One of the great mistakes among men is a belief in a diversity of causes and effects. People think they can live in harmony with one cause and have a certain good effect, while every other part of their life can go unheeded, without affecting the certain result desired. Human philosophy divides man into a physical, mental and moral being, giving each of these a separate realm. According to this teaching a man may be robust and healthy, while he is dwarfed mentally or depraved morally; he may be a devout, consecrated Christian, and yet be a physical wreck; or he may have a sharp, cultivated intellect and still be neither healthy nor virtuous.
What a terribly deformed creature we have in any one of these combinations. As a result of this separation of man into different parts or natures, we have different schools and lines of education. To meet the physical demands for aid, the study of medicine is established so that some men may be prepared to meet the needs of others in this direction. For the mental or intellectual training, schools are erected and furnished with professors intellectually equipped to educate and develop this part of man. Spiritual needs are met from altogether another direction, and a separate vocation is set apart for this special work.
Let us now, candidly and honestly look at the result of this form of treatment. Has it been successful in meeting the question of man's salvation? How much better is the world to-day than it was a hundred or a thousand years ago? Does man know more of himself? Is he happier and more peaceful? Is there less disease and more health? Has sin disappeared or taken on milder forms? Consult the records of our asylums, hospitals, prisons, and penitentiaries for an answer. Look into the careworn and distracted countenances all around us and see. Listen to the war cry among nations, to the discontented murmurings and loud complaints of the oppressed all over our land and other lands. Why should so much crime, ignorance,disease, and wretchedness continue to increase, or even to exist, with all the legislation, medicine, teaching and preaching of the ages?
