H OW

RELIGION ARISES

A PS ! C H O L O G I C A L S TUD!

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R O V ED

TH E UN I VE R S IT !

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TH E D E G R E E O F D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O PH !

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F R AN K L I N ST R EET

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C O N TE N TS

TE R I
C haos in R eligious O pinion
CH

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IN TR O D UC TI ON

PA G E
.

R et r ospect
The P r oblem
The Te r m R eligion
O ne idea ism in Philosophy

TE R

21

II L E A D I N G P H I L O S O
6 R eligi on is of the W ill
CH

H I C AL T H E O R I E S

( I ) The Thesis

2
C
onscience
K ant
( )

( 3 ) M o r ality touched by
,

motion

R eligion is of the E motions

( I ) The M ystics
S chleie r mache r
( 2 ) D ependence
( 3 ) The U no r th odo x M ystics

n
N
mystic E motion Theo r ies
( 4)
The F eeling of F ear
The F eeling of W onde
R eligion is of Though t
( I ) R ationalists etc

2
B
elief
and
F
aith
J acobi
( )
H egel
( 3 ) F eedom and Though t

M atthe w A r nold

r,

R E CON S I DER A TI ON AN D C ONC L U S I ON S

Par tiality and C onsequent U n r est
W ill E motion Thought
( I ) O r de r of thei r F unctional P ecedence
( 2 ) A C ouple of D i fculties
( 3 ) A nalogies f r om O the r Phases of L ife
The R oot though t of R eligion
CH

9
.

I O

A PTE R

II I

II

N O TE S
A DD IT I ONA L R E F ER E NC E S
,

73

C HAPTER I

I N T R O D UC T I O N
1

TH

C H A OS I N R E LI G I O U S O P I N I ON

un ive r s al and al l abso r bing ide as of the hum an

being are few W e m ay conclude the i r un ivers al ity resul ts
f r om their n ecessity What continues in being du r ing ages
h as r eason ( in the n ature of things) for being What every
b ody does m ust b e don e Wh at is eve ry where is exotic
n o w he r e
R eligion is cosmopolitan I n som e form it is at
hom e i n every breast
Its p r oducts are two S ided the
soul s e xpe r ien ces an d the sou l s expressions A gain they
are f r o m two causes the in ternal impulse and the exte rn al
i nue nce A s l ang u ages g r o w f r om the l inguistic ten dency
an d n ecessity s o r eli g ion s are g r o w ths f rom the rel igious at
t itu d e and n eeds
A ll such ideas ( l anguage moral ity r elig
ion ) are b oth S pontaneous an d necessitated They ge r mi
n ate and develop because such is the n ature of l ife They
develop w ith thi a ch a r acter o r that because such is the
n ature of their e nviron ment Thei r ten de ncy is unconscious
He nce whoever lives n aturally l ives r eligiously O n ly by rea
s o n e d artice an d stu died doub t is he othe r wise an d even this
m ay becom e religio u s to him He m ay n d the O bj ect of
his ado r ation or his ide al in a cha r me d bit O f s tone a tree
a moun tain the se a the sun his ancestor a nobl e woman
deied hum anity an ideal life the G r and L am a an anthro
m o r h ic pan theon o r the hig h an d holy O n e who in h ab
o
p
p
He m ay bow do w n to this or b end his knee
it e t h ete r nity
to that ; but something inevitably comman d s his revere n ce
and d r a ws forth whatever l ongings to wa r d fuller higher
l ife he is capab le of A th inking feel ing acting bei ng must
E

R EL I G I ON A RI S ES

H OW

l ive by thinking feel ing an d acting Wh at is bu il t in to

n ature must b e exhibite d w he n n atu r e is m ade m an ifest
Its varieties m ay b e as num e r ou s as its in dividuals fo r
th ese must be as va r ie d as the ci r cum stances u nder w hich
they devel op Hen ce the u n ivers al ity of rel igion becom es
also an expl an ation of its variety In al l m in or m atte r s
amon g t h ose wh o thin k it is quite s afe to s ay quot lz om z m y
.

to!

s w im

'

tz a

Yet h o w fe w do thei r own thinking ! M illion s hire it don e

to suit their taste 3 bu t in doing so they sel l their birthrigh t

an d forfeit what they migh t b e

Wh at I w an t is n ot in

stru ction b u t provocation s aid E m erson Wh at any m in d

w ants is suggestion f r equen t stirring up
Clear thinking is
of al l impo r tan ce 3 yet how little of it is d on e ! F rom ah
sen ce of t h is w hat w orl ds of confusion ! an d confu sio n is
the evil of evils R el igion th e com mon est is al m ost the

l e ast clear of ou r ide as W h at eve rybody kn ows n ob ody

kn ow s
Wh at is mo r e an eve r y d ay a ffair ? Ye t who can
den e it ? We al l talk about Ch r istian ity mu ch of the time ;
yet what is C h r isti an ity ? O n e r un s a m o r tal risk of
dethron ing a m an s faith by th e confusion on e puts him
to in askin g him to den e it O n e prin cipal r eason of s o
l ittl e faith is s o l ittle e ff ort on the pa r t of the faithl ess to
e x press w hat they h ave Better try an d m istak e th an n ot

t rv at all
Bacon was w ise whe n h e s aid T r uth emerges

soone r from mistake than confusion

Th en an other cl ass seem to abou n d in faith bu t an alysis
S hows it to be only credulity I t h as its b asis on n othin g
rm er than un r eason ed and unreason abl e au tho r ity I t is
of th e so r t described by the boy in S un d ay s chool wh o on

being asked wh at faith was re p lied I t is being pe r fectly

su r e of a thing w he n you h ave n othi n g to b ack it up

To m any religion is the C hu r ch They s e e it an d kn o w
i t only through the Chu r ch Wh at the Church d oes is r el ig
ious ; wh at is don e ou t side the C hurch is secul ar or irre lig
ious If religion is the Chu r ch al l the good i t h as don e is
from the Church T here is n o religion el se wh ere O the r
,

'

I N T R OD UC T I ON

called r el igion s are of the devil

Their peopl e are
w o r se O ff th an they w oul d b e w ithou t them
They ar e a
g r eat hin dran ce to the cause of good an d to the success of
the Church
O the r s w ith j ust as l ittl e r e al ization of the n ature of the
r el igious l ife
an d h ating the Chu r ch fo r on e o r another
r e ason
att r ibu te all its evils an d m istakes to r eligion If
th e Chu r ch h as catered to the r ich an d s light e d th e poo r
r eligion is to bl ame
If a hiera r chy in the n am e of r eligion
h as suppo r ted ty r anny an d opposed f r eedom religion is r e
sponsibl e A n d so on fo r eve ry abuse w hich i r r eli g ious
selsh souls in hypoc r itical religious ga r b have foun d O pp o r
t u n ity to pe r pet r ate
Bu t is the sun light to bl ame be caus e
m e n ght in it ? S h all we conde m n th e night because men
?
?

r
ste al
Is
e h ad be cause it bu r n s up houses
I s wate r
a cu r s e because m en get d r o wned in it ? I s en thusiasm an
evil b ecause some b ecom e fan atic ? Is good b ad because
?
misused
N ot m o r e s o is rel igion vile becaus e a Church
h as disc r edited it N ot c r eeds not theologies n ot is m s n ot

r el igio ns bu t r el ion is the substance the essence

Un ter
ig

der H iille al le r R eligion e n l iegt die R eligion selbs t s aid

S chiller N ot these c r e ated religion but r el igion c reate d
these out of such m ate r ial as it fou n d to w o r k w ith
A l l in quiry conce r ning the evolution and historical ori g in
of the r el igiou s s enti m en t and al l discussion concerning its
psychological b asis h ave wo r th only as they ten d to an d
culmin ate in a d enite u nde r stan ding of its r e al m e an in g
an d content F ou ndation s ar e impo r tan t on ly th at on the m
structure s m ay r es t R oots ar e valueless un less f r om them
t r ees and f r uit g r o w High ways ar e good for noth ing u nless
to be t r avell ed ove r
Temples are wors e than useless
except as S h r in es at w hich pious folk m ay have their soul s
inspi r ed Therefo r e if faith hope l ove an d wo r ship be the
worthy facto r s of hum an l ife which m e n h ave supposed the
b r oadest an d deepest phil osophical in quiry shoul d m ake
faith mo r e in tellige n t h O p e more chee rful love m o r e earnes t

worship m o r e sincere
The en d of religion is n ot to an
SO

R EL I G I ON A R I S ES

H OW

s wer a que stio n of o ntology !me rely] b ut to m ak e m e n

better says P rofe ssor D A lv ie lla

Whoeve r sh r inks from
o r opposes the m os t sea r c h ing impartial exam in ation of the
found ations of h is belief b etrays his o w n p alpabl e l ack of
faith an d is in g r ave d anger of l aying himself O pen to the
cha rg es of form al ity an d hypocrisy
I n the study of religion there is som e thing m ore than a
n otice of the vicissitudes an d m etamo r phoses of e ach distin ct
kind I n these times of unb oun de d curios ity con cern in g
N atu r e s secrets the or igin of eve rything u n de r t he sun
an d above the sun mu st be in quire d in to The n the re is
a p r og r ess to be obse r ved The con ceptions of m an con ce r n
ing his rel ation to superhu m an po w ers h ave vastly ch ange d
du r ing the ages
S ometimes this change h as bee n for
g ro wth ; sometimes pe rh aps for decay I n the hypothes is
of a n atu r al p r ocess ten ding in the r ace as a whole to ward
g ro wth and higher developme n t al l the m ul titudin ous trans
formation s n d thei r bes t expl an ation I t is the busin ess of
the history an d philosophy of religion n ot on ly to tel l the tal e
of in cide nts bu t to S ho w h o w the evolutio n is determ ine d
by the cha r acte r of the n ation s an d r aces
cause s
m ental an d ration al w ithin ; and by the outside in uen ce s
bea r i n g o n the i r l ives
condition s physical as to pl ace
an d ci r cum stan ce s an d condition s h istorical as to period an d
position
Moreover the tre atm e n t O f r eligion h as for its
task the discern m en t an d expl an ation of the l a ws con t r ol ling

this l ife g r o w th an d decay

R el igion s ar e bel iefs i n

action s ays F airb ai r n

and the rel ation bet wee n belief

and actio n must b e d iscove re d

The histo ry of religion
must be con ducted in a tho r oughl y imp a r tial u niversal an d
scientic m an ne r w hil e its philosophy must h ave b ee n de
rived from a ca r eful study of its histo r y I t is the busin ess
of phil osophy in its appl ication to r eligion to deal phil osoph
ically w ith the question s of it s or igin n alu r o and function i e
to deduce and a r range these f rom the facts whi ch m ay b e
ob tain ed P hilosophy must l eave to histo ry an d scien ce the
,

at t he e n d

he s e g u res

r e fe r

to

o te s ,

I N T R OD UC T I ON

coll ection of the facts the data of which it is to j udge th e

r es u l t
Yet the w ou l d b e philosophe r m ust h imself h ave
b een a th o r ough studen t of thos e data or h is philosophy w il l
b e bu t a m ass of m etaphysical conj ectu r es I n the m atte r
of o r igin ph ilosophy m ust as psychology r ans ack the human
mind to n d the facts of consciou sn ess F r om these an d
the d ata aff orde d by its helpm ate s in scie nce it has the task
of con st r uctin g the un ive r se an d ar r an g ing al l w ithin it
h armon iously an d con sisten tly
,

R E T R OSP E C T

Befo r e o u r cen tu ry r eligions r eceive d n o t r uly s cientic

attention though r eligio n ( o r m o r e accu r ately theology) has
f r om time immemo r ial bee n a the m e of greate st inte r est an d
m on opolized a conside r ab le part O f m an s atte ntion Yet w e
m ay only look to forme r times fo r info r m ation conce r nin g
religion s n ot for methods of t r e ating them as a s tudy F o r
the most pa r t m en r ecogn ized as r eligion on ly the vie ws and
p r actices of thei r o w n n ation or s ect ; 3 all else was heathen
d om
an d heathendom was w hol ly supe r stition an d evil I n
deed we m ay stil l fu r the r l im it the time ; for wh at w e mean
by an e ffo r t to t r e at this p r oble m s oiorz z zoal/y was u nknown
til l far into th e p r esen t cent u ry an d even ye t is conn ed to a

ve ry lim ite d nu m b e r of expon en ts The expression s cie n

n o w embodies an ideal so hi g h that almost w ithout ex
t ic
c e p t io n w o r ks on r el igion s w r itten mo r e than fty yea r s ago
ar e w o r thless as exposition s ; hence from them w e can not
h ope fo r mo r e than s c att e re d fac t s an d eve n these must be
s ifted out w ith th e utm ost ca r e H istorical collection s and
philosophical discussion s there w e r e and m any ; but thei r atti
tude w as al w ays like th at O f a b r ibed j ury w hich had its v e r
d ict r e ady b efo r e it h ad he ard the case A nd eve n had the
method been b etter an d the bias less th e facts w ere not at
h an d f r om w hich to m ake up a s cien ce of the subj e ct
I t is
S in ce the yea r 1 7 7 1 that th e s ac r ed wr itings of the P e r sian s 4
Hin d u s Ch inese J apan ese Eg yptians A s s yr iO Babylonian s
,

'

R E LI G I ON A R I S E S

H O lV

I O

and the civilized N o r th A me r ican I ndian s h ave becom e a

subj ect of serious study in E urope Within the same tim e
al so h as a rr ived the g r e ate r p art of our k n o wl edge con cern
ing A f r ican P olynesian N o r thern A siatic an d other A meri
can n atives N o w n o den ite w o r d con ce r n ing the natu re o r
essen ce of religion coul d ever be spoke n w ithou t b eing the
r esul t of a compa r ative in qu iry in to the un ivers al histo r y an d
ethn ol ogy of r el igions A com p r ehen sive su r vey an d an n u
d e rs t an d in g of the developme ntal process of the ide a am o n g
m ankind are the rs t pre r equisite s to the solution of its prob
lem s But the facts in the el d of religion are as yet l ittl e
kno wn Un til these facts ar e mo r e fully collected an d be tte r
un de r stood the groun d on wh ich we m ay prope r ly p h ilo s o
p h iz e or hope to d r aw cor r ect in ductions is extremely l im ited
A lthough the w o r l d h as bee n s low to perce ive it ye t in re al ity
the r e n eve r h as been any m o r e groun d fo r assum ing that
r eligion could b e un derstood withou t a s tu dy of the mos t
pos
sible m an ifes tations o r specime n s of it th an th e r e ever was
fo r assum in g we coul d k no w an imal l ife m erely by a stu dy
ho wever caref u l of the anim al s on our farms or the vegetab le
kingdom by a fam iliarity with garde n p r oducts A practical
kn o wledge ( in any dep artm en t of life ) of those species which
happe n to be m ost usefu l in o u r circumstan ces is n o su fcien t
unde r standing of the w hol e subj ect N or indeed wil l any
asse r tions assumptions o r spe cul atio ns about its n ature
which w e m ay indulge in t ak e the pl ace of obse r vation an d
facts Me n forme r ly bel ieve d they were attain ing truth an d
m aki ng e nduring scien ces by wh at we n o w t e r m exerci se s of
imagin ation ; but un der such s cie nc e th e w orl d s at com pa r a
t iv e ly stil l fo r a g e s
O n e cen tu ry in wh ich the p r evail ing
ideal has been an attemp t to get at the actu al things of n ature
an d min d by going to the m with broad an d careful obse r va
tion has don e m o r e fo r the r e al fo r wa r ding of hum an l ife
than a thous an d p revious ye a r s of specul ating an d i m agin i n g
what they must be R e ason ing w ithout d ata is l ike s ailing
w ithout a compass
We are l eft to chan ce an d guess w o rk
Where the re are n o d ata r easoning is on ly im agining at ran
.

I N T R OD UC T I ON

I I

dom Wh ere the facts ar e in complete the con clusion s wil l

b e of l ittl e value E ven with t h e most C opious m aterial s to
d r a w f r om w e m ay ha r dly hope to avoid e rr o r s
I S the r e then any phase of the r eligious p r oblem where w e
ar e j ustie d i n supposin g the facts to b e su fcie ntly kn o w n
for le g itim ately un de r taking the w o r k of thei r exa m in ation
an d the dra w in g of their infe r en ces or in duction s ? TO this I
m ust ans we r If w e m ay take fo r g r ante d that the most g en
eral n atu r e of the subj ect is fairly w e ll un de r stood w e m ay
then m ake an in qui ry for the psycholo g ical o r i g in of the
religious ten den cy 5 O n the b as is Of such a p r esumption b e
it g r e at o r sm all th e follo wing in qui r y is m ade What the
gene r al n atu r e of the subj ect i s b elieved to b e w il l appear in
th e cou r s e of this I n t r oduction
The question as to w hy religion h as n ot b een s o studied as
to m ake th e facts m ore abun dan t an d the theo r ies m ore ten a
b le is a l a rge one an d can only b e touched upon he r e To
study r eligion as a topic of kn o w ledge requi r es an i ntellectu al
inte r es t w hich i s un ive r s al I t implie s a desi r e for m ore
knowledge in stead of a self su fc ie n t feeling th at we al r e ady
posses s the t r uth It h as taken the w o r l d long to lea r n h o w
r e ally l ittl e it kno w s
in so m e el ds longe r th an in othe r s
S O l ong as on e r em a i n s ln the attitude that men w ill on ly b e
r i g ht wh en they ar e pe r suaded to believe w h at he b el ieves h e
is n o t likely to b m e ar c h in g fo r facts A m an wh o th inks h e
h as the t r uth does n ot w aste his time l ooking fo r it H e S ets
him self at wo r k pe r suading othe r s to accept it H e feel s its
impo r tan ce s o much that he pitie s the res t of his fel lo w men
in thei r men tal destitution an d e rr o r s
I t is the m an wh o
feel s that h e h as n ot yet come into possession of it that goe s
about inqui r ing L eade r s in r eligion h ave g en e r al ly b elieved
they unde r stood their subj ect pe r fe ctly h ave tau ght thei r
vie ws dogm atically an d altogethe r h ave be en too intent on
apolo g etically establishing the m again st obj ectors to have a
r eal izing cons ciousn ess of th e importance of asking h o w i t is
i n th e r e al m of n ature S uch a question as w e ar e here in
s t it u t in g was incon ceivabl e to the S cholastics to whom relig
.

R E LI G I ON A R IS ES

H OW

1 2

ion was C h r istian ity an d C hristian ity was the Church ; an d

th e sou r ce of al l kn o wl edge was a S O called revel ation o n

one S ide an d a s o calle d pure re ason on the other Theol

ogy eve ry whe r e in the O rien tal an d O cciden tal w orlds h as
n ever gotten ab ove the apologetic attitu de I t h as n ever
I t h as n ever
w illingly he ard w h at an obj ecto r h ad to s ay

s aid
Come l et us toge ther se arch fo r th e facts and l e arn

the t r uth ; but it h as ever exho r ted thre aten e d an d con

d em m ed m e n for n o t com p lying with its de m an d

C om e

an d accept the truth

Besides the di fcul ties imm anen t i n rel igio n as an o bj e c
tive study it contain s from the S ide of the subj ect who
studies it an obstacle peculiar to the topic ; n am ely that th e
ve ry attitude of the min d to wa r d th at which it woul d in qui r e
i nto must ( un til a certain high degre e of enlighten men t con
ce r ning the extern al wo r l d is r eache d ) hin de r th e possibil ity
of its attain ing to re al kn owl edge of its obj ect S o l ong as
m an either by his o wn bel iefs o r by pries tly con trol is
tabooed fro m exam ining into an d exercising his re ason ing
po we r s in a f r ee an d u n r estraine d m an n e r o ver any obj ect
whatever s o l ong is he i n the very n ature of thin gs S hut
a w ay f r om the possib il ity of un de r s tan ding it The in u
e nce of the gre at myste r ious N ature surroun ding him o n
eve ry h an d h as b ee n so po we r fu l as to keep h im in g re at
deg r ee mute w ith fea r an d reve r e nce What he h as n ot
re adily d iscove r ed an d u nde r stood he h as too Ofte n cheaply
settled by assuming it a secret of th e gods a mys te ry too
s ac r ed to b e m edd led with by his p r ofane h an ds Th e in fal
lib le auth orities with which he h as in this w ay g r adu ally
boun d himself have kept him fo r fu r ther ages i n the con di
tion of misu n de r standing Hen ce arise s the p arado x that
r el igion
f r om r st to l as t th e p roblem p ar exee/Zen ee of
hu m anity is pe r h aps the le ast understood an d the l as t to
be p r ope r ly app r o ached Th at hu nd re ds an d thous an ds of
minds du r ing the whole ca r ee r of m an on the g l obe h ave
bee n devoting their m os t ze al ous e n e rgies to this r el igious
side of life and yet th at no t one in a thous an d h as eve r con
,

I N T R OD UC T I ON

an d some wh at m itigative side F o r exam pl e the Israelite of

old en times lle d w ith the thou g ht of hum an respon sibility
and kn o w ing n othing of the t r ue cha r acter of the un ive r se
an d of the r eign of law th r oughout it can h ardly have bee n
se r iously to b lam e w he n h e spoke of the m ate r ial p r osperitie s
an d adversities of the n ation s as s o m any directly inte rposed
r ewa r ds an d pun ishments f r om th e h an d of his D eity
In
the da rkness of his tim es this supe r n atu r al an d ethical ex
pl an ation was doub tless the most r ation a l on e possible
altho u g h to our min ds these things ar e seen to be the n atu r al
r esul ts of ce r tain
tenden cie s O pe r ating un de r favo r abl e o r
unfavorab l e circum stances an d that moral w o r thiness o r
r eligiou s z eal m
ay o r m ay n ot b e conn e cted i n eithe r case
To u s e te r m s bel ongi n g to on e of the best kno wn exp r ession s
of o u r age that w hich is tte d to its m ate r ial e nvi r on ment
su r vives an d p r ospe r s m ate r i ally th at wh ich is n ot s o tte d
pe r ishes ; w hil e it m ay even happen that m o r al superio r ity
m ay be a chief cau se to w a r d m ate r ial dest r uction
But to
illust r ate fu r ther the absu r dity becom es a r eal one wh en
u n der the vastly b r oade r light of our d ay and w ith an e u
t ir e ly di ffe r en t w o r l d outlook m e n con tinue adopting the
m ethods and words of the ancients as explan ation s of th e
va r ious phases o f t h e r el igious problem
F r om yet anothe r S ide S houl d be illu st r ated this failu r e of
m en to r ealize th e ful ler impo r t of the religious n atu r e S o
lo n g for exampl e as the r el i g iou s min ded H in du continues
to r e g a r d the V edic sc r iptu r e s as the infallibl e fou ntain an d
sou r ce of al l th at is p ossib l e an d n ecess a ry to kno w con ce r n
ing the D ivin e an d its r el ation s to the human s o l ong w ill h e

fail to real ize the impo r t eve n of what his sacred book
contain s ; whil e besides he must eve r r e m ain in ignoran ce
O f the increasing volum e of t r uth outside the S O necessa r y
l imits of the ol d R ishis w o r ld Henc e wh ateve r am oun t of
ze al an d l abor he may expen d i n e ff o r ts to solve these eve r
p r essing question s the results can neve r be m o r e to him
.

H OW

R EL I G I O N A R I S ES

than a r inging of change s o n the ol d assumptions I s ay

to lz inz for it is un inten tion al if he gets either fa r the r o n o r
deeper do wn than the V edas the mselves H e is tethe r e d to
their outl ook ; an d here he m us t r em ain til l s om e outs ide
force of circu m stances compels doub t to e nte r h is m in d an d
pe rm its othe r w ays of l ook ing at the subj ect
By still other peo p les an d i n m any o ther w ays can we
b ring home to ou rsel ves th e re as on wh y me n h ave b ee n so
tardy in approaching the rel igious probl em in the m ann er
an d method which they would e mpl oy elsewhere A s a rul e
r eligio u s o rganiz ation s in orde r to m ain tain an u n questioned
dom in ation h ave been hos til e to i nquiry concerning the
theme Then again secta r ian zeal an d e nthusias m of the
membership h ave fo r estalled the i r investigating an d b l in ded
the m again st whateve r tr u th m ight h ave b een O b taine d f r om
sou rces beyon d thei r o w n circle I n m an y cases w here in di
v id u als
h ave r e acte d against this organ ized authority an d
u n de r take n
investigation they h ave either kept essentially
within the ol d assumption s an d hen ce m ade n o ve r y impor
t an t achieve m en ts ; or the ir r e action h as b ee n of an agg ra
v at e d cha r acter an d has le d either to p artial ity a nd b l i ndn es s
against the actu al truth in the O ld or to the e x t r em ity of
denyin g within the re al m of reli g ion al l val idity an d le g it i
m acy whateve r In n o t a few instances m oreover h as the
investigation bee n u ndertake n i n the interes t of truth per
h aps uninsti g ated by any of the above m otive s ; but the
in qu i rer has i n gre at m e asure u ncon sciously inval idate d h is
resul ts by r e ason ing too l argely o n the b asis of som e school
ll
of p hilosophy through which he has co me to bel ieve a
tru th is to b e discovered Whether b oth an i m pa r tial an d
exte nded treatmen t of this g r e at them e m ay ever be expecte d
is yet at l east too early to s ay O f l ate the question is
beginn ing to b e studied by a conside r ab l e numb er of e a r n es t
investigators r ep r esen ting anth r opological an d ethno g raph
ical stan d poin ts I ts h istory too is b eing studie d an d ex
pounded in a fe w in stan ces with admirable impartial ity
.

I N T R OD UC T I ON
3

TH

I5

P ROB LEM

Befo r e attempti n g to in dicate den itely the particul a r pa r t

of the whol e rel igious p r oblem with which we are he r e to be
especially occupied a b etter unde r standing bet ween r eader
an d w r iter wil l b e insu r e d if the l atte r inserts he r e a ch a r t
b r iey expl ained illustrating as f ar as possible the way in
which he conceives m an to b e related to N atu r e at the s ame
tim e setti n g forth the n atu r e an d m odes of m an s activity
O f cou rs e th is is n ot the place fo r an a rr ay of the r easons
fo r such an an alysis
There is n o t r o om in a b r ief in tr o d u c
tion to a S ho r t essay for inse r ting a w o r k o n an th r opology
I t must su ffi ce he r e to s ay thou g h it is not known to con
fo r m to the vie ws of any spe cial school it is believed to
r e cogn ize the facts u su ally a g r eed u pon ; an d though it be
n ot s an ction ed in what m ay be peculiarly its author s it is
hoped that i t m ay p r ove of some sugges t ive impo r tance or
at l east will m ake cl ea r e r ce r tain relation ships which must
b e kept i n min d th r oughou t th e r e ading of what foll o ws
S
e
e
Tabl
e
I
also
N
ote
(
We n ow pe r ceive the r el ation of the whol e subj ect to othe r
subj ects O ur special probl e m must next b e farther dened
by a d ivision of the topic w ithin itself I t has its su bj ectiv e
an d ooj ect ioe sides ; i e r eligion m ay b e con side r ed f r om the
S ide of m an wh o w o r ships an d th at of the gods who are
C on side r ed with r eferen ce to the subj ect the r e
w o r shipped
the on e r el ating to the
ar e t wo prin cipal in qui r ies to m ake
C ha r acte r istic of the r eligious
or ig in or most funda m en tal
sen ti m en t ; idea o r expe r ien ce its source an d b asis in the
hum an min d the other an ende avo r to determine its content
and natu re to the full est exten t The groun d requisites fo r
u ndertaking these h ave al re ady been al luded to ( N ote 5
S ee also N ote
O ve r again st this is the obj e ctive p r ob
l em in which the in qui ry is directed to w ard th e rea lity and
/
z e m in a tu rns o r to which
t
at
to
/
z ic/z
t
it
z
o
a
c/z ar acter
of
add r esses itself in its r el igious attitu de p assive an d active ;
an d like w ise a treatmen t of the conduct of the su bj ect in ciden t
,

H ow

R E LI G I ON A RI SES

upon or g r owing out of such a rel ation shi p But such an

exposition as is impl ied in these fe w words woul d cover an
im men se space an d w oul d re quire a gre ate r acqu ain t ance
w ith facts than is perhaps yet in the possession of an y singl e
p erson
I
The
theme
o
r ig in call s for an an alysis of the facts of
( )
con scious nes s an d a d ete r m in ation of their p r io r ity of rel a
I t is a search for th e
t io n sh ip i n the religiou s experien ce
r oot functio n an d the s ecu r ity of its im p l an tatio n i n hum an
n ature
2 ) Then
as
to
the
cont
e
nt
and
e
ssenc
e
of
this
rel
igious
s
id
e
(
of l ife n othin g sho r t of a philosophical sifting of its m an i
fol d m an ifestation s can discern the el em en ts e ssential to its
fulles t expression Mere in trospection an d specul ation ove r
that which m akes up th e th inker s o wn rel igion tell l ittle for
the subj ect as a whole The appe al must b e m ade to history
an d to r acial m an ifestation s o n n o n arro w scale Til l such
can b e don e n o theory is s afe o n this m os t impo r tan t of al l
features of the qu estion 7
( 3 ) O n th e obj ective side the i nvestigation r egarding the
rea lity and c ar acter of tnat to zonic/i m in d is addressed i n r e
lig io n n e cessitates the b r oades t possibl e scie n tically atteste d
kn o w ledge of n ature Th e me taphys ical assu m ption s an d
specul ation s an d the appeal s to b ooks of authority b oth S O
l a rgely the m e thod s of the pas t furnish far too sle n de r a
b asis for the religiou s min d of t h e prese n t E ve n m en of
very l ittle privilege as to com mu n ication with the l iteratu r e
of the times bu t wh o pos sess some vital ity of thought are
n ding it im possibl e to m aintain their allegian ce to the
fo r mer stan d ar ds as whoever wil l m ay l e arn if h e b ut tak e
the pains to feel this p art of the publ ic pul se While for the
wide reading thinking philosophic an d scie ntic cl ass thos e
m ethods ar e already an ted ated on ly they do n ot kn ow their
st r ength and have n ot yet take n any m ean s toward e xe r cis
in g an organized religiou s in uen ce
( 4 ) A nd n al ly a po r tio n of the theme in m any respects
n o less di fcul t is t h at which pe r tain s to the condu ct of tne
.

I N T R OD UC T I ON

I7

the prope r deportment of a r eligiou s life This is

j
w h at m ay b e term ed the p r actical S ide
I t includes the ques
tion of cultus together w ith the question of whether religion
impl ies public or s ocial rel ationships an d if so what they ar e
I n this l atte r phase the discussion comes upon the mo r al
domain ; r el igion an d ethics touch an d ( if o u r ans wer be a
p ositive on e ) m ust to a considerabl e exten t thencefo r w ar d
blend The r e can b e n o question as to the fact that in the
p ast r eligion s h ave possessed a very practical or active Ch a r
acter though far from being al w ays n o r mal an d healthful in
their e ff ects Beliefs have led to aet io n s
actions in deed
S ometimes this has bee n the
o f the m ost divers e types
s in ce r est worship som etime s the m e r est liturgical form al ism
som etimes w e s e e the subj ect expending his very l ife in the
f r eest an d most unselsh acts of s ac r ice fo r his fello ws
sometimes the m os t arb it r ary bigot ry and utte r dis r ega r d of
othe r s is uppe r most ; som etimes it is p r opagated in the spi r it
of ch arity libe r ty r espect fo r individu al ity sometimes dog
m atic assertion and the demands of uncondition al subm ission
to the powe r s which h appe n to be in the ascendency crowd
out al l else ( S ee Tabl e I I )
These then are s ome out of m any functions of th e sam e
con sciousn ess Th e one self has many faculties po we r s at
I t applies itself to real ity in m any w ays
t it u d e s activities
O ur busin ess here is to m ak e an inquiry as to w here an d
h o w on e of thes e m any con scious activities a r ises ; i n other
words w e ar e here to seek for an ans we r to the question
r st in orde r of sequence an d foundation un der the topic
R eligion
s u o ect,

TH

TE R M R EL IGI ON

To an other tim e an d place must b e left the tracing of the

etym ological origin an d histo r ical career of the te r m r eligion
Ho w ever a fe w r em arks S ho ul d he r e b e added A l l w o r ds
have thei r histo ry A ll have gon e through changes greater
o r less an d especi al ly in teresting is the history of so great
.

H OW

R EL I G I ON A R I SES

A NA L !

T I C TA B LE I I

P S ! C H O L O G I CA L O R I G I N
Th e inq ui r y afte r the ge r m
r oot
fundamental cha r ac
t e r is t ic basis in h uman nat

u re

E
C

S U B! E CT I V E S I D E

TE N T

H
O

L
E

Con

S S E NC E

O N

AN D

tent and natu r e of th e idea

in its most ideal develop
ment such an ideal being
the o utcome of the w idest
possible h is t o r ico ethnical
study of s uch e x p r essions
of r eligion as are accessible

P S ! C H O L O G I CA L

T H EI S M The r eality and

char acte r of that to w hich
mind add r esses itse lf in the
highest r eligious attitude
D emands th e w idest and
most th o r o ugh kno w ledge
of n atu r e

'

M
E
L
B

R
P

O B! E C T I V E

S IDE

C U LT U S

The p r ope r and

j ustiable conduct of the
r eligious subj ect to w a r d the
obj ect and gr ound of his
devotion and t r ust and the
social r elationships implied
( if any )
.

I N T R OD UC T I ON

a te r m as th is on e Wo r ds do not an d cannot mean the

s am e from age to age O ur concept of r eligion is n ot the
s ame as that of those wh o used the term in fo r mer centu r ies
N o r aside f r om the te r m i s our notion of the thing in itself
th e same as tha t of the ol d G reek R om an !e w or Hindu
w h o hel d to the substance as rm ly as w e
I t is doubtful if
a te r m exists in any of the l angu ages of the past which would
r en der such an ide a as this wo r d conveys to us
H isto ry is
a m ovement ; an d l anguage is a g r o w th which takes pl ace
apace with the g r o wth of thou g ht in that movemen t and
which develops ou t of the eve r ch anging n eeds of the r ace in
its career Hence w e mu st u s e w ords with this in m ind as
m uch as possibl e in the sen se which they h e ar at the time of
their use an d not in their etymological o r S everal histo r ical
sen ses ; though the study of t hese is of inestim abl e value to
thei r p r ope r un derstan ding A gain if we would do j ustice
to othe r s w e must n ot u se w ords in a n a rr o w an d pa r tial
sense and unde r the assumption that such u se comp r ehends
thei r w hol e S ignican ce an d import I t would not be d if
cul t to cite wo rk s even in these l ate days whe r e this subj ect
is t re ated as though fe ar hope the S ense of myste ry mo r al
ity m e r e ce r emony o r ecstasy is on e o r anothe r r egarded
an d spoken of as the s u m an d substan ce of religion I t m ay
b e that w ith this or that individu al o r peopl e on e o r anothe r
of these characteristics qu ite fully desc r ibes it while in othe r
cases they m ay be the most in ade quate design ations I t has
at va r iou s times comprehended one or another of these and
yet oth er el emen ts But wh o h as the r ight to say that n o w
o r at any othe r tim e it con sists solely an d essentially of one
?
r
of t wo or of seve r al of these elements to g ethe
By what
s u i c ie n t autho r ity sh all any on e deny the appl ication of the
te r m to the P apuan cl asping his hands over his fo rehead as
h e squats befo r e his aar z o ar and asks himself whether what
he is going to do is right o r wr ong even tho u gh he may h ave
n o w o r d for rel igion ? If on the b anks of the G anges devo
tion occasion al ly le ad s the H indu mother to th ro w her b abe
i nto the gaping m outh of the c r ocodile ; if in t he F ij i Isl
.

H OW

20

R E LI GI ON A R I S ES

an ds a p io u s bu t ol d an d feeble w om an devote dly goe s to he r

grave an d u nmurmuringly perm its a stal war t son to perform
his last dutiful act by en ding her l ife with his war club ; or
if in E urope or A me r ica lial son s an d d aughters m in ister
ten derly to the helpl essn ess of age an d s ociety even m ai n
tain s in stitution s for the educatio n an d comfort of idiots
shal l we decide that here is religion an d there n o t ?an d if
we do on wh at prin ciple ? Wh en w e read the views of thos e
two great thinkers nearly con temporaries Buddh a of I n dia
an d Th al es of G r eece the form er r idicul ing the n otio n of
the e x istence of gods or dem ons at al l whil e th e l atte r
seriously afrm ed that all th ings were full of th e gods ( th e
form e r becom ing the foun der of th e chief religion of the

wo r l d n umerically an d th e l atte r the father of

what h ave w e to s ay about exclu ding e ith er from the p ale of
?
religion
O r to take a n al il lustration how S hall we a frm
or deny this appell ation to the d evote d o r thodox C athol ic o r
P rote stan t who accepts h is cree d l iterally hol ds h is co n ce p
tion s of religious things an thropom orphi cally an d faithful ly
c r osses him self atten ds m asses submits to every ce r em ony
an d r ite an d regu l arly an d b el ievingly reads repe ats or e x
tempo r izes h is prayers an d not at th e s am e tim e admit o r
refuse the l ike titl e to the reecting an d se lf denying phil an
t h I O p is t philoso p her or scien tis t who hol ds to n o fas t creed
declin es to acce p t any an thro p om or p hic religious ten ets b e
lie v e s in n o cerem on ies before th e mys tery of n ature stakes
his conden ce i n the reign of l aw through ou t the u niverse
draws the l essons of hum an p r ogress an d higher possibility
f r om the worl d s p ast an d delib erately an d e nthusiastical ly
devote s him self to hasten on to those higher pl ains ? E vi
d e n t ly to discove r the o r igin an d d iscern the ess en tial fe at
u res of such a factor as this is n o e asy task
To th e m aj ority
of comm on unphil osophical m inds the question take s on e of
th e two see ming al tern atives either religion is de nitely

and dogm atical ly asserte d to subsis t in the V iew held by m e

an d my sect or it is eschewed as an in extricabl e c o n fu

sion the vanity of van ities an d really a great n uis an ce fro m
,

I N T R OD UC T I ON

2 I

hum an ity mus t rid itself P hilosophers as a class

h ave n ot b ee n s atis ed to give the m atter up in these light
o r hopel ess ways They have gen e r ally solved the p r ob lem
to their own s atisfaction by xing upon some prominen t con
s t it u e n t el emen t an d developing what they supposed to b e
a con clusive a rgumen t that in their discovery would b e
foun d the germ and substan ce of r eligion The various
partial methods by which the thinke r s h ave disposed of it
w ill be t ouched u pon in th e n ext section
which

ON

I D EA

IN

I SM

P H I LOSOP H !

D u r ing the last two decades it h as bee n possible fo r those

who coul d aff ord the eff o r t to l ive in a n e w in tel lectual
w orld
It is now within the re ach of m il lions A n e w con
c e p t io n of the un iverse an d of m an s pl ace in it is gradually
b ecoming popul ar
With this n e w cosmos as s tan ding
g r ound m in d is alre ady beholding othe r changes of in d e
n it e l
r
far
reaching
cha
acter
Many
holly
new
sciences
w
y
h ave bee n built up an d n e w m ethods have b een ap p l ied in
ol d elds A m arvellously wide S pread open n ess an d re adi
ness for investigation are obse r vable in m any ways P robably
n ever before h as the r eligious mind of Christendom been so
susceptibl e to philosophical m anipul ation as n ow A nd as if
conscious of its o ppo r tun ity and wise in its m ethod philos
O p h y is hasten ing w ith the imp r oved m ethods of psychology
to d iscover the truth an d test the r eality in the reli g ious
sen timen t N ot m o r e busy ho weve r is psychology in this
th an in numerous othe r w ays Within quite recent time s
the S cope of this bran ch of philosophical science has b r oad
e n ed much Its enc r oachm en t on the elds of P hilology
E thics and Theology has been very con siderable I n the
t w o latter the whol e questio n of o r i g in has been boldly
take n f r om the protection of autho r itative statemen t and
t r e ate d with se arching an alysis n o w by one and n ow by the
other of the t wo schools of opposed philosophical propen
sities N ow n oth ing is plainer than that one s philosophy
,

R EL I GI ON A R I S E S

H OW

22

l argely dete r m ines on e s r esul t If the on e is pa r tial s o too

is th e othe r If the m ethod adopte d is exclusively empirical
on e an swe r will be given if exclusively tran scen den tal quite
an othe r I n gen e r al it is the pol icy of empirical philoso p h y
to regard r el igion as a tran sito ry in stin ct o r an illusory sta g e
in hum an devel opmen t
S pi r itu al istic ideal istic or tra n
sc e n d e n t al ph ilosophy h as p r oved a much b ette r helpm ate
I ts dogm as h ave bee n an en couragemen t an d in sp i r ation al l
the way R eligion thrives b es t un der this sort of r ule b e
caus e on e o f its m os t indispens abl e e lem ents is spiritu al

elevation E m piricism h as gen eral ly b e en

of th e ea r th

e a r thy an d e a r thly thi n gs of such fo r m h ave proven b an eful

to m os t former n otion s of religion O n the othe r h and the
tran scen den tal te nden cy h as en de avored to d evelop soul s
in d ependen t of bodie s I s philosophy too m ate r ialistically
in cl in e d it sinks m an in to the m ire of sen su al ism Is it of
a too ethereal f r a m e it k eeps h im in th e S k ies of fan cy an d
abst r action H e only r eally l ives when on th e sol id groun d
of a thoughtful e x perien ce
O n stil l an other phas e we n d the think ers fall ing into
di ffe r ences The w o r l d is wide bu t e nthusi asts thin k it
n ar r o w I nterest an d deli g ht i n on e fe ature shu t their eyes
to othe r s I S on e an empi r icis t or ideal is t as b efore m en
t io n e d h e m ay n arrow h is theo r y of r eligion still m ore by
l aying al l stress o n on e or an oth er of th e prim ary mental
faculties or eve n on a S ingl e subdivision of on e of the se
a
r
The
e is a cl as s who se e rel igio n only through co n
)
(
scien ce ! con sequen tly action con du ct moral ity som e in stiga
tion of the will seem to them a su fcien t accoun t of its origin
fou ndation an d es sen ce ( o) A secon d pa r ty l le d with
sym pathy n d n othing which they coul d n ame rel igiou s ou t
side of feel ing ! hen ce to the m it is a s en tim en t rs t an d l ast
I t h as its sp ring in the depths of feel ing I t is on e of o r a
fu n ction of th e sen sibilities I n its purity or ( if a tran sitory
vie w is hel d) in its erron eou s ness i t is a feeling an d n o m o r e
c
( ) The n come those wh o dwel l i n realm s of thought alon e
an d who in turn w oul d m onopolize r eligion fo r the ir e n ds

,
.

I N T R OD UC T I ON

23

I t i s a m atte r of in tell ect an d the r efo r e al l religion begins

an d end s in thou g ht Whatsoeve r i s mo r e th an this cometh
of evil A l l besides pure u nadulte r ated thought is ext r aneous
an d co r rupting ( d ) Besides these m ain tenden cies there are
multitudes wh o h ave espouse d som e one ide a r anging unde r
the in divid ual facul ties S ometim es this is taken from on e
sometime s f r om another ; n o w it is t r eate d by the method of
this philosophy n ow by the m ethod of tha t It is on e of the
cu r ious w ays in w hich n ature is adapted to the m ind that
w hen vie w ed with inte r es t and feel i n g an obj ect m ay in
c r ease o r diminish almost w it h o u t lim it The pe r spective
C hanges till a m ite m ay hide a w orl d o r a w o r l d m ay see m
a mite Th r ough a single trait of ch aracte r a pa r tisan m ay
easily s e e the th r ongs of earth m oul ded in to r aces n ations
societies o r pol itical education al an d r eli g ious pa r ties S o
g reat is truth and s o s mal l is m an that a S ingl e ide a cl early
see n seem s a s u i cie n t b asis fo r all things ( e) To these m ay
b e added a n al cl ass who w il l n ot admit for relig ion any
legitim ate pl ace I t is purely supe r stitious in o r igin an d
n atu r e
Its p r esen t assu m ptions ar e bene ath the con tempt
of thinking men I t is a thing of the past It w as a f r e ak
of the youthful wo r ld ; and as a study i n n atu r al history it
has the s am e inte r est which any decayed institution w oul d
h ave The r e attaches to it a so r t of arch m o logic al impor
tance an d its r el ics look w ell in museum s and as r uins
These are the sceptics who h ave passed over the st r eam of
doub t to the furthe r b ank of negative dogm a
E ach of these s eve r al m ethods has its great advocates in
both expe r im ental an d idealistic philosophy E ach of the
r s t four has it s champions in theology E ach an d all have
thei r en emies If we wish to kn o w w here this great factor
origin ates an d wh at it re ally is we must not tak e as n al the
an s wer of the advocates of any exclusive theo r y n o r the

testimony of r etain ed coun sel fo r or against the cause

O nly impartial N ature is ultim ately trustworthy I n r eligion
as in other featu r es S he has her m any ph ases al l of which
to b e un ie d
ar e n ally to be see n as on e gre at whol e
,

H OW

R EL I GI ON A RI S ES

L ight from any s ou r ce an d on eve ry sid e we m us t heartily

welcome N or h ave we much t r ust in reality if we do n ot

ex p e ct that eve ry expression of the religious life every claim
m ade for or against it has som e b as is an d m ay rightly used
b e of som e advantage toward its compl ete r un derstanding
and re alization
.

C HAPTER I I
L

EA D I N G

PH I L O S O PH I C A L

6 R EL I GI O N I S
.

Th e Th e s is

I
( )

OF

TH

EOR IES

T H E W I LL

I n o ne o r ot her of its forms the

8
w
r
vie that eli g ion is of the Will nds m any sup p orte r s in
o u r ag e
an d in the wide di ffere nces which distinguish them
as classes we h ave illust r ation of the scope O f l ife that m ay
fall chiey un der the con t r ol of a sin g le facul ty or phase of
o u r being
S t r ange tho u gh it seem at rst the m oving
poten t p r om in en t principle which un de rl ies the r el igious
l ife of the pun ctil ious ritual istic Churchm an an d that of the
e nthusiastic e thical agnostic has the s am e S pring ; n amely
that religio n is on ce and al ways a l ife of action of w ork
I n periods special ly give n over to the p r actical this vie w in
on e of its ph ases exe r cises p r edomin ating inuence Those

m atte r o f fact an d scienti cally inclined per

s o called
Here too is to
s on s are in gene r al d r a w n in this di r ection

b e found the r o o t o f the E thical Culture movements of

to d ay The l e aders h ave by some mean s become bl ind in
those eyes of the soul which look ou t upon e x isten ce in other
ways ; and consequently the w hol e pen t u p fo r ce of their
e a r n es t l ive s must n d its outlet he r e
I n its other phase this vie w is the principle which r ules in
those impractical times whe n the observance of form s cl aims
m an s chief atten tion We ob serve then the r itual istic
c e r emonial or e cclesiastical procl ivity which seems the very
antipode of the forme r and in deed is such in p r actical
They are each other s most deadly enemy while
a spe cts
at th e s am e time they grow psychological ly from on e root
L ike al l other g r eat moving p ro p ensities they both h ave
.

R EL IGI O N A RI S ES

H OW

their basis of fact thei r legitimate bi r th an d b eing and lik e

eve ry pa r tial an d exclus ive theo r y they achieve g re at end s
at g r eat sac r ice in other ways Th e position th at religion
is chiey a m atter of ritual l iturgy ce r emony etc h as few
o r n o supporters in theory though practically acte d u pon by
m ill ions am ong mul titudes of w hom the r e is prob ably little
if any , r eal spi r itual perception The ri tes of the r eligiou s
in stitution in to whose m emb ership they we r e born an d
r ea r ed
and the social opportunity w hich this m ethod of
meeting their fello ws a ffo r ds are to t hem the subs tance of
th e r eligiou s l ife The vie w which m akes it in origin an d
e ssen ce a m atter of m o r al ity is m o r e p r ofound an d h as its
open an d abl e advocates F o r this reason it is proper th at
its soun dn ess s h ould r e ceive som e special attention while
the othe r m ay be passe d w ith out further n otice
I t is n oteworthy th at the rst th r e e vie w s m entio ned
n am ely th at religion is of the w il l of feel ing an d of though t
had e ach its abl e re p r ese n tative i n G erm an phil osophy at
the close of the l as t centu ry an d the begin n ing of th e pres
ent I n the wo rk s of Kan t S chleierm acher an d H egel we
h ave th e m asterly develo p m e nt of each
R ep r esentative
types of e ach convictio n coul d n o doubt b e cited in every
active age
I n the p rimitive C hristian Church we n d
J am es the m an of w orks J oh n th e advocate of love an d
P aul the pre acher of bel ief o r re ason ed the ory the Kant
i an the S ch le ie r m ach e rian an d th e Hegeli an A l though
various other vie w s wil l b e con sidered ye t the chronol ogical
o r der in the treatm en t of the subj ect by the gre at G erm an
thinke r s dete r mines fo r the m ost p a r t th e order here adopted
,

K
n
t
The view th at rel ates rel ig
a
( )
ion inseparably with the found ation of the moral n ature h as
its chief phil osophical exposition an d defe nce in the w o r k
of Kan t O ne m ay fairly s ay that he was the r s t to m ak e
r eligion
a subj ect of se r iou s psychol ogical in qui ry With
him the moral sen se becomes the found atio n of religion and
the rel igious foun d ation in turn b ecomes the suppo r t of t h e
2

C on s c ien ce

LEAD I N G P H I LO S OP H I C A L T H EO RI E S

conscience Kan t coul d x n eithe r w ithout the other R e

lig io n is duty app r eh ended as d ivin e comm and 9 D uty i s

acting under the behest of the C atego r ical Impe r ative

The n ature of this comm an d is such that n o e x te r n al c o n s id
e r at io n s ar e to b e taken into accou nt
Its dign ity inde
n
n
e
e
d
e
c
m
t
an
d
sublimity
greatly
impressed
the
in
d
of
Kan
p

H is m ost el oquen t st r ains ar e pou r ed ou t ove r i t

D ut y !
thou subl ime an d m ighty n ame th at dost emb r ace n othing
ch a rm ing or insinu ating bu t r e qui r est subm ission an d yet
seekest n ot to move the wil l by th r eaten ing aught that w ould
a r ouse n atu r al aversion o r te r r o r bu t m e r ely holds fo r th a
law
wh at origi n is wo r thy of thee an d whe r e is to b e

?
I n t r ue m o r ality
foun d the root of thy n obl e descen t
he positively r ul es out al l con side r ation s of gain at the ti m e
th e w il l is g ivin g itself the com m an d In an swe r to th e

question
Wh at ought I to do ? Kan t would s ay D o

th at which shal l m ak e you w o r thy of being happy

D oes

this m ean that happiness is to be my obj ect ?

N o says

he r espect fo r th e m o r al law m oral ity wo r thin ess S hould

be you r obj ect ! happin es s shall b e a r esult H appin ess
com es n o t f r om seek ing S eekin g it is un wo r thy an d resul t s

in unh appin ess

But if by me an s of my con duct I am
m ade w o r thy of bein g h appy S hal l I attain the happin es s

?
w hich I deserve ? I n ot he r w o r ds w hat m ay I hope
Th e r eply is th at theo r etically an d p r actically R e ason p r e
supposes that w orthin ess shal l have its r e ward The t wo
E xpe r ience
ar e in sepa r ably conn ected i n the P u r e R eason
m akes it evident ho wever that happiness is n ot in prope r
ratio with w o r thin ess in this w o r ld an d the r efore the r e i s
another Un less also there is a w ise author an d gove r no r
.

presupposed in m oral obligation I t will b e pe r ceived that

he doe s n ot m ake m oral ity obligatory because it is a divin e
comman d or because it has divin e comm an d behin d it ; but
h e n ds it to b e a d ivin e comm an d because it is subj ectively
ob ligatory
because w e are di r ectly con scious o f duty
.

H OW

R EL I GI ON A RI S ES

such N or does he deduce m o r al ity fro m the e x iste n ce of

G od bu t he deduce s G od from the existence of the m oral
law He can n ot st ruggl e as he m ay r id h imself of th e old
n otion that h appine ss is s omeh ow the e n d of l ife an d if we
c ann o t ge t it h e r e we must ge t it in som e othe r good time
an d pl ace I t will n ot do to seek it becau se in th at way
you mis s it This is the curious p aradox which it p resen ts
If you seek it it eludes you I t woul d s eem t hen as if we
c an only be h ap p y if w e don t k no w it ; and if w e don t k n ow
i t w h at is the use of it ?
I am in clin ed to think that Kan t is persu ading u s to l ook
upon rel igion as a kind of poor m oral i ty To a p prehen d
duty as a divin e comm an d is to assum e it from m otive s of
fear o r gain The recogn ition of any outward d ivine author
ity as the b asis or instigation of m o r al actio n is an a p peal
to human selshn ess an d weakn ess This is b ut an ou tward
phen omen al su p po r t which m ust soon e r or l ater fal l away
E ve ry establ ished religion b egin s in these exte r n al statutory
m oral l aws apprehen ded as divin e comm ands b u t must go
o n to higher groun d ; n amely to a con ception of duty inde
pen de n t o f them apprehe nde d as b in ding from with in
To
spe ak without devi ation ! religio n is an e arlier an d lower
form of m orality h as only a p r actical val idity an d is a sort
of un avoidable s tage on the way to the gran d con ce p tion of
d uty before m en tion ed
The true m oral ity i s above this
for it forbid s such acts en tirely The on ly third way possi
ble w ould be to appreh en d duty as a divine co m m and b ased
o n love toward the D ivin e Being in stead of on fear of the
d ivine displ easure But Kantian P u r e R e ason h as b el ittled
if n ot entirely an n ihil ated our p revious D ivin e Being an d
has b r ought n o n ew an d l ovab le G od to tak e the former s
p lace Moral ity is of such subl ime im p ortan ce that it h as
taken up the sympathies of the gre at P rofessor and the
adoration an d devotion which we had thought to go to G o d
h as bee n paid to the l aw of G od
The fact in the case is we can ha r d ly ge t a ful l an d fair
answer as to the b asis an d n atu re of rel igion from Kan t
as

L EAD I N G P H I L OSOP H I C AL T H EO RI E S

because he is s o t aken u p with othe r m atters The c r itique

of k nowl edge and the foun dation of m orality engross hi s
chief atten tion
R el igion as a factor of histo ry as
esse nce in hum an n atu r e havin g an o r igin as profound
th at of the subl im e mo r al law n ever r oused his inte r est
What wo r k h e did in the el d of theology w as of a n egative
character
H e shook the r eligiou s condence of men by
h is i r onical attack s on the a rgumen ts for the being of G od
an d w he n we h ave me ntione d h is wo r k as a destroye r w e
h ave said ab out al l that is p ossible There w as re ally noth
in g bu t m o r al ity l eft ou t of which to get what religiou s
comfort on e could I t was for l ater h ands to rear another
structu r e H e cl aimed to b e also a r econ structor ; but i n

rel igion icon ocl as t w il l best descr ibe him H is re co n s tr u c

tive work w as in the el d of philosophy H is l abor in bring
ing order in to the existing l a w s of the human m in d was on
th e positive side But his e ff orts at a theolog ical r e co n s tru c
tion we r e n ot a success f r om a phil osophical point of vie w
H is profession of n ding ou t G od on the n e w an d higher
b asis of the P ractical R e ason is open to quite as se r iou s
obj ection s as those he r aised again s t other me thods F rom
the poin t of view of ethics his is one of the b est effo r ts of
philosophy But as theology the r ation alist might reply
such a n otion of f r eedom as Kant foun d in the au tonomy of
the w il l is j ust as m uch a m e r e idea as is the n otion of G od
wh ich h e condem ns If the latter is a dre am an il lusion a
w ish wh at assu r ance is there that this gre at s en se of hum an
r espon sib ility i s mo r e ? S uch an appeal as Kan t m akes to
the feel ing of th e heart does n ot prove his poin t
P roof

pe rtain s to reason Kan t in the C r itique of P u r e R eason

akes cause an d e ff ect a mere form of thought one of the
m
catego r ies But h o w much more is this so than is o u r ide a
of f r eedom a form of hum an feel ing or hum an impul se ? I n
wh at con sists th e supe r ior val idity of the l atter as a proof
for the b eing of G od ? I S it possibl e for on e facu lty of m in d
?
r
to set itself up as m o r e trus t wo r thy than anothe
Who is
to b e t h e j u dge ? H o w can we kn o w o r S ho w that con
.

H ow

R EL I G I ON A RI SE S

points with m ore distin ctn ess to our feel ing of

m oral respon sibility th an to our intel l ectu al dem and for a
?
ause
of
the
orl
d
abou
t
u
s
What m akes on e a fo r m an d
w
c
the othe r som ething better ? N o ! if on e is m e r e form the
m o r e Then we h ave left the u ncomfortabl e
o ther is not
al tern ative of bel ieving th at the r e is re al ity n owhere
n ot
an d theology is n egated I t h as taken
e ven in this b elief
the longest an d most active l ife of thought to impe ach
thought I t S h all again prove its can dor an d veracity I t
shall as of old take its se at on th e th r on e
s c io u s n e s s

E
m
n
M
a
h
w
r
l
i
t
h
e
d
o
t
i
o
t
t
e
M
t
u
c
b
a
o
o
y
y
(3)
A r n o l d A theory of rel igion b ased also on the m or al
n atu r e bu t of vastly greater active power is th at of Matthe w

Ar nold R eligion is m oral ity touched by em otion

Th e
o rigi n of mo r ality then expl ain s the origin of religion But
as a morality w ith any m ean ing al ways has its origin in th e
f reedom an d self determin ation of the will s o religion is
traced b ack to this p rim ary faculty as its foun tain he ad Bu t
it is touched by emotion ! m o r ality alon e is therefore in co m
1
l
r
e
e
to
con
stitute
el
igion
Whether
this
emotion
m
ay
di
p t
r e ct the m o r al condu ct as i n the S igh t of G od or hum an it
y
o r both o r n either we ar e not in structed F rom his gen eral
teaching w e m ay infer th at m oral rel ation s con ducted with
e n thusiasm in the presen ce of on e s augu s t self w oul d com
pose the sub stan ce o f a r el igiou s l ife
But this m orality
even in the event th at it p r ove d to b e
w hat is it at b ottom bu t the con
the real n atu r e of religion
scious kn owledge of rel ation s these suppl em en ted by states
of feel ing of oughtn ess in s om e direction these again s tim u
l ating volition w hich whe n comm en de d by further thought
?
l e ads at once to action
I t is th e expl icit life of what existed
rs t as thou g h t In stead of wil l b eing rs t in p oint of s e
u
e
n
ce it is last
I t is but a supe rcial foun dation for this
q
he aven towe ring temple to res t it on co nduct app r ehen ded as
d ivin e comm an d or on duty perform ed with gushing feeling
In those m om en ts of l ife whe n condu ct m ay be po we r l ess an d

LEAD I N G P H I LO S OP H I C A L T H EO RI ES

the em otion s which ood the life of duty have been wiped
ou t by circumstan ces beyon d o u r cont r ol the soul s l ife of
religion m ay b e most vividly r eal ized A m an shu t up in
prison a person helpl ess an d in e x trem e dange r a m a r ty r
boun d an d aw aiting his fate the em aciated an d dying
can
?
r
I S it o r igin al in o r does it depen d
these not kn ow eli g ion
on the po wer of actio n or em otion ? N ot but wh at these in
their opportun ity have thei r place an d ar e m igh t y
even the

m ightiest facto r s of r eligio n ! on ly r eligio n must n ot be im

ro r iat e d by the he alth an d ush of l ife
E ven the soul th at
p p
hath n o r en ough physical basis of l ife to m ove a h an d or feel
the play of an emotion m ay contem pl ate an d in this self
fo rgetfu l an d po we r l ess state m ay r ealize the pe r fect en d of
the highes t r eligious l ife
i ts on eness w ith the D ivin e I t
m ay be r e adily pe r ceived and admitted that the pe rfo r mance
of life s proper se r vices w ith a he a r t is a much higher con di
tio n than the s ame pe rform ance i n d ry emotionless f r igidity
of n ature f r om some sen se of necessity I t has become a

worl d w ide s aying that if I besto w al l my goods to feed the

poo r an d if I !in S toical fortitude] give my body to b e bu r ned

but h ave n ot love i t p ro te th m e n othin g

S o n eedful fo r
social w ell being h as b een the inculcation of this vi r tue an d
s o much has it been emph asized th at multitudes b elieve it to
b e the whole of r el igion A gain st such exclusiven ess al l that
was said in a fo rm e e s e c t io n conce r n ing the p a r ti al in p h ilo s o
re
will
apply
ith
equal
weight
he
A
n
d
what
is
this
h
i
z in
w
p
g
love ? Whence S p r ang it ? C e r tainly f r om th e s ame sou r ce
as mo r al ity from though t in its in cipien cy the e a r ly se lf
consciousness befo r e s peci al ization emotion an d vol ition
b egan
A nd n al ly it must b e n oticed that f rom an othe r poin t of
vie w n amely that of O bserved fact
it is the g r avest e r ro r
to identify r eligion with or place its o rigin in m o r al ity ; fo r
som e of the most immo r al an d u n mo r al peoples h ave bee n
ext r emely r el igious I t is kno wn to al l students of r el igions
th at only at compa r atively high s tages of devel opmen t doe s
r eligion re ceive a m oral con ten t an d begin to exe r t an actual

H ow

R EL I G I ON A RI S ES

inuence on the mo r al life That poin t whenever it a rr ives

m a rks an epoch of the u tmost importan ce in th e religiou s
history of a people though i t by n o m ean s m arks th e begin
n ing of their r eligiou s career
,

R EL I G I O N

T
I
i
c
h
e
M
s
t
s
( )
y

18

T H E E M O T I ONS

OF

The cl ass which n atu r al ly attract s

attention n ext in cludes thos e religiou s soul s term ed Mystics
though these do n o t by any mean s compose the wh ol e group
wh o foun d reli g ion in feel ing
Mysticism is a te r m coverin g
m ental ten dencies of gre at variety S o gre at is this variety
and of such n ature is its e ssence th at den iti on is n e x t to
impossible The n otio n common to all i ts express ions is that
of a sup r eme all pe rvading an d in d well ing power in whom

all thin g s are on e

Th r ough the sub lim e heigh ts of feeling
the soul hopes to grasp th e ul tim ate re ality of things th e
divin e essen ce an d by this attain men t enj oy the un s p e akabl e
blessedness of actu al com mun ion w ith the S ource of al l S pi r it
The side of the un ity of al l is emphasized at th e e x pe nse of
that of the diversity In m any of its ph ases the o fce of the
Un derstanding is s e t aside an d a facul ty cl aimed to b e highe r
than R eason on e which is bl in d to division take s al l control
G od is lost as obj ect ; h e become s experien ce A l l th at hin
ders this is d istracting imped imen t S ubj e ct an d obj ect must
be seen as one I n its an cien t forms this el ation of spirit at
tim es took pl ace in mystical swoons ecstasies an d trances
I n m odern time s the advancemen t of kn owl edge h as greatly
ab ated its extravagan ces alth ough mu ch of it is stil l p rev a
l en t am ong certain l ow orders of em otion al religion
Mysticism is p antheism bu t it is much more Mere pan
theism is death ! the bette r mysticism is l ife M ate r ial isti c
pantheism is degrading ! mysticism is ins p i r ing an d e le v at
ing P antheism sees n othing but perfection everywhere b e
cause divin ity is eve rywhere ! the bette r mysticism feel s the
sense of sin imperfe ction an d alien ation from the D ivin e
w ith whi ch it l ongs to be on e
Yet it di ffers from the gen
.

T H EO RI E S

L EAD I NG P H I LOSOP H I C A L

ral cou r se of r eligion i n the intensity with whic h i t e m ph a

sizes an d realizes the divin e factor of th e r el ation ship To
such an exten t does this p r oceed in mysticism th at the pe r
s o n alit y an d in completen ess of the individual be com e lost
in the ab solute compl eteness of the D ivin e ; an d this too
though the e ffo r t fo r u nity takes it s r ise i n the sense of indi
v idu al n eed and in complete ness so that in its ext r eme form
all rel ation s are ill usory except that of un ity with G od In
general this vie w of r eligion does n ot look ou tw ard to wa r d
a l ife of activity among men I t i s wel l nigh th e opposite
o f th at d esc r ibed i n 6 The m in d tends to reti r e from
t h e confuse d j ostling busy wicked w o rld an d devoutly com
mun e with its G od an d con tem pl ate his n ature Whil e the
fo r mer cl ass ten ds to the develop m en t of vigo r ous in d e p e n
d en t purely p r actical individu als this on e ten ds to gen e r ate
passivity an d sensitivity of cha r acte r What is the st r ength
of the on e is the we akness of the other
It is cle ar that f r om i ts very n ature this gene r al vie w of
r eli g ion cann ot develop theologies
S uch inten se con tem
l
i
rm
a
t
n
or
feel
ing
does
n
ot
an
alyze
system
atize
n
or
fo
o
p

n late
Mysticism has had m any preache rs b u t fe w the

re
o lo gian s
an
d
thes
e
f
w
to
the
exten
t
th
at
they
a
e
;
theol o g i an s ar e incon sistent mystics A pu r ely e m o t io n al 3
r eligion h as n o right to a theology
Its p r emises an d prov
in ce are tran scende d as soon as it begins to den e an d s ys
t e m at iz e
Mysticism is the recoil of devoutn ess from fo r
m alit
do
g
matism
ecclesi
asticism
schol
asticism
etc
It
is
y
in al l religion s one of the n ecessary r eaction s from ce re m o
n ialis m
an d ove r e x act statements of faith Judaism h ad its
I saiah J e r emiah J ohn the Baptist an d J esus Ch r istianity
h as provoked into being its A ugustin e E ckh art Thom as a
Kempis B Oh m e F enelon S wedenb o rg Wesley an d F o x If
n ot mystics in the ful l sen se of the te r m these on e an d all
e xhib ited strong mystical ten den cies in reaction against the
prevalent dogm atis m an d hollo wness of their times A nd
n ot i ndividu als on ly but each religion has its whole sects of
mystics J ewish E sse nes G r eek N eo P l atonists Christian

H ow

34

R E L I GI ON A R I SES

Moravi an s an d Q uake r s an cient Hindu Brahm an s Chinese

Taoists etc i n th e early fre sh stages of thei r history are
e ach reaction ary w itn e sses of this t en den cy striving to assert
its j us t an d n atural inuen ce
,

D e p e n d e n ce

S ch l e i e rm

A m

od e m

( )
the great m aster thinker an d expounder of religion as a feel
ing is F riedrich S chl eiermache r In giving his vie w it is n ot
impl ied th at othe r s of the s am e gen eral tenden cy woul d sub
s cribe t o it for though with al l of the class religion is a s o
cal led in tuitive an d un reason ed feeling ye t they have th e
in con sisten cy of di ff e r in g as widely in other particul ars of
h ow an d wh at as thos e do who open ly profess to re ason
The view of S chl eierm acher has the advan tage for pu rp oses
of com parison of b eing m ost th oro u ghly in sisted upon an d
most d en itely expoun ded Th e tre atm en t which rel igion
received at his h an ds produced wh at m ay p roperly b e calle d
an epoch in Christian theology His enthusiasm over the
n otion of r eligion as feeling l ed h im i n his e arly statemen ts
in to the extravagan ce of cl aim ing that al l feel ing except that
which is m orbid i s religiou s Kan t s results h ad driven
thinkers to curious st r aits S in ce n othing coul d b e ab so
lu t e ly kn o wn som e doubted eve r th in g an d be cam e s ceptics
y
on al l subj ects O thers s aid ! The i ntel lect wil l do ve ry well
in its p l ace bu t its pl ace i s n ot in the eld of religion H e r e
feeling is th e al l in all O f this cl ass was S chl eierm acher

I n his l ater wo rk Christl iche G l aube h e h el d the source

an d essen ce of rel igion to be i n an u n re ason ed sens e of ah
solute dependen ce o n something wh ich sustain s an d d eter
mines u s but which we cannot k n o w I t m ay b e terme d the
sen se of the un ive rse the feel ing which on e has before the
process of analysis begin s This sen se of the innite is
the sen se of G od If the in tel lect is l im ited this m atters
not for religion It is n ot r el evan t h e re i n any w ay The
authority of faith b ased on feel ing is all s u fcie n t O nly the
heart is rel iab l e A m an m ay be rel igious w ithout any in
t e lle c t u al s tatemen t
N or h as the wil l anything to do with
2

ac h e r

on g m

s,

L EAD I NG P H I L O S OP H I C AL T H EO RI E S
it I t prompts to n o cou r se of conduct R eligion is n ot to
bl ame for m en s m isdeeds I t ne ither u rges nor h i n ders
activit y When on e fully realizes it then does he have an
exal ted peace Wi th this feeling m an sees that it is not

himself alon e th at w o r ks
N one of us l iveth to himself

alon e
Whether we l ive therefore or die we are the

L ord s
A n d as with us s o it is with all that is about us !
everything is dependen t absol utely s o
This feel ing so described n ot only involve s r eligion but it
is religion I t ve ry eviden tly expresse s on e actu al fe atu r e of
the comm on n otions of religion ; n am ely that of hum ility
self su r ren der th e destruction of al l feel ing of pride the
u tte r in completeness an d insufcien cy of the nite
More
over it is on e in stan ce of the tende n cy m ention ed in another
p l ace in which m en look ing at on e el emen t m agn ify its
importan ce til l it comp r ises all that part of the worl d which
they are con side r ing ; an d th ey un consciously ll out in pr ac
tice what is decien t in theory A l though S chleierm acher
s tarts from the s ame root yet he emphasizes the subj ective
S ide too m uch to really belong in this se nse to the mystical
s chool To the e x ten t that he does this his vie w m ay b e
d iscussed or examin ed
Where the obj ective S id e is dwel t
upon to the entire exclusion of the subj ective or individual
scien ce h as l ittl e O pportunity of exercise In extreme mys
t icis m
G od is n ally to become ab solutely knowabl e b ecause
the soul will com e to be on e with him But S chleierm acher s
en thusiasm over the feeling of depen dence is so great that h e
fo rg ets to ascertain much about G od ; and con sequen tly
G od is l eft unkn owabl e sin ce the soul is kept inten sely self
conscious over its own state Th is it m ust lose befo r e the
exaltation an d peace of which he speaks can b e realized
But what is this f eeling of dep en den ce in its beginn ing ? Is
it n ot foun ded on a conscious recog nition of tile relation between
A
n
d
what
is
such
a
recogn
ition
but
and
t
i
l
e
not
?
t/z e sel
se
f
f
l
an in tel lectual activity a thought ? It may not be other wise
S pecialized or determ ined ; but it is thou g ht b e it ever so
inci p ie n t It m ay arouse on e emotion or another but they
.

6
3

H ow

R EL I G I ON A R I S ES

n ot the bottom psychol ogical eleme n ts in the case

There can be n o doub t to l ater reection that the em otion
of utter depen dence an d helpl essne ss in the arm s of N at
d e
u r e w ould be a ve r y e arly con s cious feeling ; but s o
n ite a thing as this emotio n m ust h ave its fram e in a previous
thought Mere feeling alone of such a stage an d cha r acter
as that refe rre d to is m e r e in d e n ite n e s s an d vaguen ess
I t woul d n ot kn o w itself as reli g iou s or as anyth ing else
There is n othing den ite ab out it till it has h ad its con sciou s
begin ning an d dire ctio n in a con scious recogn ition of r el a
t io n s h ip
Bu t this p uts th e origin i n thinking i n ste ad of
feeling
ar e

U n o r t h o d o x M y s t i cs

T
h
e
3
( )

I t is worthy of n ote
in this conne ction that rel igio n outsid e of the Church has
al so its mystical m in ds an d these too i n eve n greater vari
ety Th e te r m mus t i n s om e way cover th e N ature P antheism
of the P ersian S aadi the N eo P l atonism of P l o tin us the
e a r lier Brahm an ism an d the Buddhistic N ihilism O f the E ast
the Q uietism of M adam e G uyon th e C amb r idge P l aton ism
of H en ry More an d the r evulsio ns from an a r ticul ate re a
so n e d ou t mechan ical philosophy to an i mmediate spiritu al
on e such as those widely di ff ere nt types of N ovalis C arlyle
and E merson These n e spi r its e ach profoun dly religious
in his way w oul d buil d the ir peculi a r s tyles of tem ples on
som e specie s of emotion A n d i n so far as this w as s u p
posed to be ul tim ate the r em arks j ust u r ged again st S chl eie r
m acher s basis would apply with equ al force
L ike al l othe r ext r e mes mysticism has ach ieve d its gl itte r
ing good at the s acrice of othe r equally gl ittering goods
D oes it reach spiritual heights it has ru n pe r ilous ri sks
I t often er fall s into the wors t of fan aticism s an d ab erration s
These high altitudes of e motion induce deliriousn ess dreams
o r in to x ication
I n its im agin ed on eness w ith D ivin ity the
spirit som etim es attaches to itself an un re ason abl e impo r
tance I t imbibes impute d wisdom r ighteous ness and per

fe c tio n from its high rel ationship

If I were n ot G od
,

L E A D I NG P H I LOSOP H I C AL

T H EO RI ES

37

coul d not be ; I am as n ecess a ry to him as he is to me

t
I t hinks that what it thinks is divine
I am the voice of

G od
I get the t r uth by di r ect intuition
I am whol ly

n
s a ctied an d the r efore cannot sin or err
But in all such
in stances thou g ht feeling an d w ill have ru n w ild F ancy
holds the r eins I t d ream s ou t its w o r ld In such f ren zies
the m ost r idiculous cl aims of po wer kno wledge an d autho r
ity m ay be m ade an d the m ost despicable deeds m ay be
committed al l in the n ame of inspi r ation
Yet in the
tende n cy the r e is the p r ofoundest t r uth and betimes the
highest rel igious attainments and i ns piration are reached
Mysticism of the b ette r class is al ways a ton ic to the com
m on r eligious l ife E ven where men do not agree w ith the
mystics i n faith they nd themselves strengthened in the
reading of their thoughts Th ei r best works will forever be
popul ar to the devoutly inclin ed of each and every creed

E
t
i
c
m
i
n
T
r
i
e
Besides these
o
t
o
h
e
s
o
( 4)
genuin e expe r ien ce r s an d theo rize r s of r eligion as feeling
for rel igio n s sake there is an othe r mul titude
philosophe r s
wh o hav e
pseudo philosophe r s and half info r med wr ite r s
imagined themselves g r eat discovere r s F inding some on e
or mo r e of the feelings p r ominently r ep r esented in certain
types of r eligious m anifestation fall ing u nde r thei r observa
t io n t h e y h ave xed upon this w ith great en thusiasm as
th e wo r thy or un w orthy source of this best of all goods
or wo r st of al l evil s Upon this the r eafte r they endlessly
dil ate I t p r oves itself so satisfacto ry that fu r ther e xam i
n ation o f cases is r ega r ded by them as entirely supe ruous
or in case oth e r facts be after wards b r ought to notice they
The case is al r eady decided A S a cl ass
ar e ign o r ed
i
n im i
r iters h ave
w
though
ith
exception
s
these
been
w
)
(
cal to the religious l ife
N

on

s
y

Th e

F eel in g

A mong othe r subdivisions of

th e p r incipal m en tal facul ties the feeling of fe ar has been
singled ou t as the fountain h ead of this absorb ing I mpul se
of

F e ar

H ow

8
3

R EL IGI ON A R I S ES

I t has at on e or an other tim e h ad its s trenu ou s defen ders

A mong the an cients E p icuru s an d L ucretius were its e x p o
A mong m odern s Hobb es is perha p s the m ost abl e
n e n ts

I ts advocates are by n o m e an s religion ists

The e motion
theory has p erh aps as m any supporters propo r tion ally
among scien tists an d phil oso p hers as am ong piou s folk But
here the obj ect is often critical an d destru ctive To found

religion on mere feel ing is to a m an of in tellect the best

mean s of throwing discredit u p on it Wh at is emotion al
h e does not res p ect O n ly th e Operation s of in tel lect are
dignied an d worthy Th ings of m ere feel ing are trivial
if n ot con temptib l e
F o r this r eason som e w h o h ave
become e n am oure d of intelle ctu al pursuits an d wh o in s o far
as they have given atte ntion to religion h ave don e so m ainly
to bl ame the m istakes of its institution s mos t n atural ly
set the whol e religious life of m an aside along with other
frivolous transitory su p e r stition s A m ong the em otion s s u p
posed to give ris e to it n on e is e asie r to al ig h t u pon th an
fe ar With these theorizers it h as the credi t of al l cou se
u
n
e
ce
s of the religious l ife g oo d or b ad
I t is s aid th at
q
t he essen ce of al l rel igio n is the s en se that the r e are other
beings more p owerful th an ou r s elves N ot knowing exactly
their n atu r e and their attitude to ward u s we regard t h em
w ith awe an d r eve r en ce
and i n the ho p e of p l acating them
for possibl e or imagine d o ffe n ces we p ay the m hom age
and worship By som e i t is u rge d th at the introductio n
among m ankin d of a bel ief i n su ch sup erior b eings is due
to th e craft of statesme n an d rule rs as a d evice to whi ch
to appeal fo r the bette r m ainten ance of authority ove r the
ignoran t mu ltitude If so thes e me n surely called atten tion
to more than th ey re al ized A ccording to the hypothe sis
they we re th e only o nes capabl e of s eeing such a possib il ity
of existence or r el ationshi p ; and though there m ay h ave
possibly been a p r actical n e ce s s s ity in the discove ry ye t i t
proved its legitim acy by the hol d which it h as take n on
human thought I ndeed we m ay s ay h ad i t n ot been thus
awakene d it must in evitably have come about in som e
other way
.

L EAD I NG P H I L OSOP H I C AL

T H EO RI ES

What are we to think of this theory of fear ? Under its

t r e atmen t r el igion at least becomes unive rsal F ear is on e
of the mos t gen eral characteristics of the race I t is almost
as univers al as appetite I n fact it is as common to beast as
to m an F o r whatever cre ature h as the capacity of shudde r
ing in the presence of obj ects in denitely powe rful and at
the s ame time of b eing more or less attracted by those ob
e c ts
r edit of being religious
should
have
the
c
if
it
be
a
j
credit O n such a b asis there can not b e cl aimed for m an a
m on opoly of this sense lofty or other wise The emotion of
the horse i n the p r esence of his m ast er or the b aying of th e
d o g at the m oon are r el igious feelings and acts of w orship
f r o m this stan d point Without much doubt they are as t r uly
s o as m any of the p ractices of the l o we r hu m an races de
scribed as such by travellers But a theory is put to its test
whe n i t is t r ie d by the facts Would the general sen se of
thinking m en put into the cl ass rel igious all the i nstances
o f fe ar w hich this theory would requi r e ? Though they m ay
h ave elem ents akin yet the child s dread of the darkness the
ru stic s quicken ed heart beat and hurried pace by the coun try
raveyard
the
school
boy
s
c
r afty terror of his m aster s f ro wn
g
the soldie r s d read of o fcial d ispl easu r e or R ip V an Winkle s
shudde r at thought of G re tchen s comin g r age as religious
a cts an d feelings would none of them r ece ive gene r al con
s ent A gain a t h eory b esides excluding non e must include
all the facts This teaching r eceives its g reates t strain when
m en tion is m ade of the types of religious feel ing where fear

P erfect l ove caste th out fear

h as disappeared en tirely
The D eity h as com e to be regarded w ith complete t rus t and
faith Th e believer is lled with th e g reatest peace That
this view utte r ly fails to stan d the test is eviden t from the
fac t t hat m any r eligions have g radually dropped the elemen t
o f fe ar but in doing so have d ropped none of their religious
,

n ess s s

A s an expl an ation of de mon ology of the r ega r d for super

n atural beings in a n egative sense it has the highest m erit ;
but as an in terp r etation of the positive elements of rel igion
,

H ow

40

R E LI G I ON

R I S ES

it is utte r ly val uel ess It h as the g r e at advantage of bein g

simpl e and because of this an d the fact that i t so thoroughl y
explain s on e side of the probl em it h as m et with a l a rg e
acceptan ce as the m ost satisfacto r y hypothe sis C a r rying i t
out to its con siste n t end m any predict the time w hen t he
superstition s of religion shal l b e things of the past Thi s
they d o with much r e ason from the ir poin t of view If t he
comprehension as n atu r al force of wh at we s upp ose d to b e
d enite person al ities in cha rge of ce r tain d ep artm en ts o f
n ature does away w ith our fear surely it is only a m atte r o f
time when the wo r ld of n ature m ay b ecom e t r a n s p aren t t o
hum an though t an d w ith this woul d cease ou r h om age Bu t
on the other S ide whe n the more the w orl d becom es tran s
paren t an d the mo r e w e s e e of its p erfe ctio n in al l ways t he
m ore we n d to in crease our i nte rest in it an d our e nthusias m
for it the m o re w e st r ive to conform ou r l ives to its l aws t h e
m ore we s e e of its deeper m e an ing an d un de r lying p r in cipl e
surely the d ay of n o r el igion becom es farther an d fa r the r
removed I t was i n fact the day before hum an ity arrived at
its religious capacity Moreover in its p hilosophic p r eten
sions this theo r y mus t be saluted by the s ame fare wel l th a t
was given to that of feel i n g in gen eral ; eve n i n the eve n t
that this special feel ing form e d the chief background of t e
lig io n ( which we s e e it does n ot) th e r e is a more fund amental
el em en t behin d This fe eling of fea r is founded on the con
scious r ecognition of a rel ation an d such a re cognition i s a
thought en tirely indepen den t of the after gush of emotion
which m ay ood th e person al ity an d gen erate action
.

W on der
I t woul d indeed be wond er
ful if somebody did n ot s e e in won der itself the foun tain of
this activity over which there h as been so m uch hum an que ry
But o u r expe ctation i s m e t To thi s pecul iar me n tal attitud e
like wis e have the source an d subs tan ce of r eligion bee n as
c r ib e d
S o the gre at synthetic philosopher He rbert S pen ce r
nds it R el igion is a feelin g a feel in g of w on der a feel ing
6
w
r
of on de r in th e p esen ce of the U nk no wn
Take n l iter
Th e F ee l in g

of

L EAD I N G P H I LO S OP H I C A L

T H EO RI E S

41

ally this theo ry is self contradictory and self ann ihil ating ; fo r
the m ind is n ever troubl ed w ith wonde r s o r emotions of any
sort over things of which it has no kno wled g e Hence we
must n ot take it directly at its wo r d but assume that it m ean s

r
m o e than it states in the te r ms This Unkn o wn is at
l east known to e x ist an d to m an ifest itself in w ays su fcien t
to excite wo n de r over its n ature etc I t at l east stands t o
the worl d in the rel ation of the operator of a me chanical pan
t o m im e or th e di r e ctor of a d r am a wh o himself is n ot seen
Thus the theory is e x ceedingly in exact in the use of te r ms
Moreove r it pl ays a so r t of circul ar a rgumen t in r st de ning
religio n to b e a certain conscious relation to an unkno wn
som e what thus l im iting its scope to one m en t al activity an d
the n proceeding to state the truism which it h as j ust consti
t u te d
n amely th at religion con sists from r st to last in the
sentimen t of won de r ! By the te r ms which the theory h as
set
wh at else coul d it be ? The soul cannot admi r e n o r
fear n or love n o r even fee l strictly depen den t on what it
does not at all kno w If it doe s feel itself depen den t on
somethi n g unkn owabl e it h as n o assu r an ce that its b en e

factor is this Unkn o wable o r anothe r one

Unkn o w

ables can n ot b e distin g uished n o r r estr icted in numbers !

there m ay b e m any or fe w or n on e N othing is left to do
but m a rvel What un tol d poss ibilities w hat un im ag in abl e
in comprehensibilities m ay that which w e do not kn o w stand
for ! Beyon d won de r w e ar e po we r less The theory at
star t has d r ied up every other foun tain of the soul
Bu t we mus t n ot stop he r e The theory has a yet mo r e
radical defec t ! it iS s ych o logic ally too w eak for its under

taking I t would m ake r eligion a r ise in a feeling of wo n

der
but won de r is not its elf p r ima r ily a feel ing I t is an
in com ple te cogn ition an act of the kn o wing consciousness
which has fallen sho r t of its aim and which only in its secon
d ary stage as it becomes re c o n s c io u s of the failure is in te n
r eceives the ush of an emotion
S ie d or in other w o r ds
I n sho r t th e theory though it con tains much of t ru th an d a
richn ess of su g gestion in its elaboration as an account of the
-

H ow

42

R EL IG I ON A R I S ES

psychol ogic al o rigin of this so seemingly per p le x in g acti vity

h as the s a m e shortcom ing as the theories b efore m en tione d

I
R
( )

R EL I G I ON

I s OF

T H O UG H T

i
l i s ts etc
The theory th at al l genui n e rel ig
io n has its origin an d e ssen ce i n the thinking re ason ing
faculty goes in history under the n ames R ation alism N at
u r al Theolo gy N atural R el igion e tc L ike the other e x clu
s ive cl aim s s e t up it is the theory b oth of the friends an d
e nemies of rel igion O n e l a rge cl ass of its advo cates in
C h riste ndom belongs withi n the Chu rch itself
These do
n ot l ay the s tress s o much on the fac t th at rel igion con sists
in intel lectu al activi ty as on the fact th at it is to b e de vel
O ped an d sustain ed by e fforts of re ason
D u ring the past
ce ntu ry they h ave p u t fo r th a vast amou n t of l iteratu re
pu r po r ting to su p port by proofs from re aso n the cl aim s of
C h ristianity O f this type are the m any w orks o n C hristian
E viden ces C h r istian I n stitu tion s an d S yste m atic Theology

Thes e usual ly cl aim ratio n al demon stration ( i n the face of

J ews Turks an d in d e ls ) fo r t he his toric doctrin al faith

of the Church N o t on ly this but each di ff erent s ect holds

impl icit con de n ce i n its abil ity to put beyon d doub t b e

fore al l candid r e ason ers its cl ai m to recogn itio n as the

o nly legitim ate o ne
O n the other h and the rej ecte r s of
the faith in al l its fo rms h ol d that by the s am e po wers of
reason it can b e shown to h ave n o b asis whatever in fact
I t is the superl ative myth which m us t b e e x pl ode d b efore the
wo r l d can go on
But o u r p r esen t con cern is with ne ither of these
Th e
i nte r est he r e cen tre s in a cl ass of m in ds who at the begin
n ing h ave n o c ause to defen d or op p ose an d who after con
s id e r ab le painstaking h ave t r ace d the stre am of religion to
i ts supposed source i n thought
Bu t these too after the
m anner of m en te nd to exclusiven ess They are in cl ined to
b elie ve that the littl e stream with which they s tart h as no
tributaries th at thought is source an d all beside s They are
at o n a

L EAD I N G P H I L OSOP H I C AL

T H EO RI ES

43

inva r iably successfu l in ridding religion of much error but

t heir su ccess usual ly con tinues so far as to rid themselves
a lso of that wh ich they w oul d renovate
They winnow the
w he at til l there is left n o wheat
The process itself becomes
s o fascin ating th at reason gets reckless an d loses its r ation
ality
The wildness sometimes displayed in this tenden cy
rivals the extremest cases of mystical delirium But these
like al l e x aggerated types of activity can b e of but sho r t
duration an d l imite d inuen ce The r e is a w idely di ffe ren t
C l ass of writers sometimes among the most respectable
philosophers
whose general tendency is to help on r ation
I n some fo r m or other they nd either the o r ig in o r
alis m
the essen ce of rel igion or both to consist in the o p e r ation s
of the thinking facul ty O ne or two of the most noticeabl e
an d abl e of these e ff orts must b e con sidered
,

i
f
i
J
c
b
i
Judging
the
religion
l
n
h
a
o
2
B
e
a
F
a
t
e
d
( )
of J acobi from its p r actical outcome one woul d be surprised
to n d it cl asse d with t hose who t r ace rel igion to an origin
i n thought Yet al though it gets by essence an d application
a pl ain mystical turn it is at be g inning a m atter of belief

I believe ; by my faith I am a Ch r istian ; by my reason I

am
a heathen 7 H ere is a faith accepted on belief and
t hat contrary to reason ! I t has the appearance of straining
reason up to th e pitch of credulity an d then accepting its
This b elief is bel ief in the r eal ity of an ideal
d ecision
But this is t rying to m ake thought ou t of feeling and desi re
He wan ts to accept his faith f r om the h ands of thou g ht bu t
That which he has in mind is evi
d oe s n ot s e e the w ay
r
a
feel
ing
of
the
poetical
imagin
ative
characte
It
d e n t ly
a r ises intuitively from the enthusiastic mystical contempla
I t r e al ly has an o r igin in thought ; but it is
t ion of n atu r e
n o t thought at the tim e J acobi unde r takes its examin ation
h
t
W
The bel ief of
n o r doe s he s py ou t its t r ue beginn ing
h e speaks m ay b e true or it m ay not ; it is al l on e for the
purpose of rel igion F r om its t r uth the bel ief gets none of
The
r
its religious worth A l l value lie s in its pe sistence
.

H ow

44

R EL I GI ON A R I S ES

belief mus t pe rforce l ift the soul in to realm s of contempl a

tion far above the t r an sitory an d conicting things of l ife
To talk with l ess r h eto r ical fervor
though perhaps at the
expen se of the theory it is n eithe r m o r e n or l es s th an
excitemen t en thusiasm l ofty emotion a w akened by an in te r
e s t arising from p e r fect bel ief i n any obj ect
The vi r tu e
of the theory is n ot s o high bu t th at e m otions of s u f
c ie n t strength awaken ed by u nworthy obj ects m ay co m e
u nde r the cl ass rel igious The subl im e awe lling the b e
holder of th e s tarry he aven s the fervid e x cite men t in t h e
m in d of a rom an ce reader the emotio ns of pity an d b e n e v o
le nce stirred i n the phil anthro p ic he art at the S ight of m isery
the passion ate fre n zy of the n ihil isti c fan atic as wel l as t h e
pious devotion of the C hristian s ai n t m ust al l have the i r
pl ace in this rel igion
We h ave then this curious circumstan ce ! th at althoug h
religion h as its origin entirely in a bel ief ( a thought) it is in
sub stan ce ever after en ti rely a feel ing I n tre ating the que s
tion of origin his theory prope r ly comes u nde r the clas s
thought ; whil e i n a discussion on the n ature o r esse nce of
the religious life it woul d fal l in with emotion al theories
We shoul d further n otice th at i n the s tate m e n t of his o wn

faith
By my faith I am a C hristian ; by my reason I am

a heathe n h e le ave s his m in d i n a con tradiction N ow

it is on e of the chief re al itie s of r eligio n th at i t does away
con ict I ts e nd is p eace in on e of its aims A religion
th a
t l e ave s its bel ievers i n su ch spiritu al con tradiction i s n o
su fcien t rel igion J acob i b el ongs to th e scho ol of think e rs
who decl aim m uch again st reason an d u rge the S pirit s
n ative power of imm ediacy or in tuition in kn o wledge
S chleierm acher J acobi D e Wette an d others of this cl as s
re ason out an d write en dless discussions to prove th at re ason
is n ot to be t r usted
Through this in con sisten cy of dis
cl aiming r e ason th ough al ways l e an ing upon i t such writers
vitiate g r eatly their resul ts F r o m such prem ises of cou r se
logical con sisten cy b ecom es impossibl e
!

LEAD I NG P H I L O S OP H IC A L T H EO RI E S

e g e 1 A t the same
(3)
tim e that S chleie r m ache r was expounding his celeb r ated

d oct r in e of the feeling of dependence anothe r thinking

g ian t in an other room of the same un ive r sity ( Be r lin) w as
discoursing on thi s subj ect an d annou n cing a con clusion the
ve ry antithesis of this We feel that a m ind of unusual
logical po we r s has charge of us when w e pass unde r Hegel s
tuition H e is with those wh o n d religion to b e of the
think ing faculty H e is especially hostile to the feeling
theo ry
M an S ha r es this sense of dependence with the
b ru t e s but they are not rel igious
Man su rpasses them i n
his conscious f r eedom an d higher po we r s of thought Into
this then must we look both for the o r igin and substan ce
of h is r eligious b ent I ndeed at its highest r eligion should
be the complete antithesis of what S chleierm ache r af r med
n am e ly the sen se of p erfect f r eedom ; because th e human
S pi r it in its r eligious consciousn ess is exactly the D ivine
S pi rit coming to consciousne ss of itself in an d th rough the
nite
A gain this m atte r of feelin g is an in di fferen t thing
It
h as no conten t asid e from wh at it gets through t hought
I t m ay b e as strong w i t h on e obj ect as with anothe r
in the
b reast of th e l owes t c r im in al b en t on his evil pu r poses as in
the aspi r ations of the loftiest saint I t is all one to the
~
n atu r e of fe e lin g wh e th e r its obj ect be good o r b ad high o r
N ot s o w ith the n ature of thought Its
lo w t r ue or false
conten t is denite and h as its manifest obj ect

To H egel then religion is a m atter of thought of

This to him is the bas i s of all things of the
un ive r s e itself Men s ay that m ind is a mass o r an ar r ange
w
w
e
ent
of
phe
nomen
a
the
phenomen
a
are
al
l
kn
o
But
m
;
wh at m akes phen om en a ? Take a way the thinker an d where
r
w
o ld
ar e the phen omen a ? A wo r l d without thou g ht is no
Thought is always thought is every where It unde r lies all
V iewed by the Understandin g
e xperien ces an d al l w o r lds
I and phenom en a are
V ie wed by the
t wo not one
R eason they are one not two V iewed by both as they
F r e e d om

45

h
o
h
u
T
g t
H

an d

'

R EL IG I ON A RI S ES

H OW

must be the u nivers e is a un ity in d iversity P he n omen a

can only b e as though t is N ature or the to tal ity of phe
n o m e n a can only b e as though t u nde r l ies it
Thi s m us t b e
for only as you tak e th ought out of n ature i s it in ter
so
l
re
a
b
e
In
this
way
the
i
nterpretation
of
n
atu
re
is
goin
g
t
p
o n increasingly N ature is b ecom ing m ore an d m ore intel
ligibl e or tran s p aren t to the consciousn ess of the worl d
What is n atural is transl atable Becaus e n ature is ar ticu
l ate e x p r essive o f though t m an gets o n in s cien ce N ow
the h um an spirit o n coming face to face with the S pirit in
n atu r e r ecogn izes its k in dred This i s the b eginn ing of
rel igion G radually it com es to kn o w its rel ation shi p to the
S pi r it R eligio n is the though t of the individu al as i t pl ace s
itself in rel ation with the un ivers al Man is thus see n to b e

the im age of G od ; an d th erefo r e he mus t i n on e sense

by ve ry n ature be rel igious Ye t in Hegelian phil osophy
there is a s til l higher s tage th an the rel igious for the hum an
s p irit to attain ; n amely that of A bsolute Kn owledge ( Wi s
s en
P
h
il
o
This
is
to
b
e
re
ached
th
rough
philosophy
s
o
)
phy is far superior to both rel igion an d art as an expon en t
of the rel ation b etween m an and the A bsolute
H egel did m uch powerful th inking o n this to p ic but it
has its serious l im itation s S ide by S ide with the profoun d
e st insigh t an d re ason ing faculty we h ave the s am e p ar
t iality in the groun ding and working ou t of his theo ry th at
we have seen i n some of the othe r princi p al vie ws exam ined ;
while this view l abors u nder the addition al disadvan tage of
being mo r e di fcult of com p rehen sion an d le ss p ractical in
appl ication Thes e are di fculties due to its s pe cul ative
cha r acte r H ad the theory grown ou t of an h istorical an d
et hn ical study of rel igion s it woul d n ever h ave con taine d
those p r odigiou s ights of abst r action which though thei r
study serves as a m ost excel len t inte ll ectual exercise ex
press b ut ve ry partially the r e al ities of the religious life 9
The vie w that r el igion h as its rs t gl ea m psychological ly
in the faculty of thought h as by all odd s th e advantage
But this is as far as we m ay u rge Thought pre em p ts the
.

LEAD I N G P H I LO S OP H I C AL T H EO RI E S

47

dom ain bu t by n o primogen itu r e assumption s can it entail

the territory to its poste r ity E nthusiastic counsel in its

beh alf has

wickedly tried to do so
To expl ain in
an other way by exclusiveness in shutting out the co n t rib u
tion s of other t r ibutary faculties the s t r eam becomes n a rro w
an d shallow an d has not substance su fcient to fe r tilize the
Indeed with such a shallow
r egion through which it o w s
N ile life run s a p r ecious r isk of becoming a b a rr en w aste
Thought is the he ad w ater surely but it r eceives vast in
crease furthe r on In the sen se hinted before reason is

rst ; an d reli g ion is reason abl e but r eason is not re

,

ligio n

2
.

C H APTER I I I

ECO N S I D E R A T I O N

C O N C L US I O N S

AN D

P A R T I A L I T! AND C ONSE Q U EN T UN R ES T

9
.

some or al l of their m anifestations these three l e ading

vie w s of the sou r ce an d n atu r e of the r el igious l ife h ave bee n
coexiste n t in the worl d S in ce the d aw n of w r itte n phil osophy
Mos t m en l ive l a r gely i n the regio n of wh at m ay b e describ ed
as the an alytic or in dividual izing sphe r e of t h e m in d s o far a s
con cern s their in tellectu al operation s an d real ization s F e w
indulge extensively in compa r ison an d fewer yet r ise to th e
recogn ition o f the higher u nity which l ies b ehin d al l this
in dividuality of things
B e cause of this i n the ir theories
they pl ace the e mphasis on the fe ature i n w hich their in teres t
h as bee n a waken ed The mo r e the poten cy of this feature
is ob se r ved the m o r e does its importan ce b ecome m agnied
un til n ally it is conceived as al l s u i c ie n t an d al l com p re
h e n s iv e
S o l arge does it s e e m that they h onestly bel ieve
the whol e worl d to b e within its dom ain or un der its con t r ol
If by fou nder or O ppon en t such a V ie w b e c a rr ied to the
e xtreme in its a ppl ication it breaks do wn f r om S he er in co n
sisten t exclusiveness If on ly m ode r ately urge d it p r oves an
in spiration which c o o p e r ating w ith the un con scious actio n
of othe r equally important elem en ts hel ps on the actual
r e ss of
r en t
rog
l
ife
Upon
this
con
cur
a
nd
un
con
sciou
s
p
recognition of other fun d amen tal co mpon en t p rin ciple s i s
due the whol e success of the m ovem en t supposedly b ased
on one prin cipl e Herein is a law of the most far re aching
ap p l ication Whe n e n thusiasts working in a s pecial l in e
ascribe for e x ampl e the whol e of our m od er n high civiliz a
tio n to the work of S cie nce to the b e n e ce n t inuence of
N

'

'

R E C ON S I D E R A T I ON

AN D

P rotestant E va n gel ical Ch r istian ity

C O N C LUS I ONS

49

to any othe r one is m

o r ology it is be cause thei r eyes ar e dazzled by the object of
w
thei r inte r est To on e wh o is sea r chin g among the el ements
hoping to n d the key the sec r et p r in ciple of all thin g s o r
o f his d epa r tmen t me r ely
an d to one wh o is looking fo r
som e g r eat and ove r po we r ing theo ry which s h all compel al l
othe r s to its position an d thus m ake peace and ha rmony
to him ind eed the su r vey of this chaos is most dishea rten
ing L ittle won de r that the soul u nabl e to see its way in
ho p e shoul d sometimes l and in co m ple te scepticism o r pes
or

S im

is m

Yet to this the m in d w il l not willingly go Its n atu r e is to

l ive an d this is the w ay to spi r itual death But even though
the r eectin g mind which
s uch a cal amity be n ot the end
com es u nde r the tu ition of dog m atic an d one sided theo
and r eaction is not
r ies is destined soone r o r l ate r to r eact ;
healthful me ntal g ro wth but r athe r distu rbance
In deed
t h e proble ms of life ar e quite uncertain enough to t ry o u r
equani m ity w ithout the agg r avation of being taught to in
c r ease the d i fficulty by seizing hold n o w o n one n o w on
an other pa r ti al and unten abl e theo ry evolved apa r t f r om
expe r ien ce by abst r act imagin ation U n confused by those
th eories w hich o r iginate in n a r ro w outlooks and expe r ie n ces
t h e min d w ill eve r r ise above the do u bts and pe rplexities
I t doubts bu t does n ot stay in
w h ich N atu r e i m poses
d oubt S o m e so r t of r econ ciliation m ust be S o m e P rovi
dence t he r e is some whe r e
S uppose it does con clude the
?
u
l
e
t
r
s
l ife of doub t is the b ette r life ! w ha t s the
O nly
a m o m en ta ry d i r e s s io n if left unhin de r ed
A s Bishop
B lo u gr am s ays fo r B r o wning !
.

A nd

w hat

we ?

unbelieve r s both
W he r e s
The gain ? H o w can w e guar d o u r unbelief

re
r
ake
it
b
a
f
uit
to
us
the
p
oblem
he
r
r
e
M
J ust w hen w e ar e safest the r e s a sunset t uch
A fancy fr om a o we r bell some one s death
A cho r us ending fr om E u r ipides
A nd that s enough fo r fty hopes and fea rs
A s old and n e w at once as natu r e s self
n ow

ar e

R E LI G I ON A RI S E S

H OW

To r ap and knock and ente r in o u r soul

Take hands and dance the r e a fantastic r ing
R ound the ancient idol on his base again
The g r and Pe r haps ! W e l ook on hel plessly
The r e the ol d m isgivings c r ooked questions ar e
This good G od w hat he coul d do if he w ould
W oul d if he coul d then must have done lo ng since
I f so w hen w he r e and h o w ? some w ay must b e
O nce feel about and soon o r late you h it
S ome sense in w hich it might be afte r all
,

A ll

have gained then by o u r unbelief

I s a life of doubt dive r s ied by faith
F o r one of faith dive r sied by doubt !
W e call the chess boa r d w hite w e call it black
we

of all is yes my d oubt is g r eat

M y faith s still g r eate r then my faith s e n o u gh p

The

sum

I n religio n m e n shoul d n d the life of p eace A l l b elow

i s turmoil Th at r eligion is a preten ce in w hich som e pe ace
n ot fou n d Th at reli g io n is n obl es t which co r respon ding
n e ares t to facts puts mos t inspi r ation an d m ost h armony
in to hum an l ife Th at theo r y which depe n ds for its l ife on
the utte r e x clusion of al l othe r e qually fu nd amental el e
me n ts is pre p a r ing for n o pe r m anen t peace but greater
w ar by and by
N on e of our faculties wil l subm it to b e
st r angled L ike the in d ividual s i n socie ty each demands
the r ight of l ife an d the e nj oymen t of its activity E ach
m us t then le a r n its pl ace and com e to respe ct th e pa r ts
wh ich others pl ay Wh atever is an d is es se n tially pa r t of
our n at u r e mu st s om ehow get re con ciled to al l else or w e
must quit our phil osophizin g an d decl a r e cre ation an irre
d u cib le m uddle
Those e lemen ts which have been ove r an d
over emphasize d as the partial or total con stituen ts of the
religious l ife mu s t p resum edly s om ewhe r e be pe r m itted a
presen ce in th e h o p e d for u l tim ate u nication P artial R e
lig io n can l earn a g reat lesson from S cien ce an d P hilosophy
that n ature is on e an d in divisible To kn ow is to kn o w i n
r elation to the whol e
.

A ll

ar e n

e e ded by each one ;

3

R E C ON SI D E R A T I ON
L ife is n ot of on e kind

AN D

C ON CLU SI ONS

it ought to be the ha r mony of m any

ki n ds R eli g ion is n ot the work of on e n o r of t wo facul ties
but the blen ding of all into one complete n atu r e Com
l
e
e
r
t
d
eligion is an attitude of the whole being A t its
p
highes t it deman ds the realization of the whole of life
!

IO

W I L L E M O T I ON T H O U G H T

We ar e
( I ) O r d e r o f t h e i r F u n c t i o n al P r e c e d e n c e
n o w p r epa r ed for m ore immediate contact with the question
at i ssue an d fo r m ore direct state m en ts of the an s wer al
ready anticipated The ve ry denite l imits of the in quiry
he r e in stitute d should al so b e clear Though we cannot
avoid touching f r equently upon other questions yet the
discussion th r oughout is to b e hel d respon sibl e only for an
an swer to the one which asks When an d h o w in the individ
u al con sciousness does the religious side of life begin ? The
one sid edn ess an d exclusiveness of the philosophical theo r ies
portrayed in th e previous chapte r make it eviden t that no
m atte r w hethe r m en ar e psychological ly planned alike or
di ff eren t r eligion can be l imited n either to an a ffair of will
n or of thought n or of any on e species o f
n o r of feel ing
action emotion or cognition al on e A gain it has b ee n
sho w n with some what of clea r n ess where it may and m ay
\
n ot take i ts r ise I f the wo rds h ave been used with a rea
son able de g r e e of exactness it begins in a cognitive activity
A n act of though t is b ack of all else Before thinking
ho
ever
simpl
e
begins
the
re
is
n
o
self
consciousness
w
;
)
(
befo r e an d without self consciousness there is n o r eligion
Th e m ost prima ry n otion in religion is the conscious reco g
n it io n of something beyond and greater than the self or in
othe r w o r ds th e self s awakening to the se nse of a real ity
in the n ot self profoun der than the o r din ary obse r vation s of
l ife had r evealed ( S ee
This cannot come w ithout
I I )
denite thinking A fter this comes response in the shape
of what we term feel ings an d volitions Then out of the
impul se toward self p reservation and advancement gro w mo
.

H ow

R E LI G I ON A R I S E S

an d in cen t ive s which take thei r place as pe r m an en tly

im pel ling an d constituting el eme nts of the religiou s l ife

t iv e s

A Cou p l e

In
these
days
a
sort
of
( )
p r actical origin for th e religiou s cravin g is foun d i n tb e im
p u lsiv e strugg le to w a rd s elfp r es er v ation o r psychol ogically
spe aking i n th e combin ed activity of feeling an d wil l to
gether O n e of two thin g s is h e r e to b e u n derstood ! e ither
the question h as n ot bee n s oun de d to th e depth s and the
fundame n tal in cipie n t religious attitude of our b eing h as

n ot been pe r ceived or e ls e the wo r d origin is used in a

differen t se nse f r o m th at of which we here S peak A n d
even in the l atter e ven t th e r e is a con fusio n of tw o en ti r ely
di ff eren t subj ects ; n am ely th at which con stitutes the d y
n ami e impul se in th e m ainten ance of the r el igiou s attitud e
is assumed or tak en to b e the o r igin al fun ction of m in d by
which this attitude r st arises I t is t r ue the r e is a sen se
o r a poin t of vie w f r om wh ich it m ay seem p r ope r to s a
y
th at religion is p r im arily the p r oduct of that side of hum an
n atu r e to w hich we som etim es give the n ame volition al im
pulses Bu t this is re ally the an s we r to an other question ;
n amely Where in b u m an n eed h as it its r oot ? out of wh at
p r actical depths of o u r being does it g r o w
con tinue to
?
b e foun ded an d n ot as he r e the question What facul ty
in the indi v idual is rst im p r essed m oved u pon cal le d in to
exe r cise whe n the r el igious l ife begin s ? Th e o n e is so to
s ay the
obj e ctive compul so r y source ; the other the sub
e c t iv e spon taneous origin
j
If ho wever we look in to this vie w stil l deepe r we p e r
c e iv e t h at the o r igin which h as b een
looke d forwa r d to
th r oughou t this paper m ay b e j ustly calle d the sou r ce of
this s o cal le d source because u n til the m an h ad b ecom e
intellectually con scious of his rel ationship to the S om e wh at
w ithout an d by his kn o wing facul ties had con trasted its
po wers an d his n eeds he did n ot b egin to be a religious
b eing S o too when we S peak of the race this cogn itive
r oot mu st h ave r eached a su fcien t deg re e of d evel opmen t
2

of

D if c u lt ie s

R E C O NS I D E R A T I ON

C ON CLUS I ON S

AN D

to consci ously g r asp that rel ationship befo r e the e v olution of

l ife had constituted what we te r m a religious being The
other el e m en ts of l ife inc luding this one in l o we r de g ree
w ere all in possession of bein g s on a lo we r sta g e yet they
;
we r e n ot an d ar e n ot as we bel ieve r eligious beings
In ge ne r al those w h o r egard r el igion as o ri g inating phil
O S O p hic all speaking in the des ire of m an to get help f ro m
y
superior po we r s i n order to prese r ve his l ife an d ca rry out
his p r oj e cts etc h ave stopped the in quiry on ar r iving at a
p ractica l an s we r They have l eft un asked the he r e oft e m ph a
size d fund amen tal question
H o w d id he get this idea of
?
r
r
su pe io power
A n intellectual activity in this direction
h ad taken pl ace before he eve r came to such n otions as the
possibil ity of supern atu r al assistance Befo r e he desi r ed it
h e h ad come to bel ieve in its existence an d in the p r oba
b ility of his being I n such a r el ation as to obtain it
Men
n eve r desi r e w hat they h ave n eve r conceive d of
E specially
un r e ason able is such an assumption when it rel ates to such
a previously u nexpe r ienced idea as the notion of su p e r n at
u r al help mus t have b een to p r imeval m an
A gain it is often said that th e thinker n eed not n e ce s s a
rily sympathize w ith the Obj ect in his cold meditation and
the r efore rel igion ( to which feeling is in some way indis
pen sable ) can n ot h ave its o r igin in thinking but in sy m p athy
Bu t it must b e k e p t in mind that this sympathy ( the relig
iou s rega r d ) does n o r en te r into l ife till thou g ht has made
I t is mo r eove r a mistake to suppose that p rot
w ay fo r it
abl e though t can be carried on w ithout en te r ing in to sym
p athy with its obj ect The con centration of consciousn ess
upon an obj ect or w hat w e te r m attention gene rates what
we call fe el ing or an intensication of the cognitive state
This is its n atu r al l egitimate consummation ; and what we
te r m thinking is not complete without the takin g up or th e
ing
o
s
eal
izing
of
the
obj
e
ct
in
the
self
O
ther
called
think
r
i s p artial exclusive incomplete contradicto ry After th i nk
n
e
n
c
o
c
r
b
r
u
o
r
ing has completed itself
a oused
n atu e y
i on and
w
atte
ntion
upon
its
obj
ect
e
n
ame
it
an
emot
t r at e d
)
.

H OW

54

R EL I G I ON A R I S ES

design ate the various kin ds by n ames wh ich in dicate to u s

the di r ection in which the atte ntion was cen t r ed
Though t then is gen e r ic A cogn itive act is rst an d al l
the way a b asis By it m an com es in to real ize d rel ation s
with the exte r n al S en sation w akes h is consciousnes s ; in
think ing i t is o r dering and con n e cting phen omen a and rel at
ing itself to these Its Operation s m ust eve r b e acco m
r ious
a
n
i
e
d
r
by
certain
se
ntime
n
ts
approp
iate
to
the
va
p
r el ation ships which we sustai n to the extern al wo r l d of m e n
an d things in thei r individu ality and totality or u nity F eel
i ng su ch as th at which w e term religious
the nobl e
emotion ) an d action determin ed by the individu al will
mo r al action ) are both specic an d are outg r o w ths of self
con scious thinking I th ink ; as I think I feel
as I
think so are my e m otion s ; an d as I think and feel s o I
dete r min e an d act ( if unhin dere d ) Cogn ition at the bottom
o r at the s tart
m akes p ossible the feel ing ; in feel ing the
being or person ality is a r ouse d an d the m otive o r the occa
s ion to act is supplied the act follo ws n atural ly an d withou t
fu r ther process un less cou nteracte d by an othe r m otive or
s om e outside ob stacle The act is controlled by feeling
an d the feelin g by thought
Th e order in fun dam ental
impo r tan ce is the r evers e of the t r eatm en t in this section
E ve n gran t th at the emotion al is a distinctive fu ndamen tal
faculty of min d the adm ission is done a w ay at on ce when
we face t h e fact th at n o em otion ever a r ises un til a con
s ciou s cogn itive m en tal operation has occurred
S uch a
thin g as t h e adven t of an emotion before the r e h as b ee n an
intellectual recognition a conscious g r asping in thought of
something r eal or im agin ary ove r which the feel ing m ay
gl ow is u n think abl e is e quivalen t to s aying that on e m ay
th r il l abou t s omething which h e n ever though t of n or im ag
in e d
Wh at we te r m an act of kno wled g e precedes eve ry
em otion an d is its sub stan ce The driving impelling fo r ce
which w ith con scio u s cogn itive abil ity fo r ms the b asis of
hum an l ife accom pan ies it i n eve ry waking m ome nt The
on e forms s o to spe ak the steam po wer w hich actu ates
.

R E C ON S I DE R AT I ON

C ON CLUSI ON S

AN D

existe n ce ; whil e the other is the enginee r who i s the con

scious obse r ve r an d r ealizer of all
I am a w a r e that much might be said about the w a in
y
w hich thought i s in stigated and cont r olled by action o r v o
(
lit io n ) and feel ings ; but as a discussion of p recedence this
to me is much the same as raising a serious a rgu m ent abou t
the g reat inuen ce of the ca r t ove r the h o r se It is a g reed
th at the ca r t is i n dispen s able ; b ut it is not n early so i nitiative
as the ho r se n o r shoul d it be pl aced b efo r e the ho rse
.

s
o
m
O
h
r
P
h
l
gi
e
fr
t
e
a
e
s
i
f
Though
f
s
L
o
e
(3 )
r eligion is not w onder n o r fea r n o r causality n o r mo r al ity
n o r feel ing n o r though t sole l y an d only
yet this is not to
s ay that it h as n o wonde r fea r
etc as inuen tial facto r s
Mo r e ove r this does n o t asse r t that r elig ion has exclusive
c ont r ol of all o r any of these el ements They are activities
o f mind w hich are ope r ative in most of the a ff ai r s of l ife
I n what the n does r eligion di ff e r f ro m othe r hu m an aff ai rs ?
H o w can on e in sti t ution b e diffe ren t f r om another if al l are
d eve loped an d ca r ried on by the same mental activities
To
this I m ay r eply ! H o w can w atch m aking diffe r f rom ho rse
?
shoein g since b oth r eq u i r e the use of the hands and eyes
O r h o w can ast r ono m y di ffe r f rom psycholo g y since both
r equi r e the mos t faithful exe r cise of intellect ?
I t is ve ry
plain that the att itude dete r m ines the r esult We n ame the
If a m an g oes one way he g ets to
r esul t afte r the attitude
E as t po r t ; if the othe r he b r ings up at S an D iego by and by
I n scien ce the men tal po we r s are di rected to the an alysis of
the w o r ld an d the disce r n men t of its l a ws In r eli g ion at
its begin nin g those po we r s are tu r ned to behol ding the
w o r l d as a whole as a manifestation of a S pi r it of w hich the
beholde r r ega r ds hi m self i n some way a m in iatu re likeness

r
o
ship
is
a
ega
d
hat
is
above
us
This
matte
of
r
w
r
f
o
r
r
W
attitu de is the key to the problem R eligion is at sta r t a
me ntal attitude comp rehen ding l ater its consequent act i v i ty
I n s o far it is not diff e r ent from n o r mo r e myste r ious than
any o ther hu m an expre ssion ; e g m athematics moral i ty ar t
A

na o

6
5

R E LI G I ON A R I S E S

H ow

or ast r on omy E ach an d al l begin in a con scious cogn itiv e

attitude of min d to w ard their specic obj ects
F r om this
attitude each gets its peculiar character and as b efo r e
s aid is n amed acco r dingly Thus whe n th e m ind fa c es th e
extern al in the di s ce r nm e n t of points l in es surfaces an d
s olids togethe r with their variou s possibl e rel ation s w e h ave
decide d to c al l th e posture m athem atics When i t turn s
to w ard th e observation of r el ation s sub sisting ( or w hich it
de em s f rom expe r ien ce sh ould subsist) am ong those parts of
the exte r n al worl d m ade u p of its fel lo w m en we te r m it
ethics Whe n i t studies the sphe r es the attitud e is ast r on
om
r ives to express the ideal th r ough the re al
When
it
st
y
w e s ay it is art
When it tu rn s u pon itself in co ntem p l ation
an d co n s iders at th e sam e time bodily condi tions it i s p sy
A n d so on for every possib l e attitude th e s oul m ay
c h o lo gy
tak e
F ol lowing this r st con scious recogni zing p ostu r e
e ach specic hum an s p here of e x p r essio n con sists th en ce
forth of m e n tal an d b odily activities co r respon ding to the
rel ation sh ips b etwe en th e k n o wing subj ect an d the w oul d b e
kn o w n or r el ated obj ect E very attitud e wh atever which t h e
m in d assumes an d con sciously dwel l s upon in xed attention
results n atural ly i n co r r espon ding cou rs es of though t emo
tion an d con duc t D iscern the n in any sphere of l ife th e
facul ty by w hich such an attitu de arises an d you h ave d is
covered its psych ologic al o r igin Watch the p roce ss and
s e e w h at facul ties are arouse d an d S e t into activity an d you
h ave its n atu r e F ol lo w out these activities an d you h ave
l ea r n ed its fun ction and capabil ities
.

II

TH

R OO T T H O UG H T
-

OF

R EL I GI ON

O ur search in this essay bei n g l imite d to the discove ry if

possibl e of the o r igin an d n atu r e o f th at which in the relig
iou s con sciousn ess is fun dam ental th e m any al lied an d at
tractive themes which con tinu ally a r ise m us t b e l eft aside
N o r should the r e ader be diss a t ised if he m isse s he r e m any
of the expression s u su al ly fam iliar in discussion s on religion
,

'

R E C ON S I DE R A T I ON

AN D

C ON CLUS I ON S

Thei r u se in a t r e atise which aspi r es to deal scientic ally

w ith the problem w oul d b r ing i n assumption s u n j ustiabl e
un der this heading an d at this stage of the investigation
I t must b e obse rve d tha t because the rst be g in nings of
w h at we n ow kn o w as the r eli g ious n atu r e ar e asc r ibed to
the thinking capacity it is n ot the r eby impl ied that thought
is n ecess a r ily the p r in cipal elemen t in religion whe r e it
appears as a factor in the wo r l d of life The vie ws he r e
p r esented d o n ot com e f r om counsel retained in behalf of

r ation al ism
nor do the y seek to furnish c rumbs of co m
fo r t for any speci al is nz T h ey are the utte r ances of a mind

fre e f r om s chool affiliation s of whatever so rt which r e

independen t e ff o r ts of wh atever o r igin and
s p e c t s h on est
which is trying to m ak e an impartial in qui ry fo r ce r tain
b ottom facts an d r el ation ships within religions to it as yet
u n satisfacto r ily expl ain ed by any school and even by m any
stil l unpe r ceived
Wh at pa r t function and inuen ce each
p r ima r y faculty exerts must r eceive cons ide r ation at anothe r
tim e
A gain i t m ay b e supposed that the position taken impl ies
the com p r ehen sion by the w o r shipper of the obj ect wo r
shipped N othing of the so r t is in ten ded The deities of

m an m ay b e
indeed have undoubtedly been
very littl e
comprehen ded at any ti m e It was partly the pe rception of
this very incom pre hen siblen ess w hich r st p r ovoked w hat
N o r did
w e te r m religious emotion and acts of devotion
th e ado r ation cease when it \w as discern ed that the m ys
w
r
r
was
n
ot
resolved
by
fu
the
attentions
Indeed
hen
t e ry
e n o u gh is pe r ceived or comp r ehended to r ivet atten tion this
r elig
em
ain
ing
in
sc
utabl
eness
enhances
indispensably
the
r
r
ious sentim ent Because His ways ar e past nding out H e
is s o m uch th e m o r e ado r ed We cannot g r asp the mys
w
w
of
th
e
t
an
scenden
t
n
ature
to
ard
hich the emotion s
r
t e r ie s
go forth but o u r thou g ht has rst l aid h old upon enough to
m ake u s ye a r n for mo r e S o that at l ast we can t ruly s ay

A G od u nde stood
r ld
w
oul
d
be
no
G
od
at
all
But
the
o
w
r
is in n o i m mediate dan g er from the wisdom of scien ce being
.

8
5

H OW

R EL I G I ON A R I S E S

ab le to fathom r e al ity and thus d est r oy w hat to u s i s a m os t

esse ntial elem en t of D eity ; n amely id eal ity With every
expl an atio n comes the tantal izing con sciousn e ss th at th e
s phe r e of myste r y is thereby enl a r ged even m ore than i t
was dimin ished s o that R eligio n is ce asing to fea r S cien ce
an d learn ing instead the res pect due to h e r be s t ally L ittl e
by l ittl e w i t h such aid s he is l e a r n ing those ways of D ivin
ity which may b e spoken an d ge t ting gli m pses of those w ays
which m ay n ot as ye t b e revealed
He r e also I must beg leave to recal l atten tio n to a

though t exp r esse d in 4 o n the use of the te r m religion

I t was there u rge d th at the wo r d mu st b e s o used as to
incl ude al l types of r el igious p he nom e n a
To this must n o w
b e adde d the statemen t that w hateve r theo ry of its roo t
o n e m ay r each i t m us t b e su fficien t to e xpl ain al l t ypes the
l o wes t as wel l as the highest the mos t u n usu al as w el l as
the m ost comm on I t is quite too custom ary in our d e n i
tion s an d theo r ies of the good ( in any sphe r e ) to fo rmul ate
the m s o as to r ul e ou t those vie w s w hich we do n o t h appen
to fan cy Bu t w h o m ay s ay that al l th at is no t as m ine is
n o t of faith ? Who o n his high b red pl an e sh all exclud e
from the n obil ity of th e rel igious the ea r ly m an who at the
d awn of self consciousn ess burs t in to emotion as he fo r the
rs t time b eheld th r ough s ome obj ect of n ature the m an i
f e s t at io n of a P r esen ce ak in to himself ? Who m ay s ay that
the A f rican s reve r en ce for his fetich eve n though h e b r ibes
?
o r og s it shal l n o t be hono r ed by the term religio n
S h all
w e of an other faith dub as irreligious the C hin am an s devo
tion to the phe n omen a of n ature an d to his ide al an cest r al
S pirits ? S hal l a Christian an thropomo r phism s ay to a C om te
ian hum an ita r ian ism Thy rel igio n is inde l ity ? If J oh n
S tu art Mill who coul d n d n o comfort i n the Ch r istian

creed coul d s ay of his w ife H e r m emo r y be came to me

a r eligion an d h e r app r obation the s tand a r d by which s u m
m ing up as it d id al l w o r thin ess I e nde avo r to r egul ate my

l ife
sh al l an orthodo x C hu r chm an sn ee r ingly say Tho u
h ast n o faith ? Must n ot e ach see for h imself if h e s ees ?
,

'

22

R E C ONS I DE R A T I ON

AN D

C ON C LUS I ON S

H e r eceives s o mu ch of the vision as he has eyes to see and

r
e ars to he a
n ot m o r e A nothe r cannot make a faith fo r
him He m ay it is t r ue b o r r o w his creed ; bu t this does
n ot bring him th e S pi r it Man must b r ing with him the
in sight The bl in d m an has n o ide a of colo r He wh o
d wel l s on the me r e an alysis of n ature kno ws and as su ch

w
can kno
n o G od He sees n o cha r acter whose eye is
o nly on th e form
H e gets n o e ffect of the pictu r e wh o
l ooks on ly at the daubs He pe r ceives no ideal wh o xes
o n ly upon the r eal
He m isses mos t w h o misses this ; fo r
the t r ue w o r th of this real is p r opo r tionate to its capacity fo r
e xp r essing the ide al
Wh at con stitutes the n atu r e of the p r imitive thought at
the source of the religious li fe as he r e developed must n o w
b e mo r e cle a r ly s e t fo r th We cann ot g o b ack to our mos t
p r imitive r eligious ancesto r and w atch the manifestations
o f his d a wn ing self consciousness study his en chan ted atti
tu de an d l ea r n by actual observation the mode of his
religious a w aken ing But this does not deprive us of a
n ea r ly e qual oppo r t u n ity We have w ithin ou rselves an d
ab ou t us n umbe r less m anifestations of the ve ry same th r ob
bing r estl ess life Ba r ri n g the un n atu r alness of o u r teach
ings an d the ar tic ialn e s s of our habits we can he r e st u dy
i t i n al l stages of its development Whe r e the pure l ife has
o pportun ity to live disenth r alled of the harn ess of galli n g
custom f r ee an d n atu r al as the bi r ds of the air it is not long
in l e a r ni n g to kno w the S oul in n ature D eep call s unto
The soul feels the N atu r e without r esponding to the
d eep
n atu r e w ithin L ittle by little this r ecip r ocity in c reases till
n ally the livin g hum an soul seeks a close r co m munion with
the living S oul of n atu r e N atu r e goes out to N atu re The

thought in the me is coming to pe r ceive the wond rous

m ean ing in th e A ll In proportion to the clea r ness of this
app r ehension of the deepe r meaning of the wo rld without
w il l be the profoundness of the emotion s sti r red an d also of
the effect of the r eligious ideal upon the active life of the
in dividual
.

0
6

H OW

R E LI G I ON A RI S E S

A n d thus ou t of the n atu r e of actual p r esen t psychical

experie nce we may d r aw an infe r e n ce ( having a fo r ce b eyon d
m ere theory) rega r d ing th e r s t r el igious experie n ce of
hum an ity Whe n m an h ad gotten s o far as to tu r n his
though t upon the w orl d ab ou t h im in the attitude of con
scious d iscern m e n t ; wh en the d a wn ing r e al iz ation that there
was som ething deepe r more profound than th e m ere su r face
of things h ad sho wn him r st be ame d into his g r oss m in d ;
wh e n th e r s t awaken ing of this recognition of t he som e
thing beyon d o r un derneath the m ere usual ph enom en a
which he h ad ever ob se rve d aroused his being
the n began
he to b e religious an d n ot til l then Though he m ay h av e
arrived at the stature of physical m an age s b efo re this
though he m ay h ave e x perien ced ever s o severe trials in t h e
stru ggle for existen ce though he m ay h ave yea r n ed fo r
assistance eve r s o pl aintively an d e arn estly though h e m ay
h ave b ee n ever s o advan ced in m echanical arts ever s o
ue n t of speech or ever s o sympathetic with his fell ows
stil l he was in n o historic or presen t e thn ol ogical sen se o f
the term religious N ot u n til the self becam e conscious o f
i tself as over agai n st what it suppose d an other S elf in n atu r e
seen i n a s ingle obj ect or in the tota lity an d u nity of a
u niverse
an d h ad conceive d of som e pe r son al rel ation ship
bet w ee n the two can religion be s aid to h ave begun When
th e in d ividual rs t con sciously an d more or less r e c og n iz
in g ly looks in to the face of the un ivers al he from tha t
m om en t becom es a religiou s being
I do n o t anywhe r e m ean to S et u p or side with any den it e
theo r y as to the n ature of the r st worship of m an S uc h
undertakings belong to the real m of the r andom guess wo r k
befo r e alluded to
The question is n ot here touche d
whether it was n ature worship fetichism , an imism poly
theism mon othe ism or wh at n ot O n any of th ese b ases
the V ie w here develope d holds valid U nle ss man in p rim i
tive times possesse d a psycho logical n atu r e enti r ely di ff eren t
i n k ind th e o r igin of his r el igious exp r ession cann ot h ave
b een othe r th an th at w hich is h ere attempted to b e e x

R E C ON SI DE R A T I ON

6I

A ND C ON CLUS I ONS

pl ained Hu m an mind bei n g in k in d what we kno w it

b e its degree of po w er eve r so l ow
r eligiou s developmen t
mu st h ave com e abou t in this o rde r of psychical function
This r el ation ship an d kin ship with the hea r t of n atu r e
o n ce h aving been perceived it m ay g r o w in to eve r cleare r
an d m ore den ite con sciousness The w ay in which it m ay
b e conceive d an d the forms w hich the conception m ay take
ar e as nume r ous as the possible r el ation s be t ween us and
n atu r e
H ence comes again in a mo r e fundamental way
the expl an ation of the cause of so m any and s o widely dive r
gen t theories about the source an d n atu r e of the r eligiou s
impulse N ume r ically as m any theories ar e possible as the
hum an spi r it h as m odes of man ifesting its r el ationship to t he
u niversal If they have n ot been called fo r th it is because
they h ave n ot yet been cle a r ly perceived by some l ive S pi r it
w ith n arro w vision
O n th e special question conce rn in g the rm n ess with
w hich this te ndency is r ooted in h uman natu r e bu t fe w
E ithe r r eligion is a t r an
addition al w o r d s ar e n ecess a ry
sien t stage belonging to m an in lowe r de g r ees of intelligence
o r it h as its b asis in som e funda m e n tal featu r e of intel
i tself O ne n eed not possess a g r eat po we r of p r escience to
s e e that it must b e only a t r ansitory attitude of mind if i t
h as its se at in mere blin d feelings of fea r need depe n de n ce
n g s ( and
for
as
soo
as
m
en
cease
to
h
ave
these
feeli
n
e tc ;
n othing is m o r e ce r tain than th at inc r easing kno w le d ge of
n atu r e an d com m an d of n atu r al resou r ces ar e destroyin g
the m ) they must necessa r ily cease to be r eligiously in clined
Bu t if we h ave understood the facts a r ight the basis of r elig
ion lies iii the possib il ity an d actu ality of the hum an con
r
r
r
t
w
a d hat g eat N atu e !
s c io u s n e s s tu r n ing in contemplation to
f r o m which it S p r ang ; and s o lon g as it necessa r ily holds
n
r
such an attitude sees something to ivet its attention ds
r s to n e w an d con t inued
w
omething
to
draw
forth
its
p
o
e
s
r el a
uncomp
ehended
an
d
r
ene r gies behol ds mysteries yet
re I s
to
n
atu
e
yet
unfulll
ed
so
long
and
so
secu
r
t io n s h ip s
h
e
t
r
more
t his idea cert ain to remain an all cont ol ling one
.

62

R EL I G I ON A RI S E S

H OW

so i n p r opo r tion as m an becom es a reecting being b ec aus e

w ith this the ide a g r o ws m ore an d more comp r ehen sive in
con ten t Mo r eove r with the developm en t of m ind it ce ase s
to be l imited to on e or t wo n otion s an d comes nally to tak e
i n the whol e of l ife E ve ry act of e very capacity comes t o
b e performed u nder devotio n to divin e ( N ature s ) l a ws an d
only when th e w hol e b eing i s unfol ded an d symm etrical ly de
v e lo p e d to the u tm os t of
its opportun ity an d capacity c an
The Opinion s ( creeds ) w hich this rel igiou s
th e soul rest
l ife holds an d the w ays ( cul tus ) i n which it e x presses itself
w ill vary an d ch ange from age to age as in tell i g e nce in
cre ases ; n o r can n or shoul d it be otherwise Yet the study
of his t ory forces upon u s the s ad reection th at f r om l ack
of b r ead th of outlook an d its accomp anying h O p e an d ch arity
th e views an d con duct of the p r esen t and the app r oaching
w il l n ot infrequen tly b e regarded by the p ast an d th e pass
ing as h aving l os t the essen tial s of faith an d as plunging
he adlong in to irreligion
,

O f such character an d p erm anen ce it is bel ieved is th e

I n the
p rimary el emen t common to all form s of rel igion
p r evious rem ark s is al so co ntain e d a hi n t of the e ff ort whic h
it is the obj ect of al l religion to re al ize In such consists
i ts u n iv er sal elem ents ; fro m these it b r anches in myriad rays
With addition s an d variation s we m eet it i n a thousan d
forms ; but covertly or overtly there is eve r presen t this rs t
conscious perceptio n of a L ife th at is g r eater than I an d
of a p ossibil ity th at is ful ler than the presen t l iving actual ity
Then com e an emotion al ye arn ing for the real izatio n an d
experien ce of that higher s tate a volitio nal activity in the
di r ection of its re al iz ation an d an aim ing at its expres
sion an d m an ifes tation
Sp eaking com p rehen s ively it is
l ife con sciously seeking to real ize itself I t i s n ot d i fcul t
to detect in the b ases t form s the germ of this which in its
highest expression is s o subli m e N o r since the hum an
became hum an h as it ce ased to h ave abundan t u t teran ce
,

6
3

R E C ON SI D E R A T I ON AN D C ON C L USI ON S

The deep spirits of the r ace al ways pe r ceiving this have

added catholicity to their insi g ht and r epl aced f retful anxie ty
by t rust L ooking o u t upon the wo rl d in suc h disce r nment
with such a conden ce and such a cha rity A ugustine said !

R e s ips a quae n un c r elig io Ch ristian a n u n cu p atu r erat

apud an t iqu o s n ec d e fu it ab initio gene ris hum an i quousque
C h r istu s v e n ir e t in c ar n e m
unde vera r eligio quae j am e r at

3
c o e pit C hristian a app e llar i
,

N O TE S

S ee his e x cellent a r ticle

( P age

The R eligio us V alue of the U nkno w

able in the w o r k entitled The N atu r e and R eality of R eligion ! A

C ont r ove r sy bet w een F r ede r ic H a r r ison an d H e r be r t S penc e r
N ew
! o r k 1 88 5
( P ag 8 )

2
A M F ai r bai r n
R eligion in H isto ry
L ondon 1 8 8 4
1

( P age

take pleas u r e in citing one of the f e w e x ceptions to th is quite

unive rsal attitude and dea r th of b r oad r eligious study befo r e o u r times
The Pe r sian E mpe r o r A kbar ( 1 54 2 1 6
0 5 ) r ose above the confusion and
divisions of h is day to w hat w e wo uld n o w te r m a compar ative study
of the r eligions of th e w o r ld H e w as pe r haps the r st to pe r ceive a
deepe r meaning and a w o r thie r obj ect of inte r est than their out w a r d
fo r ms ce r emon ies special doct r ines and names M ohammedans J e w s
C h r istians B r ahmans and Z o r oast r ians w e r e invited to his cou r t
He
k ept in employ phil ologians w hose w o r k w as the t r anslating of all the
sac r ed books of othe r peoples to w hich he could get access ; and e xp e
r ie n c e d r eade r s
daily fr om fo r eign lite r atu r es S ee an
r ead to him
e x tended accoun t of th e inves tigations and discussions of this r ema r k

able man in A b u lf az l s A in i A kba r i t r anslated by B lo c h m an n and

also e x t racts f r om the same in M ax M illle r s I nt r oduction to th e

S cience of R eligion
L ondon I 8 7 3 A pp to L ect 1
3

( P ag e
A n q u e t il d u

H yacinth e

Pe r r on late r a celeb r ated O rien

t alis t r etu r ned to Pa r is in 1 7 6
2 w ith Pe r sian and H indu lite r a r y t r eas u r es
to the n umbe r of one h und r ed and eighty manusc r ipts besides othe r
r a r ities w hich he had gathe r ed in I ndia unde r the g r eates t di fculties
I n 1 7 7 1 he published at Par is a F rench t r anslation of the A vesta f r om
the Z e n d This w as the r st kno wledge E u r ope h ad of E aste r n sac r ed
t r easu r es A begin ning w as made in S ansk r it lite r atu r e by S ir W illiam

J ones s t r anslation of S aco n t ala ; o r The F atal R ing an I ndian

d rama t r anslated f r om the o r iginal S ansk r it and Pr ac rit C alcutta I 7 8 9
4

A b r aham

( Page

I I

it may be asked I f w e ar e j ustied at th e p r esent stage of th e

investigation in asking f o r the psychological or igin of r eligion w h y may
we not also t r y and e x pect to r each a t r ue sol ution of the n at r e of it ?
5

B u t,

6
5

NO T ES

To this it must be r eplied W e m ay so far as w e have the data ; but

the data f o r the one are by no means the data fo r the othe r W hoeve r
has studied this tendency as it has been manifested among va rious
peoples m ust have discove r ed that theo r ies d r aw n f rom one species do
n ot al w ays t w hen applied to othe rs N 0 gr eat featu r e of h uman l ife
is such a monotony in its actual r ealization as to be limited to one o r
t w o cha r acte r istics n o r to be e x hausted in any single people
To illus
t r ate by analogy w e kno w enough about language and languages to
unde r take and doubtless discove r its psychological o r igin ; but wh o
w ould da r e assume in face of the yet unsolved r iddles of linguistic
r elationships and the nume r ous unkno w n o r impe r fectly kno w n tongues
to e x pound and e x plain the natu r e manifestations char acte r istics and
many S ided functions of language ? N ot mo r e are w e in position to do
in the eld of r eligion
I n the name of t r ue science then it must be insisted that any genuine
and faithful philosophical study of r eligion depends absolutely on the
c ompleteness and tho r oughness of the h is t o r ico ethnical study w hich

has p r eceded it A ll othe r S O called philosophy of r eligion is but a

lar ge r o r smalle r accumulation of speculations and fancies having no
mo r e ce r tainty of t r uth than guesses gene r ally do S uch philosophies
may be to some e x tent philosophies of the thinke r s o wn faith o r that
but they have not the slightest claim as e x planations of
o f his sect
o the r s faiths o r of the s ubj ect as a w hole
,

( P age

6I t

is not necessar y f o r the pu rposes of this essay to fu r the r sub

d ivide the mental functions yet a r ema r k by w ay of a note may help
to ins u r e clear ness I t w ill be obse r ved that w hat w e te r m m in d is he r e

or
a
n
t
w
o
ega
ded
manifesting
at
bottom
tendencies
impelling
r
as
r
imp ulsive and a comp r ehending o r cognitive These ope r ate comb inedly
in all mental f u n c t idn in g Thus w ill is a compound of impulse and
e
i
r
onscio
usness
fo
ming
hat
sometimes
te
m
attention
con
w
e
;
w
r
c
w
r
o
impelled
to
a
d
a
denite
obj
ect
end
S
o
too
ith all
r
w
s c io u s n e s s
i n tellect ion the r e goes this fundamental impellent inducing spontaneity
S imple
F eeling is an insepa r able condition of all consciousness

feeling is a cognitive act W hat ar e usually set do w n as the emotion s

n tellectual
r
r
o
feel
ings
but
the
g
eate
less
intensiveness
of
the
i
r
ar e
or
r ding to the obj ect upon
cognitive
consciousness
and
named
acco
r
e
a
r
o
S ensation a phenomenon of the senses
w hich the r ecognition is x ed
is to be car efully distinguished f r om feeling meaning emotion Th r ough
r
r
r
a
e
o
r
the senses and idea izing po w e r obj ects
though ts
b ought befo e
the consciousness They p r oduce a ce r tain imp r ession o r state I f the
n S I e d
t
e
I
n
obj ect be r etained in attention this state is h eightened

s ay
ooded
ith
emotion
accustomed
to
I
t
must
be
(
r
e
a
e
w
w

r w h i ch the
f
i
ema
ked
in
passing
that
this
h
eighten
ng
has
its
limits
a
te
r
r
,

6
6

H ow

R E LI G I ON A RI S E S

specic emotion is lost enti r ely and its O pposite condition sets in as
e x pe riments have sho w n ) I n this w ay may be e x pl ained all th e va rieties
and g r ades of emotions F eeli ng is often spoken of as in some w ay
a conscio us fac u lty of mind ; but in s uch cases th e notion is al w ays
confused and mi x ed up w ith cogn itive function F eeling apar t fr om
cognition o r r ath e r w ithout cognition as its substance w ould be blind
vacan t w ithout content I t has no meaning apar t f r om an act of th e
kno w ing f aculty The s o called highe r feeling o r supe r io r faculty made
s o much of in all mystic philosophies is S impl y the intensied and e x clu

sive use ( so f ar as may be ) of w hat is sometimes called r eason ; i e

th e s ynthetic ope r ation of intellect
,

( P age I 6)
.

To be t r eated scientically r eligion like eve r y oth e r h uman e x p r es

sion sh ould be investigate d histo r ically ethnologically and p h ilo s o phi
cally ; in othe r w o r ds in te r ms of time of space and of inmost natu r e
o r essence the t w o fo r me r being the indispensable p r epa r ation f o r the
latte r I nasmuch as th e r e is vi r tually no histo r y obtainable in the con
t in u o u s ch r onological sense f o r most of the peoples of th e w o r ld th e
histo r ical and the ethnological s tudy must go hand in hand
The rst r equisite then is to obtain th r o ugh ethnology a gene r al
notion of the r aces of men and of their var ious leading b r anches past
and p r esent E ach special people developed in compar ative in d ep en
dence among othe r p r oducts have p r oduced a r eligion peculiar to them
selves and thei r cir cumstances They the r efo r e fo r m s o many leading
subj ects of h is t o rico ethnical inqui r y unde r each of w hich many ques
tions ar e to be asked ; and fr om the multitude of ans w e r s r etu r ned may
b e unde r taken the building up of the body o r supe rst r uctu r e of a genuine
science of r eligion The follo wing o utline of topics contains some of
the many inquir ies to be made in the study of each special r eligion
7

O U T LI N E O F

I N Q U I R I E S F O R A H I S TO R I C O E T H N I C A L
S T U D ! O F R E LI G I O N S
I P RE L I M I NA R! Q U E S TI ON S
.

Th e R acial R elations of the S pecial People

Thei r R elative Position in H isto r y and the P r incipal G r eat
E vents in their C a r e er
Thei r R esidence an d Physical S u rr oundings !
C lim ate
cold ho t mode r ate and stimulating
L and su r face mo untainous level plateau dese r t
W ate r r ive r s lakes seas a r chipelago
F lo r a fauna mine r als
S t r iking natu r al ph enomena s to r ms h u rr icanes volca
.

n o e s , e ar t h
'

k
a
.
u
es
q

6
7

NO T E S
4

Thei r S tage of D evelopment in G ene r al

M ate r ial
H o w do they live ? ( I ) B y h unting and s h
ing ; ( 2 ) by he r ding and pastu r ing ; ( 3 ) by agricultu re ;
tools
( 4 ) by agr icultu r e manufactu r e and t rade
w eapons shelte r
I ntellectu al language lite r atu r e ar t
S ocial family gove r nment
M o r al
vi r tues and vices in thei r o w n r egar d r elation s
to su r r ounding nations

II

S O U RCE

OF

THE I R R E L I G I ON

I F o unde r

F o unde r s chief c ir cumstances of their lives

R elative O iginality and C hief S ou r ces of I n ue n ce
S ac r ed Lite r atu r e
divisions gene r al Cha r acte r theo r etic
o r igin actual o rig1n

or

I II T H EI R C ONC E T I ON O F TH E U N I
I ts F o m S hape
P

or

ER S E !

N atu r e o r S ubstance
I ts O r igin o r C r eation
Thei r Theo r y of the S ou r ce of
I ts

I V T H EI R
.

vil

TI ON S O F S U P ER NA TU R A L B EI N GS
THEI R
THEISM !
N ames N atu r e and F unctions of the G ods A r e they
S imple tangible o r visible obj ects stones bones shells
C

ONC E

he r bs bits of w ood feathe rs w eapons r ocks w ate r

ski s animals par ticular places ; i e to w hat e x ten t
is f eti /z z s m p r evalent ?
S emi tangible o r semi visible obj ects
mountains r ive r s
ea r th r e w ind r ain lightning ; i e to w hat e x ten t
?
i
r
s
/
z
does a lo w e r n at u r e w or p p evail
I ntangible o r invisible obj ects sky sun moon star s
daw n spir its of ancesto r s and of gr eat men s pi rits
in and independent of obj ects pe r sonied abst r act
?
conceptions of vi r tues fates etc
( These th r ee
char acte r istics ar e developed f r om a s u gges t io n made
by M ax M iiller H ib L ect
! ( I ) liv ing o r
r
a
e
f
om
anothe
point
of
vie
they
w
r
r
r
O
depar ted h uman spir its ? ( 2 ) t r ansfo r med hum
or
natu
al
fo
phenomena
r ces and
r
S pi r its ? o r
(3 )
?
i
r
imagined po w e rs modelled on h uman sp its
W hethe r the p oly t/z ei in is of a miscellaneous democ ratic
?
monar chical o r henotheistic conception
n

'

68

H ow

W heth e a

R EL IG I ON A RI S ES

conception is attained by indi

v id u als o r by th e people at any time in thei r ca r ee r ?
W hethe r they developed a p b ilos op by and if so w hat
it attained to du alism spi r itual monism o r mate
r ialis t ic monism ?
C ha r acte r of the G ods
po w e r w isdom b en e ce n ce malev
o len ce
( O nly dualistic r eligions divide thei r deities into
divine and demoniacal and thei r futu r e state into heaven
and hell )
r

on ot/z eis tic

V THEI R
.

I
3

ONC E PTI ON O F
O r igin

H is

M AN S N A TU RE !

R elation to S upe r natu r al B eings

The C har acte r of their I dea of S alvation ( if any ) ; i e f r om
w hat to w hat ? I s it only sensuously though t o r does
it r efe r to some condition o r state of mind to be avoided
an d some spi r itu al accomplishment to be aimed at and
if the latte r w hat is th e chief featu r e of the r esulting
mental development intellectual mo r al s ympath etic
aesthetic e tc ?
Thei r N otion of a F utu r e L ife death r esu r r ection r egion
of the dead ( immediately afte r death and their pe r manent
abode w hethe r (a ) in solitar y go r ges and v alleys o r on
h ill tops w he r e the living r ar ely go ; ( b) on distant islands
to w a r d the setting s u n ; ( c) in an unde r and S hado w y
r ealm belo w o u r w o r ld ; ( a ) among th e sta r s o r beyond
them in a heavenly kingdom f o r the good and a lo w e r
place of p unishment o r to r ment f o r the w icked ; ( e) a
S pi r itual state out of spacial r elations )
H is

'

V I W H A T S U G G E S TI ON D O E S T H EI R E N V I R ON M E N T O FF ER T O W A RD
E ! P L A I N I N G TH EI R T H E I S M AN D E S C H A T O L O G ! ?
V I I C U LT U S !
I C r eeds
char acte r and r elation to th e autho r ity on w h ich
they assume to be based h o w r egar ded ?
2
p r aye r s offe r ings sac ices assemblies songs
C e r emonies
dances incantations feasts fasts
r th
O
bi
r dinances having r ega r d specially to individual l ife
3
cir cumcision con r mation baptism mar r iage anointing
of the sick b u r ial commemo r ation canonization e xco m
.

u n ic at io n

O r gan izations !

I nstitutions sects
,

P r iesthood
ments

its o r de r s o r dination duties standing vest

,

NO T ES
S hamans

so r ce re rs magicians medicine men m iracl e

w o r ke r s p r ophets
5 Places of W o r ship temples alt ar s sac r ed g oves
i
ll
r
h s
v alleys ; sac r ed utensils
6 S ymbolism geomet ric fo rms monogr ams pai t ng u e
n i
s
r
s
g
,

V III

M O R A L T E AC H I N G S ( o r

L ife

I !

R elation of the R eligion to P racti cal

vir tues vices )

P R O G RE SS I V E O R DO G M ATI C I N T E N DE NC !
I D i r ection and S t r ength of this
2
H e r esies their natu r e
w hethe r par ty r eactions o r
gr o w ths of thought ) thei r t r eatment by the dominant
faith

TH

I
2

3
! I

E
.

CE

N TR A L I DE A O F

TH E R E L I G I ON

I n Theo y
I ts G eatest E mphasis in its P actical C a ying out
O the E ssential I deas
r

rr

I T S P E C U L I A R C ON TR I UTI ON T O W A RD S H O W I N G
O R F ULL C ON TE N T O F R E L I G I O U L I F E

THE S CO P E

( P age

The te r m W ill he r e as w ell as those of E motion ( o r F eeling ) an d

Thought as topics of late r sections ar e to be unde rstood acco r ding t o
the old and gene r al th r eefold pa r tition of mental functions The table
given on a p r evio us page sho w s the sense in w hich the w r ite r r egar ds it
8

( P age
9

R eligion ist ( s ubj ective bet r achtet ) das

Pich t e n als gOtt lich e r G ebote R eligi
i
bl s n Ve n nf t 2 A u 1 7 9
4 iv 1

os e

10

A bbot
11

( P age

C r itique
,

d er

alle r unse r er
Gr e n z e n d er

of the P r actical R eason

L ondon 1 8 7 9 p 2 56

S ee his
.

n n er /z alb

on

E rk e n n t n is s

T ranslated by

W eil indessen j ede a

( P age

u f s t at u t ar is ch e n

G esetzen e rr ichtete

K ir che

sofe r n die w ah r e sein kann als sie in S ich ein P r incip e n t h zilt S ich
dem r einen V e rn u n f tglau b e n ( als demj enigen d e r w enn e r p ract is ch is t
in j edem G lauben eigentlich die R eligion ausmacht ) b e s t an dig z u n ab e rn
und den K ir chengl auben ( nach dem w as an ihm histo r isch ist ) mit d e r
Z eit entbeh r en z u k On n e n so w e r den w ir in diesen G esetzen und an d e n
'

n ur

'

R EL I GI ON A R I S ES

H OW

da rauf ge griin d e t en K i r che doch einen D ienst ( C ultus ) d e r

K ir ch e sofe r n setzen k On n e n als diese ih r e L eh r en un d A no r dnung
j ede r zeit auf j enen letzten Z weck ( einen Off e n t lich en R eligio n s glau b e n )
r ichten
(l c p
(P g
12 F ichte r educed this to its consequences
j ust as h e did K ant s
theo r y of r eality H e held as above e x plained that mo r al ity is all
that is needed f o r life ; that r eligion is imp r actical no t p r actic al and
w h en applied to conduct conduct s uffe r s
That society w h ich uses it
as a s uppo r t to mo r al action is co r r upt o r lo w in the s tage of h umanity
R eligion is useful as kno w ledge to e x plain th e deepes t things to give
insigh t into o u r natu r e and to r educe things to ha r m o ny
B eamten d e r

( P age

A s stated in N ote

13

8,

I use the te m emotion he e st ictly in the

r

old o r usual psychological meaning as one of the th r ee p rime faculties

of mind I t is seen f r om the analysis given in 3 that the vie w h e r e
maintaine d leaves no possibility f o r eithe r a pu r ely o r p r edominantly

emotion al r eligion but th at r eligions so designated nd thei r p e cu l

iar it y o r distinctive cha r acte r in the fact that they ar e the intensied and
e x t r avagan t e x e r cise of some single cognitive tendency
,

( Page

keine E m pn d u n g die nich t f r omm w ar e ausse r sie

de ute auf einen k rankhaften v e r d e r b t e n Z ustand des L ebens d e r sich
dann auch den ande r en G ebieten m it th e ile n muss Ueber d ie R eligi on
3 A u s g 1 8 2 1 pp 7 8 and 1 8 0 also 1 0 8
( F i rst e d 1 7 99; n e w c d
I n a note on this passage w r itten fo r th is th ir d edition h e says he
has nothing to take back f r om the unive rsal ity of the asse r tion ( l c
p
F r om h is C h r istliche G laubensleh re B e rlin 1 8 3 5 E d I ( 1 A u s g
1 8 2 1
22 ;
1 2
I cite th e t w o follo w ing statements
5 A u 1 86
D ie F ro m m igk e it w elche die B as is alle r kir chlichen G e m e in s chaf
ten ausmacht is t r ein f iir sich be t r achte t w ede r ein W issen noch e in
Thun sonde r n eine B estimmth eit des G e fiihls ode r des unmittelba r en

p
S elbstbe w usstseins
R eden tibe r die R eligion pp
( 6
( Cf
56

D as gemeinsame alle r noch s o ve rschiedenen A e u s s e r u n g e n d e r

F ro m m igk e it w odu r ch diese sich zugleich von allen ande r en G efiihlen
unte rscheiden also das sich selbst gleiche W esen d e r F ro m m igk e it ist
dieses dass w ir uns unse r e r selbs t als schlechthin abh an gig ode r w as
dasselbe sagen w ill als in B ezieh ung mit G ott be w uss t s ind
(l c
14

gie b t

'

1 5.

( P age

R eden asks his cultu ed r eade r w h o

asc r ibes the o r igin of r eligion to fea r
M usst I h r nicht gestehen dass
15

S chleie r mache r in his

,

NO T E S
w enn

es sich s o ve r hielte und die F ro m m igke it mit d e r F u rcht ge ko m

men w ar e S I e auch mit d e r F u r cht w iede r gehen m iis s te ? ( A u
3
p
,

16

( P age

F i st P inciples
P r inciples of S ociology Pa r t
S ee his

Pa r t I
The U nkno w able
va rious chapte rs

al s o

( Page

43

F i ed i ch H ein ich Jacobi U ebe r die L eh r e des S pinoza in

B r iefen an M endelssohn
1 78
2
A u s g I 78 9
D
avid
H
ume
den
(
i
i
b
5
e
r
;
)
G lauben ode r I dealismus und R ealismus 1 7 8 7 ; V on den gOt tliche n
D ingen und ih r e r O ffenbar ung 1 8 1 1 ( 2 A g
W e rke
H is
6B d e L eipzig 1 8 1 2 2 4
Jacobi s stand point has been cal led emotion philosophy and
faith philosophy
H e wr ote w ithout the customa y school t e rm i o l
ogy mo r e in the fo r m of apho ism than demonst ative a gument H e is
no system make r To him thought is too pa tial and limited f o r demon
s t r at io n
I ts business is to see and connect facts I t sees them by im
mediate intuition o r faith This act of mind he neve r analyzed I f he
had h e w ould have seen that his immediate kno w ledge his belief was
not a simple act of mind but r athe r a ve ry comple x p ocess of thought
17

us

( P age
18

V o les ungen
his W e r ke B d e ! I and
L ogic of H egel ( P olo g o m
S ee his

die Philosophie d e r R eligion etc ( in

! I I
also W illiam W allace The
e n a and t r anslation )

iib e r

( Page

This is not the place to indulge in a discussion ove r H egel s

conclusions as to the natu r e pe rmanence and place of religion A t
anothe r time unde r the conside r ation of the pa r ts played by var ious
mental functions in making up the s u bs tan ce of r eligion his r esult may
r eceive fu r the r attention
19

P e s c h el

of r eligion w hich seems at rst

to be founded on the facts in e x pe r ience is that w hich bases itself in t h e
r equi r ement of a C ause f o r ou r selves and f o r the w o rld about us
O ne
of the clear es t e x p r essions of this vie w w as p r esented by O sca r Peschel
I t is not the psychological analysis of a philosophe r but rathe r the
induction of an ethnologist ; ye t it is given w ith such philosophical
r e ections as
to j ustify mention he r e H e says ! I n all s tages of
c ivilization among all r aces of mankind r eligious emotions are alw ays
a r oused by the same in w a r d impulse the necessity of disce rning a caus e
o r autho r f o r eve r y phenomenon o r
event
A ll religious emo tions
p r oceed only f r om the desi r e f o r acquaintance w ith the C reato r and the
w o r ship of a deity is e x tinguished the instant that it ceases to satisfy t h e
20

C au s alit y

( P age 4 7
A theo r y

R E LI G I ON A RI S ES

H OW

equi r emen t of causality

( The R aces of M an and thei r G eog r aphical
D ist r ibution T r anslated L ondon 1 8 7 6 pp 2 4 5 and
This is
a vie w w hich bespeaks a g r eat degr ee of condence in the r easoning
tendency of man mo r e indeed than w o uld be gene r ally asc r ibed to
ce r tain r aces lo w do w n in th e h uman scale The s o called savage h as
gene r ally n o denite notion of cause yet no one n o w denies his r eligiou s
manifestations To his supe r stitio us w ay of looking at things the notion
of magic o r the accomplishmen t of designs w ithout adequate cause is
f ar m o r e p r obable
B u t even this lo w idea w hich it may be r eplied is
a p r imitive notion of causality is har dly a necessa r y conception f o r the
r st gleams of r eligious inclination To the childish and p r imitive minds
the notion of cause in any sense S imilar to w hat w e mean by the te r m
has neve r been a r oused Things ar e taken f o r gr anted The r e is no
tho ugh t of thei r being b r ough t about o r manufactu r ed I n M r s S to w e s

U ncle Tom s C abin Topsy r eplies in ans w e r to the question W h o

made h e r I S pecs I j ust gr o w ed

Peschel cites a cas e to S h o w
the r ema rkable st r ength O f the idea of cause among heath en peoples ;
namely w e ar e told by a native M e x ican histo r ian ( I x tlilxo ch itl) that
the r eno w ned kin g Te z cu co s N e t z ah u alc o yo t z fn w o r shipped an unkno w n
god w hich he called the C ause of causes ( S ee W H P r escott C o n
quest of M e x ico i
B u t if this p r oves anyth ing r elevan t to the
question it goes to S ho w the r ar ity of this idea S o high a thought
could neve r be at the foundation of the r eligious phenomena of peoples
w h o ar e ages belo w it acco r ding to the o r dina r y r ate of developmen t
I ndeed both the h isto r y of r eligion and science go to S h o w th at th e
notion of a causally connected w o rld of obj ects is one of the latest to be
b r ought about I t implies the conception of unity in natu r e w hich eve ry
scientist upon r e ection kno w s to be fo r eign to the minds of men p re
v io u s to a ce r tain high stage of cultu r e
The di ffe r ence bet w een the
pe rfection of this idea of causal connection in the savage and enlightened
m inds accounts f o r the be w ilde r ing and deg r adin g polytheism of th e o n e
and th e ennobling monotheism of the othe r That the notion of caus e
is in timately connected w ith the r eligious idea fr om th e time w h en man
r st begins to look f o r causes I have no doubt ; bu t that man w as
r eligious
minded befo r e he w as eno ugh of a philosophe r to think of
such r elations is indicated by th e kno w n facts of savage life of child
h ood and by the psychol ogical ans w e r of w hat constitutes the ea r lies t
r eligious attitude
( P ag

21 R obe r t B o
B ishop B lo u gr am s A pology
r w ning
( A philosoph
ical poem )

'

( P age

22

S e e his

A u tobiogr aphy

58

L ondon

187

( P age
Q3

SE

A ugustine ( A ur elius A ugustinus ) R et r act

,

A D D I TI O N AL R E FE

R E N CE

I n addition to the chief autho ities ( which a cited in the N ote )

I wish to e x p ess indebtedness f stimulation and valuable suggestion
r

re

or

eceived fr om the follo w ing w o r ks also r ead

pa r t since this essay w as begun !

h olly o r in conside r abl e

i t o n D G The R eli gious S entiment

C ai r d E d w ar d
H egel
The Philosophy of R eligion
C ai r d J o h n
Th e G r ound w o r k of B elief
C an dl e r H
Ten G r eat R eligions I ( z l s t ed )
C la r k e J F
E ssays II
C l iffo r d W K
( E thics and R eligion )

C on ict in N atu r e and L ife

( A nonymou s )
B oston M onday L ectu r es f o r 1 884
C o ok J o s e p h
E ssays I and II also L ectu r es and B iog r aphical
E m er s on R W
S ketches
The S cience of Though t
E v e r e tt C C
S tudies in the Philosophy of R eligion and H isto ry
F ai r bai rn A M
G eschichte d er neue r en Philosophie
F alc k e n b e r g R
The D estiny of Man
F i s k e J oh n
J am e s W illi am
R ation ality A ctivity and F aith ( I n P r in ceton
B

r n

ev iew

Ja

Theo r y of M o rals ( T r anslated f rom the F r ench by

M a r y C hapman )
A ids to the S tudy of G e r man Theolo gy ( 2 d ed )
M at h e s o n G
N atu r e the U tility of R eligion and Theism
M ill J S
The B asis of R eligion
M o m er ie A W
h
e
t
r
1
8
ell
e
H
ibbe
t
L
ectu
es
and
I
nt
oduction
to
r
8
f
o
r
r
M ax
r
Mu
7
S cience of R eligion
r G r undlage
tt
R
eligionsphilosophie
auf
geschichtliche
P e id e r e r O o
P au l

n et,

(2 A u )
.

P u en j

e r,

G r und r iss

d e r R e ligio n s p h iI O S O p h ie

r an slated
r
(
il
e
P
olegomena
to
the
H
isto
y
of
R
eligion
T
r
R ev l A
f r om the F r ench )
The R eligious A spect of Philosophy
R o y c e J o s i ah
?
n
a
a
r
t
n
U
I
s
a
S
cience
of
R
eligion
Possible
I
n
i
i
(
M
e
a
v
a
S
J
g
R e v ie w J une 1 8 8
.

H ow

74

!S e e l e y

y th , N e w m
S t r au s s , D F

Sm

R EL I GI ON A R I S ES

atu r al R eligion ( 2 d ed )
an
The R eligious F eeling
The O ld and the N e w F aith

( T r anslated

fr om the

G e r man )
.

Tie

e,

C P
.

by J

U e b e rw e g ,

V ol I I
.

The H isto r y of R eligions

C a r pente r )
Fr
H isto r y of Philosophy

( T r anslated f r om th e

D utch

r
rr
T
anslated
by
G
S
M
o
is )
(
.

V a rio us books too n ume r ous to mention h e r e o u the histo r y

of ph ilosophy and of the diffe r ent r eligions h ave also been used du r ing
this time in p r epar ation of othe r w o r k w hich the wr ite r is doing w ith in
these elds
.

A U T O B I O G R A P H I CA L S K E T C H

Th e mo r ning of J une 1 7 I 8 5 1 r evealed to the w r ite r the w o rld in

w hich he still moves and conce r ning w hich he has not since ceased to
w onde r admi r e and inqui r e
H is par ents S amuel and E unice ( n ee
V ar num ) W a r d w e r e then living in D o r cheste r M iddlese x C ounty C an
A t s ix he ente r ed the co unt r y dist r ict school in D o r cheste r and attended
it r egular ly till fou r teen w hen he w as w ithd r aw n to assist on the farm
B et w een seventeen and nineteen he aspi r ed to teach school and w as
fou r times aw a r ded ce r ticates of the second gr ade by the county e x am
in e r s
B u t failing to secu r e a position on account of his youthfulness
h e w ent to To r onto to attend comme r cial college and lear n telegr aphy
B usiness in this line not opening up at once he taught a school in
F r emont M ich du r ing the w inte r of 1 8 7 1 7 2 The w ielding of the
b i r ch
p r oved unsatisfacto r y and a pe r iod at high school w as dete r
m
ined upon as a p r epar ation fo r highe r teach ing A t M emphis M ich
a year and a half w as S pent in this w ay a ce r ticate of the r st gr ade
obtained and a position secu r ed in the inte r mediate depar tment of the
city schools in Po r t H u r on H e r e again the c r aving f o r highe r kno wl
edge w as inc r eased ; and in the fall of 1 8 7 4 he mat r iculated at H illsdale
A t the end of the r st yea r fo reseeing something of the
C ollege
ental gr o w th that w as in sto r e f o r him he dete r m ined that it should
m
be enj oyed by o r shar ed w ith h e r w hom he e x pected late r to be his
C o r ss of M emphis ) else he w ould give up the
w ife ( M iss Z uba A
p u r suit f o r himself The pecuniar y ci r cumstances of all conce rned
r ende r ed the unde r taking impossible by each single handed ; and the

t w ain w e r e made one ( A ug 1 8

and the one attended
A t H illsdale the w r ite r continued the study
c ollege toge the r the r eafte r
d
a
n
E
languages
L
atin
G
eek
G
e
man
nglish
physical
science
r
r
of
)
(
mathematics took up biology philosophy gene r al histo r y and theology
r of 1 8 7 9 he w as elected
iblical
dogmatic
p
I
n
the
summe
r actical )
B
(
p r incipal of the N o r the r n O hio C ollegiate I nstitute at S outh N e w
L yme O hio and he r e fo r th r ee year s besides the management of the
A cademy gave the inst r uction in histo r y elements of logic ethics physi
r eache r
w
a
s
r
logy
pedagog
cs
and
elocution
O
ne
yea
of
this
time
he
p
i
o
r incipalship to
r
2
the
vill
ge
ch
u
ch
I
n
J
une
he
esigned
the
p
1
8
8
r
a
at
unde rt ake a cou r se of yet highe r study in H ar var d U niversity C am
b r idge M ass Ph I lo s o p h y and compar ativ e histo ry and ethnology of
,

eligions thencefo r th occupied his attention guided by the lectur es o f

P r ofesso r s E ve r ett Palme r J ames Peabody R oyce E me r ton Toy and
L yon I n J une 1 88 5 he w o n at H a r var d the W alke r ( T r avelling)
F ello w ship and in A ugust s e t sail fo r a pe r iod of study in E u r ope The
rst year w as spent in the R oyal Fr ede r ic W illiam s U nive rsity of
B e r l in hea r ing lectu r es f r om P r ofesso r s Z elle r Paulsen V on G iz yck i
D u B o iS R eymond O ldenbe r g E r man and D r D e u s s e n ; and the second
in the U nive r sity of L eipzig unde r th e inst r uction of P r ofesso r s H einze
W undt R atzel S eydel M au re n br e ch e r and D r L indne r I n both of
these latte r institutions the same line of study h as been pu r sued The
gold medal of the A mph ictyon S ociety of H illsd ale C ollege w as aw ar ded
him at the J unio r O r ato r ical C on test in N ovembe r 1 8 7 7 ; the A B
degr ee f r om H illsdale C ollege in J une 1 8 7 8 ; that of A M f r om H ar
va r d U nive r sity in 1 88 3 ; and that of D B fr om H illsdale in 1 88 4 H e
is indebted and gr ateful beyond e x p r ession to his teache r s one and all
not only fo r inst r uction r eceived b ut f o r th ei r tole r ation sympathy and
kin dly advice
r

..