In Scripture we are told that God made man in his own image. It is so stated not only in the Christian Bible but also in the holy writings of nearly all enlightened people. The Jewish patriarchs taught that the human body was the microcosm, or little cosmos, made in the image of the macrocosm, or the great cosmos. This analogy between the finite and the infinite is said to be one of the keys by the aid of which the secrets of Holy Writ are unlocked. There is no doubt that the Old Testament is a physiological and anatomical textbook to those capable of reading it from a scientific viewpoint. The functions of the human body, the attributes of the human mind, and the qualities of the human soul, have been personified by the wise men of the ancient world, and a great drama has been built around their relationships to themselves and to each other. To the great Egyptian demigod, Hermes, the human race owes its concept of the law of analogy. The great Hermetic axiom was, That which is above is like unto that which is below, and that which is below is like unto that which is above.
FROM THE PUBLISHER The Philosophical Research Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1934 for the purpose of assisting thoughtful persons to live more graciously and constructively in a confused and troubled world. The Society is entirely free from educational, political, or ecclesiastical control. Dedicated to an idealistic approach to the solution of human problems, the Society's program stresses the need for the integration of religion, philosophy, and the science of psychology into one system of instruction. The goal of this instruction is to enable the individual to develop a mature philosophy of life, to recognize his proper responsibilities and opportunities, and to understand and appreciate his place in the unfolding universal pattern.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Manly P. Hall was the founder of the Philosophical Research Society. In over seventy-five years of dynamic public activity, he delivered more than 8,000 lectures in the United States and abroad, and authored countless books, essays, and articles. In his lectures and writings, Manly Hall always emphasized the practical aspects of philosophy and religion as they applied to daily living. He restated for modern man those spiritual and ethical doctrines which have given humanity its noblest ideals and most adequate codes of conduct. Believing that philosophy is a working tool to help the individual in building a solid foundation for his dreams and purposes, Manly Hall steadfastly sought recognition of the belief that world civilization can be perfected only when human beings meet on a common ground of intelligence, cooperation, and worthy purpose.