| The levels of creation: mineral, vegetable, animal, human. Each manifests some of the qualities of God, except man, who potentially manifests them all: ‘. . . whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God. . . To a supreme degree is this true of man . . . For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no other created being hath excelled or surpassed.'9 Lower kingdoms do not bear all of the characteristics of higher ones, nor can lower kingdoms comprehend higher ones: ‘An inferior degree can never comprehend a higher degree or kingdom. The mineral, no matter how far it may advance, can never attain knowledge of the vegetable. No matter how the plant or vegetable may progress, it cannot perceive the reality of the animal kingdom — in other words, it cannot grasp a world of life that is endowed with the power of the senses. The animal may develop a wonderful degree of intelligence, but it can never attain the powers of ideation and conscious reflection which belong to man . . . This being so, how can the human reality, which is limited, comprehend the eternal, unmanifest Creator?'10 |
