Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-08
RELIGIOUS IDEA HAS
ITS NATURAL ORIGIN
LIKE ALL ELSE IS BORN OF
Environment
Edward Adams CantrolI Lectures or
Relation of Author of Christian
Faith to Life of the
World

Edward Adams Cantrell lectured to
a crowded house at Mammoth hall. SIT
South Broadway, yesterday afternoon,
his subject being Jesus and the
World Life"
Every race" he said, develops It's
genius in response to material envir-
cnment-that is, the environment of
race determines the character of that
race.
Biology teaches us that our physical
organism develops in response to ex-
ternal stimuli. Our organs are devel-
| oped by habits formed in the life strug-
gle. Not only our physical bodies but
cur intellectual life is determined by
the world of eXternality.
"Our concepts can be traced to the
objects back of them. The word idea
originally meant image The art
forms of any race are determined by
the objects of the material world. In
architecture, for example, the Egyp-
| tian temple is built on the lines of the
natural caves along the banks of the
Nile The Chinese pagoda In its archi-
tectural lines repeats the Tartar tents,
one tent above another. The Gothic
| architecture never could have deVel-
| oted except in forest country.
"As It is with our physical organism,
| so il is with the mentality of art and
with our moral systems. Philosophers
of the old school had recourse to SUI
pernaturalism to account for the moral
| law. But through the studies of Lloyd
Morgan, Romaines, Darwin and others
we know that the moral law had its
origin in natural society. =
"Altruism the species instinct, is
correative with egoism, the instinct
of the individual. Bravery, discipline,
| fidelity and other virtues had like
origin. The sentinel on watch for dam
ger must give a true signal or the
| group life will be forfeited.
$50 the moral law, or neighbor mo-
rality, had no moreb a supernatural
origin than had egoism or any other
instinct. If the Hebrew race developed
the moral idea more than did other
races it was from natural causes. They
| occupied the Crux of ancient civiliza-
ton.
Intense in their extreme national
| ism, they were subject to the pressure
OF surrounding nations, which threat
ened their extinction. This meant
solidarity, the neighbor instinct among
| themselves.
1.-THE defeat of nationalism did not
mean the death of hope. Their, hopes,
however, took on religious form.
They themselves could not meet their
enemies. OF themselves they could not
realize their hopes, but God would
help: God would send a leader. This
| developed the extreme Messianic
thought of the Hebrew people.
Jesus is the religious genius. Altru-
ism in him is developed to morbid
extreme. If man smite thee on the
one cheek, turn to him the other also.
II a man ask for thy cloak, give him
thy coat also. If he ask thee to go
with him mile, go with him two
miles
Sacrifice, self-abnegation. are made
virtues in themselves. Not life, but
the surrender of life is the greatest
| good.
"In all this there is nothing particu-
Iarly unique in Jesus. other men in
| herited like instincts lived the same
life and talked the same things. The
psychology is the same. Just as some
| inherited egoistic qualities to the point
of genius-as in the cases of Alexander
| or Caesar or Napoleon-so, on the 9TH
er hand, many men inherited the altru-
istic, species instinct to a preponderat-
| ing degree.
1.-THE greatest life-that is, the sane
life-is to be found in neither extreme.
hut in the balancing of these anti
notes.-the normal, progressive human
! Iifa