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The Remnant and Its Function and I Mission in the History of Reforms

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The Remnant and Its Function and I Mission in the History of Reforms - T n ! C a n srun R tvow'rxou Su m Vo wuz V III . T HE R EM N A N T M D Li . R U U ON ES . A. tt F S J , , . Author o f S ad i e! i n My stical Religi on ! Sf irimal LON DON THE RTHMOR E RE LTD SWA P SS . 2 OXFORD RE W 7 , ST ET, J . CONTEN TS THE RE MNANT THE E A DEA IN S A AH II . R MN NT I I I THE E A IN THE N E E A III . R MN NT W T S T MENT THE E O THE IV. LITTL CHURCH F S PIRIT THE MONTANIS TS -" A FOURTH CE NTURY RE MNANT THE DONATIS TS THE RELIGIOU S VII THE S P A A S A S . IRITU L FR NCI C N V A E A OF THE WE AN D III . R MN NT T LFTH THIRTEE NTH CE NTURIES I A E A THE E VA E Y X . R MN NT IN RHIN LL ’ THE COMMON MAN S ATTE MPT AT RE FORM ATION XI THE EXPE E OF THE S P A . RIM NT IRITU L RE FORME RS THE A E S EED XII . Q U K R THE O OF THE E A XIII . FUNCTI N R MN NT XIV THE S S O AN D S E E OF A E A I . MI I N RVIC R MN NT SS PR EFACE I TH S little book , written in the crowded days of a busy life and in one of the supreme crises of history , is an attempt to interpret in an untechnical style and manner the idea of the remnant and its function and I mission in the history of reforms . have gone back first to Isaiah and Plato, the early advocates of h0pe in the remnant then I a a h ve reviewed , with much restr int and of brevity, some the famous remnant I experiments finally have considered , again in the most compact compass, the historical signi ficance of the remnant idea and its value as a method of achieving social a ai and Spiritu l g ns . It would perhaps have been an advantage to some readers if I had expanded the study and worked out the historical movements in more detail and with fuller historical refer ences . one I felt , however, that the definite idea which my book was written to interpret un could best be driven home in this direct , complicated way . Those who wish for more historical details will find them given in my S tudi es i n M sti cal R eli i on two earlier books, y g 8 PR E FACE and S pi ri tual R eformers o/ the S i x teenth an d n h tur s S eventee t Cen i e . In the present volume I have seized and presented the essential features of each experiment so that the reader might quickly see the Spiritual value of the h O e venture . I p the little book will increase ’ of the reader s faith in the results brave , sincere human effort and will enable him to unite with one of the fine Spiri ts of the last century ' l a le Say not the strugg e nought av i th , Th e la a n d th e d are ai bour woun s v n , The e nemy fai n ts not n o r faileth A n d as i n s e ma th g hav been they re in . Haverford College , Haverford, Pennsylvania . THE REMNANT E RE TH is , Plato says, but a very small remn ant of those wh o follow wisdom and who have tasted how sweet and blessed a possession ” i Hi o f ul it s . s account the general m ti tude as contrasted with his remnant is pessimistic and saturated with despair . They too are, he thinks , mad and too untamed to offer any aid to any good causes The wise man cannot expect to find the masses his allies in any noble undertaking . He is for tun ate if they do not destroy the fruit of all for his efforts , and finally kill him stinging them awake and di sturbing their ease . We do not need to accept Plato’ s aristocratic j udgment of the multitude . He belonged to the patrician class , he looked down from above with the usual bias and prej udices of his isolated class and he was unable to be a sound j udge of human nature as it actually is in the best democracies . But after all, he is right in centering his hopes upon the small remnant It was not an accident that the two greatest prophets of the ancient — — ! world Plato and Isaiah made s o much of the remnant in the formulation of * their h0pe for the better world of the future . Even if the multitude were vastly better in ’ I sh all d eal wi th Isai ah s remn ant d octri n e i n th e next c a ter h p . I O THE R E MNANT quality than Plato thought and better in ‘ t actua l of fac than they y are, the function the remnant would still remain distinct , important and essential . By the remnant used in the historical a sense , we mean the sm ll , outstanding group of persons who have vision of the true line of march for their age and people , clear insight into the under]ying principle of life and action , and a faith that ventures i everyth ng to achieve what ought to be . It is the small circle of those who give their mind to the things that are true and elevated and j ust and pure and lovely and of good * - report . A few a rare and chosen few on l travel ahead of the rest . They are wi ling f h to pay the price , in agony and su fering , whic is always involved in Spiritual advances . - They are hyper acute and sensiti ve to currents and forces which the others around them fail to observe and they are bolder than their neighbours in risking the seen for the unseen . They reverse the proverb about the two birds In the bush , insisting that the that are uncaught are better than the one poor thing fluttering In the hand N ot all dreamers by any means make good remnants . There have been plenty of “ visionaries ” and ‘ ‘ zealots ” who have led confidi n l their g fol owers astray, whose new Jerusalems were delusions and who, by ' i li i an i v 8 S ee att e Arn ld t d th e Ph pp s . M h w o s s u y of R emn an t i n his e sa en ti tled umbers s y N . THE R E MNANT I I ai following iridescent r nbows, have lost the o al path f re progress for the race . It is not easy to indicate the marks by which o ne can discriminate in advance the sound di one remnant from the sordered , the wise prophet from the fanatic who is on a blind trail . The most convincing test of course n is the pragmatic o e . The sound remnant war Scores an advance , the way d remnant terminates at a mirage and arrives nowhere . History holds the answer . Hindsight settles what foresight cannot solve . The dreamer wh o cannot translate his dream into some visible fabric which persists in permanent form must take hi s place with the failures while the dreamer wh o can make the world become malleable to the moulding power of hi s ideal and can build it into lasting shape takes rank among the successes . It is , however, inconvenient to wait for the testi r not mony of histo y . One must before the long experiment of the testing process h as u of been tried o t. The decision the con temporary must be made before the n in How retur s are all . can we tell reality from illusion , how can we know the wise idealist from the misguided pursuer of ! is nf . mirages There no sure , i allible Sign We search in vain for the sterling label stamped indelibly upon the genuine article . And yet there are some hints and clues which can be safely followed . It is n ot quite a -f fift fi t . blind guess , a y y hazard 1 2 THE R EMNANT The safe guide , the true prophet , the u constr ctive remnant , builds on ahead of the experience Of the multitude but along lines already revealed and indicated by the O tested experience f men . The new pattern h as been suggested by the inherent demands Of the existing situation somewhat as the artist sees how to finish his creation so that the new part Shall harmoniously fulfil and complete the part already fashioned . The remnant that is to advance the hope Of the world differs from the abortive one in that the former h as a gift for apprehending the n ormal higher traits of life , trusts them and brings them into Operation , while the other is very apt to be caught in the swirls of the abnormal and to reveal the intensity and at the same time the eccentricity and wayward of ness of hysteria . Wherever the forces life come into play , attended by social di upheaval and in vidual enthusiasm, there will no doubt be some evidences of hysteria , but if a movement is to carry groups Of people to a higher moral and Spiritual level the leaders Of it must be unlike their fellows only in that they approach more nearly than to usual the norm and standard of full , of complete personality, and can make use powers not always available for human action .
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