DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22901#0234
2l8
HISTOR Y OF THE PARSIS. [chap. v.
the same emblems to be used also for the same pur-
pose in the Christian Church. And so it is in fact."
Then the Christian divine proceeds to quote passages
from the New Testament showing the connection of
light and fire with Divinity.
Then as to the use of fire in the Christian ritual,
the Bishop says : " A glance at the ritual of the Church
shows, then, that the very same position which our
Aryan ancestors, following the light of reason, assigned
to fire and light in their divine worship in order to
represent God's divine majesty and His presence
among His worshippers, is likewise, and largely, given
to the same convenient and delightful creature as
symbol of God's sublime splendour and living pre-
sence among his beloved children." A little further
on, writing about the similarity between the Parsi fire-
temple and the Christian sanctuary, he says: " On
this landing let us rest for a while. We have before
us the sanctuary of the Parsi fire-temple and the
sanctuary of the Christian Church. In both we see a
perpetual flame indicating the presence of God : there
the omnipresence of God the Creator, here the sacra-
mental presence of God the Redeemer. I am unable
to express in words the deep and vehement feelings
which move my heart when I kneel in the sanctuary
of my chapel and think of the Parsi fire-temple a
few yards off in which a fire is ever burning like the
flame in our sanctuary lamp. Here is one of the
HISTOR Y OF THE PARSIS. [chap. v.
the same emblems to be used also for the same pur-
pose in the Christian Church. And so it is in fact."
Then the Christian divine proceeds to quote passages
from the New Testament showing the connection of
light and fire with Divinity.
Then as to the use of fire in the Christian ritual,
the Bishop says : " A glance at the ritual of the Church
shows, then, that the very same position which our
Aryan ancestors, following the light of reason, assigned
to fire and light in their divine worship in order to
represent God's divine majesty and His presence
among His worshippers, is likewise, and largely, given
to the same convenient and delightful creature as
symbol of God's sublime splendour and living pre-
sence among his beloved children." A little further
on, writing about the similarity between the Parsi fire-
temple and the Christian sanctuary, he says: " On
this landing let us rest for a while. We have before
us the sanctuary of the Parsi fire-temple and the
sanctuary of the Christian Church. In both we see a
perpetual flame indicating the presence of God : there
the omnipresence of God the Creator, here the sacra-
mental presence of God the Redeemer. I am unable
to express in words the deep and vehement feelings
which move my heart when I kneel in the sanctuary
of my chapel and think of the Parsi fire-temple a
few yards off in which a fire is ever burning like the
flame in our sanctuary lamp. Here is one of the