The Daily Missoulian., 1911-06-05

spirit has made and verified his diS-
covery, he openly procaims to the
world without reservations. telling the
whole truth, knowing well that the
whole OF truth never hurt the whole
OF virtue. though that irrefragibie
truth deny, and classify as error.
every precious conviction previously
held. knowing. well that one in
dubitable fact outweiEhs In value a
million false beliefs. This courage
Ous sincerity In quest and proclana-
tion IL essential to real, vital. living
dynamic religion.
Science ls Progress.
Moreover religion needs the scicn-
tific spirit In order that 1t may be-
come progressive as science Is pro-
gressive. Religion, as we saw at the
beginning Of this DISCOURSE tends to
he content to MAINTAIN. the status quo.
1t cherishes and establishes familiar
truths. but II lacks the larger faith
In the efforts To achieve ever greater
truth and ever nObler results. II
tends to he boastfully satified with
the old time religion" forgetting that
my father worketh" increasingly I'm
his creative enterprises and is con-
stant in self-revelation; 1t tends to
make progress only In "somersaults
backwards" In growing world, this
tendency, unchecked and uncorrected,
makes religion reactionary and Il
wrong. The element. and principle of
progress. essential TO science. 1s in
dispensable. TO religion, II religion IL
to live; II. like life. must be CON
stant TO constant change" like the
"stream consciousness" II needs to be
made up of sequent and incessant
states OF development. The religion
that has ceuscd to be progressive has
ceased to grow and In dying ir not
dead already. Millions keep watch ut
the tomb Of a dead religion, not know
Ing that II IL an empty sepnlchre. or
serve I'm tho tabernacle Of Mammon,
mistakinR II for the temple OF tho
Eternal. The religious soul In order
to live must be- pioneer in the
search OF reality. II refuses 10 mark
time but must march: mus. worship
and must think: must test al. Things in
order that II may cherish the good.
'The problem of religion In modern
these two impulses--to wed tho i'm
partial intellect that dares to put MI
things To the test to the steadfast
heart that holds fast to that which Is
good" In other words. the problem
OF religion In the life of today is to
add TO the conservative spirit OF re-
ligion. the testing. radical spirit or
science; Is to discover and realize that
real radicalism IL real conservatism:
that the good can be conserved only
by the aid of the radical spirit.
Science 10 Patience.
Furthermore. the scientific spirit Is
needed In. religion in order that res
ligions people may be more patient.
Horace Mann once said. "The differ
ence betwsedS SHs Almighty and me is
this-I am ainHT hurry and He never is."
The religionist needs to know some
thing of the leisure OF God who. taking
an lnconceivable. period of time 10 pre-
pare the condition for higher forms of
life; other millions of years to produce
the crudest sort of being; many addi-
tional millions OF years passed ere the
| first man stood God-conduered. with
his face to. heaven upturned" In
| Times, far travelling generations we are
still progressing. knowing well that We
are the children Of Gods universe:
Gods offspring" the sons Of Cod
but not knowing what we shall be
despite august anticipations' of a life
vastly more rich, full and free in com :
pleteness that transcends the life we
know Religious people are always In
a hurry. They must have final state
ments: they claim infallibilities; in
sist upon n seat of authority"; feeling
that 1t is lacking they create an Inn
.agnary one. forgetting that the facul-
ties within are the only dependable
ones, and the only dependable author
ity. and then reliable only when direct
ed by the scientific spirit. Religion
Graves absolute and final truths
whereas relative truth alone is voueh-
safed to our lives, and the search for
Reality constitutes the real zest of life
affords the experience OF life. and. In
large measure life itself. Religion
Graves standlng-ground for trust
whereas Life gives only marching or
ders. to be fulfilled in trnstful. truth
fnl. restful activities. The search foi
Truth and its expression In servceable
ways is Life's, legitimate experience
and mission That quest and practice
is religious. Rightly conceived It Is
the practice of the presence of Goo" "
This "practice' requires patience, II
demands that Judgments be held IN
abeyance until all the facts are avail
able. making possible substantial
basis for just Judgment. The re-
ward of such patience is. inteliigen,
CONNECTIONS, the contemplation dn thu
scientific temper. OF Natnre-her vast
ness In height. depth and breadth--hel
beauty, majesty and infinitude-- should
make religious people sublimcly patient
Notice the patience OF the noble scien-
tisf. as he gropes through history. eyer
towards the light: his patience Is mar
velols