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Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
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BIBLE VERSES
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ALTAR OF SACRIFICE
A symbol of a structure of the religious
consciousness in the highest part of the lower nature, on which the
lower desires and aims are offered up to the Supreme Goodness.
"The altar is 'the table of the Lord': whatever was put upon it was
the food of God.' The fire from heaven, emblem of God's holiness,
consumes the offering; and it all ascends as sweet incense before
Him." - A. JUKES, The Law of the Offerings, p. 49.
"There is something sublime, something that is not wholly of this
world, in the deed that costs the doer his personal happiness, the
surrender of his own gratification in the interest of something
higher. The world is always ready to reverence that when it sees it,
perhaps without quite knowing why; but more often than not the
essence of the deed consists in the fact that the world does not see
it for what it is, but either ignores it or mistakes it for
something else. It is this principle which lies at the heart of all
the sacrificial systems of all the religions that have ever existed.
Human nature is curiously constituted in this respect. It is
damnably selfish, and yet never fails to respond in some degree to
the call for self-immolation. There is something in us all which
makes us want to lay ourselves on the altar when any great crisis
demands it, any super-personal ideal has to be served. We may not
yield to it, but the impulse is there; it is in everybody." - R. J.
CAMPBELL, Serm., Life's Great Antinomy.
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See Also
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