Philosophy of the Affections.
[Bro. Smith: The following is from the pen of James B. Walker, author of the "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation." I so love to read the "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," that I would like to give some extracts from it, hoping that others may also enjoy the feast. Almira C. Hudson.] Concerning the necessity of affectionate obedience to God; and the manner of producing that obedience in the hearts of the Israelites. The following principles in relation to the affections will be recognized by consciousness as true in the experience of man. They lie at the foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and relate to the sources and central principles of all true religion. 1. The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects, or in view of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The heart never loves, unless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see some lovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes those good qualities to be possessed by another, and especially when they are exercised towards us, the heart, like a magnetized needle, trembles with life, and turns towards its object. 2. The affections are not subject to the will; neither our own will nor any other will can directly control them. I cannot will to love a being who does not appear to me lovely, and who does not exhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections; nor can I, by command, or by any other effort of the will, cause another being to love me. The affections are not subject to command. You cannot force another to love, or respect, or even from the heart to obey. Such an attitude assumed to produce affection would invariably produce disaffection rather than love. No one (as a matter of fact) thinks the affections subject to the will, and therefore men never endeavor to obtain the affections of others solely by command, but by exhibiting such a character, and conferring such favors as they know are adapted to move the heart. An effect could as easily exist without a cause, as affection in the bosom of any human being, which was not produced by goodness or excellences seen, or believed to exist in some other being. 3. The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves greatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure affection for another, are disinterested. Cases of the affection influencing the will are common in the experience of every one. There is probably no one living who has not, at some time of his life, had affection for another, so that it gave more to please the object of his love than to please himself. Love for another always influences the will to act in such a way as will please the object loved. The individual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved object, and such acts are disinterested, not being done with any selfish end in view, but for the sake of another. So soon as the affections move towards an object, the will is proportionally influenced to please and benefit that object; or if a superior being, to obey his will and secure his favor. 4. All happy obedience must arise from affection. Affectionate obedience blesses the spirit which yields it, if the conscience approve the object loved and obeyed; while, on the contrary, no happiness can be experienced from obedience to any being that we do not love. To obey externally either God, or a parent, from no other than interested motives would be sin. The devil might be obeyed from the same reasons. Love must therefore constitute an essential element in all proper obedience to God. 5. When the affections of two beings are reciprocally fixed upon each other, they constitute a bond of union peculiarly strong and tender: those things that affect the one affecting the other in proportion to the strength of affection existing between them. One conforms to the will of the other, not from a sense of obligation merely, but from choice; and the constitution of the soul is such that the sweetest enjoyment of which it is capable arises from the exercise of reciprocal affection. 6. When the circumstances of an individual are such that he is exposed to constant suffering and great danger, the more afflictive his situation the more grateful love will he feel for affection and benefits received under such circumstances. If his circumstances were such that he could not relieve himself, and such that he must suffer greatly or perish; and while in this condition, if another, moved by benevolent regard for him, should come to aid and save him, his affection for his deliverer would be increased by a sense of the danger from which he was rescued. 7. It is an admitted principle that protracted and close attention always fixes the fact attended to deeply in the memory, and the longer and more intensely the mind attends to any subject, other subjects proportionably lose their power to interest. The same is true in relation to the affections: The longer and more intensely we contemplate an object in that relation which is adapted to draw out the affections, the more deeply will the impression be made upon the heart, as well as upon the memory. The most favorable circumstances possible to fix an impression deeply upon the heart and memory are, first, that there should be protracted and earnest attention, and second, that at the same time the impression is made, the emotions of the soul should be alive with excitement. Without these an impression made upon the heart and memory would be slight and easily effaced; while on the contrary, an impression made during intense attention and excited feelings, will be engraven as with a pen of steel upon the tables of the soul. Now with these principles in mind, mark the means used to fix the attention and excite the susceptibilities of the Israelites, and while in that state of attention and excitement to draw their affections to God. The children of Israel were suffering the most grievous bondage, which had arrived at almost an intolerable degree of cruelty and injustice. Just at this crisis, the God of their fathers appears as their deliverer, and Moses is commissioned as his prophet. When the people are convened, and their minds aroused by the hopes of deliverance, their attention is turned to two parties: one, Pharaoh their oppressor and the slayer of their first-born, and the other, the God of Abraham, who now appeared as their deliverer, espousing their cause and condescending personally to oppose himself to their oppressor. Then a scene ensues adapted in all its circumstances to make a deep impression upon their43memory and their heart. The God of Abraham seems by his judgments to have forced the oppressor to relent, and to let the people go. Now their oppressor's heart is hardened, and he renews his cruelty; but while their hopes are sinking they are again revived and strengthened, in that God continues to use means to induce Pharaoh to release the captives. Thus for a considerable length of time all the powers of excitability in their nature are aroused to activity. Towards that being who had so graciously interposed in their behalf, they felt emotions of hope, gratitude, love, and admiration. Toward their oppressor, feelings of an opposite character must have been engendered; and this state of excited suspense—the emotions vacillating between love and hatred, hope and fear—was continued until the impression became fixed deep in their souls. Keeping in mind the fact that the more we need a benefactor, and feel that need, the stronger will be our feelings of gratitude and love for the being who interposes in our behalf—notice further, when through the interposition of the Almighty, the Israelites were delivered, and had advanced as far as the Red Sea, another appeal was made to their affections which was most thrilling, and adapted to call, by one grand interposition, all their powers of gratitude and love into immediate and full exercise. The army of Israelites lay encamped on the margin of the Red Sea, when suddenly they were surprised by the approaching host of Pharaoh. Before them was the sea, and behind them an advancing hostile army. If they went forward, they would find death in the waves; if they returned backward it would be to the swords of their pursuers. A rescue by earthly means from death or bondage more severe than they had ever borne was impossible. Just at this crisis of extremity, Jehovah appears as their deliverer. The bosom of the pathless sea is cleft by the power of God. The stricken waters recoil upon themselves on either side. The Israelites pass over in safety. The Egyptian host enter and are overwhelmed in the water. Now, it may be affirmed without qualification that in view of the nature and circumstances of the Israelites, no combination of means, not including the self-sacrifice of the benefactor himself, could be so well adapted to elicit and absorb all the affections of the soul as this wonderful series of events. That this result was accomplished by these means, is authenticated by the history given in the Bible. When the people were thus delivered they stood upon the other side of the sea, and their affections, in answer to the call that God had made upon them, gushed forth in thanksgiving and praise. Hear the response of their hearts, and their allusion to the cause that produced that response. "O sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my shield, and has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him." Ex. xv, 1, 2. Thus was the attention of the whole nation turned to the true God. An impression of his goodness was fixed deeply in their memory, and their affections were drawn out and fastened upon the true object of worship. Now this, as was shown, was necessary before they could offer worship either honorable or acceptable to God. The end was accomplished by means adapted to the nature of the human soul, and to the circumstances of the Israelites; and by means which no being in the universe but the maker of the soul could use. The demonstration is therefore perfect, that the scripture narrative is true, and that no other narrative differing materially from this in principle could be true.