________________
286
GOD
sides, as stated in the very first lecture, if vague convictions of men could be substituted for sound reason, philosophy and science might as well begin to pack off, The extreme absurdity of the intuitive theory is evident from the fact that these erratic Aashes of native wit prove, on careful examination, to be of the nature of pure self-deluding assurances born of a faith that is at once over-zealous and unreasoning.
With respect to testimony, also, it is evident that no one is entitled to speak from personal knowledge, For he who would give evidence of the existence of a pure Spirit must have seen Him himself; but this is impossible, as already seen. We are thus left with the scriptural text as the only kind of evidence that miglit be admissible, provided that the scripture which is supposed to prove the being of a Supreme Being pro ceed from an Omniscient God and also that it be a true record of what such a Teacher said on the point. Now, none of the scriptures that are deemed to prove the being of a creator, or providence, is, or can be, the work of an Omniscient Teacher. They are mythological in nature, and betray their fivite human origin at every turn. For the one simple reason that suffices to establish their human authorship is to be found in the fact that their authors failed to see the amount of misunderstanding, hatred and bloodshed that was sure to flow from mythological conceptions passing current as real characters and figures of history. An Omniscient. Teacher, instructing humanity for their good must be
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org