The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-22

01b1y 4Avo handed down fne1S oolle1 q
the pegpls: but the course q Aunal
thoalAt Aoss not run aeainst caste re.
strictions. particularly mot Y Oriental
to be preached 10 the laboring classes q
New York. to the employees OF the sweat
| shops on the East Side, and the converts
mainly confined to that grade Of eoclety.
how long would It take to convert the
whole city!
The leaders Of thought who have chang
ed the forms OF religion in this country
| thus far have appealed to independent
thinkers here and there among the people.
Emerson. "the New England Greek" WAS
read with eagerness by people weary OF
dogmatic discussions, In every part Of the
country. The calm reasonablene6s OF his
essays dispeIlcd the smoke Of theological
battles. and no man who has read and
loved Emerson, Ruskin, or Carlyle in his
youth will ever be willing to allow that
differences OF creed affect the eternal SAL
walton OF any Of the human race. Inger-
soil, the iconoclast, furnished weapons for
the destruction Of dogma, and he prob
ably had as much to do with the present
unity OF the orthodox church as any one
man. He stripped the husks from what
went by the name OF Christianity and
made people look fo- the kernel. He ex-
posed the absurdity Of laying stress on
non-essentials, and drove his Opponents to
rest their case, not on baptism, or predes-
tination. or the story of Jonah. but ON the
everlasting truth OF the Ten Command
ments. the Golden Rule. and belief in God.
Having come to the general conclusion
that God, as personality, does not inter-
fere directly in the affairs OF this world
that he does not send frost. or hail, or
fire, as q punishment for wrongdoing. and
that all things, material and spiritual, are
governed by unyarying law, the religious
mind begins to seek for intellectual proof
Of the divine in humanity. The old view
was that there could be no such proof;
that unreasoning belief In revelation was
the only way in which the human mimi
cord be convinced that such a thing as
soul existed; that divine laws were directly
contrary to the laws of nature. 1t is be-
ginning to be suspected that this is no;
SO. and that the things which we do not
know are subject to law as much as those
with which we are already acquainted;
and here is where the study OF psychic
phenomena and the philosophy ct the uni
verse steps in to rescue the intellectual
world from anarchy. Philosophy asserts
that the thinking, reasoning being, the ii.-
dividuality, the ego. Is as much subject to
law as the physical substance Of the uni
verse, and that the laws by which it Is
governed can, In a measure, be ascer>
tanned. What We call revelation Is simply
a partial exposition Of these truths. The
awakening thought OF the age is eager to
discover more, and to ascertain all facts
which have to do with the making of char |
acter.
The new thought. like the old, recog-
aizes that the building of human charac-
ter Is the one thing best worth while in |
this world From the time when the hui |
man hero was exalted into demigod to |
the present day. when the world clings to |
The character Of Christ as an example Of |
he perfection which humanity may at |
ain, the beauty of the divine In humanity |
las been more or less clearly recognized. |
rhe material rewards and punishments of
he cid religions have been discarded by
growing thought. and it is gradually COM
ne to be understood that to be, not TO
rave, Is the all-important thing; that the
success Of man depends upon what he
S, not upon his wealth or position; and
hat sacrifice, not dominion. is the divine
lement in human nature. II the new re-
igious literature makes this thought
lear. Incorporating into itself all that is
cientific and philosophic in the Old World
aith. we shall have o religion which will
e tremendous force in the upbuilding
I new civilization. stronger than that
I the Orient. more gentle than that Of
tome, higher than that OF France, be-
ause It is based on truth. Justice, unset
shness, and freedom of-thought. In so far
8 any modern religious books tend to-
rard this result. they are helping to har-
aonize the new with the old. and prepare
he world for the truth which makes 1t
rec.