The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-23
X, rs R RELIGION y WoRTRLESSs
MIR. Goodwin smith on the Loss OF DeiAo'
I'm tho Dogmatlc Supe 'RAturaf.


To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sy: II was
your correspondent -Verus, | think. VINO
said the other day that no religion had ever
taught us anything worth knowing. In
certain sense what he said was true. Notn-
ing that dealt with the supernatural ana
the unseen has told US, or could tell us. any
thing ia the way Of material or positive iact.
Yet it cannot be denied that religion mas
played a most important part In the &C.
velopnent of humanity. Religious ord-
nance was the form originally assumed ny
what Is now moral philosophy. The pal
mary stance Of this is the religious legis-
lation ascribed to Moses, especially the
Decalogue But the moral philosophy OF
Socrates and his disciples Plato and Keno
phon certainly rested on religious belief
not in the Greek pantheon, but in supreme
power that made for righteousness. 80
did tho moral philosophy OF the great
stoics Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus I'M
personal as their Getty is
Egyptian morality appears to have been IN
form religious. More questionable. OF COURSE
is the influence of the Greek pantheon,
with it's amorous Zeus and it's sensual Olyn-
pus. Yet the Greek gods were upholders
of justice. The Delphic Oracle in its best
day seems to have been an organ OF moral
ity. We have the story OF a m IN who, wish
ing to repudiate deposit, consulted the
Oracle and received an encouraging reply.
When, having paid the penalty Of his crime.
he reproached the Oracle with having mis-
led him, he was told that this was his re-
ward for the insult which he had offered to
the moral majesty Of the god.
In the aesthetic development Of man
religion has unquestionably played great
part. The Parthenon and the cathedrals,
the great painters. the composers Of sacred
music, Dante and Milton are religious.
So fundamentally is Shakespeare, though
he was probably free thinker.
No doubt there have been alterations
many and horrible. such as Moloch-worship
and the Inquisition. Hardly to DO reckoned
among them are the crimes OF tie Papacy,
which at bottom were crimes Of secular
ambition.
Nor can we overlook such an historical
fact as Christendom. Even those who
have most thoroughly rejected the Christian
faith are still living in the penumbra Of
Christianity.
Then comes the question, What is the
origin Of religion? The tendency appears
10 be almost universal, showing itself indie
pendently in every member of tho human
race, saving perhaps the very lowest saw
ages. There must be some rational ac-
count of it, and it ia difficult to see how that
account could be found in evolution or in
anything disclosed by physical science.
Such an explanation OF the origin Of re-
ligioa as the apparition Of dead chieftains
in dreams seems to be totally inadequate.
Let us be thoroughly loyal to science and
embrace all It's real discoveries, however
subversive Of our traditions. But let us
ask for recognition of all the phenomena
Of human nature, not only these which
are demonstrably physical. but also those
which appear to belong to another class.
May not man be doing what is at present
premature in absolutely rejecting all re-
ligious belief and cutting himself Off from
the religious life of the world? May not
the impetus Of our parting from belief in
the supernatural and the dognatic carry
us at first too far? GOODWIN SMITH.
TORONTO, Aug. 20.