St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-06


ciation)
| a full grown man, the measure Of the
| stature OF the fullness Of Christ.-Ephesians
| w., Ii:
| The question to which I desire to
make an answer is, What is the use
| of religion?" The common method Of
putting that question is, What is the
use of religion anyway" The subject
is SO large and reaches so far that L
would rather say what is the use, or
what are the uses, of religion every
| way; and by the answer to that aspect
of the question 1 think we would get
nearer to the fact, though we may not
be able to give all the facts in the an
swer
Each institution that mans need en-
ploys, every organization in which the
past is crystallized, every organism in
Which the life of the past is preserved,
each of these make answer, why it is.
what it's distinction is, what it's uses
are, or must give way to the next stage
of evolution.
For the institution that is behind
FORCES on the shell of the present in
stltutlon, as plainly as the growing life
Oh the higher orders of being repudi-
ates the shell of the crustacean. It's
lie seeks larger life, and by virtue
Oh that he that would stay upon the
stage OF ife's activities must show
what he can do to justify his being.
Religlon is no exception to this rule;
IL is perfectly proper that from all
SIDES should rise the question, What
IS the use of religion?"
For if you will take one or two of the
aspects IN which religion appears, You
VIII see how pertinent is this inquiry.
For instance, religion has levied trib.
ute upon the world as relentlessly as
any baron robber of the Rhine: it has
taken into its capacious demand the
lives of millions of men and women.
not simply as workers, but as idlers
also in the worlds history. It not only
thus eXacts tribute from the world.
but from the first it repudiates asso-
Citations on equal terms with the world
because it holds the world as inimicaI
to the ministry of religion; it has re-
cruited by thousands for the ministry
OF religion, privileged class" which
has been exempted from the ordinary
struggle for existence. When a war
does this and leads out of the com
mon ranks all workers. men who go
to the field Of battle, and who stay
there, precious seed in that blood-be,
dewed soil, by the stern determination
of conflict, nations so at war have to
show now to the civilized world why
they are exempt from the charge of
wasting human life; and if they cam
not show it satisfactorily to the peo-
pie they represent, the nations that
look on lament and condemn the fate
of that people where every man has
a soldier on his back"
SO also 1t has come about naturally
that the great mass of humanity that
is unconcerned about it's ecclesiastical
institutions should pity the religionists
who are borne down either in reve-
nue., or burdened by eXaCtions in the
name of religion, or else assume to
have great many institutions that
are exempted from paying their SHARE
to the common revenue of the nation
If they do not pay in coin, they have
to show, and they will be required
TO show, that they pay some othe"
wey, for we recognize that coin is
not the only thing bartered in ex
change.
For this reason alone, the question
what is the use of religion?" seems
to be natural and relevant. But when
you remember that in it's history il
has passed through five, at least, dis
tinct and unmistakable gradations OF
change, religion must answer, how il
is that it still survives and what it
has to show for itself, why it is that
religion is left when other things have
persisted. Is it the survival, a remain
der of some order that used to be. o..
vicfa IL
stage of its development as vital. as
legitimate, as rational and necessary.
as in the past?
What are these stages through
which the religious history of the
world has passed? For instance. re.
Igion began as a means of defense
against the evil powers which over
shadow human life; in the second stage
to be defended from the evil powers
the Worshiper sought the other powers
to whom it attributed goodness, and
asked the forgiveness Of it's sin by
sacrifice that might atone for sin and
be acceptable to God. Then followed
the effort TO find in religion a means
or discovering the will of God. and
an instrument by which likeness to
God should be produced, that is. the
transfer to religion of the imperative
ideal which has always been in human
nature.
Human interest now takes the no.
menclature of religion, and seeks in
religion the expression of a part of
the natural equipment of the human
mind; it affirms that religion is a pari
of the order of human life, and thus
declares for the naturalness of religion.
Now, by virtue of these stages alone
1t is right that man should ask wheth-
er religion simply remains persistent
tendency, an unappeased passion, or
whether it now enters into the present
age, new, radiant, potent, assertive
of new dynamic influence in human
life in the name of religion.
What is the use of religion? is the
question. 1 pass lightly over that as
pect Of the sway of religion, which
has played so large a part in the
world, and is still playing its part in
some parts of the world today, namely,
that it is the police administration of
religion for the regulation of human
conduct, for the preservation of So
ciety, for to hold in leash the hounds
Of life.
pass lightly over it, for it is not a
part of the universal order, any more
than the monastery and the church,
which are necessary incidents, are a
part Of the universal order. Let this
not seem g. word of opposition to the
institutions of religion. It has Scrip
ture for its warrant. I find it's forecast
when I read that fine, daring state
ment of the Seer recorded in the book
of Revelation, which John sees in the