ond criterion is that of the intellect. The ancient philosophers in
particular considered the intellect to be the most important agency of
judgment. Among the wise men of Greece, Rome, Persia and Egypt the
criterion of true proof was reason. They held that every matter submitted
to the reasoning faculty could be proved true or false and must be
accepted or rejected accordingly. But in the estimation of the people of
insight this criterion is likewise defective and unreliable, for these
same philosophers who held to reason or intellect as the standard of human
judgment have differed widely among themselves upon every subject of
investigation. The statements of the Greek philosophers are contradictory
to the conclusions of the Persian sages. Even among the Greek philosophers
themselves there is continual variance and lack of agreement upon any
given subject. Great difference of thought also prevailed between the wise
men of Greece and Rome. Therefore, if the criterion of reason or intellect
constituted a correct and infallible standard of judgment, those who
tested and applied it should have arrived at the same conclusions. As they
differ and are contradictory in conclusions, it is an evidence that the
method and standard of test must have been faulty and insufficient.

The third criterion or standard of proof is traditional or
scriptural--namely, that every statement or conclusion should be supported
by traditions recorded in certain religious books. When we come to
consider even the Holy Books--the Books of God--we are led to ask, "Who
understands these books? By what authority of explanation may these Books
be understood?" It must be the authority of human reason, and if reason or
intellect finds itself incapable of explaining certain questions, or if
the possessors of intellect contradict each other in the interpretation of
traditions, how can such a criterion be relied upon for accurate
conclusions?

The fourth standard is that of inspiration. In past centuries many
philosophers have claimed illumination or revelation, prefacing their
statements by the announcement that "this subject has been revealed
through me" or "thus do I speak by inspiration." Of this class were the
philosophers of the Illuminati. Inspirations are the promptings or
susceptibilities of the human heart. The promptings of the heart are
sometimes satanic. How are we to differentiate them? How are we to tell
whether a given statement is an inspirati