hesitating deceptive result of our research."
  "But is not reason, too, the gift of God ?" said Man-
der. "And, if we use it as a means of making our-
selves acquainted with him, we too draw all our knowl-
edge of Divine things, if less directly, from the same
source as the believers in revelation."
  "Our eyes have to thank the light of day for the
power of vision," said Hold ; "but if they obstinately
gaze into the sun, then they must shrink back blinded.
It seems to have been especially reserved for our time
to deny the fact of a revelation from God to man above
the limits of human reason. We find the declaration
'Thus saith the Lord I' in every religion- upon earth.
Will you object to me that this comes from the fact
that the uncultivated reason is astonished at her own
triumphs, and dares not attribute the honor to herself,
or that the solitary sages felt obliged to lay claim to
Divine authority, in order more effectually to lead the
blind ? Then I may answer with equal probability,
that it comes from this : man knew that he had received
a divine revelation. But why are we talking of these
things ? Is it not because you have traveled through
the heights, and the depths, the length and breadth of
the realms of reason, and now come and inquire : What
is truth?"
  "But do not many walk the same way in peace,
firmly adhering to the religion of reason ?"
  "Do you call these vague ideas of God, freedom of
the will and immortality, the religion of reason ? You
must remember that it is not yet proved that these
ideas are the gifts of reason, and not rather a theft from